Cherise Sinclair

As a researcher, Audrey never thought she would be in the cross hairs of a killer, but the work she did for a local reporter not only led to his death, but put her on the run. In picking the town of Rescue, Alaska, she finally believes she has found safety, especially after meeting Gabe, the town Chief of Police. She and Gabe have a chemistry like none Audrey has ever experienced, but she lies to him and the whole town about her name and who she really is, even though they all seem to welcome her with open arms.

Not a Hero is a steamy romantic suspense that is fairly typical for the genre. A lady in distress, small town accoutrements, and a damaged hero add enjoyment to the story, but a one dimensional villain and the introduction of several characters leads to a narrative with pacing issues and a general lack of development. Third person POV doesn't do anything to aid in connecting to characters but doesn't detract from the plot. However, the characters are likable and the banter is cute, so overall Not a Hero is an entertaining first in a series romantic suspense novel with one ongoing storyline that could make it worth continuing.… (mer)

In the first book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series, Jessica Randall finds herself stranded on the road in the middle of a tropical storm. She seeks shelter at a dark, imposing mansion and soon finds herself in the middle of a private club that caters to kink. She’s nervous but intrigued at the BDSM scenes, but it’s the club’s owner, Master Z, that has her all worked up.
Though he often has his pick of subs, Zachary finds the stubborn, curious Jessica refreshing and sets out to teach her about the lifestyle. After he brings out her inner submissive, his possessive tendencies come out and he realizes he doesn’t want to let her go.
This is a pretty fast-paced story that focuses more on introducing the reader to what BDSM is about. There’s no drama, pain, past trauma, etc, that I’ve read in the author’s other books. It’s a short novel with an abrupt ending, but at least there wasn’t a cliffhanger. The age difference irked me a little. He’s in his 40s and she’s in her mid-to-late 20s. He’s divorced with two grown children, but not much was said about them and I really wanted more. I read book 6, To Command and Collar, before this one by accident, and in that book, I got to know Jessica and Z better even though they were side characters.
Other than a few minor typos, the book is well-written and the sex scenes are super hot. The story is in Jessica’s and Z’s third POV with proper scene breaks. Overall, I liked the story.
3 Stars
… (mer)

In the sixth book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series, Raoul Sandoval infiltrates a human trafficking ring in Tampa, FL with the assistance of the FBI. While at a small sale, he intends to refuse the women available in order to get an invitation to a large auction, so the FBI can raid it. His plans are derailed when the vicious Overseer tries to sell him a beautiful, scarred woman.
Kimberly Moore enjoyed light BDSM before she was kidnapped, raped, and brutalized. When Kim finds herself as Master R’s slave, she intends to escape. Instead, he frees her and she’s soon reunited with her friend Gabi, another human trafficking victim who was saved a while back (in a previous book). Rescuing her, however, put a big dent into the FBI’s plan. To get the invitation to the auction, Raoul needs to train her as his slave to make the Overseer happy in his mandatory follow-up visit. Kim agrees in order to stop the slavers, but she never expected to enjoy her master’s touch or serving him as a slave, both in and out of the bedroom.
Kim is damaged but not broken. Even though she’s a natural submissive, she doesn’t want to surrender every bit of herself to a man, especially to a Dom, and she’s always felt empty inside as a result. Under Raoul’s care and training, she finally finds fulfillment. As they work together to become Master and slave, they soon learn each others’ fears and their trust in one another is put to the test.
There were a lot of side characters, couples from the previous books. Even though this book is a standalone, all the Shadowland books are interconnected, and I probably would’ve understood this story more if I’d read the other ones first.
I really like bondage, BDSM, Dominate/submission, erotic stories, but I haven’t read many with characters in a Master/slave relationship. I appreciate the characters’ consensual need to enter into such a relationship, but the full submission in this book was just too much for my taste.
The book is really long due to all the sex scenes, but it kept my attention for the most part. I found a few typos (missing words and quotation marks), but nothing that really distracted me. The story is predominately told in Kim’s and Raoul’s POV, and occasionally in the POV of side characters, but sometimes the narrative shifted without scene breaks.
All in all, Kim and Raoul are awesome people with a kinky dark side. I enjoyed reading about them falling in love.
4 Stars
… (mer)