Review: Reluctant Surrender by Riley Murphy

In many ways this was a very compelling book and in others it fell a little flat for me.  I was drawn in by the interaction between Colin and Ethan. They have such chemistry and make you fall in love with them.

Colin is intriguing because she’s this straight-laced woman who hides herself in so many ways. Through her interactions with Ethan she finds a way to be what he needs and wants her to be while at the same time finding herself.  For this reason, I was completely compelled by the story and couldn’t wait to read more.

At one point I was a big disturbed by Ethan and the way he handled Colin. He set out to give her a taste of playing and set up a series of “BDSM Tapas.” Colin completely lost herself in these “tapas” and it took her some time to come back to the real world.  This was one of the things I really loved about Colin. Where I became disturbed was with Ethan’s behavior after one of these tapas that left Colin reeling. When they finished the mini-scene, she was almost hyperventilating. She was still coming down from the scene. Ethan simply walked her back to the boat house so she could write about it and then they would discuss it. I wasn’t disturbed by having her write about it and discuss it, I was disturbed because she was obviously reeling from the scene and Ethan just took her back to the boathouse. I felt like he should have comforted her or helped her calm down first.

Not only did Colin grow as a person, Ethan grew as a person as well. He learned to lighten up, laugh, and let go. He still maintained his Alpha maleness and Domness (is that a word?), but he let Colin teach him how to laugh and have fun. He learned to let himself care.

Overall, this is a very good story. The end of the book indicates there may be more stories from some of the periphery characters. I’m so hoping because, while we didn’t see much of them in this book, they look intriguing!