Title: The Collar
Series: The Submissive bk 5, Partners in Play bk 3
Author: Tara Sue Me
Genre: Erotic
Nathaniel and Abby are struggling to navigate the challenging waters of their own relationship, when they get a surprising phone call from their partners in play, Dena and Jeff, who are in need of a helping hand…
Seven years ago, blonde, beautiful lawyer Dena Jenkins was tired of her carefully controlled life. Desperate for something exhilarating to help her escape the pressures of her demanding job and her senator father, she joined a steamy, local BDSM club as a submissive. There she met brooding Dominant, Jeff. The attraction between them was undeniable, and, despite Dena’s doubts, they couldn’t stay away from each other.
Except, as the years have passed, their blazing connection has proven difficult to maintain. Dena and Jeff have a history they’d rather forget, but Dena can’t let go of the past, and Jeff is ready to move across the country to give her space. Now, to save their passion, they’ll have to rediscover what it means to trust each other—and give themselves to each other completely…
Thoughts: I’ve been waiting for this book for what feels like forever. So when it landed in my inbox I dropped everything to read it.
Jeff and Dena have a complicated relationship one that we saw a glimpse of in Seduced by Fire when they did a play session for Julie. Several months have passed since then and the ramifications of that night have effected them both to the point that they have each made a decision about their future. One that impacts them both…well one more than the other.
Typically when I read an erotic romance I can expect it to be a certain way, unless I’m reading a few select erotic romance authors. So I wasn’t prepared for the emotional journey I went on in this book. Remember that whole complicated relationship they have…well it’s a gut wrencher.
The Collar is a mix of Jeff and Dena’s past and present so we get to see them meet, fall in love, and then fall apart. While this usually annoys me as a reader for this story it worked and worked well. Seeing what happened to them three years ago and now working on getting back to each other was like watching two people you KNOW should be together finding their way back to each other which is what is happening.
My only issue with the book was two things. First the person who is terrorizing Dena. I did a WTF when it was revealed. Considering Dena’s job I felt the way the author did what she did with this plot line was cop out. I won’t say who it is, just know that it could have been so much better if she hadn’t gone the easy way.
My second issue was with having Nathaniel and Abby from the Submissive Series becoming a part of this series. I don’t remember them from Seduced by Fire (the first book in the Partners in Play series) other than as a vague professional reference from Daniel. So to have them suddenly become a part of this series is unneeded. I personally feel that if you were to take them completely out of the story you lose nothing. The world the author created for the Partners in Play series (of which this was supposed to be a part but is now in The Submissive series) had so much potential and still does, so I’m hoping that from now on they will be minor secondary characters and will let the other characters she’s created in this world shine.
Overall I really enjoyed The Collar and am looking forward to seeing who is up next in this series so long as it isn’t Nathaniel and Abby.
Grade B
