Review: Tamed (Tangled #3) by Emma Chase

Title: Tamed
Author: Emma Chase
Publisher/Year: Gallery Books 7/15/14
Length:   272 Pages
Series:  Tangled #3

Overview

In the third unforgettable book by New York Times bestselling author Emma Chase, Matthew Fisher—the best friend of Drew Evans from Tangled and Twisted—wants to settle down, but he’ll have to overcome the mistrust of the vividly unique Dee Dee Warren. Includes a bonus short story, Holy Frigging Matrimony!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: girl meets player, they fall in love, player changes his ways.

It’s a good story. But it’s not our story. Ours is a lot more colorful.

When I met Dee, I knew right away that she was special. When she met me, she thought I was anything but special—I was exactly like every other guy who’d screwed her over and let her down. It took some time to convince her otherwise, but it turns out I can make a convincing argument when sex is at stake.

You might know where this story’s headed. But the best part isn’t where we ended up.

It’s how we got there.

My Thoughts

So, we’re back with this group of friends, getting to see how Matthew and Dee’s romance started and blossomed, crashed and burned, and then started up again.  The interesting thing about this series though, is that in book 2, we got several spoilers about this story, so it’s like it was a bit anticlimactic at times since we knew exactly what was going to happen. (although it’s not like we couldn’t figure it out).

Any way – we get to learn a bit more about Matthew, wingman to Drew, and son of one of the partners of the banking firm that they work for.  It’s nice to see that he’s human – while he’s definitely a guys guy – all about the easy hook-up and ot a lasting relationship, he’s got a really sensitive side, especially when it comes to Mckenzie – just like everyone seems to have with this child.

So when Dee walks into his life – well she’s exciting and challenging and different and that means that all his rules are thrown to the wayside.

Dee on the other hand, a wild child, best friend to Kate, and cousin to Billy (Kate’s BF at this point in this story), and well she’s definitely not what she appears to be.  She’s incredibly smart, but likes to have her own personality and throw people off her scent.  she’s also been burned way too many times in the past from men so she’s incredibly guarded and makes it really tough for Matthew to break through.

So what starts as an intense physical thing turns into so much more, which neither are prepared to deal with and that makes things interesting.  They push each other away at every turn and even when Matthew tries his hand at romance, he comes up empty.  The question really becomes not ‘when will they get together for real’, but instead what will it take to make Dee open her eyes that matthew is the one, and will matthew be able to handle it at that point.

So, on that note, we get yet another light and fluffy story from Emma Chase, and don’t take that to be a negative.  it’s the perfect summer reading book while i was laying out on my lawn yesterday getting a tan.  I think there’s another book in this series so i’m going to go and track it down.  enjoy!

Review: Tamed (Club Sin #5) by Stacey Kennedy

no-brainer

Title: tamed
Author: Stacey Kennedy
Publisher/Year: Random House 3/10/15
Length:   239 Pages
Series:  Club Sin #5

Overview

Porter Marshall has nearly achieved his goal of becoming a Club Sin Master, but his new sub poses a much bigger challenge than he anticipated. Despite their mutual attraction and red-hot dungeon sessions, Kenzie Hart plays her own games. Her bratty, you-can’t-break-me attitude masks terrible personal hurt—pain that only the exquisite touch of a skilled Dom can release. But when Porter suggests taking their connection to the outside world, Kenzie denies him . . . which only makes him want her more.

Kenzie can’t ignore the raw, fierce bond she has with Porter. But she can’t give in to his dangerous demands, either. Is the passion they share real, or is he using her to solidify his status at Club Sin? And yet, who else can she trust with the shattering secrets she holds within? As Porter expertly brings her to the point of no return, Kenzie surrenders her body—and, piece by piece, her heart.

My Thoughts

Finally – we get to see kenzie’s story and then see how it intertwines with Porter since that’s already been set up for us.  We all know and love Kenzie to be the bratty sub who gives doms a hard time, but clearly there’s something behind that which makes her who she is.  It’s Porter who’s job it is to figure out how to get through to her, partially because as a Dom he should but partially because that’s just who he is.

In Porter’s quest to be name a full master at the club, he’s taken on Kenzie for a month, and his personality is to go into it with the best of intentions.  We learn quickly on that he’s actually quite taken with her and has been for a while, but just never went there since he’s not really interested in taking on a sub that’s mouthy.

If that weren’t enough of a story line to keep us interested, to see who breaks first, there’s the added tension and anxiety that comes from a man who’s bought the block that Kenzie’s bookstore and apartment are on so that he can build a casino and he’s trying to strong arm Kenzie into selling so he can have the space.  Mind you, that’s not something that she’s open to as both belonged to her grandmother, the woman who raised her, and she needs to keep that one last great memory alive.

We see Kenzie get threatened and attacked and living her life in fear because she’s afraid to let anyone in to help her. It’s because Porter is so in tune with how she behaves that he notices something is wrong and pushes her.  We come to learn that the man who’s threatening her is untouchable by police and that he manages to get off of anything that’s brought against him.

It’s Porter and Sawyer who come to her aide, however what keeps coming back to Kenzie is that they are helping because they have to as Doms, not because they want to help her for her.  So that’s the round and round that we go on this one that keeps us interested.

The nice thing about this couple is that from what we know from previous installments is that Kenzie loves pain and needs it to get off.  Porter however pushes her so far that we see that maybe that’s not what she needs and he takes another approach.  Seeing how masterful he is at this makes you so excited to see what’s next.  The writing here is so vivid and exciting and i think that’s part of what carries us through it so quickly.

So much to wonder about in this book 5 both with relationships with kenzie and Porter and the broader D/s relationships, It’s a nice family that we’re seeing come together here and i think that there are just a few more masters left for us to meet to have everyone’s stories complete. Enjoy!