Currently reading
Vampire Mistress
Vampire Trinity
The Submissive (The Submissive #1)
Coming to Terms
Holding Back
Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)
Epilogue: The Dark Duet (The Dark Duet, #2.5)
In Flight (Up In The Air, #1)
Undeniable (Undeniable, #1)
Entwined with You (Crossfire, #3)
Elicitation (The Training of Eileen, #1)
First thing to remember: don't read this thinking it is a Romance because it isn't. So Eileen is about to get married to Anthony, this shady rich guy who she has known for all of 7 weeks. In a conversation later on, he tells her that he planned their honeymoon for months but I wasn't sure if that meant before they met or not.At the very beginning Anthony takes her to see this whacked-out Doctor who decides she is like ultra-submissive and then wipes her memory of the entire office visit. It really didn't mesh too well with the rest of the story.So then our loving couple get married and fly to London for their honeymoon. I expected him to take her to some isolated castle and torture her in the Dungeon but instead he does it right in their hotel room. Two weeks of intense training to make her into what he calls a "sex slave." Interspersed with bits of London trivia when he would take her out sight-seeing for Lunch every day.It is all non-consensual except that Eileen keeps giving in over and over so then it becomes more dubious-consent. Apparently her mother raised her to be totally sexually repressed and this poor thing is an emotional wreck. But here's the thing: I think Anthony could have gotten everything he wanted without all the force and the endless name-calling if he had just put some effort into it. He really didn't have to be that harsh. In some ways he may actually be helping her but it is really hard to tell if he cares. Some more encouragement and praise from him actually would have made it a much more interesting story.And I really shouldn't complain that it had no impact play but I kinda think it might have helped Eileen relax at a couple of key moments. The knife stuff I could definitely have done without.It was well-written enough that I am satisfied with my rating and I will probably read the sequel at some point but I am not dying to pick it up.
 - William Vitelli)