Title: Freed
Author: Stacey Kennedy
Publisher/Year: Random House 11/4/14
Length:   192 Pages
Series:  Club Sin #4

Overview

Mary Schmidt knows only too well how thrilling a Master’s touch can be. Her husband, Charles, had been her ultimate fantasy, a seducer in the dance of dominance and submission. She misses the sensual lifestyle they shared, but mourns him so deeply she cannot bear to embrace her submissive needs with another Dom—until a man who exudes temptation reawakens desires she can no longer deny.

Elliott Foster is dazzled by Mary. He instantly knows that she’s the woman he’s been waiting for—a woman who turns games into need. As her Master, he dares to unlock the deepest pleasures of her flesh, releasing her from pain and healing her mind. When Mary’s lithe body comes to life under his, he knows their connection goes beyond sex. Now that he has found the perfect woman, the perfect partner, the perfect submissive, he desires only to give her everything she craves.

My Thoughts

I love this series, and what i’m actually really appreciating from our author is that she’s not giving us the expected path of stories, and keeping us on our toes.  Personally i thought that this 4th book was going to be Kenzie and Porter, yet what we get instead is Mary and Elliott. Mary – a character that i didn’t necessarily think was going to get her own story and Elliott, a guy who we never heard of before.  That’s original!

So we know a bit about Mary and her background from when she met Presley in the first book.  From there, we have come to really respect and love her since she’s like a mother figure for Dimitri yet she’s got her own life.  She’s still mourning her husband who passed away and from that, we see that anything resembling moving on is not an option for her.

So when Elliott enters the picture, he’s bringing up feelings and emotions that she was never expecting and kind of not open to, that any sense of a relationship between them is really a huge question mark.

They meet at a dinner at Dimitri’s house and he invites her to a play party.  there she comes alive under his guidance and has a night that she’s been waiting for, yet the emotions that come to the surface in the morning and the conversations that follow make her want to run.  and that’s what she does.  This frustrated Elliott to no end since he sees inside her when she’s just not looking.

The journey of this story is one where Elliott continues to push her to be the woman that she should be and to live her life for her.  Mary fights him at every turn and essentially makes it impossible for them to have a relationship.  Even with their chemistry and the way that he’s able to dominate her to bring out the best in her, we continue to see the memories of Charles her husband come up and it shows even the reader that there’s no chance that she’s going to move on.

Elliott being ‘seasoned’ knows when to cut his losses even if it pains him and sends her one last message in the hopes that at least she will heal herself, and it’s sweet to see that he’s willing to do something for her to help her get over everything even if it means that there’s little chance that he’ll find happiness.

Personally i think that it’s nice to see that there’s an installment peppered in that has these older characters – that aren’t directly tied to the goings on at Club Sin.  It gives you a different perspective on things and also shows us what life is like after you’ve found your perfect D/s relationship and age and illness take you and there’s one person left to pick up the pieces.  All in all, a nice 4th book to the series.  Can’t wait to get into book 5 now.  Enjoy!