Fiordiligii

I really wanted to like this book, I am sucker for angst ridden, emotional and deep going stories featuring wounded heroes and heroines. I was fully prepared for biting my nails to the quick, hurtful word fights, and gritty, possessive love scenes, what I didn't count on was, that I would have to discontinue and cede defeat after having struggled through half of the story.

The hero, Garrett Hawkins, turns to the darker side of pleasure, BDSM, (or at least tries to), after having learned of his fiancée's supposed death. Over a year after Sage Weston's demise, the couple is reunited again, after her liberation from white slave traffickers.

Up until the 50 % of the story I've read, Sage shows very little of what horrors she must have gone through during her year of imprisonment. She appears very strong, too strong in my opinion, with barely any weaknesses and traumatas. The very first night the couple is reunited, Garrett is overcome by his desire to sexually dominate Sage, but suddenly stops during the love play due to guilt and later on tries (without success) to play and satisfy his lust with a bought and paid for submissive.

I was barely able to continue after that part of the story, I just couldn't understand the motivation for that particular action. I get it that Garrett turned to BDSM, albeit not very successfully because he is still hung up on Sage, to deal with his loss. I understand that he wants to dominate Sage, to stake his claim and bind her to him forever. The attraction bewteen the couple is very clear, strong and highly believable. I just don't understand how he can turn to another woman in the very first night they are reunited. My mind draws a blank at that.

And Sage apparently is so NOT engaged in dealing with her past, that she has time to plot on how to get Garrett back. Again, I understand that Garrett is the center of her life, the oxygen that kept her going during her confinement. But somehow this part doesn't ring true, as she doesn't appear to me like a character who has gone through a really horrifying and life changing past.

Sorry, but this is a DNF for me!