Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Emotional and wickedly hot story with a female dominant who doesn’t have to change who she is deep down just for a man.

Opening Sentence: “Are you trying to torture me?”

The Review:

Break Me Down is a novella set in the Loving on the Edge series by Roni Loren. What I loved about this installment was that the female dominant never had to compromise or give up who she is in order to love the man she wanted. I’ve only read a few other stories like this but in the ones that I have read the female dominant usually has to give up her mostly domme tendencies. This story has some wickedly hot, female dominant scenes.

Samantha Dunbar and Gibson Andrews shared one *almost* wickedly hot encounter together. Gibson ran out before it got too far. He didn’t like that he was turned on by the dominant Sam. Ever since that night, Sam and Gib haven’t gotten the other out of their thoughts. Sam doesn’t know what she did to Gib but she doesn’t like that he has acted like that night never happened.

Sam is one tough chick. She has spent her life learning how to protect herself. Sam’s childhood was particularly rough. One thing that Sam has done is not make excuses for what has happened to her. Each thing has been a learning experience.

One night Sam is attacked bringing back memories of when it happened to her before. Unfortunately, she freezes. Her training didn’t kick in. Thankfully her observant co-worker noticed and ran the men off. Since it is the beginning of her vacation, Sam takes off for her grandmother’s home in the deep country of Texas. She takes out her aggression on fixing up the old home.

Gibson finds out about Sam’s attack. He knows the last thing that she needs is to be alone. He makes a deal with her, he will help her with the remodel and be her sex slave to command for the week as long as she lets him stay with her so she isn’t alone. This goes against everything that Gibson has known and grown up believing. Gib has always been a dominant but it was when he was acting as a submissive to Sam’s training that he really got turned on.

Sam knows that Gib is a closest submissive but he won’t admit it. She uses her time with him to make sure he knows it. She literally breaks down his barriers and shows him what he is missing. The only thing is, Gib wants none of it. He doesn’t want people to know his sexual preferences, even though he is a member of The Ranch. He is scared of what people will think about him. Sam doesn’t care. She just wants Gib to be happy. The only thing she won’t go against is being a secret. If they are to have a relationship then everyone has to know they are together, which means in Gib’s eyes that they will know he is a sub. If Gib can’t do that, then they cannot be together.

I think it was great that Sam stuck to her true self. She would rather give up a relationship with great chemistry than be unhappy. She was tired of caring what others thought about her. Gibson on the other hand only cared about what people thought about him. He had to be dominant because he was male. He couldn’t be turned on by being subservient. Gib was quite angsty in his troubles. It was almost enough for me to give up on him but the ending with worth the payout.

Roni Loren continues to write characters with such emotion and depth that I always fall into their lives and relationships. I hope to continue reading these stories for years to come.

Notable Scene:

“Tonight, how you were, was epically hot, Gibson. It was a fantasy in the flesh for me. You coming all over yourself and roaring like a beast? Hell yes. I will vote for that over and over again. I wish you could let yourself watch that video. If you doubt your strength, your power, just watch yourself, see how beautifully intense you are in submission. Seeing you like that makes me want to thank the universe that you exist, that there’s someone else who gets it. It makes me want to parade you around at the Rance and show you off because of how fucking lucky I’d be to have a man like you.”

He closed his eyes.

She released his chin. “I know that part’s hard for you. It’s okay. That’s what having a relationship involves. I’m dominant, but that doesn’t mean we don’t negotiate and compromise. My penchant for exhibitionism isn’t a deal breaker, Gib. We can play in private. I can respect that it’s a hard limit for you.”

FTC Advisory: Intermix/Penguin provided me with a copy of Break Me Down. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )