Review: Reclaimed Surrender

Reclaimed Surrender by Riley Murphy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars





Romance is overrated. Flowers, date night and chocolates do not bridge the gap between an estranged husband and wife.

Rene is at his wits' end. His marriage is falling apart. The marriage counseling is worse than useless. Changing his way to connect with his wife Alexis has accomplished nothing but more silence and avoidance.

Alexis knows her marriage is in shambles. She's clueless how to fix it and she lays the blame at her husband's feet. Her career matters and now that it is taking off, he's unhappy about it. He wants to control her by forcing her to become pregnant.

There are two sides of a story is never more apparent, than in this book. Sadly, Alexis is the one in the wrong and boy, is she in for a rude awakening. Her insistence of a perceived wrong against her by Rene is such a grievous offense it is amazing Rene doesn't divorce her already. Her blindness to her misconduct and the callous disrespect to Rene are beyond appalling. One can really see how much Rene loves Alexis to suffer through her abuse, betrayal and disobedience.

It is with pleasure to see Rene bring Alexis back in line. The crux of the issue is Alexis's desire to be submissive yet her inability to reconcile with her powerful career. It is a delicate balance and one which Alexis epically failed. Fortunately, Rene is there to catch her and help her find her way back to him. The love and devotion Rene showers upon Alexis is breathtaking. He's a truly loving husband who wants to save his marriage and help his wife be happy again. His plan is clever and sexy.

Ms. Riley creates a contemporary everyday failing marriage and saves it in a unique and sexy way. One wonders if Ms. Riley is in the sex therapy and marriage counseling business as a day job. The D/s part of this story is fabulous. Rene's orders for Alexis could come across as busy work yet they are erotically tinged. The way some of the common chores are twisted with a D/s tone is hot. This can be applied in any marriage open to kink and yield hot loving results. It is impressive and yet elegantly practical. I'll be pilfering some of these ideas to spice up my own marriage.

I really enjoyed this story because the characters are so realistic and it hits close to home. The epiphanies smacking Alexis upside the head are distressing to watch. Alexis realizes almost too late how badly she's hurt her husband. Before she can make amends, Michael, the instigator further wrecks havoc on her crumbling marriage. This raw scene is excruciating to witness. Just when I think it will all blow up, Ms. Riley spins the situation into a happy and credible ending. It's nice to see there are no good guys or bad guys. There are only people who make mistakes and receive a chance to correct them. This BDSM story is recommended to kinky lovers in distress who need a gentle guide to rediscover the spark.



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