Tag Archives: Masters of the Shadowlands

Review : This is Who I Am (Masters of the Shadowlands #7) by Cherise Sinclair

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Title:  This is Who I Am
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher/Year:  Loose Id LLC 5/28/12
Length:  298 pages
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #7

Overview

When trying to save a woman from slavers, Sam screwed up. Royally. Now Linda wants nothing to do with him. Or with BDSM. She won’t even admit she’s a masochist. As a dominant and sadist, he can give her what she needs, and when an opportunity arises, he slips into her life, intending to make amends. She’s everything he knew she would be…except for her bullheaded determination to be ‘normal’.

Now the horrible time is past, Linda just wants to return to her small conservative town, pick up her quiet life, and be normal. But how can someone who likes pain be ‘normal’? To her dismay, when someone spray-paints her home with obscenities, Sam shows up to rescue her. Again. Doesn’t he understand that the last thing she needs in her life is a sadist? He’s amused by her objections. But his dry sense of humor doesn’t disguise that he’s tough as nails and dominant and stubborn. He’s not going to let her drive him off this time. All too soon, she realizes she wants him to stay.

When he takes her to the Shadowlands, she finds a new home…until she hears a voice from out of her nightmares.

My Thoughts

It seemed like a pretty long wait for me to finally be able to get my hands on this next installment in the series, and it almost made me forget about where things were left off.  So, as a refresher,  in the last story, we encountered the Harvest Association which is an organization that kidnaps women who are involved in the BDSM lifestyle and enslaves them to be tortured and sold.   A few of the women that we’ve come to love in past books (Kim especially) was kidnapped and Jessica and Beth were being scoped out by the association to be kidnapped as well.

We met Linda back in the previous story when Sam came in to help the FBI arrest the Overseer and slavers, and Kim had gotten Sam to protect her and free her.  At the beginning of this book 7, Linda is testifying against the overseer and the organization in the hopes that it’ll stop what’s going on.  She’s somewhat successful since the overseer is put into jail and the organization is shut down in the South Florida area.

Where that takes us next?  Linda is trying to get back to life, however the rumors of her interests in the BDSM lifestyle and what hse’s into comes to the forefront because her small town isn’t so accepting and one of the guys that she had dated who was too ‘vanilla’ for her doesn’t take rejection well and happens to be a reporter for the local newspaper and wants to paint her in a horrible light.

This is when Sam comes in to try to help.  I acknowledges that there’s a strong connection between them and wants to protect her.  This is how their relationship grows – Sam who’s a Sadist shows Linda that her need for pain isn’t wrong and that he can show her how ‘Right’ it is! they get hot and steamy in a way that the other masters stories never did.

This is where i have to commend Cherise Sinclair.  I don’t know how she does it, but each time we read a new master’s story, we get a completely different POV on the lifestyle and what their kink is.  it’s never dull and it’s never the same and i can say that i have an even deeper appreciation for all things BDSM.  We not only get some incredibly hot scenes here, we get a strong emotional connection which is something that doesn’t always appear to be the case in books like this.  We’re rooting for things to work out between Sam and Linda and know that it can’t be easy.

The other great thing here is that throughout the story, there’s an underlying threat that the association may not be gone completely and there’s a Spotter in the club that recognizes Linda and wants to figure out a way to get his hands on her again, while trying to satiate his ugly need for raping and killing women in the lifestyle (or if not submissive, then prostitutes).  So while we’re holding our breath to see how long it’ll take for Sam and Linda to come to terms with their needs, we also worry about what’s going to happen to Linda, and who the Spotter is and what will happen there.

So, all in all, quite enjoyable and a good read.  I can’t wait until the next installment comes out since i think that we’ll get the stories of the FBI agents (which should be hot since they are a duo and seems like they like to do things together).  i would also love to get a sense of Master Anne’s story too so i’m looking forward to that one too.

Review: The Dom’s Dungeon by Cherise Sinclair

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Cherise Sinclair has become one of my favorite writers over the past few weeks. She has 2 series, Masters of the Shadowlands and Mountain Masters that i really enjoy so it was a natural progression for me to search out other stories by her. The Dom’s Dungeon certainly didn’t fall short of my expectations.

