Mastered (The Enforcers, book 1) by Maya Banks
Genre: Contemporary Erotica
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Mastered (1)
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Breathless Trilogy comes the first novel in the Enforcers series—a bold new direction in erotic romance that explores the games men and women play, and the price they’re willing to pay for pleasure.
What he wants, he takes with no remorse or guilt.
She stood out in his club like a gem, unspoiled and untouched. A lamb among wolves, she clearly didn’t belong. Drawn to her innocence he watched as she was surrounded by men who saw what he did—but no one but him could touch her. He summoned her to his private quarters. He sensed her fear. He also recognized the desire in her eyes. And he knew she wouldn’t leave before he possessed her. She had no need to know his secrets. Not until he had her under his complete and utter control.
What he wants, she isn’t sure she can give him.
The moment he told her want he wanted, she couldn’t resist. Instinct told her to run, but her heart said stay and walk the fine line between pleasure and pain. Though she wasn’t sure she could ever completely surrender, the primal part of her wanted to try, even knowing this man could break her in ways she never imagined. Because once he possessed her, he owned her and it would be too late to turn back. She can only pray that he doesn’t destroy her in the end.
Review:
At first I thought I was going to write an enraged review. Now I'm just resigned.
The writing was bad. Life sucking bad. Honestly I can not believe that Banks wrote this. I'm a fan so even if the start was rocky, the writing was something I had kept hope for. Sadly even her talent for making unlikable characters likable was gone. Which sucked, because every character was horrible.
Friends that were supposed to be best friends turned on each other in a blink. All the characters where hot. All the men were macho, alpha men. Who apparently always looked pissy. There were so many mood swings going on I felt like I had whiplash. Which apparently is sexy. Not to mention that the dialogue was atrocious. If real people talked like this it would be the sign of the body stealers and the impending alien invasion. You know, as they tried to imitate speech patterns.
It hit me that I didn't want to suffer reading Evangeline. She's supposed to be naïve and innocent. Somehow being innocent equates to a pushover, unable to stand up for herself—unless she's tossing her friendships away, thinking she's ugly, and a number of other stupid things masquerading under the guise of innocents. She had to drop out of High School and get a job to help her family. How could she not have streets smarts? Why did I sit through an entire book with everyone telling Evangeline she was gorgeous, and that her not knowing she was gorgeous only made her more beautiful? Maybe I have self worth issues like Evangeline.
Because not even Drake or the sex scenes brought anything to the table. Most of those scenes were boring and emotionless. When I did feel emotion it was because I was disgusted. Because Drake would guilt Evangeline into doing sexual things she didn't like. But Evangeline did it because it PLEASED Drake. Because she TRUSTED him. If Drake cared about her he'd realize that she wasn't into it, it wasn't pleasing to her.
There's a ton of reasons this book ticked me off. The writing is bad, and there were grammar issues on the first page. Mind you it was the placement of a period as a comma, but little errors kept popping up. It bothers me that this book is probably what a lot of readers are going to be introduced to Banks with. It's horrible. This is one of the authors who introduced me to erotica. Who made me realize that me likey ménage amour. It kills me that this is a soulless imitation of 50 Shades exists. (No when I first heard about it and saw it on the shelves in the stores that was my first thought! That Banks, or the publisher, was trying to suck off the 50 Shades train.) If you're a Banks fan you'll probably try it out like I had to. Be warned, borrow it. If you're new to Banks. Please, start with another book.
There's no way I will be checking out any more books in this series, and I'm very nervous about that HR I've been waiting for.
Sexual Content: Yep, lots. And I'm going to say it some of the sex was guilt/coerced for Evangeline to participate.
1/5- I couldn't finish it or wish I hadn't.
| Previous book(s) in series: | ||
| Reviewed on BW: | Amazon: | Goodreads: |
| Mastered (1) Dominated (2) Kept (3) | Mastered (1) Dominated (2) Kept (3) | Mastered (1) Dominated (2) Kept (3) |
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