Laura’s Review: The Stark Trilogy by J. Kenner

This is my Damien Stark

Basic Summary:  Hot rich guy (Damien Stark), meets girl (Nikki Fairchild) with low self-esteem but he still falls hard for this beautiful woman.  They get hot and heavy and pretty serious very quickly.  He is a wonderful Dom, and tries to train Nikki Fairchild to be his willing sub.  So yes its 50 Shades of Grey all over again, and Damian Stark can DEFINITELY give Christina Grey a run for his money.  Damien Stark is hot hot hot, a very rich self-made man who as a young man was a tennis pro but decided to become the next Bill Gates after his tennis career falls apart.  He is known for his business skills, his temper, and for the many women he has by his side.  That is until he meets Nikki Fairchild, and offers her a million dollars to be a subject of a painting he wants and to be his as well.  Hot sex scenes, crazy drama, heart break, and mysteries are the themes in this series. 

Good Quote:   “He is Jason and Hercules and Perseus-a figure so strong and beautiful and heroic that the blood of the gods must flow through him, because how else could a being so fine exist in this world?

Side Note:  I chose Cory Bond for Damien Stark because if I have to see David Gandy as one more book boyfriend I’m going to scream! I get it, he’s hot and I will not argue that point but I like variety in my imagination!!!

What I love about this book:  Since it all started with 50 for me, this series is very similar to that so how could I not love it!!! Great sex scenes of course, very detailed when there needs to be.  The way J. Kenner describes Damien’s new Malibu mansion you can picture the opulence and beauty of his masterpiece very well.  The details in this book are just right, giving you the ability to imagine the scenes precisely but leaving you the ability to create your own paradise in your head. J. Kenner is able to bring across to the reader the emotions the environment around the characters creates by describing the main backdrop of the book which is Los Angeles perfectly. You recognize what is going through Nikki’s mind as she walks into Damien’s office and his apartment, as well as all his other properties through the beautiful balance of detail.  The author is also able to do this when she describes the aura that surrounds Damien everywhere he goes, and the feelings Damien has for Nikki each time he sees her. 

          Another thing I love about this series is the many things that set this book a part from 50 shades.  There is a murder trial amongst all this sex and love that really grabs your attention in the third book.  Damien like Christian has a jaded past and at first is pretty closed off making you beg to crack what makes these men tick.  Nikki I feel like is less timid than Ana Steele which I appreciate.  I love books with strong female leads, and Nikki Fairchild is a very strong lady.  I also like how Nikki herself has a jaded past, that involves a dead sister, a bad ex-boyfriend, cutting, and an emotionally abusive parent.  It gives a new dimension to the main character that Ana Steele lacks.  There is also a very appealing element of BDSM in the book, Damien is a very seductive Dom but their relationship is not defined as Dom/sub and it doesn’t really revolve around that.  Damien is a very resourceful man though and one sex scene involves him using the window drapes for tying Nikki to the bed (HOT). 

          Also I enjoy Nikki Fairchild as a character because she isn’t a timid virgin, these book are unrealistic enough without having the main female character be a virgin.   Nikki doesn’t come off as this innocent wide eyed girl viewing the real world for very first time.  She is an ex-beauty queen, current technology nerd and has her own attitudes and beliefs and a past of her own.  Damien is not her first lover, but of course like most of the series he is her last.  She is not someone who doubts her abilities too much, and although she has her own physical issues she doesn’t constantly whine throughout the book about how much better Damien could be doing than her.  That was one thing that annoyed me about Ana Steele, after a while I wanted to be like “WE GET IT!!! You don’t get why Christian picked you! Well we do so move on!!!” 

          This book has deceit, heartbreak, a stalker ex-girlfriend, the other guy, a whimsical best friend and of course DRAMA!!!! The last book definitely had me on the edge of my seat, book one ends sadly, book two ends with resolve and book three gives you a nice conclusion.

Cons:  Most of the series is too similar to 50 shades, which for me reading so many of these types of series gets tiring after a while.  Doesn’t mean I don’t love Damien, and if I had to rank them I might put him at number  3, Christian being number one because he’s the first, and James Cavendish because he’s a seriously hot Dom.  I know it’s hard for authors to make a series like this that involves a rich beautiful man stand out from the rest when there is so many of them to choose from, but I’m still waiting for that magic series that can really pull away from Fifty Shades of Grey but deliver the same emotions I felt when I first read those books.  Also I would've liked maybe an epilogue in this book a look into their future; I felt that the series kind of ended abruptly.  Also, if you read this series because you like BDSM a themed book then this series isn’t for you, it’s in the background of the book but that’s about it.  There are some fun scenes involving Damien’s bag of tricks but like I said BDSM is not laid out in the book like it is in Fifty Shades of Grey or the Up in the Air series.