Club Shadowlands (Masters of the Shadowlands, #1)

Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

This novel is definitely not my typical read, in fact I was quite hesitant about it, but a friend of mine swore that I had to. I politely declined, but she kept after me and finally nagged me into defeat. Why am I telling you any of this? Simple. I want to get preconception out of the way due to it's subject matter. Something about BDSM definitely raises some eyebrows and it was the thing that had me questioning how I had got suckered into reading this novel in the first place. But, believe me when I say, despite my doubts and reservations about this novel it completely blew me away surpassing anything that I could have hoped for.

Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair, the first novel in Masters of show more the Shadowlands series is an extremely well written erotic romance. While I started off very unsure about what to expect, I found this novel to be deeply engaging, filled with tantalizing characters and a wonderful exploration of the BDSM 'lifestyle'.

Truly, it was Sinclair's character development that had me floored. Jessica is a likable intelligent woman, strong yet insecure about her self image. When she stumbles upon Club Shadowlands, we are taken with her on an eye opening journey into this alternate lifestyle. Jessica's thoughts and hesitancy mirrored my own about the subject as the story began and really helped me to build a sort of kinship to her. Her questioning, curious nature wondering what sort of people go in for this sexual proclivity was interesting and in her desire to learn more about others, she found out instead about herself. The emotions she experiences throughout the novel are engrossing and cover a wide range, from shame and embarrassment, to lust and desire, hitting upon something very tangible in the reader, making it feel as if you are sharing in her experiences with her-both the good and the bad.

Her guide through this scintillating realm is Dom, Master Z. He's alluring, attractive and somehow safe and comforting in this wild sexual playground. I found myself instantly loving him, his protective caring nature paired with an alpha male mentality...what wasn't to love? I was also extremely intrigued by his apparent empathic abilities. It softens his outer rugged demeanor of stoic power, but the inner knowledge of the feelings of those around him, the inner desires, makes him somehow even more sexy if possible because of his need to protect and pleasure that person.

The relationship between Jessica and Master Z is also nicely developed considering they just happen to randomly meet, but, somehow the evolution seems very organic. In truth this has to do a lot with the emotionality of the novel which makes it easy to connect between the two characters. The growing attraction very obvious and clear. The development of trust between them is slow and flowing with moments of give and take making the moments of passion all the more sizzling. All in all, theirs is a tender caring romance that had me enthralled, reading late into the night to see what would happen between them.

The exploration of the 'lifestyle' is definitely something of an eye opener as well. From the types of people who are involved (Master Z is a children's shrink and Jessica an accountant) this novel is an interesting introduction into understanding not only the characters but the actual reality of BDSM, not the stereotype that comes to mind. While I'm not sure if the world itself appeals to me, the focus on the characters does. This novel in particular, I was obsessed with the realistic characters and especially Jessica's reaction not only to the pleasures this lifestyle entails, but her connection to Master Z.

Overall, this novel was extremely surprising and had me engrossed from start to finish. Enjoyable and interesting, this novel left me craving to know more about the Masters of the Shadowlands...the only problem with that is waiting for all the books to appear in Nook format. *sigh*. show less

Club Shadowlands has been on my TBR pile for quite some time. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it, because it ended up being a great story. It’s an ultra-steamy, erotic, contemporary romance that begins with our heroine, Jessica, returning home from a bad date in a rainstorm. Her car hydroplanes off the road into a water-filled ditch in a rural area, leaving her hiking through the downpour in search of help. She comes upon a well-lit, inviting mansion, but the moment she arrives, she’s told that it’s a private club. When she’s finally allowed inside, Jessica is met at the door by a man who calls himself Master Z, and he sees to her every comfort including helping her warm up in a shower and getting her clean show more clothes. Then he shows her around the place, which she quickly realizes is a sex club. Despite having no experience with such a place, many of the things she sees oddly turn her on, making her wonder what’s wrong with her. However, Master Z proves to be a deliciously alluring host, who pushes her boundaries and gives her the most erotic pleasures she’s ever experienced in her life. But when morning comes, she still isn’t certain if she can be fully comfortable in his world and isn’t convinced that he’d ever want her for anything more than one night of mind-blowing sex.

