Title : Step Across the Rubicon

Author : Holly Blackstone

Series : Liliana Batchelor, #2

Rating : 5 Stars

 

Blurb : In ‘An Accidental Affair’, the first book of the series, gorgeous Scottish CEO Stuart Watson tries to convince Lily to explore the dynamic between them, despite her fear of being hurt. He woos her with such determination that she accedes, and the time they spend together is magical. Now that Lily and Stuart are back in the Pacific Northwest things become far more complicated, removed as they are from the idyll of Scotland. Circumstances conspire to drive a wedge between them and cause Lily to question her decision to pursue a relationship with him. Stuart’s ex-wife, Megan, surfaces and tries to insinuate her way back into his life and his affections, while an adversary threatens his hold on Watson & Dickson as well as Lily’s safety. A surprise admission by Stuart adds an extra depth to their relationship. The publicity surrounding their involvement causes unexpected fractures at her work, and an old love re-enters the picture, intent on gaining a second chance to win Lily’s heart.

Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit language and scenes that some may find offensive including bondage and domination/submission. Content intended for adults only. (73, 000+ words)

 

Review : Where to begin ? maybe with „wow“ …this was not what i expected … that would fit best I think.
(please excuse me if the choice of my words is not the best possible one as English is not my native language)

I tried to remember how I found the books – I think it was because of the authors post in one of the groups I joined on goodreads
I read the starter and thought – ok – that sounds interesting …
Then I bought the 3 !!! books on amazon on Friday – and by Sunday night I was done … and left (like a fish without water) craving for more

Reading many of the now available “similar” story’s (just check my goodreads profile) – you easily find a pattern which they all seem to follow – but this teaser sounded different and got me interested.
At first I had a little difficulty about the writing style – most of the other books in those area are written form either HER or HIS point of view only – and this story seems to jump… pointing out his and her thinking and a kind of neutral point of view … so the first chapters took some time to get used to – but maybe that is only my problem as not native English speaker.

I do not want to make to many spoilers so I try to state my opinion without giving to much away.
To make a long story short …These books are really good ! They may contain many of the known elements of other storys –

the strong dominating male/ceo
the submissive female
the fact that at least one of them has binding issures
the running away / breakup thing
the strange/crazy boss/ ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend/ex-wife factors

But it became different in the moment when the relationship between Stuart and Lily hit the bottom of what Stuart actually wants and what he is willing to do to get it.

At the beginning I thought this is too much how could he actually expect that from her ??

But reading further and further – the story made it really believable . I could relate to what he was thinking and how Lily was feeling about it. And believe me if you would just state here now the plain cold facts of what Stuart wants you would consider it/him crazy and the whole story totally nuts ….

But the miracle itself is how Holly Blackstone made it possible that you actually move on with the persons and start to relate to their thinking and somehow it suddenly makes sense (at least to me)

And just in case – that the author might read this – I have to put a maybe minor spoiler here but I try to keep it as general as possible giving away as little as possible:

Dear Ms. Blackstone – I already loved your detailed description of the “things going on in the basement” in the 2nd book – especially as you write with such passion not only the description of the surrounding but also Stuart’s and Lily’s feeling about it – they are by far the best I have read up to now – BUT you really got me in the 3rd book when “Stuart is giving his second “PAYMENT” to Lina” ….”Lily’s “PART” in that payment” nearly killed me during reading!

Not to mention … your description of THE piercing nearly made me faint thinking about it

PLEASE hurry up … I need to read more … but please don’t make it to many remaing parts

Wo soll ich anfangen …
WOW – trifft es vermutlich nicht ganz …

Durch Zufall bin ich in einer Goodreads gruppe auf diese Bücher gestoßen – und da ich schon fast alles was so bekannt ist zu diesem Thema gelesen habe gräbt man ja tiefer und findet dann auch unbekanntere neue Autoren wie diesen hier.

Der Teaser klang interessant also habe ich mir das erste Buch am Freitag bei Amazon geladen und was soll ich sagen – am Sonntagabend hatte ich alle drei bisher erschienenen Bücher durch und sitze nun mit meinem Cliffhanger da in der Hoffnung das bald mehr zu lesen kommt.
Freunde von 50 Shades oder Crossfire und ähnlichem werden hier viele bekannte Elemente finden

Den dominatnen starken CEO / Mann
Die ihm ergebene Frau
Die Tatsache das mindestens einer der beiden Bindungsprobleme hat
Dieses Weglauf-/Schlussmach DING
Den verrückten/seltsamen Chef/Ex-freund(in)/ Ex-Ehefrau Faktor

Aber wo es dann wirklich anders wird ist wenn Lily von Stuart klar und deutlich seine Vorstellungen zu Ihrer Beziehung erklärt bekommt (Ich halte meine Erklärungen extra so allgemein)

Auch die Beschreibungen wie sie ihre Beziehung ausleben sind viel detaillierter und schöner beschrieben als ich es bisher aus anderen Büchern kenne.

Würde man Stuarts Forderungen einfach kurz hier auflisten – wäre wahrscheinlich die einstimmige Meinung das das unglaublich ist und unmöglich aber irgendwie hat die Autorin es geschafft das der Leser mit der Story mitschwimmt und so werden sogar die unmöglichsten Ansprüche plötzlich irgendwie glaubhaft

Sie beschreibt die Beziehung der Beiden ständig aus seiner Sicht / ihrer Sicht und teilweise aus einer neutralen dritten perspektive – da ich es auf Englisch gelesen habe war das anfangs teilweise schwierig zu folgen – kam dem Buch aber im Nachhinein wirklich zugute, da man so alles was Stuart und Lily erleben immer aus beiden Sichten sieht und empfindet.