Letting Go (The Surrender Trilogy)

A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher for an honest review at SeductiveMusings.blogspot.com. LETTING GO is the story of a woman who already found and lost her perfect love, but has decided after three years of lonely mourning that it’s time to go after the one thing that was missing in her otherwise perfect marriage. Josslyn will never forget Carson and the once in a lifetime love they shared. But both Carson and his sister Kylie suffered unspeakable abuse from their alcoholic father and could never have understood the need Josslyn had for a man to take charge in the bedroom and bring her both pleasure and pain. Three years is a long time to mourn. It’s time for Josslyn to find someone who will dominate her sexually in the way her late husband never would. After Carson’s tragic death, Dash was the solid stable core at the center of Josslyn’s upside-down life. As her husband’s business partner and best friend, he has worked hard to ensure that she was taken care of in all ways, except the one he most desired. For unknown to anyone except Josslyn’s late husband, Dash has been head over heels in love with her since the moment they met. It was his misfortune to fall in love with his best friend’s girl, but to his credit, he never acted on those feelings or even gave her a hint he felt that way about her. Now that Josslyn is finally ready to put her marriage in the past, Dash will stop at nothing to make sure that she becomes his. He was prepared to take his time and move slowly toward his goal, even if it meant ignoring the Dominant side of his personality, That all changed when Dash saw Josslyn walk into a private BDSM club on the arm of another man. Could Dash have her as both his love and his submissive? Or would Carson’s memory always be an obstacle between them? One of my favorite erotic romance series last year was the Breathless trilogy by Maya Banks, so I was happy to learn that she had another one planned for this year. Just like with that series, the Surrender trilogy features a group of interconnected characters with overlapping storylines but each book can still be read as a stand-alone story. This first book does a good job of setting up all the relationships between this group of friends and provides clues to how the other two books will progress without turning into a data dump. A special bonus for readers of Maya Banks’s Sweet series is the appearance of Damon Roche and "The House", his members only BDSM club in Houston. This trilogy takes place in that world so I’m looking forward to more glimpses of those beloved characters in the next two books. For me, the best part of LETTING GO was how Maya Banks portrayed the perfect tension between Josslyn’s needs and Dash’s insecurities. Just because they want to make things work doesn’t mean that their new life together is without problems. The problems they face are exacerbated by their inability to fully share what they are feeling, and the initial disapproval from their friends and loved ones only makes things worse. Josslyn’s struggle to embrace her new life with Dash feeds into his irrational sense of competing for her love with the ghost of her dead husband. Their individual fears and doubts inevitably lead to a terrible misunderstanding, and it takes a near tragedy to finally force them to communicate more fully so they can have the happy ending they both deserve. LETTING GO is a beautifully written depiction of how a widow and her late husband’s best friend learn how to move forward as a couple while honoring the memory of the man they both loved. It features Maya Banks at her best, with the heart-rending emotions and scorching sex scenes her readers have come to expect. Kylie’s story is next in GIVING IN, and I can’t wait to read it. Ratings: Overall: 5 stars Sensuality level: 4 (intense private BDSM scenes between the hero and heroine, one semi-public BDSM scene involving a second man)

Go to http://smutfanatic.blogspot.com/ to read my entire review!! What I Loved This was my first Maya Banks book, and I went into this with high expectations because I’ve heard so many great things about her and I can honestly say I was not disappointed in the least. The story begins with a bittersweet note, Josslyn has finally made up her mind to turn a new leaf. She realizes it’s time to say goodbye to her dead husband, Carson and find her own happiness once again. I loved that Josslyn was a woman lost in her grief but realized it was time to put the final pieces of her life back together again and went about doing just that. She’s definitely a relatable character who was easy to love which made it so easy for me to become completely engrossed in this story. I loved that Josslyn was willing to take a huge step out of her comfort zone to find something that she always craved deep down. To me, she is such a brave woman to put herself out there in such a raw way, completely willing to submit not only to a dominant but to her passion and ultimately what would make her happy. Dash’s dominance rolls off him from the very beginning and even though he is at Joss’ beck and call he still knows when to take control and push her limits when she needs it. I haven’t read a good BDSM story in a while and I loved this one because of how hot and possessive Dash was towards Joss. The attraction to each other was burning up the pages and I couldn’t put this story down needing to know what kind of kinkery they would get into next. Not So Much I get that Carson was Joss’ husband and Dash’s best friend but at some point I wish the comparisons between Carson and Dash would stop. Whether it was Joss comparing them (which she did, constantly) or Dash stressing out about Dash, it became a little bit too much after a while. To me it felt like it was more of a disservice to the characters rather than adding to their relationship. I get that this story wasn’t just about finding new love and exploring the world of BDSM, but also about saying goodbye, so I understood it in the beginning. But about half way through the story it became tiring to constantly refer back to Carson and his relationship with Joss.

I ordered this book because I'm hooked on Maya Banks. I absolutely loved the fact that a new trilogy included components of the last books i've read from Maya Banks. The story lines were different but still captivating. Would recomend to everyone.

My review of this book by Maya Banks is not an easy one, mainly because I really like this author and the diversity in her subjects, alpha males being the common point of her books. This is the first one of the surrender trilogy. Josslyn has lost her husband, the love of her life the only man she ever loved. And Dash has lost his best friend. Since then he is next to Josslyn, being the support she needs, but what he really wants to be is the new man in her life! Josslyn hate using Dash, keeping him from finding love so she decides to stop mourning, to get her life back and to try something new: dominance- submissive sexual encounter! What she did not expect is that this is the fulfillment of Dash’s dream. When he swears that he will be the only one to dominate her she is in big trouble. The story was nice, but I had trouble with the execution. I had the impression to reread the same things over and over again. When Josslyn decides to explain to so many different people her decision (including the reader and her personal thinking about it) I just skipped the pages again and again. I would prefer to buy a 200 pages book which is well written than 353 pages with so many repetitions. My second problem is the characters. Dash is no alpha and Josslyn ( due to the repetitions ) does not seem to be the smartest woman… My overall impression was still good however I would really love to read the kind of book I fell in love with when starting to read Mrs. Banks books. Enjoy the read MBTM

I was drawn to this story when I read the synopsis, it has a strong storyline with believable characters. As always the writing is flawless, can't wait to read the next book in the series.

BDSM romance with the friends-to-lovers trope. Check trigger warnings before reading. One of the first Dom and Sub romances I read and I still love the genre. Scenes occur at her home and a club.

Such a shame that there is so much conversation yet nothing is really said. As for the sexual chemistry and domination it's non-existent. I am probably generous giving it 2 stars but it's Maya Banks after all.