Elene Sallinger ~ "Awakening"

Refreshing. Interesting. Annoying. The title is more than appropriate. If you're looking for a BDSM book that is different than the rest of the hardcore stories out there, look no further. Awakening will be perfect for you.



This is a story about Claire Ryan, a 35-year-old woman trying to recover after the break-up of an abusive relationship, and Evan Lang, a 45-year-old man who's never recovered from the death of his wife. Claire joins a local romance book club, and meets Evan – the owner of the book shop – there. They are almost instantly attracted to each other, but they are also both damaged, and have a lot of issues to deal with.

Claire is a submissive, but she's completely unaware of her nature and needs guidance into the world of BDSM. Evan, on the other hand, is an experienced Dom, and he's the perfect person to help Claire discover her true needs, but he's not been interested in any kind of relationship ever since his wife died.

To make matters worse, once they finally start with the ‘sessions' that are supposed to help Claire safely enter the lifestyle, things will become even more complicated.

Awakening is anything but a typical BDSM story. It is refreshing, as it concentrates on the emotional side of the relationship, instead of simply jumping to sex scenes. Characters are realistic and likable. The pace of the story leaves a lot to be desired, though. It is just too slow, for far too long, and then everything feels too rushed and a bit unrealistic close to the end. I was hoping we'll get to see more of Evan and Claire together outside of the ‘sessions', instructions and BDSM talk. As it, unfortunately, did not happen, their love for each other seemed a bit too sudden and out of place.

Still, this is a good story for those of you looking for a new perspective on BDSM, or something close to BDSM 101.

This review was originally written for The Romance Reviews