Review: My Obsession (Club Desire #1) by Cassie Ryan

My Obsession (Club Desire #1) by Cassie Ryan
Purchase link: Amazon

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In this erotic story of temptation and total surrender for readers of Sylvia Day and J. Kenner, a powerful master gives his dream girl a new beginning in the dungeons of decadent ecstasy.

Running from a troubled past, Sandra Barry spent years hiding out in New York City’s BDSM scene, finding satisfaction and even a sense of community as a sub at a large dungeon. But when a stalker joins the dungeon posing as a Dom, he crosses her personal boundaries, giving her no choice but to return home to Arizona. Seeking refuge once again in the kink lifestyle, Sandra meets a sexy new Dom whose tutelage drives her wild—although there’s something familiar about him she just can’t place.

As a teenager, Brent Weston was a nerd. Now he owns the hottest dungeon in Phoenix, enjoying the power and success he’s always craved. All that’s missing is the right woman to share it with. Then one day Sandra, his secret high school crush, walks into his club. She’s just as beautiful as he remembers. She’s also scared as hell. Brent has been waiting for this moment, and now that Sandra’s in his sights, he’ll do anything to protect her, pleasure her—and prove that he’s the only master worthy of her devotion.

My Obsession is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences. Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

This is another one of those stories I started with trepidation because my friend Bambi did not finish it. That said, there have been books that she has not finished which I have enjoyed so I'm always willing to give the book the benefit of the doubt.

This book read like a sex manual to me. There was a lot of thinking about sex, talking about sex, having sex. Just sex, sex, sex. There's a lot of sexual overtones right through the book. It's like reading someone with sex constantly on the brain. Fortunately, while it was too much, it did not put me off.

I found the sex somewhat clinical and I think that had to do with the overall tone of the book which gave a lot of background and backstory to BDSM. At certain points in the story, I felt a lot like I was reading BDSM 101 and I did learn a lot of interesting BDSM lifestyle terms like munch, subspace and aftercare. Of course, when I mentioned it to Bambi, she asked what rock I had been living under and had I not read Maya Banks and Shayla Black, which incidentally, I have not!

As I mentioned, the sex came across as very clinical to me, all the terms, the rules, the boundaries. I did not feel that there was enough of an emotional connection between Sandra and Brent even though they were very sexually attracted and turned on by each other. Overall, this book lacked emotion.

Because of the lack of emotion, I had a hard time connecting to Sandra as a person and even as a victim. I understand she was being stalked, she had bad experiences where she was abused and hurt, but I did not feel her pain. Everything was explained so clinically that all I felt was a slightly detached understanding. I expect that was not what Ms Ryan was hoping for.

With Brent, I got that he was hot and super attractive but again, I did not connect with him. Usually, I'm all about the hero and particularly if he's an alpha male, I'm all over it. Brent left me feeling kinda flat. It was like looking at a very attractive two dimensional image which I could intellectually acknowledge was attractive but did not get my heart beating faster or my breath catching in my throat.

While I don't feel this story was a let down since I learned so much about the BDSM lifestyle (which I thought was very well explained), I have mixed feelings about reading more of the series. I can see a story for each of the other major Doms from the Club. Master Dex was particularly appealing.

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About the author

Cassie Ryan (aka Tina Gerow) started her career writing steamy paranormal romance under another pen name. However, when one of her critique partners suggested she try her hand at contemporary romance, she gave it a shot—and Cassie Ryan was officially born. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and besides being a write-a-holic, is a frequent speaker on several writing and motivational topics.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads









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