Candy Girl's Review of "Binds"

Binds (Binds, #1) by Rebecca Espinoza

Book Summary
Ophelia Brand’s life is in shambles. Married to an abusive man and forced to act like the perfect politician’s wife in public, her freedom has been completely stripped away. Alone and without purpose, Ophelia feels as if there isn’t much in this world to live for. Everything changes when an employee kidnaps her from a state dinner. Ophelia is thrust into a new world filled with people who claim to be an ancient race of Mages. They also claim that she is one of them.

While the country falls into the hands of a tyrannical dictator, Ophelia finds herself torn between the friendly Reece who wants nothing more than to protect her, and Spencer, the leader of the resistance who sees her as a tool to fight the war. Tensions run high as Reece and Spencer both try to help her master her powers and unravel the spells that restricted her from using them. As revelations of her past come to light, and the war is brought to her feet, Ophelia must quickly make a choice of who to trust.

Candy Girl's Review

Ophelia is a trophy wife, married to Donovan who is as power hungry and as abusive as it gets. He is the kind of character that will find his place in history books, named as one of the monsters of humankind. His portrait would look really good (sorry for being cynical!) next to those who came to political power and destroyed lives just because they could. Kinda funny that he himself is nothing but a puppet himself, controlled by his father who is the real monster behind the scenes.

 

Unexpectedly captured after attending a dinner, being always the dutiful wife even against her own will, Ophelia’s life turns around quite a bit and discovers she is actually a Mage. A race that goes through horrible times but with magical powers.

 

Responsible for her kidnapping is a small cast of Mage rebels who are not willing to be victims of Ophelia’s tyrannical husband, Donovan, and fight the good fight against the dictator. Ophelia knows nothing about this world or the war that is raging, and most of her new allies don’t trust her, seeing her as the wife of the dictator they despise only.

 

Spencer the arrogant and cocky rebel leader, and Reece the soft, sweet, gentle guy who wants to keep Ophelia safe are the ones who care the most. They all have their own secrets, and so it´s never quite clear what to expect, and even more so whom really to trust. A triangle, a good guy vs. bad guy romance in the making? Psst! I won’t tell. ;-)

 

Ophelia is quite a strong heroine and even the situation she finds herself in seems bizarre she is determined to make the best of it, and becomes more confidential with every turn of the pages. Love also the snark and her wit, and Ophelia is really everything but a doormat. Ophelia seems very real to me. A longing to be respected as equal, to be cared for but also not taking shit from anyone anymore. Mixed emotions as they are so much of a part of a daily life of everyone. And no, I won’t call this moody! We all have our insecurities, but also our hidden strength we know nothing about and only learn how much we are able to bear and actually to do when we are confronted with situations where one simply has to act. And that’s what I love about Ophelia. A believable, likeable character that grows mentally. That is what I call character development.

 

Urban fantasy with an underlying mystery, a hint of romance too but the whole story is like a puzzle, or like a journey one makes. One gets more hints without seeing the real, the bigger picture until one is finally able to connect the single dots. And that makes Binds that good. Nothing is revealed right from the start, nothing is as it seems on first glance. It takes some work and some patience probably, but it is a marvelous and intriguing world Rebecca has created, fully and well developed characters and a pacing that is just right. A good mix of action, an extremely good ear for funny dialogues and an unpredictable storyline keeps the book together. Just gorgeous. And every time I thought I figured everything out came another twist, another turn of events that caught me off guard, and kept me reading coz my curiosity got the better of me.

 

It is just that good!

  

Sheena's Review of "The Gate"

The Gate by KT Grant
***Disclaimer: This book was provided by the author for an honest review***

Book Summary

A chance encounter between a successful author and a billionaire owner of an underground BDSM club, leads to the most pivotal relationship of their lives…

Erika Walsh has carried a torch for Christopher Milton, heir to her father’s publishing empire for years. After one steamy make out session she begins to wonder if it might develop into something more. But when M. L. Crawford, better known as Max, her father’s publishing rival, seeks her out at a society event, she’s drawn to his magnetic charisma and powerful demeanor. Their verbal bantering and innuendo laced overtones stir feelings she never knew existed, and soon Erika is consumed with knowing the real man under Max’s restrained public façade.

Erika’s sweet nature and naivety excites Max to near madness. He wants to train her in the art of seduction and make her succumb to his every wish and command…as his perfect submissive. Yet, Christopher is determined to keep Erika from becoming the latest victim of Max’s sinister sexual hungers. He knows all too well what Max hides in his black soul and will stop at nothing to reveal all of Max’s secrets in order to protect the one thing he holds dear above all else- Erika.

Max’s dark desires scare yet arouse Erika, as he opens her eyes to a new bold world full of passion and ecstasy she never imagined until him. But the biggest question remains: Is Erika’s craving for Max just an illusion that transpires behind the walls of The Gate?

 

 

 

Sheena's Review

This book was raw and edgy. It's definitely NOT a book for someone who is afraid to explore the darker side of BDSM - most of the sex scenes in here are not "pretty" or tied up in neat little bows. The language can be crude, and the situations are definitely very adult. The writing is well done, and the sex can be very erotic, but it is definitely brutal and hard. It's a good exploration of a BDSM Club atmosphere/lifestyle.

At times I found myself getting annoyed with the main character Erika; it was difficult for me to identify with her. She puts up with a lot of crap from her old crush Chris (towards the end of the book she basically allows him to come extremely close to raping her and "likes" it, and then continues to associate with him...huh???)
This definitely kept me from giving this a four star review, and I'm not sure if I will read the sequel because it says that she is torn between a relationship with Chris or Max, and I'm not down with reading about her being interested in a man who tried to rape her.

I just don't get the attraction once she learns who Chris truly is - what adult woman would seriously consider a man who forced himself (not in a planned way) on her? Before that scene I was totally gung ho on the novel, and then I got turned off. Not quite sure why the author chose to take that turn... I'm actually kinda bummed, because I was into the story before the weird ending...

That being said, I DO like the way she writes (her style) and I would definitely check out other books she's written.