Sammy’s review of Rule Breaker by Sienna Snow
Erotic Romance Forever Yours 01 Nov 16
I love reading debut authors. I remember spending my Saturdays walking the aisles of Borders trying to find that new breakout book. Now-a-days I find myself searching Twitter and listening in on the latest buzz. My good luck, I saw a post from Forever and I immediately favored the link and stalked NetGalley. I do love a great erotic romance, especially D/s relationships, I find they push me out of my comfort zone, and I am always looking to be challenged by my own biases. Not only did this book not disappoint, but this is a debut author that knocked it out of the park.
Arya Rey is a partner at one of the biggest tech companies with sensitive contracts for the government creating software. Ari and her partner, Milla, and Lex are in negotiations to merge with another friend, Carmen. What Arya fails to realize is that Carmen’s brother, Maxwell Dane, is the mastermind of the merge and also Ari’s ex-lover/Dom. Needless to say, things are a bit messy at the moment. Between the highly sensitive work her company is doing, the ex bulldozing his way back into her life, and her tentative friendship with Carmen, things are a bit complicated.
Ari and Max met in Cape Town doing volunteer work. They are both in very bad places in their lives and going to Cape Town is a way of dealing with all the uncertainties of their messed-up lives – Ari, because her mother’s side of the family did not accept her because of her Indian heritage on her father’s side, and Max and Carmen’s issues with their father being killed. Ari, Milla, Lex, Max, and Carmen were thick as thieves and they also shared a love of kink. Ari and Max are immediately drawn to one another. Max is drawn to her natural submissiveness and Ari to his dominance and how he makes her feel. At the three-month mark, Ari finds herself pregnant and is about to show Max her pregnancy test, when he decides to end things and get back to his father’s failing business. Arya is devastated. While she takes the blow of being dismissed by the one man who understands her and accepts her, she’s dealt another blow more powerful than any heartache over a good relationship gone bad could ever do.
Ari and Carmen mend their fences and Ari explains what happened to her in Cape Town. It’s brutal, heart wrenching, and also shows you just how strong Ari really is. Max, of course, is being explicitly clear that he’s there to get her back and failure is not a part of his DNA. He knows he messed up, but what he doesn’t know is Arya is not just getting over their failed relationship for the past five years, she’s trying to survive the horrors that occurred after he shattered her heart into a million tiny pieces. There are also death threats being sent to Ari, because of the work she is doing. Someone wants the software she’s working on and they’ll kill to get it. There’s a small thread with Milla and Lex that, at face value, is very complicated, This is alluded to, but they don’t take center stage in this book.
The sex in this story is well written and extremely scorching hot. Max is very intense and sometimes would make me feel uncomfortable. But, like I said above, I love my boundaries pushed. Ari is still in love with Max, but she’s gun shy and she still hasn’t told him about her big secret. This cat and mouse thing with this huge reveal took a little too long for my patience, but I do get it was a major plot point. I was slightly disappointed with Max in this regard, because, while he said all the right things, I just wanted more. The huge buildup to who is after the software comes to the forefront and it’s explosive. My only slight niggle is the fact that Max and Lex allowed Ari to take off with James, her personal bodyguard, and three other security guys, knowing what was at stake and the fact that Milla was just kidnapped. It just didn’t ring true to either character, especially Max and Lex. They’re very protective. With that said, these were just little niggles. This book was high octane goodness. I am looking forward to next book in this world. I have a feeling Lex and Milla are going to be just as complicated, if not more so.
As a side note. Max owns a BDSM club. That’s the added bonus to the great story telling, hot sex, and complex issues.
Smart, sexy, intense, heartbreaking, redemptive, survival, grace, commitment, and true love is what makes this book something special. Take a chance. You might be reading your next favorite book.
Grade: B+
Summary:
She controls a technology empire. He controls her.
At just twenty-eight years old, Arya Rey has become queen of the tech world. While she is highly respected as a philanthropist and fearless businesswoman, no one would suspect that beneath her controlled exterior simmers a private passion. A desire never spoken of in Boston’s elite social circles. A need for submission, for satisfaction, for the kind of exquisite pleasure that can only be provided by one man . . . her billionaire ex-lover Maxwell Dane.
It’s been five years since Max and Arya last met. Five years that they’ve longed for the feel of each other’s skin. Max always takes what he wants, and he wants Arya back. But it’s more than the memory of her broken heart that makes her resist. During their time apart, Arya has collected secrets of her own. She can give Max her body, but can she give him the truth?
