Giving in (Surrender Trilogy (Maya Banks), #2) (Surrender, #2)

by Maya Banks

"Kylie sees the way Jensen looks at her. The dark promise in his eyes. That rough edge of dominance she knows he possesses. But dominance is the one thing that frightens her above all else. She and her brother barely survived a childhood steeped in violence and abuse. She could never give up total control and submit to a man. Especially a man like Jensen. Could she? Jensen sees the shadows in Kylie's eyes. He knows he has to tread very carefully or risk losing any chance he has with her. All he wants is the opportunity to show her that dominance doesn't equal pain, bondage or discipline. That emotional surrender is the most powerful of all, and that to submit fully to him will fulfill the aching void in her heart in a way nothing else ever will."--

• ISBN10: 0698148177
• ISBN13: 9780698148178
• Publish Date: 1 May 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Penguin Group USA, Inc
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

I read Letting Go by Mira Banks the first in her Surrender trilogy and struggled to completely connect with characters. When I learned that Giving In would be Kylie’s story, I knew that I had to read it. With a childhood, steeped in violence and her skittish, attitude, I could not imagine her in a BDMS relationship. Banks delivered a heart-warming story with two damaged characters and I found myself rooting for this impossible romance.

Kylie has built up this wall around herself and the outside world, since her brother’s death that wall has been cracking and crumbling. Every day she builds them up and every night the nightmare’s chip away at her progress. Jensen sees right past the walls, past the damage and sees the strong woman beneath the cold surface. He is a dominant alpha, one who needs to protect and possess. They are quite the misfit pair and Banks did an excellent job of allowing us to understand them, see their damaged souls and come to care for them. Their romance was slow-building, with moments that touched you. The sex was very vanilla and revealed the softer sides of BDSM. There was very little angst, at least nothing over the top or dragged out. Kudos to Banks for surrounding these two with good friends and sound advice. We see the other characters from Letting Go and the girl’s interactions were fun.

For all that I enjoyed about Giving In I was not completely able to slip into the story and lose myself. The plot is well done, and the characters were ones I became vested in, but at times the conversations between characters and declarations felt awkward, drawn out and overdone. The conversations felt more like “telling” then “showing.” These forced conversations ripped me out of the story and I felt myself skimming. Since I experienced similar situations in Letting Go, I think this is just Banks style, and I may never be fully satisfied with her books.

Giving In was a solid read with beautiful moments and Banks fans will enjoy Kylie and Jenson. Her care with them was commendable, and she made me believe in them as a couple.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[EBookObsessed]

Since Jensen Tucker became Dash’s new partner, he has been enjoying all the perks of his new job, including the view. He has had his eye on the office manager, Kylie Breckenridge, since he walked in the door, but he has to be very careful if he wants Kylie in his life. First of all, as the new partner, he has taken her deceased brother’s position in the company, which already doesn’t make Jensen her favorite person. Secondly, Kylie and her brother Carson were abused by their father as children. Jensen’s nature is to be aggressive and dominant in his relationships. He knows without question that if he wants to be with Kylie, he is going to have to surrender control to Kylie until she understands that not every man will hurt her.

But having a plan is one thing, convincing Kylie to give him a chance is another. He almost thwarts his own plans when he sees that Kylie is working herself into a state of exhaustion and his dominant nature takes over. He forces Kylie to go home and stays with her to make sure she gets into bed for the rest of the afternoon.

Jensen also has plans for Kylie out of the bedroom. He believes Kylie’s brain and her degree are being wasted as an office manager. She knows the business as well as he and Dash, and he wants her to come in as a third partner. Now his plans include building her confidence in the office as well as the bedroom.

THOUGHTS:
I was not a fan of Book #1 of the trilogy. I thought Dash was an ass and was very degrading in his treatment of Josslyn. I couldn’t even finish it.

But I couldn’t wait to get to Book #2 since I was intrigued by how Maya Bank was going to write a bondage book that included a woman who was abused as a child. Kylie was very fearful when her sister-in-law Josslyn wanted to explore bondage and want getting into a relationship with Dash that included spankings and tying up. Like her brother, Carson, Kylie feared the line between dominance and abuse. I am not 100 percent certain, but I believe Kylie was a virgin in this story because I can’t imagine after what Jensen goes through to have a sexual relationship with Kylie, that she would have ever reached that level of trust before in a relationship.

Jensen is also a member of the sex club that Dash and Josslyn and Chessy and Tate belong to, so we knew he has an interest in bondage and dominance. So how to you play tie-me-up-and-spank-me with a woman who deep down is afraid of a man one again harming her?

I loved that the twist she gives this story in that Jensen doesn’t teach Kylie to accept his dominance over her, he allows her to tie him up and dominate him until she learns to trust him and trust that he won’t hurt her like her father did. I enjoyed watching how Jensen helps Kylie through her fears and helps build her confidence so she can blossom at work as well and show she is more valuable as a partner than as an office manager.

The story line becomes a bit contrived at the end so that we have a break up and this allows Kylie to show her new found confidence to assert herself over their relationship to bring them back together. It wasn’t so awful and eye-rolling that it took away from the overall enjoyment of the story but I did have that moment of “really?”

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[Cocktails and Books]

Kylie works as the office manager in the office in the company that her brother with the help of a friend started. Kylie is a smart woman who is content where she is. She is alone in life after the death of her brother a few years ago. She is still recovering from the abuse her father gave her when she was just a child. While she has friends, she has trouble letting them in. Which is why when she let Jensen in it’s a mystery even to her.

Jensen is a hot and sexy dominate. While enjoys being a Dom in the bedroom he is willing to give up control to help the one woman who seems to haunt him. The fact that Jensen lets Kylie tie him up so that he can spend the night shows how serious he is right from the start. Jensen has a wonderful sense as to when to push Kylie and when to leave it alone.

The chemistry between Jensen and Kylie is blistering. It was apparent in the first book in the trilogy Letting Go that these two were made for each other if Kylie can just let go of the past and move forward in her life. The sex scenes were scorching. I enjoyed the fact that Jensen only wanted emotional surrender from Kylie and that physical surrender might not happen due to her past.

Giving In is the second book in the Surrender Trilogy by Maya Banks. While you can read this book as a standalone novel, I find it best read as part of the trilogy to get the full feel of the characters and the situation. I found this book well written with interesting and engaging main and secondary characters. After reading the first book, I could not wait to read this book. I had a hard time putting it down. This was a wonderful book in the series and now I am waiting to read the last book in the series.

Reviewed by Victoria for Cocktails and Books