COMPLETE ME

TITLE: COMPLETE ME

AUTHOR: J. KENNER

Pages: 320

Date: 13/08/2013

Grade: 3.5

Details: no. 3 Stark Trilogy

            Received from Random House

            Through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

This sexy, emotionally charged romance continues the story of Damien Stark, the powerful multimillionaire who’s never had to take “no” for an answer, and Nikki Fairchild, the Southern belle who only says “yes” on her own terms.

Our desire runs deep. But our secrets cut close. Beautiful, strong, and commanding, Damien Stark fills a void in me that no other man can touch. His fierce cravings push me beyond the brink of bliss—and unleash a wild passion that utterly consumes us both.

Yet beneath his need for dominance, he carries the wounds of a painful past. Haunted by a legacy of dark secrets and broken trust, he seeks release in our shared ecstasy, the  heat between us burning stronger each day.

Our attraction is undeniable, our obsession inevitable. Yet not even Damien can run from his ghosts, or shield us from the dangers yet to come.

My thoughts:

You are what I need, Damien. You’re all that I need.”

Damien and Nikki are in Germany where the powerful man has to face murder charges. When an unexpected development stops the trial almost before it starts it should mean the end to their problems, but life is rarely that simple and this isn’t one of those rare occasions. Damien is determined to keep his past the secret it has been for so long, but it appears that suddenly that decision is no longer in his hands. Somebody out there can make those sordid secrets public at any time. The fact that nobody knows who that somebody is only makes the problem bigger.

And there is more. Gossip about Damien and Nikki is regularly leaked to the tabloids and Nikki has acquired a stalker who is getting more threatening with each encounter. Facing so many threats together should bring Damien and Nikki even closer than they already were but Damien’s instinct to protect Nikki keeps on getting in the way:

“I believe with all my heart that Damien loves me. What I fear is that love isn’t enough. Not when he’s determined to push me away in some misguided attempt to protect me.”

Damien may tell Nikki that:

“At the end of the day, it’s just you and me. We make our own reality, Nikki. And no one can take it from us.”

But that doesn’t stop Nikki from worrying that they are living in a bubble; a bubble that could all too easily be burst by the very real threats the rest of the world still possess.

Despite the threat of disclosure hanging over Damian and the stalker issue Nikki is facing, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot to this story except for the sex Damien and Nikki seem to engage in as a reaction to everything that happens to them. Sex when they’re happy and sex when they’re sad, sex when they’re celebrating and sex when they’re commiserating, sex when they feel carefree and sex when they’re under threat; sex seems to be the only way they have of dealing with the world and everything it throws at them.

“Between Damien and me, sex is as necessary as conversation. It is our method of discovery. Our sharing of trust. And our ultimate surrender.”

Do not get me wrong, I love a good erotic novel and can easily get caught up in descriptive and imaginative sex-scenes. And some of the scenes in this book really hit the mark. It is just that there were too many of them in this book. After so many scenes I reached saturation point and found myself skimming over the sexy bits to get to the little bit of background story that had to be hiding somewhere.

As much as I loved passages like the following:

“You’re what gives me strength. If I am what centers you, Nikki, then you are what anchors me. Every time I touch you, every time I bury myself deep inside you – Nikki don’t you see? You are the talisman of my life, and if I lose my grip on you, then I have lost myself.”

...it wasn’t quite enough to make this book a truly satisfying read. It seems to me that the characters could have grown more. The Damien and Nikki we end this trilogy with are not so very different from the personalities we met in the first book. In the last paragraph of my review of “Claim Me” I said that I would read this third and final book not so much because I was worried about whether or not there would be a happily ever after but because I wanted to know if these two characters would be able to resolve all their issues. I really am sorry that I have to end this review with the observation that while I was right about the relationship I was also right about those issues. This happily ever after has come to a couple that appears to be unable to truly come to terms with their pasts. If Damien and Nikki were real people I would be very worried about their future together.

RELEASE ME

TITLE: RELEASE ME

AUTHOR: J. KENNER

Pages: 352

Date: 01/01/2013

Grade: 4-

Details: no. 1 Stark Trilogy

              Received from Random House

              Through NetGalley

Own/Kindle

When Nikki Fairchild first met Damian Stark she was still in the beauty pageant circuit she hated. Although she felt a strong attraction to him she found herself completely tongue-tied. When he left with another woman on that occasion she had the impression that he was sorry he had to leave, but that, she decides, was probably wishful thinking.

When Nikki meets Damian again she has finished college, left her overbearing mother and Texas behind her and has just started a new job in Los Angeles. She is at a private showing of erotic paintings with her boss who hopes to meet the rich and powerful Mr. Stark to interest him in sponsoring a product he’s developing. Nikki is there as the beautiful body to help clinch the deal. From the moment Damian and Nikki set eyes on each other there is electricity in the air. He intimidates her yet she feels a constant and irresistible pull towards him. And the pull appears mutual. In fact, Damian has a proposition for her; since he can’t find an erotic painting that works for him he wants her to model for one for one week; one week during which she will give herself to him completely. In return he will give her one million dollars. Since Nikki has dreams of starting her own company and is secretly excited about spending that week submitting herself to this man, she says yes. But, agreeing to his terms means showing all of herself to Damian and that includes the scars from the past she so desperately wants to hide; scars that may scare him away for ever. And she’s not the only one with issues; Damian has a few of his own and he is determined to keep them secret, even from the woman he feels irresistibly drawn towards.

With personal issues between them and outside forces determined to destroy Damian, these two lovers have the odds stacked against them. The question is whether or not the forces that pull them together are strong enough to combat those that are trying to keep them apart.

If you think the above description of the plot sounds (vaguely) familiar you are right. In my other blog, More Than a Reading Journal, you can read exactly what I thought about the similarities between this book and others as well as my reflections on those who felt the need to complain about those.

As for the erotic content in this book I would categorize it has sensual rather than sexy. While the description above seems to imply that this story has BDSM elements in it, I wouldn’t go as far as calling it that. There is some (very) light bondage but in my opinion it is unlikely to shock most people. Damian is definitely a more experienced lover than Nikki and determined to introduce her to new pleasures but this is done at her pace rather than his insistence. This is, more than anything else, a very well written and sensual love story.

I feel the author dealt very well with Nikki’s issues. It is clear from early on in the story that the scars she bears are the result of Nikki cutting herself. And although Nikki hasn’t resorted to that form of stress-relief in three years the urge is still strong whenever life throws her for a hurtful loop. The fact that the author made it clear that this is an ongoing issue rather than one that was miraculously cured gives both Nikki and the story a level of realism that the book greatly benefits from. I really hope that Damian’s issues, when they are brought to the forefront, will be dealt with in a similar way.

I’m not overly fond of the first-person narrative in this book. Having only Nikki’s perspective on what is going on means that the reader never gets a first-hand insight into Damian’s thoughts and feelings. I can’t help feeling that I would have enjoyed this story more if I had also been able to look into Damian’s mind. But that may well be a very personal preference and it is quite possible this approach works perfectly for other readers.

Overall I would call this a well plotted, well written and sensual romance.