The Plot: We meet our leading lady MacKensie (or Mac as she often refers to herself when she’s trying to internalize) as she’s making her way to her vacation home exchange in Seattle. she’s from a small town in Iowa (of course she’s a small towner) and she’s trying to make a fresh start of things in Seattle. Mac finds herself at quite the upper crust example of a home – the man she’s exchanged homes with is wealthy and is among Seattle’s elite, and she was fortunate enough to come upon this trade because she’s a vet and the home owner wanted to make sure that the person who was in his home would care for his dog Butler just as he would.

That takes us to the home owner – Alex who is our typical Dom which to be honest, even thought Cherise’s doms are predictable i really enjoy them. He’s what we expect – handsome, wealthy, warm heart -not quite in the mindset to have a lasting romantic relationship but really enjoys a stable dom/sub one if he can find it.

So the way that these 2 actually meet in person is completely unexpected. of course with a home exchange, they aren’t really supposed to cross paths, but due to an array of unfortunate circumstances for Alex, he finds himself missing his flight to Iowa, and returns home, to find Mac having gotten into his locked dungeon and checking out what’s going on there.

So of course, we know that Mac is a small towner and can assume that she’s quite the innocent and naive of all things BDSM. Suffice it to say, as much as that appears to be the case somewhat – she’s had a troubled past and that’s kind of shaped her experiences and lifestyle both in her personality as well as her perception of men and how she chooses to interact with them. Basically, she’s a bit gun shy with them these days.

This is where it’s a great opportunity for a dom to come in and take over and that’s what Alex strives to do. He finds that there’s quite a bit of digging that he needs to do to figure out the back story on Mac while she’s trying to get her fresh start and then to see if there’s value in pursuing her and possibility there.

All in all, i’d give this story 4 of 5 stars. It was good – a nice and easy read – decent character development, however you don’t get too into Alex’s background to understand how he is why he is. we learn more about Mac, but it didn’t take away from the story too much. The downfall that i saw in this story that’s a-typical from other Cherise Sinclair books is that there wasn’t quite as much anxiety in the back third of the book – but i guess not EVERY story can have that right?

Poll: Masters of the Shadowlands Series

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While I’m finishing up another book (in the hopes of completion tonight), i wanted to get your thoughts on who your favorites were from the Masters of the Shadowlands series.  I know who mine is (Z) but what about you guys?

Review: To Command and Collar (Masters of the Shadowlands book 6) by Cherise Sinclair

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Title:  To Command and Collar
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher/Year:  Loose Id LLC 11/29/11
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #6

Overview

Determined to find the human traffickers preying on Shadowlands’ submissives, Master Raoul gets himself invited to a small slave auction. Once informed, the FBI orders him to reject the limited choices so the slavers will invite him to the big auction. To Raoul’s shock, one of the slaves is the kidnapped friend of a Shadowlands sub. She has a scarred body…and an unbroken spirit. He can’t leave her behind. Ruining the FBI’s carefully laid plans, he buys her.

Kimberly’s freedom has come at a devastating price: the other women are still slaves. An FBI raid is their only hope for rescue. Desperate to help the Feds locate the big auction, she agrees to pose as Master Raoul’s slave. Wearing a collar again is terrifying, but under the powerful dominant’s care, Kim starts to heal and then to blossom. This is what she’s been drawn to-and fled from-her entire life.

She escaped the slavers who captured her body-can she escape the master who’s captured her heart?
Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: anal play, BDSM theme and elements (including/not limited to: bondage, fire play, flogging), violence.

My Thoughts

i have to say that i’m THRILLED with where this story started off just because of the sadness that i felt at the end of Make Me, Sir.  Although i was really relieved that both Gabi and Jessica were ok, and that Jess/Z were ok, Dan/Kari were in their own happy place and Beth/Nolan were as well, i had hoped that they would get to Kim.  I figured that not all things could end on an happy note, but i still hoped.

so when we find ourselves with Master Raoul – and he’s working with the FBI to get into the ring – that’s the best thing that we could hope for.

Let’s back up a second though to talk about something here though.  From all the Masters that we’ve spent time with so far, none of them have really been overly sadistic – none like to inflict pain to an excess and none were really interested in much more than a dom/sub relationship in the club and maybe a little bit more.  that’s clearly not the school of BDSM that Raoul was from though.  his past included multiple relationships where he collared a sub and had a full time slave.  it worked for him, and although he not a mean and hurtful master, he’s still the type to have a full time 24/7 slave.  I wasn’t sure how i was going to take to this, but i figured that i’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

Being a slave ‘owner’ in the past though was just the in that Raoul needed to get his in with The Harvest Association better known as the kidnapper organization.  because of his reputation, he’s working with the FBI to infiltrate and see how he can help bring them down.  all the while in the back of his mind he has the picture / image of Kim – Marcus’ sub Gabi’s best friend to think about and hope that maybe he’ll be able to find her or do what he can to ensure that doesn’t happen to others again.