Jessica is a straight-laced accountant who loves volunteering at an animal shelter in her spare time. She’s been out with a variety of guys and is somewhat sexually experienced, but most of those experiences have been underwhelming, leaving her feeling like sex is overrated. It doesn’t help that she’s petite, but plus-sized, and she’s very self-conscious of her curvy body after some unkind comments from men she’s dated in the past. When she arrives at Club Shadowlands, she’s instantly attracted to Master Z, but certain that a hunky guy like him would never truly want someone like her. When he surprises her by giving her plenty of attention, she’s drawn to his alluring charm, and turned on by many of the things happening around her, she can’t resist becoming more intimate with him. He leaves her more pleasured and satisfied than she’s ever felt in her life, but she’s still very uncertain about a lot of things. When he invites her back the next weekend, she simply can’t say no, but she also can’t help wondering if there can ever be anything more between them than these stolen moments of incredible sex. Jessica is a very relatable heroine who is equal parts innocent when in comes to the types of activities going on in the club and curious adventurer who can’t resist exploring her body’s passionate side. She’s a little bit feisty, unwilling to just stand by when she thinks someone is in distress, a very admirable quality, but one which gets her into a bit of trouble with Master Z.;-) She’s also a woman whose self-esteem has been damaged, leaving her with a lot of doubts, but Master Z helps to put her totally at ease and makes her feel more like a desirable woman than she ever has before.

Although his age isn’t mentioned, I got the feeling that Zachary aka Master Z is a little more on the mature side. He’s described as having a bit of gray at the temples and is divorced with two college-aged children and is also ex-military. There are other tantalizing tidbits of character development revealed throughout the story, but since it was so much fun discovering those things for myself, I won’t give them away and spoil it for other readers. All I’ll say is that the more I found out about him, the more I fell for him. He started Club Shadowlands because he saw abuses going on in other sex clubs and wanted to see if he could do better. Master Z monitors everything very closely and if any dom gets out of hand, he kicks butt and takes names, while if any sub misbehaves, he doesn’t hesitate to dole out appropriate punishment. Others seem to think he’s a mind-reader, but in reality he’s an empath who can almost unerringly read people’s emotions, giving the story a touch of the paranormal. As someone who’s fascinated by the complexities of the human mind and psychic phenomena, I found this aspect of his character extremely appealing. When Jessica shows up at his door, looking like a drowned rat, his protective instincts kick in. He soon discovers that he hasn’t been this physically attracted to a woman in a long time, while he’s deeply intrigued by her mixture of innocence and adventurousness, as well as her surprising courage. It all makes him want to be the one to introduce her to his lifestyle and he quickly lays claim to her. I can’t even begin to say just how drop-dead-sexy and yummilicious Master Z is. Practically everything he did made me melt into a puddle. He’s completely calm, confident, and controlled, always even-tempered and never doing anything in anger, engendering almost instant trust in Jessica (and me as the reader). He can take a woman to the heights of sexual bliss, but then also hold her with the utmost tenderness, building her self-esteem with kind, caring words. I never thought I would call a dom sweet, but that’s exactly what Master Z is.

Club Shadowlands is the first book in the Masters of Shadowlands, which is a fairly long-running series. As such, readers are introduced to a few characters who will become heroes and heroines of future books. We get a couple of glimpses of the widowed Master Dan who will be the hero of the next book, Dark Citadel. Although she isn’t seen in this story, I’m pretty sure that Jessica’s sister, who was severely abused by her husband, becomes the heroine of the third book, Breaking Free, as well as Book #11, Protecting His Own. Master Cullen, who is the bartender at the club and one of the few other people Jessica connects with becomes the hero of the fourth book, Lean on Me. The doorman and security guard, Ben, becomes the hero of the tenth book, Servicing the Target. Then Master Z and Jessica get an additional story in Defiance, Book #13.5, which I think may be the final novella of the series.

BDSM romances can be hit and miss with me, but if you couldn’t already tell, Club Shadowlands was a huge hit. Once I got past the strangeness of a heroine trusting a man she’s barely met, I was fully invested, and Master Z proved himself more than worthy of that trust. He’s also not too hard-core, and everything he did made sense, so I didn’t get weirded out at any point. This is a novella-length story, albeit a longer one, so admittedly there isn’t a ton of character and plot development. However, there was just enough to keep it interesting. A part of me wished it could have been longer, to flesh out the characters and story a bit more. There are no unrealistic declarations of love, only a tacit agreement that they would begin dating. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Jessica and Master Z interacting outside the club environment, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. I ended up giving it a perfect rating because the story gave me all the feels that I’ve come to expect in a romance and more, and it was also surprisingly well-written for an erotic romance. Not to mention, Master Z alone is worth giving the book five stars, and I loved Jessica, too. I just wasn’t quite ready to let them go so soon, so I’m definitely going to be looking forward to hopefully seeing more of them in future books of the series as well as in their wrap-up novella. With such a stellar read, I’ll definitely be putting Cherise Sinclair on my watch list and will make every effort to get to the next book very soon.

