Unwound

"Unwound" is part 2 in Lorelei James "The Mastered " series duet. Before tackling this excellent erotic romance novel I strongly suggest you read book #1, "Bound." Otherwise you will be lost in this storyline . "In "Bound" the author weaves the tale of Ronin Black and Amery Hardwick. Sexual tension during a class in Sensei Ronin's dojo, "Black Arts," draws these two together. A series of events bind them to one another in more ways than one. Amery falls under Ronin's sensual and emotional spell. He is strong, exotic, lethal at his art. He is everything sexy on the outside and a total enigma, a paradox, on the inside - very intense. And Ronin finds himself deeply in love with Amery. She is a talented, smart, self-sufficient woman... and beautiful, of course . There is also a rebellious part of Amery that desires to be bold, free to explore her sexual desires without the guilt. These lovers, however, are unable to communicate their feelings to one another. While she bares her soul to him and accepts his darker side, Ronin holds his past close to his chest. **Spoiler Alert: At the conclusion of "Bound," Amery learns who Ronin really is and breaks off with him for what she believes are lies of omission on his part. Ronin, unused to experiencing such strong feelings for a woman is almost undone by his loss. As "Unwound" opens we find that Ronin's anger issues have skyrocketed after Amery leaves him. He returns to fighting in the ring; punishing himself in order to alleviate his guilt over his part in losing Amery. One fight leaves him severely damaged and he makes his way, unconsciously (psychologically), to Amery for help. Ronin's vunerability leads towards forgiveness on Amery's part. There is a lot of intimacy building in this novel: the rebuilding of trust. While there is a bit less obvious sex here, there is more sensuality and a much more complex storyline. I really felt the connection and chemistry between our lovers. As in "Bound" I enjoyed learning about shibari and kinbaku binding. Shibari refers to purely artistic, aesthetic rope, whilst kinbaku refers to the artistic, connective, sensual, sexual practice as a whole. I looked up this art form and found the images to be erotic, a true art form, without the usual S&M connotations. While I really enjoyed the well written "Bound, I think "Unwound" is the better novel. As noted above, "Bound" is more explicitly sexual in nature, but the characters are not as complex as they are in this book. Ronin is closed off emotionally. "Unwound," reveals Ronin's point of view. He gives us all the passion, sensuality and emotional vulnerability which is lacking in book #1. "Unwound" offers more witty dialogue, character development, and humor than its predecessor. I felt a real connection with our protagonists and that made all the difference when reading this installment. There are also plots and sub-plots here, much more so than in the typical erotic romance. And new characters are introduced. I have not read an erotic novel for some time and have never read any of the author's other books. "Bound" & "Unwound" are certainly different in the erotic romance genre - well worth the read. These books are exceptionally well written and the descriptive passages are quite sensual. The characters are fairly complex and their relationship is very intimate, not only sexually but emotionally. Obviously there are some steamy scenes, a wide variety of them. I really enjoyed both novels, especially the more complex "Unwound." JANA

Love that the author gave these characters a beautiful ending, with growth for the main characters and still kept it hot and sexy.

This is the second book in the Mastered series and it was just as amazing as the first. I loved that the first two books in the series went with each other and the story for the couple finished with twists and turn. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I WASN'T SURE ABOUT THIS SERIES, BUT AFTER READING THE FIRST BOOK I COULDN'T WAIT FOR THIS ONE TO BE RELEASED! I LOVE EVERYTHING LORELEI JAMES WRITES AND THIS JUST ADDED TO THE LIST OF MUST HAVES FOR ME! THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN AMERY AND RONIN WAS EXPLOSIVE AND THE BONDAGE SCENES WERE TASTEFUL, YET SEXY! I HOPE THERE'S MORE TO THIS SERIES BECAUSE THIS WAS AWESOME!!!

I really enjoyed the story of the building of the relationship between these two characters. There was a good balance of intimate scenes. I enjoy seeing how characters deal with situations when pushed beyond their comfort zones.