Review: Sanctum (Masters and Mercenaries #4.5) by Lexi Blake

 

Print Length: 70 pages

Publisher: DLZ Entertainment, LLC (November 14, 2016)

From Goodreads.com: A contract broken…

Ryan Church and Jill Paxon enjoyed their life as Master and submissive until the day Ryan's entire world crumbled. No longer able to fulfill his end of the contract, Ryan did what he thought was best for Jill. He let her go.

An unexpected reunion…
Eighteen months later, Ryan is working for Ian Taggart as the Dom in Residence at the elite BDSM club Sanctum when his former submissive walks through the door looking for a job. Jill has changed, but his desire for her is still insatiable. Jill, shattered by his past rejection, can't trust Ryan, but she needs the job. Back in the community where she once felt safe and secure, she longs for the life she lost and the man she loved.

A last chance for love…
Ryan is presented with an opportunity to restore his wealth and name, but it could cost him his last chance at rebuilding a life with the woman he loves. When the secrets Jill has carefully hidden from Ryan are exposed, a terrible twist of fate might take her out of his life forever.

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Let me begin this by saying that I've never read anything from this author before, so I am wholly ignorant about this particular book series and the characters therein. However, it didn't bother me to read about other couples as most of the focus was kept on Ryan and Jill with the others being more or less background characters. 

The problem I had with this story was the fact that despite it being a novella, it felt overly rushed. I would desperately have liked to have seen more of them BEFORE everything went to heck in their relationship (including the day he put her into the care of someone else in more than just idle thoughts and comments here and there). I also wish there would have been more of Ryan showing that he cared in other ways. I understand him still being in love with her, and wanting to take care of her and do right by her and her sister, but it seemed he was still making demands even after Jill very firmly told her no (let me state that I agree with his reasoning after Jill is hurt, but I would have liked her to have a say in things instead of everything being arranged when she came out of the hospital). 

As for the sex in this novel - THANK GOD it didn't overpower everything else. Please don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good sex scene just as much as the next person, but I HATE it when it overshadows everything else. Thankfully, while there were mentions of spanking and other sexual acts (and one or two sex scenes) there was enough of a plot to carry this story and make it interesting on its own.

Because this is my first experience with this author and I did enjoy her writing style, I will give one of her full length novels a chance before I decide whether or not to continue with any more of this series. 

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                                                                      Sanctum is available from Amazon.com