Raoul finds himself at a private sale pre-auction type thing for ‘slightly damaged goods’.  this actually made me sick to think that not only did these men kidnap women, but they abused them so badly that they were not considered used and damaged.  being sold at a ‘discount’ i think the phrase was a one point.  i can’t quite understand how it’s possible for on human to think of another like that but that is certainly intentional so you get the emotional build up that the author is looking for.
Lucky for Kim, Raoul recognizes Kim at the pre-sale and buys her and brings her home with him.  This has major implications though to what he’ll be able to do moving forward in the investigation.  He may have hurt his chances of getting into the bigger auction to help the ‘feebies’, and has to think about Plan B and C (B being that instead of being a buyer at the big auction he has to do a demonstration, C being that he brings in another guy – Sam who would fit right in with what the FBI’s need of a buyer)  He manages to get her to realize that he’s one of the good guys by getting Gabi to his house as soon as he can.  We see that Kim has major trust issues as can be expected based on what she’s been through but she’s made of tougher stuff than even anyone can imagine.  She learns that in order to bring down the operation and to save her friends (or at least try) she has to ‘submit’ and become a slave to Raoul.  I don’t think a better master could have been set for her since he’s incredibly patient, and understanding.  He’s damaged from what his past relationships have done to him and his lack of relationship with his family – so he really knows how to treat Kim with kid gloves.  We works hard to make her stronger mentally and physically because that’s what she needs to heal and because he just doesn’t know what the future is going to bring.

It’s really great to see how the trust aspect of their relationship is built up through the story and how their dependency is on one another.  Raoul spends his time getting Kim stronger while falling for her more and more.  Kim realizes that she CAN trust someone again and begins to realize that she can’t live without her ‘master’.

Just as Raoul suspects, things aren’t what they seem, and a wrench is thrown into things.  Nothing is ever easy, Kim’s healing is almost derailed because of the Harvest Association, and Raoul finds that his past keeps haunting him.  There’s also a bit of sinister-ness popping up in the latter third of the book just to keep us on edge and wonder what WILL happen.

This story also brings us a bit more information around Master Sam which is nice.  We’ve seen hints of him through some of the other stories, but we don’t know too much.  Here we learn that he’s got a bit of a darker side than the masters that we’ve come to love so much.  he actually likes pain and considers himself a sadist.  This is perfect for the slave auction but I wonder how that will work out for him…and us.  I’m not one for the pain aspect of BDSM.  the spanking/flogging stuff doesn’t bother me, but the bull whips and the welts, blood, and ‘stripes’ – that actually does make me cringe.

With this story like all the others, just when you’re comfortable with how things are developing and going, it makes a 180 and things go up in smoke.  this story doesn’t fail and really keeps you on edge.  Cherise Sinclair reminds us again that all her female characters are incredibly strong and resilient and that the men have redeeming qualities even past their amazingly good looks.

so now…we have to wait.  i believe book 7 is in the works and not yet finished so i’m tracking another series to bide my time.

Review: Make Me, Sir (Masters of the Shadowlands Book 5) by Cherise Sinclair

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Title: Make Me Sir
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher/Year: Loose Id, 12/14/11
Length: 388 pages
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #5

Overview

Her job is to make his life miserable. His job is to make her submit. Whose heart will surrender first?

Across the country, rebellious BDSM submissives are being systematically kidnapped, one from each club. When her friend falls prey to the slavers, FBI victim specialist Gabrielle volunteers to be bait in a club not yet hit: the Shadowlands.

She finds that being a bratty sub comes naturally, especially when she gets to twit the appallingly conservative Master of the trainees. But she soon discovers he’s not as stuffy as she’d thought. Or as mean. She’d expected punishment, even humiliation, but she sure never expected to fall in love with a damned lawyer.

Courtesy of a prima donna ex-wife, Marcus loathes disobedient submissives. When the club owner insists he admit an incredibly bratty trainee, he’s furious. But as he comes to know Gabrielle and sees the alluring sweetness beneath the sass, he starts to fall for her.

