MY ADDICTION - Cassie Ryan

#2 in the Club Desire series

HOT AND SEXY - 3 stars

Plot - 4 stars - Dex has gotten to know Kate since he's an FBI agent, and she's a suspect in terrorist activity. Since they are both involved in the BDSM lifestyle, it was a natural fit for them to meet. Of course, their feelings go beyond the usual D/s relationship, which definitely complicates things with the case.

Writing - 3 stars - I like that there's more to this book than erotica and BDSM, although that's well done in itself. But the mystery surrounding The Dungeon and the involvement of the FBI adds another dimension and really kept the story moving forward quickly. Not to mention the fact that Ryan can really write a hot and sexy scene!

Characters - 3.5 stars - Dex is a great hero. He's strong and alpha as a Dom, but he has a very tender and thoughtful side. With his "computer brain," he does a great job as an FBI agent, which is yet another side to this complicated hero. Kate is an independent woman who has a strained relationship with her wealthy and powerful father, although it's not because of her kink, as you might expect. Instead he dislikes her job as a graphic designer and discourages her all the time. What took away from the story for me was Kate's impulsiveness and unwillingness to trust. She would overhear something, then she'd be hurt, then she's run off and do something crazy. For someone who's a professional and who's supposedly strong and independent, she seemed to be emotionally up and down.

Title - 3 stars - The title is fine and gets the reader's attention, but it's not exactly the case with the two main characters. OK, so Kate uses the words about Dex, but it felt as though she was just trying to fit them into the story to have the title make sense.

Cover - 2.5 stars - Not colorful enough to capture the eye. Beautiful woman, but she's so elegant and untouchable-looking that it doesn't set the tone for the book at all.

Overview - 3 stars - I enjoyed this book and read it quickly. The story kept my interest, and the enjoyable characters added to the fun. I'm not into BDSM myself, but I find the subject fascinating and can appreciate that other people find it stimulating, especially when written and described as sensitively as Ryan does. She was able to blend an erotic story with a political mystery and make it work. I also found it fun when she mentioned scenarios that had occurred in the first book of the series. Since I haven't read it for a while, it was a good reminder and was worked seamlessly into this book. However, what brought the story down for me was that it was pretty vanilla considering it's billed as BDSM. There was only one scene and very little else happened at the club. Most of the romantic scenes were like any other contemporary romance, and I was expecting more. In addition, the end of the book just tied up the bows a little too neatly. Sure, we want the story to come to a conclusion, but it wrapped up very quickly and lost a lot of its impact in the last few chapters. So, a good read, but left me feeling unfulfilled.

Dex is tasked with finding out Kate’s involvement in terrorist activity. Their mutual attraction upon meeting is evident. Their involvement in a D/s relationship complicates his investigation. When she discovers he sought her out, she questions if their connection is real.

I have not had a chance to read this book, Once I have gotten a chance to read it I will edit this review to reflect my thoughts and feeling on the book.

Started reading the book because it sounded interesting from the blurb but lost interest in it. Didn’t even remember what it was about.

This story will entice those who love a suspenseful romance.

It took me awhile to get into this story. Just for the reason of thinking that an FBI agent is undercover in a BDSM club and waiting for the one person to come in and she does. Dax Alexander is the FBI agent and he is waiting for Kate Fretwell who is a tech expert that works at her father’s firm and is looking for a way out from here controlling father. She finds a place at a Hollywood BDSM club. Dax happens to be there and wants to become more than her dominate. When they do get together the scenes are hot and blistering. He also has his own personal space in his home in Phoenix just for his enjoyment. Now though it is on an entirely different level because he wants more than her for his case, and she is totally looking at leaving her father’s firm and getting away from his grip. A very sexy and passionate book with some very good sexy scenes.

I received this book from NetGalley and was unaware that is was the second book in the series. It read fine as a stand alone but I would be curious to read the first book since I enjoyed this book.

Dex is undercover FBI agent (who also is a Dom) sent to investigate a club in LA that may have terrorist ties. He quickly discovers the club is not like the one that he belongs to at home and that it is poorly run. He also meets Kate on his first night.

Kate knows that she wants to be a sub but also is quite good at taking care of herself. She discovers through her time with Dex what a real relationship should look like.

The story moves quickly but not too quickly and ends back up in Dex's home club. There are a variety of icky secondary characters that Dex and Kate take care of before getting their HAE.

Looking forward to the next book in this series.

A cute story in my opinion. The sort of perfect balance of romance and action was okay. If the action was a little more, since one of the main characters was a cop, maybe it would have been five star worthy.

3.25 – 3.5 STARS

In his latest assignment, FBI agent Dex Alexander, goes undercover at an LA BDSM dungeon that caters to both Hollywood’s elite and to political powerhouses. Stepping into the role of Dom—a role Dex is quite familiar with—Dex is tasked with gathering intel on tech expert and dungeon sub, Kate Fretwell. Terrorist activity has links to the popular LA club, with Kate suspected of playing a key role. But Kate is not at all what Dex expected. In fact, he doubts that Kate is knowingly involved in the terrorist activities and vows to prove her innocence. To do so, however, Dex must get close to Kate by playing Dom to her sub—an activity he’s all too eager to engage in.

Disenchanted with the dungeon and its Doms, Kate starts exploring other options. Topping her list is Club Desire, a highly respected BDSM club located in Phoenix. But when Dex Alexander—a sexy, confident and caring Dom—steps into the dungeon, Kate’s interest in playing with the visiting Dom causes her to second guess her decision to move.

“My Addiction” is part of author Cassie Ryan’s Club Desire series but can easily be read as a standalone. As one might expect, there are a lot of erotic sex scenes sprinkled throughout the book, but I found the chemistry between Dex and Kate severely lacking. For me, there insta-love connection just never quite rang true. And while I found the premise to be interesting, overall, the story fell flat and was lackluster at best. But for those of you looking for a quick, hot little read, then “My Addiction” fits the bill perfectly.

This book was just okay for me. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. I wanted more depth from Kate's character; she was too much of a door mat for me. I wanted her to get angry...especially at Dex but it never happened. There was no anger towards him when she learned who he really was, why he initially sought her out or why he was even at the club. Her only concern was weather or not he cared for her. What about trust? Why wasn't she angry that he lied to her? Why wasn't she angry when he up and left, only sending her a text giving her a lame excuse about work? She was tearful, but no anger?

It was a decent story line, just not what I had hoped for.