Mastered by Maya Banks
My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars
Good Beginning to the Romance — But It is Only Part 1
“You only have one job, my angel. Obey.”
FINAL DECISION:
THE STORY: Evangeline Hawthorne has just given her virginity to an absolute jerk who gave her no pleasure and then insulted her. Her friends convince the innocent, naive and sweet 23 year old that she needs to dress up and go to the exclusive club that her ex attends and show him that he has not damaged her and that she is fine without him. When she gets to the club, she ends up meeting Drake Donovan who owns the club. Drake is ruthless, cutthroat and lives his life with no regrets and no weaknesses. He decides that he wants Evangeline for himself. In exchange for her complete surrender, he will take care of her and introduce her to pleasures that she never dreamed up.
OPINION: This book is only the first half of the romance between the main characters. It ends on a cliffhanger. Banks explains that this book was too long and she didn’t want to cut it so it was divided into two books.
MASTERED has a Fifty Shades feel to it, but with much less kink. Evangeline aka “Angel” is incredibly naive and innocent. I did, however, like her character as she is also genuine and compassionate. Through this book we see that she gains the respect and caring for Drake’s partners (who definitely all need books of their own). Evangeline’s motivations are clear. She is a good person who will do anything for Drake.
Drake remains mysterious throughout this book. He has some trauma in his past, but nothing is revealed here. The most about this character is revealed at the end where he does something pretty unforgivable to the heroine. At the end of this book, he needs to seek forgiveness from her so maybe we will learn more about him in Part 2.
As might be expected with a Banks’ book, this book is scorching hot. While Drake participates in the BDSM lifestyle, the depiction here is pretty tame if compared with Fifty Shades. (I also liked the characters more here).
WORTH MENTIONING: This book includes a sex scene between the heroine and another man while the hero watches. This is part of the hero and heroine’s sex play.
CONNECTED BOOKS: MASTERED is the first book in The Enforcers Series. It is also part 1 of 2 of the romance between Evangeline and Drake.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.