review || UNFETTERED

After reading PRIMAL and being just a liiiiittle bit disappointed (and really, it was just a teeny tiny bit; it did get a 4.5 star rating from me, after all), I decided to look into the pre-Overwatch story, the one that is hinted at a bit in PRIMAL -- the story of Ian and Ronnie. I liked Ronnie in PRIMAL; I wanted to know her story.

And low and behold, the book was free. I would have paid for it, I wanted to read it enough. But when the book is free, it allows me to read it even quicker (because I have to budget every single penny).

Know what? It's still free. I urge you to go download it -- totally worth it.

Unfettered by Sasha White

Publisher: White Hot Books (8/4/2012)

Series: Overwatch, book 0.5

Genre: Erotica Romance

Source: Purchase (currently FREE)

Buy It For Your Kindle | Nook || Goodreads

My Rating: ★★★★★

You never forget your first love


Mechanic Ronnie Lang is tired of being "one of the guys". Chasing the fantasy of finding a dominant male to help her explore her sexuality she applies to Overwatch, a private Kink club where her eyes are opened to a world that's more than she ever imagined, and the man she's never forgotten.

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Ronnie is 'one of the guys' -- men don't typically see her as a female-being. Tired of it, she does an Internet search (much to the later dismay of Ian), and manages to find herself an application for Overwatch. 

When the application makes it into the hands of Overwatch, it gets passed around. Each trainer to the BDSM club needs to approve of the applicant. When the application makes it into Ian's hands..

...well, really, he'd rather decline. 

'It was a bold answer, an honest answer. The way the letters started to slant and wobble toward the end made it clear that the author's emotions had leaked into her words. Someone who was so open and honest about their needs would be a joy to initiate into the world of BDSM, which was why there was already excited debate at the table about being this one's trainer -- and why his heart was suddenly pounding in his ribs.'

Ian knew this applicant and was torn. 

'"I know her," he said.

'Conversation stopped and Adam's eyes snapped to his. "How well?"

 '"Well enough."

'Adam nodded. "How do you want to handle it?"

'Ian bit back the urge to should, 'Hell, no', to those seated at the table. No way was he going to let his childhood friend's little cousin join a kink club.'

Eventually, though, he let's his feelings aside and agrees to allowing her in.

While Ian is expecting her, Ronnie never expected to see Ian again -- the guy of her younger fantasies. 

'Ian had been her first crush, the guy who caused her first stirring of desire when she was barely a teenager. It would make sense that her desire for a dominant man stemmed from her adolescent yearning for him, the good-looking boy next door who'd always been there for her. He hadn't laughed at her for wanting to play on the all-boys softball team at school, or for fighting to be able to take a shop class instead of home economics. He'd been her first friend when she'd moved out to California, and the first guy to ever kiss her.

'Unfortunately, he disappeared from her life after that kiss.' 

But while he was expecting her, he hadn't truly been prepared for her.

'Christ, she still had those big dark eyes that he'd loved years ago. "Hello, again," he said.

[...]

'They looked at one another, and the years fell away. She wasn't someone he used to know anymore. She was Ronnie. The same girl next door he'd looked out for. The same one who'd sat at his side after his Grandmother passed, and tempted him beyond reason until he'd kissed her. He'd been eighteen at the time, and hand no business kissing a fifteen-year-old.

With novellas, an author has to be cautious about passage of time. While a reader can get engrossed in the story and forget that, hello, the book took place over a whoppin' forty-eight hours and yep, they just met and sure thing, that's right, they're engaged -- I mean, who gets engaged after forty-eight hours (don't answer, I'm sure someone out there knows someone who did just this and they made it work) -- but it helps when the characters already have history.

But beyond that, sometimes a passage of time needs to happen during a novella to make the story more believable. I loved how Sasha did just that -- the story didn't feel rushed, but she made plenty of notes stating 'the next week', 'the next Thursday class', and so forth, to make the reader understand that this short story is taking place over a number of weeks.

When Ronnie and Ian finally succumb to their emotions, it's not about playing in the club -- after all, their first time is actually not in the club, but at Ian's home (where her makes sure Ronnie understands is not a place he brings submissives) -- it feels real, honest, and believable.

It made me want to, and therefore I did, revisit their scenes in PRIMAL. I'm a super-fan of Ian and Ronnie, and if what Sasha said is any indication, I'm super, super excited to see more of them in the future.