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The Sanctuary

Arika Stone

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Jul 01, 2015 Louise rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-r2r

The Sanctuary tells the story of Eve and Val, who meet when Eve is vacationing in Val's native Finland. Eve is a mega-successful businesswoman who has achieved incredible success as an event planner; Val is an artist and rock musician. The two spot each other in a cafe, and the attraction is instantaneous. Within a day, they've gone on their first date, and their relationship progresses quickly.

The two encounter obstacles along the way, including intrusive paparazzi, friends and colleagues who o The Sanctuary tells the story of Eve and Val, who meet when Eve is vacationing in Val's native Finland. Eve is a mega-successful businesswoman who has achieved incredible success as an event planner; Val is an artist and rock musician. The two spot each other in a cafe, and the attraction is instantaneous. Within a day, they've gone on their first date, and their relationship progresses quickly.

The two encounter obstacles along the way, including intrusive paparazzi, friends and colleagues who object to their rapidly developing relationship, and Eve's former boyfriend (a snake!), but the most significant threat to their relationship comes from within. Their relationship, which moved almost unbelievably quickly at the beginning, is eventually tested as they struggle to integrate their lives into one. Val is a sexual dominant and Eve has no experience in the lifestyle; Eve is struggling to reconcile the new life she now desires with the life she once had; Val is dealing with addiction issues and the pressures of being separated from Eve while he is on the road; other unexpected surprises pop up along the way - these are the conflicts that drive the story and the issues that will cause you to invest emotionally in this couple!

For me, one of the strongest aspects of the book was the way in which Eve experiences Val's desire for a D/s relationship. As the reader, you experience this as Eve does, with her reactions, positive and negative, providing emotional weight to the story. Another big plus was the author's clear wealth of knowledge of Finland, which added texture to the story in many different ways. Finally, I really enjoyed a story in which the woman in the relationship is more successful in a material sense than the man; that was a nice twist!

On the less positive side, the pace at which Eve and Val's relationship moved in the early going was just a little too fast to be believable for me. I also found myself wanting to smack Eve (just a little head slap!), when she allowed herself to be vulnerable to Jude's manipulation; I'm thinking a successful businesswoman who is in love with the man she believes she wants to spend her life with would be a little more guarded about the motivation of her ex-lover when she is emotionally vulnerable, but maybe that's just me!

All told, The Sanctuary is a well-written, engaging, hot love story, which is definitely worth the read. I'm looking forward to the next installment in Eros' Edge - perhaps Jenni's story or maybe Eero's?

*A free copy of this book was provided by the author through the BDSM group's TPE Bar R2R on Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.*
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Jun 09, 2015 Tammy marked it as to-read

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