Review – My Liege of Dark Haven (Mountain Masters #3) by Cherise Sinclair

Description:
Threatened by university cutbacks, Professor Abigail Bern’s only hope is to publish a provocative research paper–soon. Planning to covertly observe behavior in the notorious Dark Haven BDSM club, she takes a receptionist job. When the owner calls upon her to assist in a demonstration, she’s appalled. Then fascinated. Under the unyielding hands of the master known as my Liege, she discovers a need to be more than an observer.

His late wife had been the center of his life, and Xavier Leduc wants no other. But when his new receptionist does her utmost to keep an emotional distance from him, he’s intrigued and digs deeper. She’s adorable. Intriguingly intelligent, beautifully submissive, sweetly vulnerable. He soon realizes her defenses are keeping her on the fringe of her sexuality–and her life. As he draws her into fuller participation, she unconsciously does the same for him. She begins to fill his world.

Ever since the night she met my Liege Xavier, Abby has questioned everything she believes about herself. She’s falling for the stern owner of Dark Haven and thinks he’s beginning to care for her…until the day he learns why she’s in his club.

How do you define a great book? Is it one that makes you want to read it again as soon as you are finished? One that makes you think and makes you feel? Or one that makes you want to know the characters personally? Could it be one with a great plot, hot sex, and that keeps you turning the pages until you are done? For Cherise Sinclair, all of her books fit this definition and My Liege of Dark Haven, her latest entry in the Dark Haven/ Master of the Mountain series, is a prime example.

The characters are sympathetic-people you would really like to know. Abby, a college sociology professor has just broken up with her boyfriend because he wants to do more BDSM with her and she cannot bring herself to submit to him. She is also under fire at work because of cutbacks and needs to have a paper published. She decides to do the paper on BDSM and goes to Dark Haven to begin her observations. Dismayed by the lengthy process to become a member, she volunteers to be a receptionist for the club.

What she doesn’t realize is that staff members are expected to take part in demonstrations-a fact she learns when Dark Haven’s owner, Xavier Leduc takes her under his wing to explore her submissive nature. While she couldn’t submit to her boyfriend, Xavier’s power and sense of responsibility overwhelm her and she finds herself doing scenes with him.

Master Xavier, the Dom all subs want, has not committed to any one woman since his wife’s death four years before. He keeps his women in compartments-staff at the club, slaves at home to train for other masters, and social dates. It is his personal power and strength that have led him to be addressed as My Liege. With Abby, he quickly finds himself blurring the lines of the compartments and she moves in with him. But can their relationship survive the discovery that she came to the club to write a paper?

I adored Xavier. He is strong, yet vulnerable, adheres to a strict code of conduct for Doms and subs, but is still compassionate. He helps Abby raise a litter of orphaned pups from the shelter, his business involves finding jobs for women who have been victims of domestic violence, and he was a devoted husband to his late wife.

Abby is also a compassionate, caring woman, with a number of vulnerabilities from her past as well as a poor self image about her body. She is incredibly smart, loves to help others, and is someone you would really like to become your friend.

The author introduces chemical play in this book, as Xavier takes Abby beyond her normal boundaries. There is also role-playing (My Liege is a great pirate), and we visit some of the characters from the previous books in the series.

This was an awesome read, one I can recommend without hesitation to anyone who is willing to read about BDSM. It will be hard to wait for Ms. Sinclair’s next book!