[Siren Everlasting Classic: Erotic BDSM Romance, spanking, knife play]
When Lia Constantine’s father dies suddenly, she’s shocked to discover he’s left casino debts totaling more than one million dollars. Unless she sells the family home, making herself homeless, she cannot repay the debt.
Under difficult circumstances, self-made billionaire Jake Benetti, owner of the Arabian Nights Casino, meets the incredibly beautiful Lia Constantine for the first time. As soon as he sees her, he knows she holds the key to unlocking his broken heart. He cannot allow this highly alluring woman to slip through his fingers.
Caught between the past and the future, he makes her an offer she simply can’t refuse—until Lia repays her father’s gambling debts, he owns her, mind, body, and soul.
Lia is into the BDSM lifestyle as much as Jake is, but with their D/s relationship beginning to blossom, will the money drive a wedge between them? Can they ever find happiness together?
My Review:
In Claimed For The Master’s Pleasure (CFTMP) by Jan Bowles, Lia has had a lot of bad luck come her way. Reeling from her fiance’s accidental death in a car crash, Lia moves in with her dad. She’s taking her fiance’s death to heart as he was also her Dom. Bad luck rears its head again and it’s not long before her dad dies, too.
Ever since she was a young’un Lia has been told that gambling is probably the worst offense against God and Country on earth. So imagine her surprise when she learns her dead father left a $1.3 million gambling debt before he died.
Jake Benetti, the casino’s owner and friendly debt collector lets her know she better pay up or he’s taking any assets Lia’s father left for her in his will. Distraught, Lia has no clue what she’s going to do.
Jake, who is likewise reeling from the death of his wife, who was his sub, is shocked at seeing Lia since Lia looks just like his dead wife. He is richer than Midas and can easily pay off the millions in debt, but he decides to make Lia an offer she can’t refuse when he notices she has a bracelet that tells the world she’s into the BDSM scene.
Is Lia the sub he’s been waiting for and is Jake the Dom for Lia?
When I first saw the cover of CFTMP, I knew just what I was going to get when I read it. After reading the blurb, I imagined all this crazy, sexxy play and wondered how they were going to tally their sexxy play to come up with the debt Lia owed. *fans self*
But mid-way through CFTMP, I lost interest in it. It’s written in a very repetitive style as every detail is retold over and over and this gets to be very distracting. (Can you count how many times in the Excerpt we hear how Lia looks like his dead wife and how inefficient yet their-hearts-are-in-the-right-place his guards are?)
I also couldn’t grasp how someone who has been born to hate gambling would in a span of seconds accept it and go along with the flow such as Lia does. Lia doesn’t even put up a fight and just goes along with Jake when he realizes what her bracelet’s all about. CFTMP offered a very predictable HEA to the end and just wasn’t’ what I expected at all.
I mean seriously, what casino owner allows someone to incur that much debt? It was just staggering and then it’s easily forgotten when we learn Jake has so much money, $1.3 million is just like $20 to him. So it was annoying how everything was so smoothly transitioned and no conflict was ever present for long. I’m guessing the author was limited by space as it was a short read and she couldn’t take her time to flesh out the story more or delete the repetitive areas.
CFTMP features:
- spanking
- knife play
- BDSM
- oral sex
- quick read
Jake Benetti studied the bank of high-definition CCTV pictures covering the wall of his office. He always liked to keep an eye on his business. It made sense, when there were huge amounts of money involved. Experience had taught him not to trust anyone.
In disbelief, he watched a woman being roughly escorted through the back door of his casino. After thirty-seven years of life, nothing much fazed him, but seeing a woman who closely resembled his dead wife made him stop and stare, openmouthed. Thank God he had time to compose himself before Juno and Moose knocked on his office door.
He studied the CCTV images closely. The resemblance unnerved him. He’d laid his beloved wife in the casket himself. Besides, if Hannah had still been alive, she would have been thirty-five this fall. This woman was clearly in her midtwenties.
Dressed in gray sweatpants and wearing a white sweatband around her head, she looked like she’d just been jogging. He hoped this small excursion from her daily routine wouldn’t inconvenience her too much. When his two bodyguards showed her to the private elevator, he had the distinct feeling that she wasn’t happy. He hoped Juno and Moose had behaved themselves.In the past, they’d had a tendency for being overexuberant when it came to following his instructions.
The rap on his office door came all too soon. Jake made himself comfortable in the leather executive chair before arranging the legal documents he required on the mahogany desk. When he was completely satisfied, he called out, “Enter.”
