This book was ok. I hadn't read the first book and I think if I did I would appreciate this one more. Overall good story and Ill do another read once I get the first book.

Draggy and unbelievable in parts, it's a typical romance of its category, but nothing that hasn't been seen before.

Dean and Maya are seriously the perfect couple. I love everything about their relationship and how they easily mesh together.

I enjoyed Ansel's character. The whole scene with them was intense and learning about his friendship with Dean was interesting.

I have high hopes for marriage and them to have babies in the third book, The Reward!

This book should not be read as a standalone. I'm not sure it should be read at all but it definitely is not a standalone. I did not read part 1 of this series and I was completely lost about what was occurring in this book. Not only was I lost but there was so much going on in this book that didn't seem to have anything to do with the relationship that I thought I was going to be reading about that I quickly lost interest. I got 30% into this book and I knew way too much about a broad swath of supporting characters and events that I really didn't care about and didn't think should have been included in the book. Also, I thought this book was an erotic romance and there was almost no erotic content. Lastly, Maya's aversion to "discipline" as discipline was completely confusing to me. There was nothing about this story to draw the reader in and all the non-plot information made reading tedious and exhausting.

The Discipline was a hot and steamy 5 star read.

I was excited to get more of Maya and Dean and their unusual relationship. He gives her little assignments to test her sexually. Maya is a submissive who has had an abusive ex, so some things need to be taken lightly so she doesn’t get spooked.

Dean is quite the dominant male that seems to have a moody and edgy side to him. At times Maya didn’t know what to expect from him. And the Christmas gift that he gave her was definitely not what she had expected.
When Maya gets to meet his family and friends it's a great step forward in their relationship. There was something a little off between Ansel and Dean but she couldn’t get Dean to open up to her. Always about fulfilling Maya’s fantasies, Dean agrees to try a fantasy that didn’t exactly go great the first time around. Will it work this time? Will Maya get the satisfaction she is looking for?

Things get more intense as things move forward. Twists and secrets get revealed, some will help you understand Dean much better. Again, he had to grow on me with his attitude towards Maya when all she wanted was to be there for him. We don’t end in a cliffhanger but the story is left with a continuation in the series., I’m looking forward to reading The Reward. 1-click and get started today on this great series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. Reviewed by MAustin from Alpha Book Club

Great follow-up!

The best part? Not as much Miss Prude. Sorry, maybe people appreciate her. I do not.

But this story? Gosh. So good. It's filled with sex, but the story is also so great. I loved this one because as Maya and Dean continue to date, they don't loose themselves in each other. Things are moving quickly, they're becoming closer, but they still hold onto their individuality. They're both passionate about their work, so they're not together constantly. This just drives up the passion between them when they do get together.

As Dean pushes and nudges Maya to explore her desires, desires that Dean shares, I could feel the tension between them. It's exciting and very palpable. There are two scenes in the book that really bring this passion to the forefront. One in a club... OMG hot, until it's not. And the other, a threesome that feels both amazing and right, and oh so wrong. And this is where some readers may find a rub... these scenes are so sexy, but there is something that makes them uncomfortable at the same time. This is a huge part of the story and plot line, so I can't say more. But if you get through them, you'll not be disappointed.

I really loved this book, particularly the ending because while both of them are open and honest as they can be, there is always something that needs to be brought to the light. The way they open up to each other is beautiful. The trust that grows is perfect. I can't wait to get to book 3.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Officially I give this book a 2.5 rating. The sex in the book was great and so was the writing. I had no problems with the verbiage and vocabulary. My problem was with the connection between the two main characters and how they acted with each other. I guess I would have wanted to be a bit more in Dean's head during the non-sexual parts. It was good but not fulfilling. It didn't leave me with a sense of contentment after their story was told.

This is the second part in the Lessons in Control Series. This was an okay for me, Maya seemed a bit off to me as compared to the first part. I found the story entertaining and am looking forward to the next part of the series.

