Reviewer: Judith Show Me, Baby (Masters of the Shadowlands #8.5; 1001 Dark Nights #7) by Cherise Sinclair
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #8.5, 1001 Dark Nights #7
Publisher: Indie
Publication Date: August 12, 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 207
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A Masters of the Shadowlands Novella
After his last lover chose her career over him, Jake knows he wants a woman who will put him at the top of her priorities—as he would with her. One of the trainees, Rainie, has caught his attention. Lush body, a gift for living life to the fullest, always laughing or smiling. Yeah. She trips all his switches. But she’s never given him a second look and that’s damned annoying.
Rainie has been burned enough times that she’s not going to get serious about any man. Sure, the BDSM club trainees are supposed to be looking for a permanent Dom, but no harm, no foul—they don’t need to know she lied. Trainees get to be involved in everything—and with everyone. But there’s one she avoids. Master Jake is always frowning at her. No matter how gorgeous he is, she doesn’t need any disapproving Dom up in her business.
Unfortunately, her best friends are having a double wedding. Little hearts are floating in the air. Every breath is filled with romance. Rainie is doomed.
This is the August release in a series of novellas that is styled along the lines of the classic 1001 Nights of legend and each story is written by a different author whose readers are delighted to receive their efforts. Not only that, but this is the 9th story in the Masters of the Shadowlands series by Ms Sinclair and is a delightful addition to the series. Each story in this series features a man who has attained “master” status as a caring and well-trained BDSM Dom and who is dedicated to safe, sane, and consensual participation in the lifestyle. This story is about Master Jake, one of the newest of the Shadowlands masters, a dedicated veterinarian and caring man whose heart is now bruised because the woman who he planned to marry had chosen her career over their relationship. He only knows Rainie as one of the trainees and it is only because of an injured dog that he begins to see her through a different set of “lenses.” Rainie is a woman who has prevailed in gaining a good education, whose mind and heart are true and whose skills are a credit to any business who hires her. Yet her fears over discovery of her past, her insecurites rooted in her destructive self-image keep her from allowing her attraction to Master Jake to blossom.
As always, Ms Sinclair tells a story that is filled with the emotions of real people, filled with the hurts and hopes that drive people to seek relationship, to seek fulfillment in so many different ways. It bears the mark of realism that comes from a writer who knows that about which she writes and brings that first-hand knowledge to the writing task. Even those readers who do not have any desire to participate in a BDSM context can feel the pain and joys of people in this story, the need to be who they are, to experience the best that living and loving can offer. The wedding of several of the Shadowland Masters is also a much anticipated happening and one that readers of this series will enjoy. It’s a novella, that’s true, and ordinarily I am not very jazzed about this shorter story format. However, this is a work that feels like it is longer than it really is and packs lots of story in this shorter form. Ms Sinclair always makes every word count.
Lastly, I really have to comment that my favorite aspect of all the stories in this series is the comraderie among all the characters–the loyalty that all the submissives show toward one another, the deep friendship they share, and the fun they seem to have whenever they gather. The bachelorette party scene is a hoot. Also, the fact that the masters, dominant to the core, still live by a code that respects and values submissive women and men deeply and to the extent that their moral code is built around that respect. All in all it is a really good read and one that should be enjoyed and appreciated.
I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This title is available from Evil Eye Concepts Inc. You can buy it here in e-format.
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