Unfortunately, Marcus isn’t the only one who believes the feisty redhead is a prize worth capturing. And in the world of the slaver, such treasure is worth a hefty fee.

My Thoughts

I cruised right into the fifth installment of this series becuase i really can’t get enough. I feel like this story kind of came out of left field and was so unexpected that i really enjoyed it.  At the end of Book 4 Lean on Me we were introduced to Marcus who was handed the reigns for the Trainee program when Cullen realized that he shouldn’t have the position.

He appears to be the epitomy of the successful lawyer domineering type and quite the souther gentleman, however i think that he’s from Virginia so that was kind of a miss to me.  i don’t consider Virginia southerners to have some of the drawl and tone that he had but i put that aside quickly once i got into the story.

So the core of this story is that the FBI has learned of a kidnapping ring that prays on Submissives and identifies women in clubs all around the country, takes them and sells them at slave auctions.  those women are chosen for various different reasons – depending on what the auction calls for and once they are nabbed, they are beaten, abused and at times left for dead.

so at this point, we are introduced to Gabi who works for the FBI in the capacity not of an agent but as a social worker.  The reason she’s woven in here is because one of her good friends Kim is kidnapped by this ring and she wants to help.  The FBI (and Gabi) get intel that the ring is looking to get girls from the Tampa area, and they need to set up a sting to put girls into the clubs to act as defiant subs to get the attention of the spotters in the hopes to find out where the girls are and not only get Kim back but get all the girls and shut down the group.

Gabi claims to have BDSM experience in order to get into the role yet her past is very limited and plays a big role in this story.  The FBI agents in charge of this sting interestingly enough are Doms themselves and are quite friendly with Master Z which of course is a big help.  So because of this Gabi and 3 other women being their under cover work in Tampa.  3 of the women go to other cubs and Gabi is put into Shadowlands.  Since she’s so new, Z (who is the only one in the club that knows what’s going on) puts her into the trainee program under Marcus. Since Gabi needs to act even more defiant than expected from a sub, she has to prepare herself to receive the wrath of both Master Marcus and all the other doms/Masters in the club.  Marcus has no idea what’s going on so he of course has to deal with this girl who’s submissive yet being very NON submissive.

We get to see the struggle here that Gabi has with her role – she finds everything that she does to be VERY hot and stimulating and arousing, yet it’s scary and she’s pushed so far past her limits that she doesn’t know if she can go on at times.  Top that off with the fact that her back-up agent who’s supposed to ‘tail’ her gives her the creeps and is an all around asshole.

We spend a lot of time wondering when the kidnappers will strike, who they are targeting, and when we hear about some of the women that are being targeted, you wonder if your suspicions are right and that they are in fact some of the other women that we know and love already.  The protective nature of Z and all the other doms causes a bit of strife, and since they are trained to be so attuned to what’s going on with their subs, they figure out that there’s a lot going on that doesn’t quite add up.

So aside from some intese BDSM action, lots of pain and arousal that just won’t quit, there’s quite a bit of suspense in this story that was unexpected at the onset and really quite welcome.  I was left constantly wondering if all this work was for naught for Gabi, if Marcus would be able to continue training GAbi withiout wanting to beat the crap out of her….and toss her out of the program since it didn’t seem like it was a fit, and all that the same time trying to figure out little Gabi since she was such a jekyl and hyde.  one girl in private and another in public.

so much happens that the last chapters went by in a blur since i had so much anticipation and anxiety building up.  check it out – yet again you won’t be disappointed.

Review: Lean on Me (Masters of the Shadowlands Book 4) by Cherise Sinclair

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Title:  Lean on Me
Author:  Cherise Sinclair
Publisher/Year:  Loose id 9/16/10
Length:  314 Pages
Series:  Masters of the Shadowlands #4

Overview

Andrea wants to submit, but not to just any so-called Dom. He has to be tougher than the slum-bred bullies she grew up with. She’d given up finding a true Dom when her friend finagles her a place as a trainee in an exclusive BDSM club with the powerful Shadowlands Masters. Andrea’s thrilled…and terrified.

Forced to accept an unknown submissive into his carefully run trainee program, Master Cullen is furious. Not only is the young woman new to BDSM, but she’s unsuited to her role–armoured in leather like a Domme, she’s more liable to punch a Dom than kneel. He decides to push her right back out the door. But as he ruthlessly intimidates her, punishes her, then comforts her, his glimpses of the woman inside the emotional armour intrigue him and her utter surrender captures his heart.