I liked the first book in the Lessons in Control series, The Assignment, but as you can tell from my review, even though I liked it, I had some minor issues with it. In The Discipline, I'm sorry to say, I had even more. *sigh*

Okay, so I didn't hate The Discipline. Maya and Dean had come a long way since they first met. They'd gotten close and learned a lot about each other, but not everything. Their relationship was as hot as ever and Dean found new ways to push Maya, which she loved. What she didn't love was the fact that she knew he was hiding something from her. And there lies my issue...

Dean was broken by events from his past, but he didn't share that with Maya. Instead he stalled her whenever she brought things up. The secrecy was frustrating, for both Maya and me as a reader. So much pain, frustration and craziness could have been avoided if Dean or someone... anyone would have filled Maya in on just a little bit of Dean's past. What he hid from her was a big deal and, once again, he put her in a situation that got out of hand because of his irresponsibility.

Other than my frustration with the characters, The Discipline was still a pretty good read. On a side note, I'm not sure if it was because of that frustration or not, but I found myself skimming over some of the sex in The Discipline. I'm not a prudish reader (have you seen my book list?) but by the end, I'd had enough and there didn't seem to be much new. Regardless of how Dean and Maya frustrated me, Jade A. Waters isn't done with this couple yet and neither am I. I'm hoping that they've learned from there mistakes and they're working their way toward a deserved HEA, so I'll stick with them.

Hmmmm...I'm kind of confused with this one. But let me back track for a second. In the first book, we were intrigued with the different assignments Dean gave Maya. These assignments not only gave him the power he clearly wanted, but they also gave her the opportunity to experience what she actually craved. I feel like this book went in the opposite direction. We're immediately thrown for a loop when Dean seems overprotective about an incident Maya really didn't have control over. Even going as far as "demanding" a punishment scene. Am I the only one who was struck dumb by the change in character?

I'm not going to break down the characters in this story like I usually do in my reviews since this contains the exact characters as the first. But I will state that I was just as apprehensive in liking Maya this round as I was the first. I've never really understood her character and what she was really looking for. In the first book, it was Maya who tried to bail when things got too intense. In this book, it's Dean. It's like the sex is great, but.....I'm just confused.

Speaking of sex, yep, that's on point. You won't here any complaints there. But that's about all I got out of this one. Sorry. Just trying to keep it real.

review by Chris

It was written in present tense and was not engaging at all

an ok read

a unique and hot story. Good overall writing. A few issues but nothing which distracts from the story.

The Discipline,  Jade A. Waters

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance, erotica

I hadn’t read book one, just the amazon sample, but thought this sounded fun and I’d be ok without the full story.
Well, I found I could follow the story easily, but there are clearly things there that build up to this book, and really I think you need to read both to fully enjoy this.

I never really got a sense of “knowing” Maya or Dean, that I knew them as people apart from their sexual inclinations. Maybe if I’d read book one?
I don’t think it would have made much difference in that the book seems to concentrate on the erotic aspects rather than them as people with outside lives.
The plots are really build ups to the next erotic section.  Those are written very well, but for me I need that sense of empathy for the characters to make them feel more that just a sensual sex scene.
That's just me though, clearly others want the erotic parts more than the story as evidenced by the sale of books now that are just excerpts of sex scenes from popular novels.
I needed to really understand Maya and Dean, to feel for them, to want them to work things through and...I just wasn't that invested in them.

When the secrets start to come out it makes clear some of the earlier issues they had, but when the big stumbling block hits I felt Maya was being very obtuse, it was very, very clear that they weren’t both happy at what was happening, and I think she only saw what she wanted to. A bit of thought for Dean and his actions might have made a huge difference – that would have changed to story though ;-) so it needed to unfold that way of course, but for me I needed it to be done a little differently.

Its a good book, five star on the erotic part, but I felt the romance side fell down and I didn’t really get that feeling of understanding the characters, feeling as though I could “know” them and as if I was there in the story.
For me that’s important, but not necessarily for everyone. That’s why it only gets three stars rather than the five the erotic section would get. I want eroticism AND romance, but felt I really just got erotic storyline line here.

Stars: Three, good sex scenes but bland romance IMO.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers