Coveted is a provocative, sensual, and intriguing story of two people who must move past the things they cannot change, see the beauty in what is right now and accept the love that is in front of them. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Top Five things about Matthew Galinda from COVETED
Mathew Galindo (COVETED – Pandora’s Playground #1) was one of the most challenging characters I’ve ever written. Most of the time, the characters talk to me for months before I start writing their stories, but not Mathew. He was so closed off, it was like trying to pry open an oyster shell that had been super-glued shut! He was dark and brooding, sullen to the max, and rarely laughed. I remember, early in the writing stage, fussing at him for it. I said, “You’ve got to give me something! I can hardly stand to be with you. And if I feel that way, the will feel the same way. Work with me here!”
It took another couple of years for him to open up to me and Muriel (I started this story in 2011), but once he did… wow! While he’s the most challenging character I’ve ever written, I think he might also be my favorite (please don’t tell the others. I’ll never hear the end of it). Once he let Muriel and I in, I understood why he was so standoffish. He has so much love to offer, but very few people in his life made him feel loved or even demonstrated what love looks like.
He’s incredibly loyal to his friends and clients, and did I mention he’s sexy? Dark hair and dark eyes that don’t miss a thing. And then there’s that Dominant streak that made me swoon and caused Muriel to forget to wear her underwear. <g> I’m looking forward to seeing more of Matthew in EXPOSED (Pandora’s Playground #2).
Description:
She’s his heaven and his hell…
Muriel Stewart has spent the past year grieving the loss of her husband. Now that time has passed, her inner submissive demands Muriel find a new relationship to fulfill her need to love and serve. But there’s only one man who makes Muriel yearn for the intimate Dom/submissive connection the way her husband did, and that’s his best friend, Mathew Galinda … a man who can barely tolerate being in her presence.
Matthew Galinda buried his own heart and needs the day Muriel Stewart married his best friend and business partner. He’s spent the last eleven years keeping Muriel at a distance, tortured by his love for a woman he could never have, and filled with shame for coveting what wasn’t and would never be his. Not even his best friend’s unexpected death could change that fact. Until Muriel decides she’s ready for a new Dom and she wants Matthew to fill that role.
Having Muriel in his life is all Mathew has ever wanted. She’s his heaven and his hell, and could be his salvation if he can get beyond his past, his shame, and the guilt he feels for not having saved Ian’s life.
Review copy provided for an honest review
No one likes to think about losing their life partner, no one.. but the reality of it is that it does happen
every day and moving on can be scary and hard especially when your partner was not only your husband but your Dom. Coveted is a provocative, sensual, and intriguing story of two people who must move past the things they cannot change, see the beauty in what is right now and accept the love that is in front of them. An emotionally charged story for both the hero and heroine separately but also for them together as a couple and as a Dom/sub made it hard to put this book down.
Almost one year after her husband’s sudden death Muriel Stewart has been summoned to Pandora’s Playhouse a kink club that her husband built with his two best friends; she isn’t sure she wants to be there without him but her submissive knows better than to say no to an invitation issued by Master Lucas and she also knows it is time to start living again even if the one man she has any interest in her husband’s best friend, Matthew Galindo, has shown over the years he’d rather not even be around her.
There was much I admired about Muriel but first and foremost was that even though it was hard she faced the club and the people who meant so much to her late husband and herself head on and realized that she needed the club and the lifestyle in her life. I respected that she grieved but that she also knew her husband wanted her to move on if something were to happen to him and that despite her reservations she took charge and went after the man that she wanted in her life even though she felt he might not want her. She took a chance, she risked a lot and in the end she won something quite beautiful.
There was no doubt Matthew was just the kind of Dom Muriel needed but he was carrying around some tremendous guilt and at times he came across as uncaring and dissociative. He wanted Muriel, that was without question but that was also part of his problem, his shame…that he had coveted his best friend’s wife from the moment he met her. He was such an honorable man that even when Ian invited him to play with them, he always turned them down because he was afraid his friend would see the way he felt. I hurt for Matthew as his intentions were nothing but good, but because of his guilt for many different reasons it took him awhile to come to terms with having a relationship with Muriel.
I felt the BDSM scenes which were fairly light were perfect for where they were in their fledgling Dom/sub relationship but also because of their history. Muriel loved serving her Dom and meeting his needs and I love that she understood the ways Matthew needed her even before he did. There was a special connection between them that honestly stemmed from their love of her late husband and his best friend, Ian. At times their scenes were sexy as hell but other times they were tender and passionate with this latent sensuality that oozed off the page.
From the first book I read by author Alannah Lynne I felt connected to the characters in a way that makes them feel like real people; someone you would want as a friend and that was no different in this story. Character and relationship driven with very little outward angst (although there were a few internal battles) Coveted is a brilliant and beautifully told story of loss, hope and best of all love.
Sounds good…thanks Slick