I'm pretty sure I've heard of this book first on The Book Pushers. Anyway, I rarely read and review erotica because I'm really really picky as to what I'm reading. I need logical plot, I need developed characters and I need emotion - best erotic novels have it all, anything else is pointless.

My Liege of Dark Haven is unexpectedly lovely, Cherise Sinclair is a new author to me and I'll be definitely reading more of her novels.

This book is a mix of sweet, rational and complex characters. Both Abby and Xavier have sparks flying between them and they admit that they can and do make mistakes, and then proceed to apologize instead of behaving like jerks until the very end.

So far, I've noticed something that really interests me in BDSM novels - there are no alpha male caveman jerkiness here rearing its ugly head in so many romance novels ( 50 shades and Carpathians series I'm talking about you!) - instead it's about trust and strong women relinquishing their control in relationship and feeling stronger because of it. Talking about reverse psychology, huh? And I really really like that.

Not many authors reach that kind of balance but if they do, it feels amazing! I've been fortunate enough this year to find Tiffany Reisz, Cherise Sinclair and a couple of more authors who I'll be talking about in January.

There is only one downside in My Liege of Dark Haven - Abby's ex-boyfriend is intentionally made too villainy. If he was that bad why was she with him for so long in the first place?

Otherwise, it's a lovely fast read full of hot sex, strong friendships and even fuzzy cute puppies but obviously not at the same time. Sorry, I had to mess with you a little in the end, right?

Recommended. ( )

I am always a little leery of starting a book about a character like Xavier Leduc. I have usually built up such expectation of the character that no one can do them justice. Ms Sinclair was smart with her Masters of Shadowlands series when she wrote about Master Zachary in the first book. There have been several stories with Xavier in them and he is such a larger than life character. He is in the realm of others that lead a select group of alpha males, men like Tyler Winterman from Joey Hill’s Nature of Desire series, Matt Kensington from Joey Hill’s Knights of the Boardroom Series, Jonas Wyatt from Lora Leigh’s Breed series and Julian Lodge from Sophie Oak’s Texas Sirens series. There are, of course, many other examples of this type and we the reads love all of them. I am sure that an author finds it hard to live up to what the reader might think this special might be. I have never been disappointed in one of these stories but it still makes me anxious to have someone be less than I have seen him to be. I am very glad that was not the case in this instance.

Xavier is such a contradiction. In Dark Haven he is in control and all powerful. He is the one that everyone turns to in order to make things right are to make sure that punishment is handled with compassion and more than a little ruthlessness. In this story we find out that he is so much more. He is caring, loving and very intelligent. He handles, puppies, displace single mothers and abused mothers with the same caring and compassion that he shows in the club. I think that Abby sneaks up on him in a way he never expected. He is lonely in many ways and doesn't realize how much until he starts dealing with Abby on a regular basis. I love that he rescues horses and feed abandoned puppies. A warm spot developed each time he helped Abby overcome a problem or encourage her to get in touch with her feelings. By the end of the story Xavier had become another of my very favorite heroes.

Abigail Bern is a professor and is in need of paper to publish to save her job. She has broken up with her longtime boyfriend because he is a Dom and she thinks that she isn't. It is a remarkable journey for her to find out she is submissive for the right person. It isn't long before she realizes that she never really trusted her old flame and that she trust Xavier with her emotional and physical well being. Over the course of the story she comes to realize that she has let her father’s behavior effect how she deals with the people in her life. I like Abby from the beginning and I was glad that she got her happily ever after.

I will be up front and warn you to keep tissues handy as there are some very sad parts to this story. This is also one of those BDSM stories that is more intense than some people are comfortable with, this is Xavier we are talking about after all. There is exhibition, spanking, nudity, toys, bondage, anal sex and a very public and intense punishment scene. There is also some wonderfully hot sex scenes between these two. I am surprised my reader didn't melt. We get to see Logan, Becca, Virgil, Summer and Rona in this story. Becca hasn't had the baby yet. We are also introduced to the Dark Haven enforcer DeVries. I understand he has his own story. Overall I loved this story and for those that love Joey Hill and Sophie Oak you are going to love Cherise Sinclair and this book. ( )

My previous complaints about this author have been that there was more sex than plot. But this book actually had plot and most of my favorite scenes was when they were not having sex.


That being said, there was a lot of sex, and toward the end I was skimming some of the sex. Also, some of the D/s lifestyle scenes made me uncomfortable, but I did not count that against the score. After all, "Your kink is not my kink, but it’s okay."


What I do like about this author is she does make me feel, the scenes impacting my senses making me feel things I did not expect. And isn't that the best complement an author can get? ( )

Posted http://scorchingbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/a-nix-bdsm-review-my-liege-of...

Abigail needs to write a paper that will make people sit up and take notice to get past university cut-backs. Deciding that one on BDSM will fit the brief, she decides to enter the Dark Haven club and study the people that play there. Once entering the building she is faced with the reality of the high fees and takes a receptionist job to play there for free. Little did she know that the receptionist at Dark Haven also can be called on to do demonstrations. She also didn’t realise that she would be so easy to spot as a fake Domme and made to show her true colours as a submissive.

Since his late wife died, Xavier has been content to play around and not commit himself to any one sub. Then he meets his new receptionist and watches as she fights against her obviously submissive nature whilst in a demo scene with him. He is intrigued, especially if she is as green as he suspects she is. She is a challenge and one he accepts willingly, but what will it take to get her to let go? The path is rocky for our D/s couple, but there is much fun along the way. With all the time and effort Xavier takes to break through her defences, it’s clear that he won’t be unaffected himself. But will these feelings be strong enough to get past the betrayal he feels when he finds the real reason she is in his club?

Well, I wanted Xavier’s book and I was certainly happy with the story he got. I was surprised to find that he was such a sweetie but it was good surprise...not a bad one at all J I loved him in the Dark Haven shorts...I love him more now.

Xavier and Abigail were a fabulous couple to read about. Both have some emotional baggage and, at least for the first quarter, Abigail is still in love with another man and utilising her play time to gain the skills she needs to be in a relationship with him (FYI his name is Nathan and he is a douche... Xavier is fighting the most one sided battle ever). It was hard to see Xavier getting so invested and knowing she just wanted someone else. By the end, there was no way that I could imagine them not being together after the amount of emotional baggage they each dig through to make this work. Xavier practically strips her to the bone to try to make her submit to him but in doing so he exposes parts of himself that he’s kept well hidden. It’s emotional healing through BDSM and I loved every second.

There are some fabulous moments in this book. We meet my favourite Doms again in this book as the men from the Mountains series appear (Jake *swoon*). The Paint-ball hunting game at their lodge was one of the best scenes of the book for me and it reminded me a little of the Capture Gardens scenes (another one of my favourite of Cherise’s ideas :D). I laughed like a child when the brown paint ball represented an anal sex prize for the Dom who shot the submissive with it :D I also loved the Pirate scene.....

There were scenes in this book that I didn’t like as much. The punishment scene was a tough one to read. I know it wasn’t supposed to be fun for any of us, but I hate the use of the fucking machine as a punishment.... orgasms should always be fun in my eyes J There were also the scenes with Abigail’s bitch of a sister to contend with. That woman is VILE.

Overall, this was not the book I expected for Xavier; it was better. With a widower who doesn’t want another submissive and a woman who wants another man, this was never going to be an easy road. Through bondage and a seriously hot game of paintball, they manage to see that some opportunities you have to grab whatever the consequences. I wouldn’t mind my own Xavier..... ( )

I'll need some more time to gather my thoughts as to why I did not like this novel as much as other works of Ms. Sinclair's that I read. ( )