Her Secret Dom by Samantha Cote
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
★Book Basics★
Genre: – Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: – Stand Alone
Love triangle? – No
Cheating? – No, only the date mentioned in book blurb
HEA? – Yes
Would I read more by this author/or in this series? – Possibly
Rating – 2
★Review★
There was something about this book, and the characters, particularly the heroine, I just could not warm to at all.
At times it felt like the author used 20 words (and words she looked up in a thesaurus) to say what 5 words could have said just as well. I mean I do not just want a list of actions in a book, but when things that can be simply put, are constantly described in a more elaborate way (for want of a better word) it was just too too much. One example “yes, he decided as the sweet tugs of slumber pulled him under…” and that in itself is ok, I have read similar lines before, but it just felt constant here, and I just wanted someone to fall to sleep normally, or “guess” or “work out” as opposed to inferring. But everything was parsed or inferred or deliberated or refuted or recalled. It did not make for a relaxed, loving dialogue between two people supposedly in love and together, it tended to make the writing, and the dialogue between the two characters seem overly formal.
At times it seemed the dialogue was used as an education lesson for the reader. For example:
Jared at one point says “We both know outright lying is dishonest but so are lies of omission. Do you know what that is?”
Never mind she is a supposedly grown up adult in a fairly professional career!
For her to reply:” Yes. It’s when someone withholds certain details of a situation from others. Sometimes it’s done deliberately, stemming from either malice or simply a wish to protect parties involved. Conversely, some people repress information because at some level they realize it has potential to do harm. That’s why lawyers cross-examine people. To uncover these truths”
Then ofc, Jared is all admiring of her, and how smart she is. It was a bit paternalistically creepy at times.
And again, certain aspects of their new BDSM relationship were explained in this way. Felt like I was reading a BDSM dictionary at times. The need for Jared to “quiz” Pam just for her to give a response like she was reading from an online dictionary was just tiresome.
It made it drag quite a bit and feel never ending at certain points.
I actually did struggle to like Pam, she was annoying, blamed Jared for her wrongdoings pretty much, refused to talk about her father, getting very bratty and even pulling his hair at one point as he asked about him, yet, loses her temper and overreacts as he will not share, when she thinks he should.
Add in some odd scenes, where Pam for some reason “recollects” herself as a seven year old watching some butterfly flit about a garden before it dies, or her having to do something in school in art class, and she drew “secrets”, then awkwardly trying to apply that to her current situation with Jared was just odd and jarring. It just did not fit.
It all felt a bit too try hard. Like the author wanted to write BDSM erotica, but make it intelligent and thought provoking and poetic. But failed.
The I got to the epilogue, only for a previously unmentioned AT ALL “bestie” of Pam’s make an appearance.
Not for me.
Amazon Uk Link: Her Secret Dom
The Romance Reading Brit 