Title: Slave (Finding Anna)
Author: Sherri Hayes
Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House (27 July 2011)
ISBN: 978-1-61213-049-1

I’m beginning to realise that I have a bit of thing for the darker stuff. All of the books I’ve really enjoyed recently have had distinct edges to them; they’ve been the tales that don’t quite sit comfortably and stay with me for hours and days afterwards as I turn the actions of the characters over and over in my head.

Slave definitely falls into the murky category; as the title suggests, it’s not a hearts and flowers read. Rather, it’s a wrenching tale about a girl, Brianna Reeves, who has been forced against her will into a form of modern sexual slavery. A hollow shell, ravaged and scoured – both physically and mentally – by the man she belongs to, Ian Pierce, she is mentally and emotionally buried beneath the weight of the experiences she’s endured at his hands. Enter Stephan, a sexual Dominant who finds that he cannot leave Brianna in the situation he finds her. For although on the surface he inhabits the same world as Ian, his approach, outlook and philosophy on dominance and submission is light-years apart.  The question is, will his sense of caring and compassion be enough to pull Briana out of the deep mental abyss she has fallen into? And if it is, will she be able to accept that the man who helps her is part of a lifestyle that has, thus far, only shown her abuse?

The official synopsis:

 

‘Stephan has lived the lifestyle of a Dominant for five years. After several rebellious teenage years, it gave him the stability and control he had been seeking after his parent’s death.

As president of a not-for-profit foundation, he knows what his future holds and what he wants out of life. All that changes when a simple lunch with his college friend and mentor, Daren, leads him to buying a slave.

Thrust into a situation he never thought he’d be in, Stephan can’t walk away. He is compelled to help this girl in the only way he knows how.

Brianna knows only one thing, she is a slave. She has nothing. She is nothing.

Can Stephan help Brianna realize that she is much more than just a slave?’

 

I’ve really struggled to define this book in the sense that it doesn’t easily fit into a single genre category. It could very loosely be termed a romance because Stephan undoubtedly expresses his love for Brianna during the course of the story, but his relationship with her is highly unconventional because of what she has gone through at the hands of Ian. Brianna’s feelings about herself – let alone Stephan – are so muddled that they don’t really allow the tale to fit the romantic canon. Similarly, despite the strong BDSM undertone, Slave doesn’t project itself as a straight-forward erotica – although I should caveat that statement by saying this is the first book in the Finding Anna series and I can undoubtedly see the storyline heading in this direction as it progresses. On a very simplistic level, this book is about rescue. About one human being throwing a somewhat unconventional lifeline to another and hoping that, some day, a positive D/s relationship will grow out of the flotsam that surrounds them.

 

 ‘Why did the first time I fell in love have to be with a woman who may never be capable of loving me back?’

 

And so to the characters. Dear God but I adore Stephan. The man is a hero of the first order. Kind, patient, methodical and compassionate, he is disgusted by Ian’s abhorrent treatment of Brianna and the circumstances that led to her being in his possession. Yet the quality that stands out the most for me? His courage. It seems a strange thing to say when it is Brianna and not Stephan who has survived months of horrific abuse but as you read you realise that Stephan is bravely negotiating his way through Brianna’s maze of complex psychological issues, supporting her unconditionally despite familial disapproval of his methods (not to mention his BDSM lifestyle), and attempting to come to terms with his own actions in taking her into his care. Because even though his intent is to rescue Brianna, some of the approaches he has to employ to help her sit very uncomfortably with him. He has a conscience, he has a brain, and the strength to stand up for what he believes in, no matter the personal cost – and how sexy is that?

 

‘I’m a Dominant, like Ian. But unlike Ian, I do not believe in forced slavery. I want a woman to submit to me because she wants to serve me. Not because she is forced to.’

 

Brianna, quite simply, made me want to cry. At the start of the book she is picked virtually clean of her humanity and watching her come to understand her change in circumstances – and her growing trust of Stephan – was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

 

‘My mind was still racing over what had happened today.

He said he wasn’t upset with me; that I wasn’t in trouble. My first instinct was not to believe him, to think this was some sort of mind game.

But then something changed and my brain took over as I reminded myself he did not lie to me.’

 

As the synopsis clearly states, Brianna believes she is ‘nothing ‘and it so gratifying to watch her be nurtured by someone who genuinely cares for her and start to grow again. I was absolutely reminded of bare, grey sapling surviving a long cold winter and the first tentative buds of new growth appearing on its branches when Spring, in this case Stephan, finally arrives.

If you’re after a hot and heavy read, Slave isn’t it. It has glimmers of darkly erotic elements (at times I was reminded of Captive in the Dark, which I reviewed back in July) and I suspect Sherri Hayes will explore and flesh out these whispers as the Finding Anna series progresses, but, fundamentally, it requires a fair bit of emotional investment on the part of the reader. You’ll feel like you’ve been through the wringer upon finishing it, although, as I said at the beginning of this review, I don’t personally think that’s a bad thing. There is much to absorb and Slave lays some very fertile ground for future instalments. (Need, book two in the Finding Anna series, has already been released and I bought it approximately three minutes after finishing Slave.)

Get your handkerchief ready.

Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to buy this book from: Amazon.co.uk (Kindle ; Paperback), Amazon.com (Kindle ; Paperback), Kobo (eBook).

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