Although Master Cullen is famous for his unfettered lifestyle, Andrea believes he might be interested in her, until she discovers he’s not just a bartender–he’s a cop. Maybe he’d overlook her past brush with the law, but when another trainee accuses her of stealing money, Andrea’s sure she’s lost the Master she wanted with all her heart.

My Thoughts

We meet again, in the interesting world of the masters – and who’s next up on our list.  It took 4 books, but here we are focusing on Master Cullen who we know is really a great guy and you just really want to root for.  He has a role at the core of every story being the bartender that every sub has to interact with and we see that he’s got a playful side yet is quite domineering which is perfect for him.

Cullen oversees the Trainees at the club – which is something i found to be really interesting.  I think that the author did an amazing thing here by showing us that not only is Shadowlands a safe place for experienced Doms/Subs to engage in their favorite activities, but it also safely introduces people who are interested in being a sub to the lifestyle in a way that’s slow yet very very fast and oh so hot!

Andrea manages to nab herself a prime place as a trainee at Shadowlands becuase of her lifetime best friend and that’s both a blessing and a curse for her.  See Andrea has gone through a few BDSM clubs, clearly portraying herself in the wrong way if she truly wants to be a sub, and as a result, doesn’t find what she needs AT ALL.  She’s tall, curvy, and i believe Amazon, the term often used to describe her really does suit her.  she’s sure of herself, not one to easily back down, and that’s exactly what Cullen needs i think. She grew up on the streets, has been through quite a bit in her life and although being submissive is something that she thinks she wants to be, it’s definitely something that will take a lot of work.

Being the head of the trainee program, Cullen has to deal with a lot without overtly playing favorites.  It ‘s hard at times since it seems like Andrea wants to be a dom more tan a sub sometimes or just plain doesn’t want to be there, yet this big guy that Cullen is some how manages to find what makes her tick and goes from there.

Suffice it to say that one thing that i’ve learned with these strong women as leads in the stories – the more defiant the hotter the sex.  make sure you have your A/C cranking when you read this and all others in the series because there’s truly not even 1 tame woman lurking in there.

Breaking Free (Masters of the Shadowlands Book 3) by Cherise Sinclair

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Aside from trying to guess who the featured master will be in the next book, i always love trying to figure out if there’s a character that was introduced that might find herself at the core of the story too.  in Dark Citadel we were introduced slightly to Beth on the night that Kari was taken into the Capture Gardens and i had a feeling that it wasn’t the last that we were going to see of her.

Alas, here she is in Book 3 Breaking Free and this third installment does not leave us feeling like we were not intrigued.  So we formally meet Beth, she’s got a past that’s really damaging to her self esteen, yet some how she managed to keep it together enough to become successful in her professional life and in turn try to bury what hurt her in her last relationship to find something that does work for her. She was married to a sadist – someone who liked pain more than the woman.  She escapes him and moves away in the hopes that his threats can’t follow her, and tries to rebuild her life.  she knows that she’s not a ‘vanilla sex’ type of girl, yet she hasn’t been able to fully submit to anyone since her husband and that’s an issue for her.  She went to the Shadowlands in the hopes that the nature of the doms there would be good for her, however no one manages to do for hre what she needs.  no one is powerful enough or authoritative enough to push her past her limits of both trust and pleasure.

Master Nolan however isn’t the flowery guy that she needs, yet is EXACTLY what Z thinks would be perfect, so they are thrown together.  When Z sees that every dom in the club is trying with ZERO success, he places Beth into Nolan’s care and gives her one last chance.  Basically Beth is given the ultimatum that either she makes it work with Master Nolan or it’s out of Shadowlands for good.  that means that we get to see a LOT of dom/sub behaviors running amok and yet it all works.

since we’re already familiar with Master Z, Master Dan, Jessica and Kari, we get a lot of great interpersonal relationships here.  you really get to see a great dynamic building up between this pseudo family which i really enjoy.  it makes you see the best in some of the folks, really root for others, and well, being a hopeless romantic, you just want everyone to fall in love.

