reviewed at http://scorchingbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/a-nix-bdsm-review-frozen-hear...

Kai is a little upset at having “lost” his best-friend at the Aerie to a permanent sub. When he needs to grab a sub to hang out in the “couples-only” zone within the Aerie, he grabs the first one he sees, even though he has purposefully never chosen her before. Jenna’s colourful hair, piercings and skinny frame have meant that that he has never picked her out of the sea of unattached subs because she simply wasn’t attractive to him. Up-close and personal, he starts to see beyond the disguise and he has an overwhelming desire to play. When their play session leads to the unearthing of some very disturbing memories for Jenna, Kai can only watch on as she emotionally breaks down in front of him. Suddenly, his detached attraction to the sub morphs into a desire to help her.

Jenna has done as much as possible to change herself from the girl who was abused. She uses the Aerie as a place to get the physical pain she feels she needs to try to exorcize her demons. Nothing prepared her for her session with a Dom such as Kai. His ability to bring her pleasure with limited pain opens up recesses of her mind she thought she’d closed. Kai and Xavier find the best possible help for Jenna and she starts therapy to try to come to terms with her past. She is more than a little surprised when, after a doctor recommended break from the Aerie, Kai still wants to play with her when she returns with a whole new set of limits.

Kai hasn’t stopped thinking about Jenna, finally accepting that he wants more from her than just a couple of nights of play at the club. But now she wants the sex without the pain, without the core element that she started in the lifestyle for. She wants him to teach her submission without pain and he wants to see her as more than a part-time sub. Neither of them know if they are cut out for what the other is asking; will this fragile relationship be able to withstand the new added pressure of them both trying to change?

I had an issue with the lack of safety in book one of this series. Christina Thacher got into contact with me about that issue and we had many lengthy chats about it. She is an author who I think has an awesome sense of professionalism and I enjoyed my debate with her. That being said, the rating of this book has nothing to do with whether I like the author; I genuinely liked the book.

Kai isn’t much of a Dom. But to be fair, he knows he isn’t much of a Dom and this is perfect for a character such as Jenna. Kai is a beautiful man who likes a bit of kink and treats sick kids for a living; yeah, I was hooked straight away! His reaction to Jenna’s freak-out made sense to me because of his profession; I completely understand that he would want to heal her and feel partially responsible for her care. I loved that it was during this time, and not during the sex, that he started to have real feelings for her. In fact, I pretty much loved Kai throughout the book. He is caring, sensitive of her needs and has a lovely imagination. In fact, he has all the major attributes of a Dom...he just can’t actually be bothered being a Dominant all of the time. He doesn’t really get off on the control, more the kinky sex and bringing his sub pleasure. I really enjoyed the way he was with Jenna, he made me like him!

Jenna is a heavily damaged lady. The abuse she suffered as a child is truly horrible and she uses the pain of BDSM to try to exorcize her demons. Prior to this, she used to use self harming as a tool to try to do this, but she *thinks* this is the healthier way to deal. It’s not because she is effectively lying to any Dom she plays with as she isn’t actually in this for the submission, just the pain. When she comes back to the Aerie I wasn’t even sure she was a sub... the draw for her was the pain and that doesn’t make a submissive. I wanted her and Kai to work out, I just wasn’t sure that they would.

The sex in this book is really really fun and hot. I do think it is light on the BDSM and high on the kink factor, but that was fine with the way the storyline progressed. I particularly enjoyed the role playing scene as Sultan and his slave... very very hot J The scenes became more imaginative as the book progressed as Kai had to stick to Jenna’s new doctor enforced no pain hard limit; he really was a resourceful man J There was quite a high proportion of the books where the characters weren’t together; it was a little odd to read a romance with this much separation between the H/h.

Overall, this is a very hot and dirty book with characters that I really did like. I wanted them to work out and routed for them all the way through. Now, where do I find a sultan themed play room?...... ( )