Note: This book contains explicit language and sexual situations including BDSM elements, voyeurism/exhibitionism, sex toys, anal play, and a light M/F/M menage scene, all of which could be objectionable to sensitive readers. show less

So you know how in BDSM porn videos there's always a scary German lady in leather screaming at a woman (or man—but mostly another woman) hanging from rope with a ball gag in her mouth? (Hey! Don't look at me like that, we all watch it.) Well, wipe away whatever ideas you've ever learned from your perverted porn videos. This book is so far from that it's on another planet.

So now you're thinking, "WTF is wrong with this chick?" (Yeah...too many issues to list.)

Don't worry, I'm not here to talk to you about the weird and creepy shit found on your (my) internet browser. I'm here to gush about my new favorite series. I'm not usually the biggest fan of glitterkink. I love me some BDSM erotica, but the club scenes can be a little.... show more cheesy and unrealistic and, honestly, a big turn off for me. I'm glad to pulled on my big girl panties and finally started this series. It was the opposite of a waste of time. I kept getting sucked in, every time I had to put the book down to cater to my cats every whim.

Master Z is the tall, handsome owner of Club Shadowlands. Every sub lusts after him and anytime Jessica is near him her clothes come off and her panties melt.

Jessica is a very self conscious little lady. She's been ridiculed by her skinny mother and past lovers all her life. She meets Sir (Master Z) who proceeds in taking off her clothes and showing her just how much he loves her curves, in a really kinky way. Straight p-laced Jessica is shocked by just how much she loves being bound and used in front of an eager audience of kinky minded people.

It's sweet and sexy and gave me a warm tingling feeling. And no, I wasn't eating spicy buffalo wings while reading this book. (But now that I mention them, yum.) I've been told by many a bookworms that while I should read this book, it is by far weakest book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series. If this is the weakest book, I can't wait to read more from this author!

There's bondage, voyerism, medical kink and more awaiting you in CLUB SHADOWLANDS. Hop aboard the kinky bandwagon and try out Cherise Sinclaire's Masters of the Shadowlands series.

http://nobookleftbehind.booklikes.com/post/674655/club-shadowlands-review show less

I wouldn’t change a thing in this volume come what may. Being completely besotted by Master Z, my heart flutters even when I pen down words about him. Jessica’s fated admission to Club Shadowlands, her apprehensive foray into the BDSMers clique and enticing tutelage of Zachary flawlessly entwines a burgeoning Dom/Sub relation. Step by step revelation of a lifestyle of more than just hot kinky sex, liberating the stringent prude embedded within the cores of sexual explorations is greatly pleasing. Gosh! I am so enamored by the narrative that I can’t even be bitchy with the libretto. Sinclair observantly constructs a naively susceptible Jessica being captivated by the audaciously intricate Zachary. The modus operandi of molding a show more ravenous yet timorous obedient pursued by Zachary over Jessica is unthinkable and incredibly sexy. It is an all out goose bump fest culminating sinister eagerness into an addictive sexual outburst. How I fancied the prospect of Cullen joining the duo in their repressive exhibitionism. Ohhh! Silly me! I overlooked an entire manuscript chronicling Master Cullen’s fetishes. Can’t wait to get my dirty hands on it. More joy to my world!!! show less

Published at: http://rubys-books.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-club-shadowlands-by-cherise....


You know how sometimes a reader starts searching for that perfect type of character for a certain genre? I became one of those searchers of perfection when I found I liked erotic romance with BDSM themes. Let me define what perfection is for me. It's not that character that can do anything and everything he/she wants, it's actually the character who has bad habits, who makes mistakes, you know the type, it's called "normal people".

So I was a very happy camper when I stumbled by a complete accident upon Cherise Sinclair's Doms. They are so not perfect and I love that, because they seem real. They have fears like real men, they mess up and show more they have those moments when the only thing you can do is say "Men!" and go on. And her heroines aren't the gorgeous bombshells that can wear anything they want. They might not be slim, but they are smart, hardworking women that have the same issues real life women have. And those are very good things. For me, anyway.

Club Shadowlands is the first book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series. We meet Master Z or Zachary, child psychologist by day, owner of the Club Shadowlands by night. Now, the fact that Master Z is a psychologist made me love him on the spot. It's very hard to find a book with a psychologist that's a Dom, you know? He's a very good judge of character, he is very good at reading people, he's very patient, he has a very strong sense of justice and he keeps his word. If you broke a rule, no matter how much he hates it, he's going to punish you for it. That's something the heroine, Jessica, found out really soon.

Jessica is a very curios woman. She's shocked by what she encounters at Master Z's club, but she's not scared into leaving and she actually likes some of the things she sees. Other things she sees make her turn into mother hen mode and protect the ones that she feels are in danger, making her break a few of the club's rules. Jessica is also very impatient and I think Zachary helps her become the playful woman that she is later in the series.

