To Serve Is Divine: A Review

I'm very proud and excited to be a part of the blog tour for R. E. Hargrave's latest offering, 

To Serve Is Divine.

From the moment I began reading about the mysterious but confident, damaged but well-trained submissive, Catherine  (Erin) O’Chancey, I was immediately hooked.  

Jayden Masterson, who reluctantly visits an open night at the BDSM club he is a member of, cannot help but notice Catherine the moment he sees her standing alone outside its doors…

§§§§

Another chill wracked Erin’s petite body, causing her to question the intelligence of standing in the cold night air much longer. At least the movement gave her some relief when her breasts brushed against the satin lining of her coat. Ready to give up and go home, she reconsidered when the ladies in line around her began murmuring with excitement. A whiff of something intoxicating wafted up her nose, and she risked a shy glance up to see a retreating backside. A man of respectable height with thick, wavy, dark-brown hair, maybe black – it was hard to tell in the dim street lights – was walking to the front of the line. He stopped to talk with the bouncer, and she couldn’t resist hoping that he would turn around so she could get a gander at his face.

He chose that moment to look her way. A mere fifteen feet separated them, but it felt like everyone and everything disappeared. The man was either tanned or darker due to his genes, Greek heritage perhaps? She found herself caught in his piercing sienna stare and couldn’t breathe. A moment later she remembered her place and lowered her gaze, but not before Erin thought she saw an amused grin form on his ruggedly handsome face…

§§§§

If the moment they catch one another's eye is electric, nothing can prepare you for the moment they actually meet.  A Master who has another female and male sub to scratch his itch whenever he so pleases, Jayden has been searching for a third submissive...one who finds true pleasure in the pain he is capable of inflicting. 

The moment he lays eyes on Catherine, he knows she will be the one to fulfil that need.

After an extremely intense and erotic test scene, Jayden decides that although she clearly has demons to contend with, Catherine is the submissive he's been searching for...a perfect addition to his stable of submissives.

§§§§

Jayden’s eyes trailed her careful movements while she made her way to the edge of the dance floor with her wine in hand. The fuck-me heels she wore forced her into a slinky sway that couldn’t be ignored while she glided across the room, and Jayden’s cock punched at his jeans again.

The music changed to one of his favorite songs, and Catherine began dancing in place.

That was his undoing. Jayden had to have this woman – here, tonight.

He stepped in front of her and was surprised to find her eyes closed while her body moved pendulum-like to the music. Extending his arm, he took Catherine’s empty hand in his, raised it to his lips, and then grazed her knuckles with light kisses.

Her eyes flew open mesmerizing Jayden by their emerald color. Even in the dark of the room, he could tell how vibrant they were. He imagined that in full light they would be distracting in the extreme, in addition to making him question the usual desire he had to blindfold his subs.

Before she could drop her wine glass, he removed it and set it on the tray of a passing waiter. Her lips parted in a slight gasp when Jayden leaned in and whispered the first words that came to mind with his tone taking on an automatic controlling tenor.

He had to wait, but a moment later, he was rewarded with her breathy, “As you wish, Sir.”

Those first words from her mouth hit Jayden like a wrecking ball causing him to look her over with a closer eye. The accent, the skin tone complete with a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, even the stereotypical red hair and green eyes left no doubt in his mind that she bore an Irish heritage. This aroused and intrigued Jayden — so did the uncharacteristic way that he wanted to keep hold of her hand.

§§§§

And thus, their journey begins.

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Catherine’s feelings toward Jayden begin to change...and she finds herself thinking of possibilities which are well beyond the norm for a Dom/sub relationship. Though Jayden is essentially a man who requires nothing more of his Catherine than for her to be one of three submissives, the boundaries he himself has set, slowly begin to blur. It isn't long before Jayden discovers he has broken every one of his self-appointed rules.

Even coming from a traumatic past, Catherine continues to be the perfect submissive for her Master, but as her story unfolds, she finally begins to exorcise the demons that have continued to plague her.

What this story offers is more than a sensual portrayal of the first year of a relationship between a handsome Dom and his beautiful sub. Woven between the intense and thoroughly delicious encounters that she and Sir Jayden share, is a thoroughly engaging plot line…the story of a woman who has had to deal with a past that has left its indelible mark on her.

If you want to read a tale that not only hot as hell and gets your heart well and truly racing, but whose characters you can’t help but fall in love with, To Serve is Divine is the story for you.  

Not only does R. E. Hargrave possess a wonderful way of drawing the reader in from the get-go, she continues to keep said reader thoroughly enthralled throughout.

I’m very much looking forward to reading  the next part of the trilogy, and I give this wonderful story a rating of 5 stars!!



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3 comments:

From the desk of... R.E. Hargrave said...

Oh wow, Lisa! Thank you for a wonderful write upand review! Tickled pink this end that you enjoyed it!

Renaissance Romance Publishing said...

Thanks for being apart of R.E.'s tour.

Anonymous said...

Great write up and I love the excerpts you chose. :)