The door opened, and Juno poked his head around the oak panel. “Boss, we brought the Constantine woman to see you.”
“Good. You did well to persuade her—”
Before Jake could finish his sentence the woman burst into his office. Her green eyes flared wide. “This is outrageous!” She pointed an index finger at him and wagged it angrily several times. “Are you in charge here, Mister? How dare you tell these animals to force me into a car?” He could see she was shaking with fear and rage. “Do you know what the penalty for kidnapping is? Especially at the whim of some lowlife casino owner?”
If Jake hadn’t been so stunned at the beautiful vision before him, he might have taken offense. So Fred Constantine’s sassy daughter hated casino owners with a vengeance? But what did he expect? The woman was clearly here against her will.
Although not an exact replica of his wife, she was disturbingly similar. The angry, frightened woman standing before him was a little taller, and her exquisite, heart-shaped face had more defined cheekbones than Hannah’s. It was her hair that captivated him most.
Long cascades of honey blonde spread out across her shoulders and flowed down her back, just like Hannah’s had. How he longed to thread his hands through the thick, golden strands, and dream they were still together. Fuck, he’d barely looked at another woman for the three years since Hannah’s death, and it still made him feel as guilty as hell.
Jake couldn’t help admiring the beauty of the young woman standing before him, but he didn’t want to be reminded of what he’d lost. He looked at Juno instead. The guy was certainly no oil painting.
In fact his chief bruiser was ugly as fuck, but he felt uncomfortable looking at this beautiful ghost from his past.
“Don’t you dare turn away from me. I asked you a question, Mr. Big Casino Owner. Do you often force women into the backs of cars against their will?”
With his voice much harsher than normal, he asked Juno, “Is this true?”
Juno shuffled his feet, looking increasingly uncomfortable. “Boss, you wanted to see her. We got the lady here double quick. Just as you wanted.”
“That’s not what I asked you.” He turned to Moose. The guy looked hot and bothered, and ran a hand over his hair. “So, Moose, you went along with this kidnapping?”
Moose just shrugged. “I guess so, boss.”
They were good men, but perhaps went about their work a little too enthusiastically at times. He shook his head. “Do either of you two guys have an ounce of sense?” Jake raised his hands in exasperation. He didn’t want the cops to become involved. As the woman said, kidnapping was a serious offence. Anger surged through his veins, and he pointed to the door. “Just get out my sight, the pair of you, before I kick both your asses. I’m docking you a month’s pay for stupidity.” He wouldn’t do it, but she didn’t have to know that. Moose and Juno had young families to look after.
“Yes, boss.”
“Sorry, boss.”
“Wait a minute.” They both stopped suddenly in the doorway, looking like naughty children waiting to be admonished. “Have you anything to say to Ms. Constantine?”
When they looked dumfounded, Jake raised a brow. “I’m thinking of an apology, you dumb bastards.”
He guessed she wanted to see some asses kicked for the shoddy way she’d been treated. He was happy to oblige. After all, it wasn’t every day he met a woman who bore a close resemblance to the woman he once loved, still loved.
Moose nodded. “Sorry, ma’am, didn’t mean to be so rough with you.”
“We didn’t mean you no harm. I apologize.” Juno bowed his head.
He watched them both retreat from his office. Left alone, Jake then turned his attention to his guest. “You must forgive my men. They’re not the brightest guys you’ll ever come across. Their hearts are in the right place, although they do have a tendency to overplay things.”
“Overplay, are you serious? Overplay?” He knew she was angry. “Pulling me off the sidewalk and manhandling me into a car is hardly what I would call overplaying. In my language we call it kidnapping, or even worse. I was so frightened.” She took a deep breath, as if trying to rein in her emotions. “I didn’t know if those gorillas you employ were gonna mug, rape, or murder me. You’re this close”—she held her finger and thumb an inch apart—“to being busted by the cops.” She folded her arms defiantly across her chest to show she meant business.
Impressed by her sassiness, Jake pointed to the chair opposite his desk. “I apologize once more. Please take a seat, Ms. Constantine. This won’t take long.”
“Mr. Benetti, I think we’re done here. Don’t you dare try and stop me walking out of this hellhole.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Ms. Constantine.”
“Good.” She turned abruptly on her heels and began walking toward the door.Jake calmly shuffled the papers on his desk, before saying, “But out of respect for your father, you need to hear what I have to say.”
Rating: 1 Kiss
Like the cover, but the knife play is a turn off.
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