One thing I loved about the book and the series in general: the way the lifestyle and the BDSM practices and rules are explained. I've read so far enough books to understand a bit about it, but usually all the things surrounding the subject is explained either very... shall I call it dry? I don't know, I just never had that feeling of complete understanding and usually some of the explanations feel copied from a sort of master book, a guide book, while remaining on the surface of the subject. I actually felt that Ms. Sinclair knows what she's talking about and the explanations felt real and they were very well mixed with the story.

There are four more books in the series, at this moment. With every book, the series improves more and more, the characters get more complex, more multidimensional, while staying very close to my concept of real. The sixth book is on it's way and I can't wait for it! I do believe I'll bite all my nails 'till that day comes. Oh well, I can always reread ;) show less

bad storms rolling through Florida. An accountant hydroplanes her car into a ditch. Rain still pours down on one of the worst ever days for Jessica. The only way out of this mess is to hike back about a mile where she last saw lights on in a house. Just a phone call and a wait is all she would need. She approaches the door and knocks. A large burly man opens it a crack and says, "Sorry doors are locked.". Jessica begged him to let her in out of the storm and he did...What she wasn't expecting at all was having to sign a 3 page document to enter. And especially read the fine print. And why does anyone sign something just to gain access to a place. It can't be that bad can it...
I have fallen in love with Cherise Sinclair's books. They are show more sweet, sensual, and REAL. I didn't feel like the characters were anything but normal people with normal problems and an normal amount of kink and fun! I love how the books go back to Safe, Sane, Concentual.
I think this is a great book for those wanting to broaden your interests and want to learn what BDSM is about.Or even if the bedroom has gotten a big laggy lately..spice it up!
I look forward to draining my book money in your direction for more steamy hot books! Thanks! show less

March 16, 2011

I am loving this author's writing. Ms. Sinclair has once again written a wonderful story about Domination and submission. I have a weakness as many know for Alpha males that are dominate and have a little darkness in their souls. Master Z fits the bill to a T. I also loved the way she handled Jessica. I am sure she talked to a number of submissives to get all the questioning and uncertainty so right. I can't wait to read the other books in this series and any other book Ms. Sinclair writes. I can see a lot of ebooks in my future.

December 29, 2011

This story is a very good introduction into this series and the characters that will make up the upcoming stories. I was a little leery of picking up a BDSM book by a new author show more as I have been burned by other authors whose writing has left me a little cold and bored. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished this book. Mrs. Sinclair isn't afraid to show the club and BDSM is a more realistic light with all the various aspect and combinations that can fall under that moniker. When I first read this book I was reminded of another author that I greatly admire, Joey W. Hill. Mrs. Hill writes such deeply emotional and realistic stories that I eagerly await each new book. I may not read them the second that they come out but I enjoy them greatly when I do settle down to explore the worlds she comes up with. After reading a number of books by Mrs. Sinclair and am glad that I have found another author that makes me feel this sense of wonder and enthusiasm for her work as I do for Mrs. Hill’s.

This first book is about the owner of Club Shadowlands and the leader of the group of Doms that work and play at the club. Most know him as Master Z or just Z however his name is Zachary. What little we learn of Zachary in the story is that he is ex-special forces, divorced, older children and he is a psychologist that works with children. Master Z is also a dominant and he is more than a little surprised when Jessica shows up at his door looking like a drowned kitten. Master Z is also a stern man that makes sure that those that come to his club are safe and protect. No one is allowed to harm another if that happens they are kicked out and their membership either suspended temporarily or revoked permanently. There is much that I like about Zachary he is compassionate, caring and he has a sense of humor. I also love that he has a sixth sense, he is emphatic. He can read people’s emotions. Something that is very handy when you are a Dom.

Jessica is an accountant that is looking for a companion. After car lands in a ditch in a driving storm she is forced to find help. Little does she know that she is about to find that man that will fill so many fantasies, even those she isn't aware of yet. Her ride into learning about Domination and submission is a roller coaster ride of experiences. She has no idea that she is a submissive and that is why her sexual encounters have been less than satisfying. Jessica is conservative, controlled and modest. She is also logical, intelligent and very compassionate. She isn't afraid to confront someone hurting another person or hurting an animal. She is also very brave, doing things that make her very uncomfortable just so she can keep Master Z from having to use another sub for a demonstration. I like Jessica very much.

This is a very quick read that those who enjoy this genre will love. I highly recommend all of Mrs. Sinclair’s work. She is an outstanding author. show less