Stone Shattered
The Stone Series, Book 1
By: Renee Harless
I was given this book for an honest review.
Malory Winston is a smart, attractive girl with the self-
esteem of a wallflower. She prefers a quiet evening with a
good book over a boisterous drunken evening at a club. Being
the good friend that she is, she allows her friends Mika and
Madison to drag her off to the local club Lucky 21. Where
they ditch her and she is left to find her own way home. She
meets super sexy Alex Stone, while sitting at the bar alone and
contemplating her choice in best friends. He convinces her to
stay a while, but she soon becomes annoyed with all the female
attention he is receiving and sneaks off. Fortunately for her
Alex is enamored with her and seeks her out, turning the city
upside down to find her…and find her he does. They begin a
whirlwind two-month affair (he will only be in the U.S. for that
long), which involves a D/s relationship and a stalker. He
brings out her strong sexually submissive side that she didn’t
realize existed. Despite her best efforts, she falls hopelessly in
love with him. He is the perfect “D” to her “s”. He knows
everything about her, but she knows little about him, because
he is hiding something. She hopes with time he will confide in
her and maybe love her enough stay.
When he leaves her to return to England, she is
devastated by the loss. Although she knew their time is short,
she still had hope that he would change his mind. He leaves
her with a shattered heart, still in danger from her stalker, and
without an answer to what he was hiding. The book does not
end HEA, but it does end with a cliffhanger.
This book is written in first person, which is neither
good nor bad. However, it usually makes it hard for me to
identify with the characters. When I read a book I want to get
lost in the story and “I, I, I” instead of “she, she, she” makes
that difficult for me. That being said, I am glad I decided look
past my “first person phobia” and stick with this story. It is an
intriguing read, with real life characters, hot and steamy
BDSM/sex scenes, and real raw emotion. Yes, the author
made me cry, for which she was awarded bonus points.
Mallory, although submissive, is strong and it’s
awesome when she realizes just how strong. I am not sure how
I feel about Alex Stone. He is one of those heroes you love
and hate equally. One moment he is sweet and loving and a
total bastard the next. It is my hope that he redeems himself in
book two and that both characters find their happily ever after.
If you are an FSOG fan you will like this book. If you
are not a fan, which I am not, but like BDSM themes, you
should give this book a try. I love books with a
BDSM/dominant/alpha male element as long as the hero is not
abusive. Yes, Alex Stone tracks Mallory down, pushes his way
into her life, and dominates her on a regular basis. He does not
abuse his “power” and is actually impressed when Mallory
stands-up for herself. It’s all purely consensual (except the
whole tracking thing, but she’s happy he found her). Alex
Stone isn’t “stalkerish” like FSOG’s CG, actually takes “no”
for an answer, and will admit when he is wrong, even though
he isn’t happy about it. Fingers crossed for an HEA in book
two.
Four Stars. Cheers for the D/s, the cliffhanger, and my
tears!
Anna J.
No comments:
Post a Comment