Delighted Reader

Unwound by Lorelei James 
Series: Mastered, book #2 
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance 
Published by Penguin Group 
Published on March 25, 2014 
Pages: 384 
Format: eARC 
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Rating:  

The Delight

I fell in love with the backbone that Amery grew in this story and the fact that Ronin has to face his own mortality. These two learn to grow and evolve into more than just a couple in a bed.

In Bound, Lorelei James wove a story of Ronin and Amery. Sexual tension during a class, draws these two together through events that drew Amery deep into Ronin’s spell. While she bared her soul to him and accepted his darker side, Ronin holds his past close to his chest. At the end of Bound, Amery has learned who Ronin really is and breaks off with him for what she feels was lies.

Falling deeper into underground fighting, Ronin starts a road of destruction that leads him to Amery’s doorstep one night, extremely injured. While Amery still cares, she won’t let him walk all over her any more. Determined to show her he can’t live without her, he bends very little over a long while. Knowing if he loses Amery, he loses everything, he tries to open up to her and let her in.

While Japanese rope bondage was a big part of the first book, it takes a slightly lighter role in Unwound. Martial arts fighting becomes a big focus and just how far Ronin has pushed his body and how the body is pushing back. Ronin must take a less active role in professional fighting and he starts to continue to withdraw and keep Amery out. While she supports him, she doesn’t take everything he says as law. She confronts him and pushes him to let her in. She won’t go back to what they had when they started.

What I loved about Unwound over Bound is we get both sides of the story this time. Going inside Ronin’s mind was probably more interesting to me than Amery’s. He is a complex man who didn’t really have a childhood. He doesn’t want his family’s business, but he has tons of money. He has thrown himself into discipline, fighting and bondage. And Amery throws out the discipline while at the same time harnessing it for the bondage.

What I also loved about this two part books was the bondage. There wasn’t any real BDSM with the pain, submissive tendencies. This was bondage and culture. Amery allows herself to be submerged deeper into the culture within the Japanese bondage that was interesting to learn and delve into. And I loved how Ronin truly worshiped Amery wanting to protect her, but at the same time she evoked deep passion that often times spilled too far over.

The secondary characters also made this much more enjoyable. I am hoping we find out what happens to Ronin’s sister and his second in command. Or Amery’s employee. Or the new partners Ronin has taken on. They all made me want to get to know them more. Please let there be more books in this series!

The story is sizzling sexy! Darkly, passionate…and just darn so much more that I could imagine when I finished Bound. The story comes full circle and trust is grown from where it was torn. A must read!