Thursday, November 14, 2013

Laura’s Review of If Only (Masters of Shadowlands #8) by Cherise Sinclair


If you love Wicked Ties by Shayla Black, Long Hard Ride by Lorelei James, and Bonds of Trust by Lynda Aichern then you will love this book!!!!!!!!



Basic Summary: After the last fiasco, Sally gives up.  She’ll never find a Dom of her own.  Instead the computer whizz is job hunting in between bending the law –just a bit—to unearth the bastards who’d enslaved her friends.  The clueless cops and Feds obviously need help.

                FBI special agents, Galen and Vance, have waited to play with Sally for a long time.  When the mischievous submissive returns to the exclusive Shadowlands BDSM club after an ugly relationship, the experienced co-tops are pleased.  Realizing she’s suppressing her emotions, the powerful Doms push her—only to find that her sassiness conceals a scarred and vulnerable heart.

                Shaken by the unexpected emotional exposure, Sally flees the demanding Masters and the Shadowlands.  Both Galen and Vance have reasons not to seek a long-term submissive, but when a brutal attack by her ex-Dom sends Sally into their home, the two agents are drive to protect her.  To help her.  To take her under command.  Falling in love isn’t in the plans. 

                But as the little imp brings light into their lives, they begin to want more…until they discover she’s hacked into an organization that delights in burning people alive.


What I Love About This Book: I love Cherise Sinclair she can do no wrong by me!  I love that her BDSM books don’t only deal with the physical elements of a BDSM relationship but the psychology behind them as well.  I love that her books explore the world of BDSM, explain to you the basics, and show you that there are many different types of BDSM couples in the community. 

                I like that we are finally getting to story about Sally, she’s been in a lot of the other Shadowland books and it’s great to for her to finally her Dom, or Doms I should say. She’s such a great character, and in every book I just wanted her to find her soul mate so badly and it broke my heart a little that each book would end and Sally would still be single.  I was beginning to wonder if Cherise was just waiting to give Sally her own story or she was just doomed to be a single trainee forever.

 I also love that this book addresses polyamory because it hasn’t really been talked about in the series yet. Like I’ve said before each book kind of addresses the many facets of the BDSM world, and what works for one couple doesn’t work for another.  It was exciting to finally get to polyamory and what kind of dynamics go into such a relationship.  Also, Galen and Vance are very likable characters, and have been the heroes in a couple of the other books. 

Sally definitely seems a little sad and hurt in this story, and instantly you feel so bad for her.  For years she has been holding in the pain of her mother’s death and her father’s coldness and blame.  You can see how the physical and verbal abuse she received from her father has twisted her up inside, making her a very likable character.  Her bubbly and mischievous personality definitely lead to a couple laugh out loud moments while reading, and I love book that can make me cry and laugh.   



Cons: The only real complaint about this book that would have is that this series introduces you to the different types of relationships that exist in the BDSM world, and even though it was talked about there are no detailed sex scenes that involved Sally and just one of them.  Like I said they are talked about and skimmed over but I would’ve liked to have read one sex scene with each Dom separately.  I also felt like the sex scenes were more skimmed over than the other books, there were a couple detailed ones but for some reason I felt like there were less in this book than the rest.



Overall:  Great book, great story, great series!!!!  I was so happy to finally get to Sally’s story, and it was so great it included Vance and Galen.  I also loved that it went back to Dan and Kari for a small part, its great when the old characters POV are put into a story so you feel like you haven’t left them all behind.  This series doesn’t just bring you into the world of BDSM but shows you the importance of family, friends, and community.  When something horrible happens to someone, there are friends around like Master Z, or Master Cullen to stand up for you and help pick up the pieces.  Sally, Vance, and Galen experience this throughout the plot, and it is just totally reiterated at the end as well.  Sally is a great leading lady; her personality is relatable and definitely lovable.  Same goes for Vance and Galen as well, it’s wonderful that two Doms could find their balance so well with each other and find happiness with Sally at the end.  There were definitely a couple scenes that had you on the edge of your seat, while other scenes made you “oh that is so cute”, and I love books that can take you on a journey and this one definitely did.

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