Scan barcode
A review by dorsa_mel
Ruthless Control by L.V. Lane
2.0
Hard to assimilate.
This author REALLY likes the word “assimilate.” I have read quite a lot of books in my life and I can honestly say that I have never seen this word used with such abandon! It’s not a word that you see often, so when it’s used SEVEN times in such a short book, it becomes annoying. I’ve read all of the books in this series and she uses this word in all of her books. I felt like by book 6, I could have turned it into a drinking game... do a shot every time I see the word “assimilate”. I would have been hammered by the end of this book!
Aside from my dislike of that word, this book just wasn’t for me. I thoroughly enjoyed books 3-5, Lilly, Ethan and Ryker, and I wanted to like Lucien so badly from the very first moment that he was introduced in those books, but he was just too much of an asshole. Throughout the majority of this book, Lucien was trying to “break” Madelyn a.k.a. his pet. He ultimately succeeds when she begs him to collar her. I’ve read a lot of BDSM books and I’ve loved most of the books that I’ve read. What I love about the D/s dynamic is how most of the Doms cherish their subs and take care of their needs. I thought Lucien was selfish and self serving. I didn’t feel like he had any genuine love for Madelyn (in fact there are no “I love you’s” in this book, which is odd for a romance novel). I found him to be selfish, uncaring, and a huge asshole.
I also found it really hard to like Madelyn. She started out as sassy but completely lost her entire identity and just became his pet. I found her constant trembling and neediness to be annoying. I didn’t understand what she saw in Lucien. He didn’t treat her with kindness, in fact he practically brainwashed her. He kept her imprisoned in a room and the only time she was allowed to leave was if she was wearing his collar. He also kept her brother imprisoned and had his goons beat the crap out of him, but no one even batted an eye at that, most especially not Madelyn, probably because she’s such a good “pet”.
The whole “pet” thing bothered me too. I’ve read other BDSM books where that term is used with a lot of affection and it was fine then, but I felt like Lucien didn’t use it for that purpose. I felt like he used it to degrade her. The part where he put a collar on her and led her around on a leash was particularly degrading. I know this is a common kink, but it was a complete turn off for me. Also, the book just ends. They were at a party and having a conversation and it just ended. It was so sudden that I kept flipping back and forth between pages to see if I missed something.
Overall this was my least favourite book in this series.
This author REALLY likes the word “assimilate.” I have read quite a lot of books in my life and I can honestly say that I have never seen this word used with such abandon! It’s not a word that you see often, so when it’s used SEVEN times in such a short book, it becomes annoying. I’ve read all of the books in this series and she uses this word in all of her books. I felt like by book 6, I could have turned it into a drinking game... do a shot every time I see the word “assimilate”. I would have been hammered by the end of this book!
Aside from my dislike of that word, this book just wasn’t for me. I thoroughly enjoyed books 3-5, Lilly, Ethan and Ryker, and I wanted to like Lucien so badly from the very first moment that he was introduced in those books, but he was just too much of an asshole. Throughout the majority of this book, Lucien was trying to “break” Madelyn a.k.a. his pet. He ultimately succeeds when she begs him to collar her. I’ve read a lot of BDSM books and I’ve loved most of the books that I’ve read. What I love about the D/s dynamic is how most of the Doms cherish their subs and take care of their needs. I thought Lucien was selfish and self serving. I didn’t feel like he had any genuine love for Madelyn (in fact there are no “I love you’s” in this book, which is odd for a romance novel). I found him to be selfish, uncaring, and a huge asshole.
I also found it really hard to like Madelyn. She started out as sassy but completely lost her entire identity and just became his pet. I found her constant trembling and neediness to be annoying. I didn’t understand what she saw in Lucien. He didn’t treat her with kindness, in fact he practically brainwashed her. He kept her imprisoned in a room and the only time she was allowed to leave was if she was wearing his collar. He also kept her brother imprisoned and had his goons beat the crap out of him, but no one even batted an eye at that, most especially not Madelyn, probably because she’s such a good “pet”.
The whole “pet” thing bothered me too. I’ve read other BDSM books where that term is used with a lot of affection and it was fine then, but I felt like Lucien didn’t use it for that purpose. I felt like he used it to degrade her. The part where he put a collar on her and led her around on a leash was particularly degrading. I know this is a common kink, but it was a complete turn off for me. Also, the book just ends. They were at a party and having a conversation and it just ended. It was so sudden that I kept flipping back and forth between pages to see if I missed something.
Overall this was my least favourite book in this series.