Title: Sanctuary (Beards & Bondage, #2)
Author: Rebekah Weatherspoon
Publication Date: August 29, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★/ 5 Stars
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM
When she needs a sanctuary…
Targeted by a sadistic former client, attorney Liz Lewis needs a place to lay low. When a friend offers her his family farm as a safe house, she eagerly accepts, unaware that she’ll have to share the farm with her friend’s brawny, beautiful brother, Silas McInroy.
…she invades his…
Weary of a world that doesn’t understand him, Silas just wants to be left alone to grow the best produce upstate New York has to offer. Still, he’s not going to toss a woman out when her safety is on the line. But the only way to explain her presence on his farm is to claim that they fell in love online…and the last thing he needs is a fake relationship that threatens to become more and more real every day.
With her world turned upside down and danger on her trail, Liz knows that this temporary refuge can’t last forever…but leaving the comfort and ease of Silas’s arms and farm to face the reality of her life may be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.
I received an electronic ARC of the book from the author, which I am so thankful for!
If you haven’t been around my blog for a while, which is understandable, you should know I previously read and reviewed the previous book in this series which is called Haven. Click here to see my review. You don’t need to read the previous book to understand and enjoy Sanctuary.
As you can read from the blurb, Sanctuary ties Liz and Silas together when Liz’s client puts a hit on her head. She can’t be in the city, especially since she is extremely protective of her friends and sister, so her colleague Scott hooks her up with a place. A farm. Specifically, his twin brother’s farm.
When we first meet Silas, he is a gruff man who’s not very nice. But, seeing how shaken up Liz is by her assault, he tries to be “nicer” to her. I had no problem liking Silas, because no matter how rude he was, Liz put him in his place. I love this about Weatherspoon’s heroines, they’re outspoken and will not lie down while macho men hurl spiked jabs at them.
There is a twist to Liz’s stay at Silas’ farm: she has to pretend to be his girlfriend because no other explanation would make sense to Silas’ friends and co-workers. Now, this part is where things got so good. I love a good pretend relationship especially since Liz and Silas didn’t have the best of first introductions, considering Scott is a big a-hole and that he’s got a rocky relationship with Silas. Liz however doesn’t let Silas and Scott’s relationship overwhelm her. She knows what she needs and she verbalizes it.
The two have this reluctant friendship at first, which grows into intimacy with the help of their attraction. I loved this part because it depicted a kind of dynamic I’ve missed in romance books. Silas isn’t very experienced with women. Whether it’s because he’s on the spectrum, or because he’s very awkward with women, this makes it difficult for him to be anything but straightforward and bad with words. I enjoyed Silas’ characterization so much because he was everything far from the typical hero in a romance novel. He was gentle and caring but also a big awkward farmer.
Liz is also an interesting character. Her reaction to what happened to her in the beginning of the book is so realistic. She needs to feel safe but not with her friends because what if they get hurt in the process? She’s extremely protective of both herself and her sister since she’s raised Brooklyn when she was 19 and her parents passed away. Liz’s approach to her relationship with Silas was also something I appreciated. She genuinely wants love. And having a past life as a dominatrix meant to her that she can’t have sex in the vanilla way. Thankfully, Silas, while confused at first at why Liz needs so much control in the bedroom, doesn’t mind. Those particular conversations were so interesting to read. Both parties are so good at communicating even when Silas’ incapable of looking Liz in the eyes.
This was a very well written, plotted and developed book. I enjoyed both the main characters and the minor ones too. Liz and Silas’ friends were good people who supported each one of them with their own brand of love. Also, the way Weatherspoon handles the issue of race when it comes to Liz’s assault was so breathtakingly realistic.
Content warnings: There is a physical assault incident on page in the first chapter. A man enters Liz’s house and attacks her. She suffers some injuries but kills him in the process.
In other news: my birthday is tomorrow! If you’ve enjoyed my content so far, you’re welcome to get me anything on my list here.
Advertisements Share this:
