Stealing Serenity by Reese Gabriel

Book 4 in the Tall, Dark and Dominant series.

Career-obsessed Serenity is thrilled to discover that the fake date she’s procured for a big company dinner leads an alternative lifestyle. What better way to avoid any possibility of a time-consuming relationship? Unfortunately the ruggedly handsome, sexy Ross Lassiter isn’t gay, as she’d thought—he’s a sexual dominant.

Sparks fly as Serenity insists she could never be submissive, but Ross knows exactly how to tap into her deepest fantasies of whips and chains and a tall, dark Master. Ross seduces her gradually, sending her outrageous lingerie, engaging her in wicked phone games.

As her fantasies explode into reality, Serenity must balance two worlds. Ross is the one in control but what happens when his emotions come into play? Could Serenity be the one—his partner and bedmate for life? Serenity holds the key, assuming she can stay true to her name. But that will prove quite difficult while writhing in Ross’ embrace, her body bound by his will, her heart stolen by games too powerful to ignore.

 What do you do when the date you thought was gay suddenly turns out to be a little bit more than you bargained for?

When Serenity goes on a blind date, she is shocked to find out that Ross isn't gay, but something completely unknown in her vanilla world. A sexual Dominant, he exudes confidence that grates on her nerves and makes her squirm in her seat. What's a girl to do?

The interesting thing about this book was Serenity's complete irritation with Ross and the hot and cold hate/love thing that was going on. She was repulsed by the submissive status of women in the BDSM world that Ross introduces her to, not understanding until the very end what being submissive really means. I found myself a little frustrated with her character on a number of occasions, but I was also empathetic as well. If you are a complete vanilla, being introduced to BDSM can be a shock to many people. Lots of people just see the whips and chains and not the hidden language behind the scenes. 

Ross enters into the eternal question. How do you attain the status of being a Dom without being an overbearing jerk? He walked a fine line for awhile, but his humanity won through and I liked the reasoning behind his feelings in the end.  

As Serenity's fantasies include Ross more and more and she understands what the BDSM lifestyle can hold for her, the story opens up into a realm of possibilities that made for a good page turning tale. I am looking forward to reading more in this series to see what it has to offer.

3.5/5