Title: Breaking Free (Masters of the Shadowlands)
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (30 Mar 2010)
ISBN: 978-1-59632-965-2
How’s this for an opening line:
‘Music, beer, tie up a willing woman, maybe use a flogger lightly … should be a no-stress evening.’
Breaking Free was the first book that I read of Cherise Sinclair’s and it made me an absolutely devoted fan of her Masters of the Shadowlands series. It’s well written, has excellent characterisation, a wonderful sense of tension and is hot with a capital ‘H’. (Did I mention it’s hot?)
Where to start? Well, I’m actually going to kick off with the message that Cherise Sinclair includes at the beginning of the book (and indeed all her others that involve BDSM):
‘This book is fiction, not reality … Good Doms don’t grow on trees and there’s some strange people out there. So while you’re looking for that special Dom, please, be careful.
.
.
.
When you find him, realize he can’t read your mind.’
You will have a safeword, am I clear? Use protection. Have a back-up person. Communicate.
Remember: safe, sane and consensual.’
For this alone, I applaud Ms Sinclair. Before the book has even begun, she’s taken a socially responsible approach to the reader and made it clear that, while Breaking Free is a contemporary erotic romance, it is fiction and you shouldn’t be running out to your nearest fetish club and asking the first person you encounter to tie you up and take a cane to your behind. This may sound like a no-brainer but a lot of people use books as inspiration – just look at the rise in sex toy sales since Fifty Shades of Grey hit the mainstream – and Cherise’s message is an important one. That’s not to say that other books don’t include disclaimers (many do) but the personal approach to the reader from the author, I think, is commendable.
Breaking Free centres around Beth, a submissive who has suffered abuse at the hands of her sadistic husband, and Nolan King – a Dom who spends his free time helping oversee his friend Z’s BDSM club, the Shadowlands.
Beth is submissive through-and-through but her experiences at the hands of the man she married have left her traumatised and she cannot bring herself to trust anyone enough to truly dominate her. Z (short for Zachary) can see that Beth is going nowhere fast and gives her an ultimatum: play with a Dom of his choosing or forfeit membership at his club.
When Beth sees the person Z has chosen for her, Master Nolan, she is terrified. He’s large, brutal-looking and experienced – the epitome if everything she’s scared of, but her desire to play within the safety of the Shadowlands (a private establishment with vigilant monitors who watch over those who frequent it) wins out over her fear and she agrees to have Nolan top her.
If you’ve not read a BDSM erotic romance before I would highly recommend Breaking Free as an entry book to the genre. It’s well written and really gets into the psychology of domination and submission. As Nolan points out while watching another Dom trying – and failing – to arouse Beth:
‘Nine tenths of sex [is] in the head.’
Similarly, if you enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey and are looking for something new to read, I strongly encourage you to pick this up: Breaking Free is better on every level and, I think, highlights what BDSM erotic romance can be when in the hands of an skilled and knowledgeable author such as Ms Sinclair. Nolan is such a well-drawn character and gives the reader a good idea of the sense of responsibility and caring that is essential to any good dominant in a BDSM relationship. He’s not portrayed as ‘fucked up’ in the way that Christian Grey is – rather, he’s an everyday guy with sexual preferences that the general public would likely define as ‘non-vanilla’. There’s no ridiculous childhood trauma that makes him the way he is. He’s just Nolan. And he is perfectly comfortable in his own skin.
Of all the female characters I’ve come across over the past year or two, Beth is one of my favourites. She’s believable, likeable and a total battler. Having withstood being chewed up and spat out by her marriage you cannot help but cheer her on as she attempts to come to grips with Nolan, who quietly challenges and encourages her to overcome her inhibitions and fears.
‘A tremor ran through her.
He saw her reaction immediately; she had a feeling nothing escaped those piercing eyes. The authority and power that radiated from him demanded submission, and she dropped her eyes.
This was an experienced Dom, the type she avoided.’
Although there is, percentage-wise, a large amount of (very hot) sex in this book, there’s also a great deal of dialogue and internal analysis from Beth and Nolan’s respective points-of-view, both of which help give their relationship texture and credibility. The sexual activity is always put in context, so that the reader doesn’t feel like they’ve been privy to something that’s without emotional entanglement and significance. One of my favourite lines in the book is delivered by Nolan, when he explains why he wants to Beth to articulate how she feels after they’ve had sex:
‘We talk for two reasons. I may know how you felt, but you need to know too. Bodies and emotions don’t always communicate. And secondly, I might think I’m God, but I’m not. I make mistakes just like everyone else.’
As far as negatives go, the only real issue I had with Breaking Free came between chapters twelve and fourteen. I can’t reveal too much without introducing a significant spoiler but will say that the sequence of events that unfolds between pages 186 and 216 is somewhat unbelievable – which is a shame because the rest of the book didn’t feel implausible at all. The plot development in question isn’t a deal-breaker, though, and I think that most readers will be able to cope with it without too many problems.
Breaking Free is the third book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series – and is tied with book four, Lean on Me, as my favourite – but you don’t have to have read the first two to enjoy this one. I suspect, however, that after finishing it you’ll likely be running out to purchase the other available titles.
A really good book and, tellingly, I’m stalking Ms Sinclair’s website waiting for more news on Sam and Sally’s stories …
Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to buy this book from: Amazon.co.uk (Kindle ; Paperback), Amazon.com (Kindle ; Paperback).
