Break Me Down

I have to admit – some parts of this story made me a little uncomfortable, but reading the story was totally worth it. I’ve never read a book about a male sub before and it took me a bit to let go of my notion that the male is always the dominant. Roni Loren treated this subject with great respect just as she has all of her other stories.

Gibson (Gib) and Samantha (Sam) met at the Ranch where Gib helped train her as a Domme. During their training Sam saw the submissive tendencies come out in Gib and wanted to explore that side of him and dominate him but Gib couldn’t handle it and walked away from her. He is ashamed of his submissive feelings and thinks there is something wrong with him wanting to be beaten and dominated; he thinks others will feel he is less of a man if they find out.

Both Sam and Gib believe the things they endured during their childhood have influenced their sexual proclivities. Gib’s father beat and humiliated him and once he discovered he enjoyed that during sex play he felt ashamed because he hated what his father did to him. Sam was nearly raped by another girl when she was young and now she needs to be dominant. When Gib tells her how ashamed and embarrassed he is by his desire to be dominated she helps him to see that it doesn’t have anything to do with his father.

This was a very emotional story for me. I felt so bad for both Sam and Gib but particularly for Gib. He wants so badly to love and be with Sam the way she wants him to be but he just can’t get past the feeling that it makes him less of a man.

The writing, as always, is richly descriptive and makes me totally lose myself in the story. It was nice to catch glimpses of characters from previous books in the Loving on the Edge series. While this book can easily be read as a standalone you might enjoy it more if you’ve already read the other books in the series.

Roni Loren’s stories always have an HEA but getting to this one for Sam and Gib really tugged on my emotions. I was happy that Pike put in an appearance and provided a bit of comic relief during a part that was particularly difficult for Gib.

Roni Loren sure packed a lot of stuff into this novella and I loved it!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While fans of Loren's Loving on the Edge series are used to a little dramatic storyline and a not for the faint of heart steamy couple, this pushes all limits. Sam and Gibson's story will leave the reader begging for more. It is the hottest story I have ever read to day. I love the role reversal from Loren's normal character match up. The book touches on the taboo subject of the female lead's dominance over the male character. While this could be written trashy, Loren keeps the story classy. I can't wait to see what's next in this series!