Review: Private Pleasures – Tara Rose

Doms Rey Raleigh and Felipe Durante let Mattie Cayenne get away. She left the island to pursue her degree in veterinary medicine, and then she married. But now she’s home again, and they have learned only part of the truth about the abuse she suffered.

Mattie Cayenne never had any intentions of returning home. She watched her uncle abuse her mother while he lived with them, and then the man she met and married in Alabama, Clay Hale III, turned out to be an abuser as well. It took Mattie years to escape him, his family, and his attorneys.

Through a stroke of luck, Mattie now owns the local animal hospital on Sybaris Cove, and the two men she let get away are back in her life. But can she heal from the abuse in her past, even with Rey and Felipe’s patient, tender love? Or will her past always haunt her?

Series: The Doms of Sybaris Cove #8
Release Date: January 5th 2015
Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand, Inc
Source: Manic Readers
Reviewer: Kenna
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Let me tell you something about “Private Pleasures”.  It was so powerful!  It’s not a big secret that I am a screaming Tara Rose fangirl.  I will completely devour any book that she releases, and I guarantee that I’ll love it.  However, every now and then, she gives me a story that grabs me by the throat and insists that I take in every last detail and make sure that I hold onto them.

In the eighth installment of the “Doms of Sybaris Cove” series, we meet Mattie.  She left the island for college and veterinary school, leaving her home (and a horrible family situation) behind, as well as Rey and Felipe, the men she’d always fantasized about.  She didn’t want to come back, but she had to.  Not only did the opportunity to own her own practice present itself, but she needed to get away from her ex husband and his family.  He was an insufferable abuser who put Mattie through a life of pain and terror.  A LOT of terror.  A chance meeting (an adorable one, really) with Rey and Felipe leads to an evening of revalations.  They’re painful, but the men are so supportive and loving as Mattie gives them the details of her ghastly marriage. I have to say that I was incredibly moved by this scene.  It was difficult to read.  I realize that domestic violence exists, but it’s so hard to believe that people can do such awful things to other people…especially to someone they’re supposed to love.  These descriptions aren’t necessarily for the faint of heart, but it will give you a idea of what Mattie went through, and the way that she was able to overcome and flourish by the end.

This isn’t a very long book, so the relationship between Mattie, Rey, and Felipe develops quickly.  It has to, for timing, but it doesn’t feel like it’s being thrust in your face.  Your neck won’t break at the speed.  The men are so tender with her, and your heart will melt.  It’s a BDSM story, but there are no paddles, floggers, canes, or any other painful pleasure implements.  Instead, we are treated to slow and beautiful scenes with a blindfold and things to stimulate the senses…scented oil, fur, a wartenberg wheel, and soft/scratchy bath scrubbers.  The men explain to her that BDSM doesn’t necessarily always have to involve pain, and that there is no “REAL” way that it should be practiced.  The scenes were so hot and so sexy. I didn’t want them to end.

Since this is the “Doms of Sybaris Cove” series, there is even more progress in discovering the demons who cast the curse on the Durantes and the  Raleighs.  The mystery has been ongoing and very exciting.  Soon, it will all be revealed, and I’m looking so forward to it, even though I’ll be sad to see the series end.  It’s been wonderful.  I suppose that you could read “Private Pleasures” as a stand alone, but I don’t recommend it.  You really should start at the very beginning.  Characters do cross over (and they’re awesome characters at that), and there are a lot of them.  There is exposition, but why would you want to miss out on some really great stories?  Trust me when I tell you that you cannot go wrong with Tara Rose and her Doms.  Definitely take the time to read these books.

Domestic Violence is never ok.  If you, or anyone you know, are being abused please call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)