Kati‘s review of Branded Sanctuary (Nature of Desire, Book 7) by Joey W. Hill.
Chloe has always been a creature of joy and laughter. Since a brutal attack nearly a year ago, the trauma she experienced has gotten worse. She has started hiding from her life, even putting up walls between herself and those she cares about most. During a panic attack one night, she impulsively calls a number that she’s had for many months. Chloe met Brendan at her boss’s wedding. With confidence and seduction, he easily steps into the role of helping her manage her fear. By the end of the long call, they’ve indulged in some serious flirtation and mind-blowing phone sex—and she’s feeling things she’s buried for too long.
The problem is that Brendan is the perfect male submissive—and Chloe isn’t wired for the D/s lifestyle. While their attraction is undeniable, Chloe doesn’t know if she can be everything Brendan needs. As a submissive, Brendan would never ask her to be something she’s not—even if it will break both of their hearts to turn away from how they feel about each other.
A survivor of a vicious attack, Chloe is struggling. She used to embrace life, heading for every adventure with complete abandon, and now she’s afraid of everything. One night, she awakens from a horrible nightmare, and impulsively calls Brendan, a guy she met at her friend and boss, Marguerite’s wedding. Brendan has been waiting for Chloe to call. He was very attracted to her at the wedding, and gave her his number, but she never called, and he figured she wasn’t interested. He’s thrilled when his phone awakens him in the middle of the night and it’s her. He stays on the phone for hours with her, and in fact, has a very hot encounter with her on the phone. Chloe is bewildered. She’s never behaved this way before, but she feels so safe with Brendan. The next morning, she stumbles out of bed and walks out her door to find him waiting for her. He takes her to work with a promise to pick her up at the end of the day. Chloe knows she’s done for.
But Brendan has a secret. He’s a sexual submissive. And his Mistress is Chloe’s boss, Marguerite. Brendan struggles with how to share this aspect of his life with Chloe, unsure of how she’ll react. Chloe is aware of Marguerite’s lifestyle as a Mistress, but is unaware of her relationship with Brendan. She’s not just his Mistress, but has a past with him. Chloe is bewildered by Brendan’s role as a sexual submissive. She doesn’t understand pain with sex, and while she wants a future with Brendan, she just doesn’t know how she could ever fulfill him sexually. It goes against her nature.
This book was an absolute revelation for me. I have always said that I didn’t understand pain with sex, and I never really identified with the D/s life. But this book explored it in a way that I could relate to. Joey W. Hill never uses the D/s scenes to titillate. She focuses on Brendan’s motivations, how he struggles to reveal not just what he wants sexually, but to make Chloe understand his relationship with Marguerite. Personally, I could identify completely with Chloe’s bewilderment, her attraction to Brendan, and her slow identification of how her pain and difficulties getting over her attack might help her to understand better Brendan’s life and choices. The book is emotionally packed and paced gorgeously, with Hill never, ever rushing a moment, and allowing the reader to relish the slow development of Chloe and Brendan’s relationship. I didn’t realize it when I asked for the book, but it is book 7 in the Nature of Desire series. While I knew pretty early on that there were preceding books, I never felt lost, or like I was missing something. I was intrigued by a couple of secondary characters in the book, but not enough to ever distract me. Branded Sanctuary is a lovely, resonant, emotional romance that I recommend without equivocation. I can tell you that I finished the book and immediately turned back to the beginning to read it again.
4.75 out of 5
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
The series:
