Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Artist James Bryant has forearm crutches in every color from rainbow for fun to sleek black for business. He even has a pair with more paint splatters than metal. After his family’s rejection and abuse from a man he thought loved him, James only just gets through the day by painting. He lives in constant fear that he’s not worthy of anything, let alone love.
As CEO of his company, Carrington Enterprises, Seth Burns is a take-charge kind of guy, and he is instantly smitten by the artist helping with his newest project. When he witnesses James suffer a panic attack, a protective instinct he never knew he had kicks in. He truly believes nothing is unobtainable—including James—if he’s willing to put in the time and effort.
James is shy and confused by Seth’s interest in him as a person. With Seth’s support, can he work through his fears to finally find the true love he deserves, or will someone finally land the crushing blow he won’t survive?
Hmm, where do I start? It was an extremely quick relationship to begin with. I mean, one moment on the page James is introduced to Seth, the next it seems that Seth is sticking his tongue down his throat. There were some things I didn’t understand or had issues with. It didn’t come across as James agreeing with some of the things that he got involved with. Yes he spoke up, but did that mean he agreed to be in a D/s relationship? I honestly didn’t think he knew what it meant in the beginning. I found Seth to be over bearing, aggressive and down right condescending. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t totally dislike him, just for a majority of the book. I felt he came on extremely too strong to someone who’s been abused in multiple ways. I disagreed with how the character of James allowed everyone in his life to take over.
I didn’t understand the relationship between Seth and James primarily because I felt like certain components were missing in this story. James past should have been better addressed, maybe in a prologue. James’ family issue was another issue, it didn’t really have much explanation. And then the bad guys came out of left field. It seemed like the reader was expected to understand certain things. Also it felt like “the accident” was talked around. I guess if we really put two and two together we’ll get it. I didn’t expect riddles; I’m honestly not clear on the car part of the situation.
I felt like the “mystery” was really secondary to the story, it felt like an afterthought. I did find myself enjoying it more as the story progressed, although I wish for a little more details. Certain characters grabbed me more than others. Rhys, however late he entered the party. and Chase were two of those. Chase was a little petulant but that was okay. Seth only grew on me because of his treatment of James. James deserved some happiness. I mean everything bad that could happen, happened to him.
All in all, I liked the story just wished for more…of a little of everything here. I recommend this to people with patience, who are familiar with the bdsm theme.
Cover artist Reese Dante. After reading the book I felt the cover was accurately correct. It helped me visualize the bracelets and rings that James needed.
Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) amazon 
Book Details:
ebook, 200 pages
Published July 29th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published July 28th 2013)
ISBN139781627980050
edition languageEnglish
seriesDesires Entwined #1
settingMilwaukee, Wisconsin (United States
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 