Ok so this was not my favorite and so not better than shadowlands. The beginning so a bit slow and took me a while to actually get into. Of course the sex was great but i liked how Alex helped her find herself. The main thing i like about the book is their relationship. Sweet, demanding, and eventually trusting. However unlike most books it has a sense of realness. Its not so over the top that it could never possibly happen. This could easily be the life story of your closest friend or even a co-worker! The realness is what captivated me. I tried to like Mac but I just couldn't. All I could feel was pity for her. This was a good story though. I knew from the moment she unlocked the door to Alex's dungeon that he would catch her in there. Totally didn't expect that whole scene to go down like it did. I didn't like that he basically blackmailed her into being his sub by telling her that if she didn't agree to do it that he would report her breaking into locked rooms to the home exchange company. Generally I feel like this plot has been overdone. Broken girl meets well adapted man who happens to be a dom and knows she is submissive. Man spanks woman. Woman likes it. Woman submits to man. They live happily ever after. If I hadn't read a million books like this one, I'd probably love it and give it 5 stars. Because it wasn't super original, I gave it 4. I did quite enjoy the scene where they go to the island and have a little party and he shows her that she's loved by having all the doms spank her. She definitely didn't see that coming and neither did I. That's one of the reasons I felt so bad for Mac though was because she can't feel loved unless she is being spanked. Anyways, all in all, this was a good story. Definitely recommend to anyone who has read any other Cherise Sinclair books and is looking for something similar.
