A review by poisonivy70
I Will Not Beg by Cherise Sinclair

4.0

Is it possible to have a BDSM comfort read? You know


Because I think Ms. Sinclair’s latest is the definition of that for me. There are few authors that have remained an auto-read for me, but year after year, Ms. Sinclair reminds me why I love the worlds she creates. I really enjoyed this trip back to Dark Haven, Ms. Sinclair’s long running series of Doms and their submissives living their best lives in San Francisco, a ‘verse that continues to expand and let me tell you, I’m always ready to visit.

Piper Delaney was horribly abused when she entered into a Master/slave contract with a huge wanker when she was young and naive. She had no idea how a relationship should work, much less that the cruelties that jackwagon inflicted on her aren't the norm. When the story begins you are immediately placed into that headspace with her and it's jarring but she managed to escape and rebuild her life, even if she had a few (or shedload) physical and mental scars to show for it. She’s a successful business owner who provides a range of services for her clients to make their lives easier. Enter Sir Ethan Worthington, a Dom at Dark Haven who has his own past demons and trust issues. When they meet through a mutual friend, neither were looking for love, but yep, you guessed it -some kinky romance happens.

Piper is much stronger than you would think, having survived what she did (the prologue deals with her escape, so you get a sense of the horrible situation she’s in but the bulk of the abuse happens offpage). As a result, I wasn’t sure how she’d be able to go back into the lifestyle, but I loved the way Ethan protects her and helps her figure out her triggers and begin the process of working through her trust issues. I also enjoyed that the focus isn’t about Ethan just “fixing” her, and that her trauma doesn’t just magically go away. I loved their Firsts (meet/kiss/love scene) and their chemistry helps to anchor this tale of healing through the scars of the past. Ethan is commanding Dom who has a gift for Shibari, but he’s not a sadist and truly the perfect match for Piper. Ms. Sinclair always writes the type of sane, safe and consensual BDSM that focuses more on a balance of love and kink that melts my butter.

As the cherry on top, Ms. Sinclair the BDSM scenes at DH made me want to check out the music she references. I always enjoy seeing the cast of characters from past Dark Haven books living their HEAs and helping the next couple find theirs. If you like kink in your romance but have always shied away from the darker edge of BDSM, you may enjoy this as much as I do. I would recommend it and I’m looking forward to the next one.

**ARC provided by author for review**

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