Letting Go (Surrender Trilogy (Maya Banks), #1) (Surrender, #1)

by Maya Banks

[EBookObsessed]

I am a fan of Maya Banks, but I have to admit that I did not like this story at all, and I have to tell you that I only read about three quarters of it. To be fair, I am only so-so on the erotica books. I would prefer a YA book with a sweet, romantic kiss to the tie me up and spank me erotica. Although I don't get the hit me with a paddle until it becomes bliss, I can roll with it as part of the story if the overall story is good.

I did not like the character of Dash at all and I was only running warm with Joss. It started out good. Joss wants to move on with her life and she discusses her decision with her friends to give The House a try. She also frees Dash as her crutch because she has been leaning on her in lieu of a husband whenever she needed something, and it time to let him move on with his life as well. She realizes she didn't even know if Dash could possibly have a girlfriend if he was always running to her when she called him.

Dash wasn't happy with "being pushed aside" by Joss since he has been waiting for his turn. Now, I had originally interpreted Dash's actions as being in love with Joss all these years, but it seemed that he just lusted after her. It seemed to me that Joss was discussing investigating dominance. Maybe she just wanted to be told what to do or wanted a little spanking to see if she had any interest. Dash moves her into his house where he tells her she will be naked at all times (unless they have company, of course) and whenever he came home, she would be on her knees waiting. At this point, I'm already turned off by his demands. He then declares he will be having sex with her each morning to wake her up. I don't know about you, but I don't even want to talk to anyone until I have at least one cup of coffee so you can imagine how I would feel to wake up to someone having sex with me while I slept. I am really not liking Dash by this point.

When he finally takes her back to The House, he doesn't take her to a private room for a little kink. Dash takes her into the main room, ties her down to a bench in front of an audience, has her give him oral sex, whips her and has sex with her with audience participation, and then she is to go thank said helper for helping her get off when it's over.

What, what, WHAT?? I think it is a huge jump between a woman who wanted to investigate dominance to being tonight's entertainment. Joss went from being a pampered and adored housewife to being treated like a sex slave, told to get on her knees and when to bend over and take it. Obviously, the story is written so that Joss enjoys everything that they do, but I would have liked to see her be introduced more slowly into it instead of being thrown right into the deep end.

Yuck! I just couldn't read any more. These characters were a turn off to me. I am more interested in reading the second book which involves Carson's sister, Kylie and Dash's new business partner. Kylie was against Joss going to The House. She, like her brother, feared the line between dominance and abuse. I am interested in how Jensen will be able to introduce Kylie to BDSM and keep it from feeling abusive to her. Hopefully, Jensen takes it slower than Dash did.

Personally, this one just didn't do it for me.

Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com