In this story though, there’s a history of viscous erotic pain – i.e. Beth was in a situation with a past lover/dom that didn’t quite know when to stop – he was an evil SOB, and her fear is that she NEEDS that level of control to be ‘happy’ yet she can’t find it from anyone.  no one gets her ‘hot and bothered’ and that’s a running theme at the onset of the story.  What we all know from reading books 1 and 2 though is that the masters DO NTO FAIL.  they will get you off, make you want more, keep you from getting more, and then making it roll over you again and again and again.

so if you want to see if Beth can be broken from her fear of pain since she was left all bettered and bloody by her last dom, while trying to find out if she’s even able to have an orgasm again -check out book 3.  definitely not another disappointment.

Review: Dark Citadel (Masters of the Shadowlands Book 2) by Cherise Sinclair

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Title:  Dark Citadel
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher/Year:  Loose id  4/7/2009
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #2

Overview

After Kari breaks up with her date during Beginner’s Night at Club Shadowlands, she’s given the option to continue with an experienced dominant. Despite her steamy fantasies about BDSM, the inexperienced schoolteacher plans to simply observe. Yet under the unyielding hands of Master Dan, she not only participates, but gives him everything he asks for. There is nothing she can hide from him. Not her passion…or her love. Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, BDSM theme and content (including/not limited to bondage, caning, restraint, spanking, tethering) exhibitionism, voyeurism

My Thoughts

here we find ourselves again..so HOT and bothered and it’s not because of the weather!  Who would have thought that you could create yet another great story line just from being in a BDSM club right?

so in Dark Citadel we are reunited with the Masters of the Shadowlands, this time focusing on Master Dan.  From book 1 Club Shadowlands we got the sense of all the doms being strong enormous men with lots of muscle and in this story we aren’t disappointed.

so let’s just back a second and talk about our key female Kari who goes to Shadowlands because the guy she’s dating feels like BDSM is a lifestyle that they are interested in.  She’s kind of on the fence, thinking that it’s exciting yet the guy that she’s with doesn’t treat her properly and that goes all pear shaped.  She’s then introduced to one of the Shadowland Masters and things make a 180.  She finds herself with a guy that’s so intimidating who introduces her to a lifestyle that’s also very intimidating, yet quite arousing.

Master Dan – well Master Z puts Kari into his care, asking him to teach her about all things BDSM.  Dan’s had it rough, yet the allure of Kari just makes things that much better.  He’s brooding and dark, yet incredibly sexy.  He knows his way around a woman’s body and that’s exactly what both Kari and I personally needed.

Again, what i love about what this author does is that we’re not brought to focus on a stick thin model.  we have another REAL woman who feels a little insecure, but is deemed incredibly sexy.  Read this, but i warn you, keep a fan and some water near your bedside because you will need it!

Club Shadowlands (Masters of the Shadowlands book 1) by Cherise Sinclair

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i don’t know if it was inspiration from reading 50 Shades of Grey or Bared to You, but lately i’ve found myself really intrigued by all things BDSM.  The good thing is that there’s PLENTY to read out there in that scope!

Masters of the Shadowlands as it turns out has become an addiction – one of those series that i just can’t put down, and i’m really pleased about that.

Club Shadowlands is our introduction to the series, where we find ourselves in balmy Tampa FL.  which adds a bit to the ambiance of the story line.  Shadowlands is a private club that hosts a variety of ‘themed’ nights throughout the week but focuses on BDSM on Saturdays.  Run by the owner, kept in line by the ‘Masters’ – Shadowlands really shows you what a safe and secure fetish environment can be like.  what i love about what the author does in this series is that she brings in a sense of real personality and character to the plot – you really learn about the characters and who they are, what makes them tick and you feel like you can really picture the club and what’s going on in it.

The lead male Master Z is a man that’s clearly established and mature.  we fear him yet like we’ve found in all other stories similar to this, there’s a quality there that you really can’t help but love him too.  he’s caring and protective, yet dominating as his ‘master’ or ‘dom’ title suggests.

Jessica is our female lead, and quite the lead she is.  She’s ‘human’, meaning that she’s curvy and attractive, but not model perfect.  (which is something that the author really talks up in the story and in following books).  We’re introduced to her on a ‘dark and stormy night’ when her car has broken down on the way home from a bad blind date and she’s a wreck.  She finds herself at The Shadowlands because it’s the closest place to make a phone call, and well….it just progresses from there.

suffice it to say, this series is MUCH HOTTER than 50 shades or Bared to you…it’s graphic (in a good way), gets you so intrigued that you’re not able to put it down, and you immediately want to pick up the next book in the series to find out what’s going to happen next.

Definitely pick it up to find out what happens with these 2 characters and the other MASTERS of the Shadowlands…