Searock's Reviews > Belong to Me

2/9/2013: I received a comment on my review (on Another site) that this book is now $13! I'm not surprised that Penguin has decided to raise the price of this e-book by $3 because of a little something I call Penguinomics.
(view spoiler)[Penguin can suck it. They have awful pricing and lending policies with regard to ebook readers (people not devices). They need rehab and I would love to see this pub's authors put some pressure on this pub for alienating their readers. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, as a result of this information, I feel I must exhort my fellow readers not to buy this e-book. If you are curious about it, "borrow" it from a friend or library. The book is honestly, pretty awful (and I felt that way long before I learned how much Penguin sucks, I promise).

I have a dear friend whose favorite genre is BDSM/erotica and she rated this book at 5 stars (I love you, M, but I can't see it). It's possible based on comments I received on Another site that if one reads the other books of the series first, this one is more tolerable somehow.

Here's my original review:

I wish this book didn't belong to me.

I finished this book, but there were moments I wanted it to be over. I don't usually cross over to suspense/thriller plot lines, so it could just be me, but I didn't enjoy this story. I will try to explain why because I feel I must warn those who hate shelling out $10 bucks for an ebook to begin with.

First, the emotions seemed all wrong. For example, the hero had little to no emotion or upset after finding his mother murdered. He actually went to school the next morning and had a stronger response to his girlfriend not showing up for class than having lost his mom in a horrific manner just hours prior. It struck me as so odd and pulled me out of the story every time something reminded me of it. There were no police mentioned, no description of his father's response, etc.

Second, I became a little frustrated at the heroine's willingness to have submissive sexual encounters with strangers (as an FBI assignment *uh huh*), but her subsequent unwillingness to actually behave submissively.

Also, I couldn't grasp the hero's celibacy in light of his well-used "playroom". I mean I get what the author is trying to do, but it didn't work for me.

And finally, one last gripe: I just couldn't get the depth of emotion triggered by the tattoos. I knew I was supposed to have a much stronger response, but it fell flat and seemed corny. There were some interesting ideas here that were not well executed. I really like the sensual scene at the end of the story, but I can't recommend this book based on that alone. Oh, and did I mention the just-so-happens-coinky-dinky at the end that just could not possibly be based in reality? My fragile suspension of disbelief fell like a brick onto my brain.

So the bottom line is, I can overlook shoddy storylines for great characters or intense dynamics or even a cheaper price, but alas, it isn't here. I recommend you just say no to this one.