There’s punishment-and then there’s vengeance.
Nora Sutherlin is being held, bound and naked. Under different circumstances, she would enjoy the situation immensely, but her captor isn’t interested in play. Or pity.
As the reality of her impending peril unfolds, Nora becomes Scheherazade, buying each hour of her life with stories-sensual tales of Søren, Kingsley and Wesley, each of whom has tempted and tested and tortured her in his own way. This, Nora realizes, is her life: nothing so simple, so vanilla, as a mere love triangle for her. It’s a knot in a silken cord, a tangled mass of longings of the body and the heart and the mind. And it may unravel at any moment.
But in Nora’s world, no one is ever truly powerless-a cadre of her friends, protectors and lovers stands ready to do anything to save her, even when the only certainty seems to be sacrifice and heartbreak….
Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats (one good, one evil). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing BDSM erotica under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice.If she couldn’t write, she would die.
The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You guys might have figured this out about me already, but I struggle with writing reviews for stories that I really liked… The Mistress isn’t an exception to this ‘rule’ either. I started this days ago, but I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to say so I shelved it. I’m determined to get my thoughts down today before I forget.
I’ve been consistently blown away by each of the books in the Original Sinners series… not so much by the story itself, I mean that’s amazing too, but what really hooked me were the characters that Reisz writes and the voice with which she writes.
The Mistress picks up immediately after the end of where we were left hanging from The Prince. Nora’s been abducted and everyone is in a state of panic. Kingsley and Soren already know who has her… Marie Laure. She’s supposed to be dead right? ummm hmmmm
“I gave them my death as a gift…and now I’m taking my gift back.”
You’ll learn about all that while reading, so I’m going to move ahead and tell you that she feels wronged and slighted and she’s oh so angry. Her plan… hurt the one person that Soren loves the most. All the important people in Nora’s life come together, despite their differences, to save her. But ultimately, Marie Laure is looking for the one person who will sacrifice everything for Nora.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, Eleanor. Nothing I wouldn’t do to help you. And nothing I wouldn’t do to save you. Nothing.”
This story is told in several different points of view, and we get to hear tales of growth, and love during Nora’s captivity. Marie Laure wants to dig down into the dirt of it all and find out what it is about her … this ‘slut & whore’ that Soren can love.
I honestly can’t tell you much about the actual plot of the story without ruining things in some way or another, so I’m going to avoid that. Instead I’ll tell you what it is about The Original Sinners that intrigues and captivates me.
The characters. People often times give you that look… you know which one… the ‘how can you enjoy reading about that’ look when I tell them that I love this series. To be completely honest with you all, BSDM isn’t usually my cup of anything. (especially that lame stuff that gives you the impression it’s an affliction of some sort that needs to be cured…) But if you’re looking for something that leans towards the more realistic this should be at the top of your list. What pulled me into these books more than anything were these amazing characters that Reisz writes. They are incredibly developed and scarily real. I’m blown away by the dichotomy of both Soren and Nora on every level. I mean… he’s a priest that uses sadism and she is a strong, opinionated woman who can give in to that need to be dominated…
He’s the most beautiful man on earth, he’s got an inner drive and power that I’m drawn to, he can scare the shit out of someone with a glance, he can put someone on their knees with a word, he can see into your soul if you make the mistake of looking into his eyes. And it is a mistake because you will never want to look away again no matter how bare and naked he lays your most private self. I knelt at his feet because I felt like that’s where I belonged. And no, not because I was so unworthy of him, but because he was so utterly worthy of my devotion.
and these are just the things that are at the tip of the iceberg. There are so many layers to each character that I still don’t feel like I know every thing about them… And holy crap do I want to.
Ultimately, I think the end was satisfying and wonderful, I will say this… I feel like while the ending is excellent, I feel like I’m not sure how I am supposed to feel about it. This is the final book in this part of their story, so I have mixed feelings about it. I get that Tiffany wants us to come to our own conclusions about it (OMG am I being vague enough?? LOL) but sometimes I just want someone to back up what I think the truth of the situation is.
Also all the different connections at the end I missed the one I so sorely wanted to see. I get why that is, but after everything, I wanted it so so badly.
In the end this is a story of love and acceptance…and Tiffany has created a masterpiece of a series in the Original Sinners. To say I’m excited for anything she does in the future is an understatement.
Thank you to Harlequin and Netgalley for the Advanced copy for an honest review.
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