Laura's Review of Control, Burn, & Resist (Songs of Submission 4-6) by C.D. Reiss

If you have read and enjoyed The Inside Out Series by Lisa Renee Jones, The Stark Trilogy by J. Kenner, and This Man Series by Jodi Ellen Malpas then you will LOVE this series!!!

Control Synopsis

What you’re breaking isn’t some little, meaningless coupling. We aren’t some casual fuck, and we never were. Not from the first night. Not from the first time I laid eyes on you. You were built for me. I denied it as long as I could, but we were meant to be together. You are the sea under my sky. We’re bound at the horizon.

Burn Synopsis

Here's how it's going to be, Goddess.

Until you surrender yourself to me fully, I will not touch you.

Until the world can know you belong to me, I will not kiss you.

I'm going to be inches away, at your side. I'm going to whisper in your ear and put my breath on your neck, but the heat of my skin will not feel the shudder of yours until you commit yourself to me completely and without reservation.

Resist Synopsis

The story of Jonathan Drazen and Monica Faulkner continues.

And it's time Monica stepped up to the plate.

I looked down at him, with his tourmaline eyes and copper hair and believed him despite my better judgment. Then I forgave him despite my misgivings. I loved him just because I did. My heart wasn’t sensible or guarded enough. Not by a sight.

I was a walking raw nerve ending of emotion, as if the years I’d spent away from men and sex had made me more emotional, more vulnerable, more foolish than before. I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling like the victim of a crime of consent. 

What I Loved

          Holy cliffhanger batman!! Each one of these stories left me with a HUGE book hangover and practically clawing to start the next one.  We pick up with Jonathan and Monica finally realizing that they mean more to each other than some casual sex and some fun.  Monica is still trying to get her singing career off the ground while trying to pay the bills and dealing with the repercussions of her best friend dying.  While all at the same time falling more and more in love with the magnificent Jonathan Drazen.

          I love that although these are short stories the points of view change a lot so we still get a full rounded story.  It’s so wonderful to not only watch Monica fall more in love with Jonathan but to see Jonathan fall more in love with Monica as well.  Their passion for one another in each of these stories leads to some of the hottest sex scenes I’ve ever read.  I love that Monica’s passion for music is a big of part of this series as her passion for Jonathan and C.D. Reiss does such a beautiful job at conveying this.  I love that I can almost hear her singing at times when she’s performing for an audience and know to my bones that I would probably be her number one fan if she was a real person.

       

           This part of the series was a huge roller coaster of emotions and at times left me a broken heart at times while anxious at others.  There was a point where I was actually mad at them for not just ripping each other’s clothes off and going at it like rabbits.  My heart brakes for Monica at points just as much for Jonathan and I just got totally hooked on their story.  Jonathan’s dominance seems to plague his mind just as much as Monica’s submission does and it was nice to see them accept it more as something that they enjoy doing and is just an intricate part of their personalities. 
 

Not So Much

          I get that these are shorter stories, and that means that some details tend to be left out, but I did feel like there were some story lines that were never really addressed that should be.  Especially when it came to Gabby’s death and what really happened to her.  It’s never really quite explained what exactly happened to her that night and it’s not ever really discussed.  To me, if my best friend died and I wasn’t sure if she killed herself or if it was a tragic accident I would want to find out no matter what else is going on in my life.  Also again a lot of the details I like in books just wasn’t really there.  You hear more about the hill Monica lives on then you do of what the interior of the house looks like.  The same can be said for Jonathan’s house, there are great details when it comes to certain things like wherever they have sex but those details are not shared to other places they are constantly in.

To Sum It All Up!

          Overall this part of the series left me breathless, sometimes I was crying sometimes I was smiling and at the end of it my heart was pounding.  Once again I was sucked right back into the world of Monica and Jonathan and watch them navigate the murky waters of BDSM and life. I really enjoyed that although these books are fantasy and not reality, they kind of deal with what BDSM couples in real life might deal with when their circle of friends and family find out what kind of kinkiness goes on in the bedroom.  I do feel like it’s a lifestyle that many people have misconceptions about and don’t understand and might file it under abuse and when the outside world finds out you like these things I can see it being very ostracizing and dark.  I like that these books address that somewhat and how that can affect a person’s social and professional life.  Each one of the stories ended with a big cliff hangers, at the end of Burn my jaw was on the floor and I thought nothing could top that until I finished reading Resist.  I think I read all three of these in about two days because I couldn’t put them down and just wanted more Jonathan and Monica!