Not real fond of this story. I found the BDSM expressed in this story to be dangerously uninformed. Like the author read up on the BDSM entry on Wikipedia and just winged it.I find it dangerous because the BDSM lifestyle isn't something you half-ass. You have to enter into it with full knowledge of expectations, limits, punishments, and consequences. This author explains numerous times that there will only be "safe, sane, and consensual" play between Rosie and Sam, but that's quickly thrown out the window.The scene I'm referring to is the result of another scene that I don't really want to get into. But basically, Rosie has to receive a flogging from somebody other than Sam, even though she didn't agree to it. The agreement for play was between Rosie and Sam. Not Thalia, Spencer, and Rosie. For Thalia to demand Rosie be punished by Spencer when Rosie didn't agree to it is dangerous and not consensual. That negates the contractual agreement Rosie and Sam entered. Thalia played a very dangerous game by forcing Rosie's hand and taking away her rights without informing her - Thalia had Rosie do something that was basically an agreement, but never told her it was an agreement. Sam got angry, for damn good reason, but he didn't stop it. And I find that unforgiveable. Sure, Rosie got off on it, which is fine and dandy, but it wasn't consensual. And for this author to romanticise characters that have no qualms about taking away somebody's choice in a BDSM situation is dangerous and disturbingIf you convince somebody to take an action that will later have consequences, it is your duty to inform them of those consequences so they can decide whether or not they agree to everything. You don't say "Do this." and then later say "When you did that, you actually agreed to allow me to do this to you." To not inform them undermines the trust you've developed and cultivated - trust is absolutely required for any sort of BDSM play. Ask anyone that lives the BDSM lifestyle what would stop them from playing with somebody and the first thing they will say is "lack of trust." And I'm seriously pissed that the author was so irresponsible after making such an effort to portray the activities as consensual and safe.As for the story... The concept was terrible. I have a hard time believing Thalia, Chad, Mark, etc are actually Sam's friends. You don't make your friend fear for his life just because he's still mourning his dead fiance. That is not what friends do. Friends don't purposely put you in a position to hurt the person you love. Friends don't take away your loved one's choices. Friends don't manipulate you and take over your life. And friends don't kidnap you or your loved one.Sam was a decent character. I understood his feelings and I really felt for his plight. I thought he should have stood up to Thalia, but apparently his submissive side came out at that moment.Rosie was... boring. We don't really know anything about her except that she likes to be spanked and has a very skewed concept of what submission truly is. She comes across as a fighter, but when it came time to fight for love, she ran away.Thalia was truly horrible. I realize she cares for Sam and wants the best for him, but she went about it in the worst way possible. She is supposed to be a highly intelligent and experienced Domme, but she came across as manipulative, inconsiderate, and dishonest. She put Rosie in a no-win situation and had the gall to be smug about it, only succeeding in damaging the relationship Rosie had with Sam. I wanted to take her fucking wheelchair away and leave her at the bottom of some stairs. Yeah, I hated her that much.Lee-Anne is a fairly minor character that was probably only written to create drama in Rosie and Sam's relationship. But she made a big impact on me because she broke some serious rules of the BDSM club, then threatened and lied to Rosie. Sam said he would blacklist her, but she was never mentioned again. The story, though I hated it, would have benefitted from a scene where Sam (or Rosie) dealt with her and put her in her place. She also could have been used as a real threat against Rosie. Drive it home to Sam that he can't lose her and that there will always be a threat to one or both of them in the future. They ARE bodyguards, after all.So yeah, I really hated this story. I wanted to finish because I wanted to see what the threat was, since it was presented in such an odd manner. I found out my assumptions were correct and then there were just a few more pages after the big reveal, so I went ahead and finished. I'm not happy with myself for that. Though I am pretty glad I didn't pay for this book. I dunno if you can demand refunds on books, but I would have tried.I would never recommend this book to anyone for any reason.
Not real fond of this story. I found the BDSM expressed in this story to be dangerously uninformed. Like the author read up on the BDSM entry on Wikipedia and just winged it.I find it dangerous because the BDSM lifestyle isn't something you half-ass. You have to enter into it with full knowledge of expectations, limits, punishments, and consequences. This author explains numerous times that there will only be "safe, sane, and consensual" play between Rosie and Sam, but that's quickly thrown out the window.The scene I'm referring to is the result of another scene that I don't really want to get into. But basically, Rosie has to receive a flogging from somebody other than Sam, even though she didn't agree to it. The agreement for play was between Rosie and Sam. Not Thalia, Spencer, and Rosie. For Thalia to demand Rosie be punished by Spencer when Rosie didn't agree to it is dangerous and not consensual. That negates the contractual agreement Rosie and Sam entered. Thalia played a very dangerous game by forcing Rosie's hand and taking away her rights without informing her - Thalia had Rosie do something that was basically an agreement, but never told her it was an agreement. Sam got angry, for damn good reason, but he didn't stop it. And I find that unforgiveable. Sure, Rosie got off on it, which is fine and dandy, but it wasn't consensual. And for this author to romanticise characters that have no qualms about taking away somebody's choice in a BDSM situation is dangerous and disturbingIf you convince somebody to take an action that will later have consequences, it is your duty to inform them of those consequences so they can decide whether or not they agree to everything. You don't say "Do this." and then later say "When you did that, you actually agreed to allow me to do this to you." To not inform them undermines the trust you've developed and cultivated - trust is absolutely required for any sort of BDSM play. Ask anyone that lives the BDSM lifestyle what would stop them from playing with somebody and the first thing they will say is "lack of trust." And I'm seriously pissed that the author was so irresponsible after making such an effort to portray the activities as consensual and safe.As for the story... The concept was terrible. I have a hard time believing Thalia, Chad, Mark, etc are actually Sam's friends. You don't make your friend fear for his life just because he's still mourning his dead fiance. That is not what friends do. Friends don't purposely put you in a position to hurt the person you love. Friends don't take away your loved one's choices. Friends don't manipulate you and take over your life. And friends don't kidnap you or your loved one.Sam was a decent character. I understood his feelings and I really felt for his plight. I thought he should have stood up to Thalia, but apparently his submissive side came out at that moment.Rosie was... boring. We don't really know anything about her except that she likes to be spanked and has a very skewed concept of what submission truly is. She comes across as a fighter, but when it came time to fight for love, she ran away.Thalia was truly horrible. I realize she cares for Sam and wants the best for him, but she went about it in the worst way possible. She is supposed to be a highly intelligent and experienced Domme, but she came across as manipulative, inconsiderate, and dishonest. She put Rosie in a no-win situation and had the gall to be smug about it, only succeeding in damaging the relationship Rosie had with Sam. I wanted to take her fucking wheelchair away and leave her at the bottom of some stairs. Yeah, I hated her that much.Lee-Anne is a fairly minor character that was probably only written to create drama in Rosie and Sam's relationship. But she made a big impact on me because she broke some serious rules of the BDSM club, then threatened and lied to Rosie. Sam said he would blacklist her, but she was never mentioned again. The story, though I hated it, would have benefitted from a scene where Sam (or Rosie) dealt with her and put her in her place. She also could have been used as a real threat against Rosie. Drive it home to Sam that he can't lose her and that there will always be a threat to one or both of them in the future. They ARE bodyguards, after all.So yeah, I really hated this story. I wanted to finish because I wanted to see what the threat was, since it was presented in such an odd manner. I found out my assumptions were correct and then there were just a few more pages after the big reveal, so I went ahead and finished. I'm not happy with myself for that. Though I am pretty glad I didn't pay for this book. I dunno if you can demand refunds on books, but I would have tried.I would never recommend this book to anyone for any reason.
