Cherise Sinclair

In the first book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series, Jessica Randall finds herself stranded on the road in the middle of a tropical storm. She seeks shelter at a dark, imposing mansion and soon finds herself in the middle of a private club that caters to kink. She’s nervous but intrigued at the BDSM scenes, but it’s the club’s owner, Master Z, that has her all worked up.
Though he often has his pick of subs, Zachary finds the stubborn, curious Jessica refreshing and sets out to teach her about the lifestyle. After he brings out her inner submissive, his possessive tendencies come out and he realizes he doesn’t want to let her go.
This is a pretty fast-paced story that focuses more on introducing the reader to what BDSM is about. There’s no drama, pain, past trauma, etc, that I’ve read in the author’s other books. It’s a short novel with an abrupt ending, but at least there wasn’t a cliffhanger. The age difference irked me a little. He’s in his 40s and she’s in her mid-to-late 20s. He’s divorced with two grown children, but not much was said about them and I really wanted more. I read book 6, To Command and Collar, before this one by accident, and in that book, I got to know Jessica and Z better even though they were side characters.
Other than a few minor typos, the book is well-written and the sex scenes are super hot. The story is in Jessica’s and Z’s third POV with proper scene breaks. Overall, I liked the story.
3 Stars
… (meer)

In the sixth book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series, Raoul Sandoval infiltrates a human trafficking ring in Tampa, FL with the assistance of the FBI. While at a small sale, he intends to refuse the women available in order to get an invitation to a large auction, so the FBI can raid it. His plans are derailed when the vicious Overseer tries to sell him a beautiful, scarred woman.
Kimberly Moore enjoyed light BDSM before she was kidnapped, raped, and brutalized. When Kim finds herself as Master R’s slave, she intends to escape. Instead, he frees her and she’s soon reunited with her friend Gabi, another human trafficking victim who was saved a while back (in a previous book). Rescuing her, however, put a big dent into the FBI’s plan. To get the invitation to the auction, Raoul needs to train her as his slave to make the Overseer happy in his mandatory follow-up visit. Kim agrees in order to stop the slavers, but she never expected to enjoy her master’s touch or serving him as a slave, both in and out of the bedroom.
Kim is damaged but not broken. Even though she’s a natural submissive, she doesn’t want to surrender every bit of herself to a man, especially to a Dom, and she’s always felt empty inside as a result. Under Raoul’s care and training, she finally finds fulfillment. As they work together to become Master and slave, they soon learn each others’ fears and their trust in one another is put to the test.
There were a lot of side characters, couples from the previous books. Even though this book is a standalone, all the Shadowland books are interconnected, and I probably would’ve understood this story more if I’d read the other ones first.
I really like bondage, BDSM, Dominate/submission, erotic stories, but I haven’t read many with characters in a Master/slave relationship. I appreciate the characters’ consensual need to enter into such a relationship, but the full submission in this book was just too much for my taste.
The book is really long due to all the sex scenes, but it kept my attention for the most part. I found a few typos (missing words and quotation marks), but nothing that really distracted me. The story is predominately told in Kim’s and Raoul’s POV, and occasionally in the POV of side characters, but sometimes the narrative shifted without scene breaks.
All in all, Kim and Raoul are awesome people with a kinky dark side. I enjoyed reading about them falling in love.
4 Stars
… (meer)

In the first book in the Mountain Masters and Dark Haven series, Rebecca thinks her boyfriend Matt is perfect, but their sex life stinks. When he suggests she joins him and his swingers group for a long weekend in the mountains, she thinks it’s the only way to save their non-exclusive relationship. As Matt swings with another woman, Rebecca finds herself alone with a bunch of groping, sex-addicted strangers. If not for the lodge’s owner, Logan, she would’ve been miserable and left out in the cold. Literally.
Logan Hunt and his brother Jake own the rustic lodge and cater to all sorts of kinky people who rent their cabins. Though they never sleep with any of the swingers that come up the mountain, Logan is fascinated with shy, modest Rebecca and wants to help her as she unsuccessfully tries to “swing” like the others. He soon realizes she’s a submissive. As both a Dom and a man, he finds in Rebecca the perfect blend of a responsive sub in the bedroom and a feisty woman in everyday life. They’d agreed to a no-strings-attached affair, but will they be able to say goodbye when it’s all over?
Both Logan and Rebecca are well-rounded characters with emotional problems from past trauma. I felt their happiness and pain, and teared up when they did. The romance and sex developed quickly between them, but their whirlwind relationship felt believable and the start of something permanent. Fear and miscommunication, however, threatened to ruin everything.
I really enjoyed this book and it kept my attention. It’s well written in third person and properly alternates POVs between the H/h. Jake and Simon were also great, and I would love to read their stories.
4 Stars
… (meer)