Review: Absolution

Absolution by L.K. Shaw
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Kink for a recovering drug addict whose been sexually abused as a teen tends to send a message that doesn't appeal to me. Full disclosure, I have not read any of the previous books in this series so I'm not sure if this is a recurring theme… a female with sexual abuse in her past getting into kink as therapy. Before I dive into why I don't like this kind of theme, let's discuss the characters and plot.

Gina is a submissive at her wits end because her past is rearing its ugly head. Gina's life has many disadvantages which she is not strong enough to overcome by herself. She does need a man or in this case a couple of men to not only save her but to help her value herself so that she can overcome her baggage. Gina's victim mentally fits her character profile. Her spiral into drugs is understandable. She not bad; she's average and makes bad decisions. Decisions which sabotages her good choices. There is a little bit of character growth and maturity for her. The catalyst for growth is a former childhood best friend she depended upon, trusted and loved.

Gina's immature and irrational behaviour towards her long lost friend is disappointing. But as a plot device, it is necessary. It is an easy way to create conflict. This type of plot device is not appealing to me because it perpetuates a negative image of those in the lifestyle. Whilst one can argue this is just fiction, many erotic readers are not in the lifestyle and can buy into this stereotype that it is sexual abuse brings a person into kink. In addition it reaffirms that kinky people are headcases. These pet peeves aside, I just didn't like Gina. Her hysterical damsel in distress mode is off putting for me.

I did feel sorry for Leo. Not only did he get shafted by his foster brother, Gideon, but he's taking the blame for what other males have done to Gina. I am not sure Gina is worth the effort. His heavy handedness does balance Gina's indecisive personality. His ability to bring out better parts of her is a redeeming factor in this story. Although his out of control behaviour to confront a known drug lord demonstrates impulse control issues and lack of maturity. This sort of conflicts with the strong dominant character and did make me lose respect for him. My guess is the intent of his wild actions is show how angry he is about Gina's predicament and how personally he took it. He came across as a hot head who would be quickly killed for lack of respect and survival skills. The fact that he had zero ramifications for his thoughtless actions also weakened the story for me.

From a kink perspective, this story could have done better without it. There was little to no BDSM that worked cohesively in this book. If felt more like a forced sex scene to bring a little heat. Or in another instance, a kink scene gone wrong that I didn't fully follow and ended up not caring about. For me, this story would have been better with the BDSM and BDSM club completely removed. Focusing more on Gina's struggles and how she overcame her addiction the first time would have also added more layers to Gina. The backstory near the end provided a less oomph for me.

Oddly enough, the only character who intrigued me is Jacob. The little bit of information on him is tantalizing. A story on him would be interesting, but I think I like it better that he is left as a man of mystery. This erotic romance is for romance readers who like second chance theme for the underdog.

*I received an advanced copy

I left this as unrated to avoid causing the current ranking on Goodreads go down.