Earning Her Trust
BLURB:
She ran from her past… right into his arms.
Marrin Braxton is scarred—physically and emotionally. As a result, she separates her college life from her personal life and makes a point not to trust anyone. Especially guys.
So when she secretly starts sleeping with her hot neighbor, Damian Wane, she makes it clear it’s just sex. Good, kinky sex.
And boy, is it kinky. In the bedroom, Damian is everything Marrin needs. He’s dominant, bossy, and says the filthiest things. Damian makes her submit in ways she never thought possible, and when he’s in charge, she’s able to let go of her need for control and just be.
But it’s how Damian makes her feel outside the bedroom that threatens to tear down the walls Marrin has built around her life and her heart. It’s a loss of control she’s not sure she can handle, and when a man from her past shows up to terrorize her, it’s a loss of control she’s not sure she’ll survive.
Damian Wane is used to getting what he wants. He’s rich, handsome, and gifted with the kind of soulful eyes every person, pet, and vegetable dreams of getting lost in.
After his first night with Marrin, he’s hooked. She’s everything he needs in the bedroom. She’s eager, submissive, and wants him in ways no one ever has before. But it’s the ways he finds himself wanting her, the scars he wants to show her, that have him unable to keep things between them casual. He doesn’t want to let her go, and he’s not willing to share.
But Marrin’s keeping secrets and Damian doesn’t want to be one of them.
If he can earn her trust, he just might make Marrin his. But if he pushes too far, pries too deep, he might lose everything.
REVIEW:
I ended up taking a break from the historical Beverly Jenkins binge I was on to read this book and was glad I did. Earning Her Trust is one of those books with in toes in multiple categories. It’s a contemporary romance with New Adult age characters who dabble in erotic interludes. As I read, Damian quickly became my favorite character. The book starts with Damian and Marrien, two college students with mutual friends, engaging in a secret friends with benefit arrangement. However, it’s quickly clear that Damian wants more but that Marrien’s past is keeping her from giving in. The passion between the couples is searing and Marrien uses their chemistry as the focus in their relationship.
What I enjoyed most is the slow but steady pursuit of Marrien that Damian embarks on. He respects her boundaries and understands that they are caused by past trauma. But he has his own painful past and doesn’t let that stop his courtship of Marrien. They are both scarred individuals with moments of pain and self-doubt but that makes them even more relatable as characters. Some of Marrien’s thoughts about the unfair gender roles echo thoughts I’ve had this last month with the current events happening. At times, Marrien frustated me because I wanted her to accept Damian’s love but I understand the growth she needed to go through. I thought this was an emotional and beautiful story by a talented debut author and I can’t wait to read what Adore Ian writes next!
Received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
LINKS:
AUTHOR:
Adore Ian grew up in a mixed race family in Hawaii and has loved steamy romance novels ever since finding a Harper paperback discarded on the sidewalk when she was a kid. She’s a proud dyslexic, a loud intersectional feminist, and a lover of standard poodles. She lives with her manfriend on the east coast where she spends too much time bunny watching and not enough time writing. She believes the ingredients to good romance are too much smut, quality fluff and angst, and a dash of guerrilla sex ed. Her novels are best enjoyed with a slice of pizza and an ice cold beer.
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