Review ~ The Gilded Cuff (Surrender #1) by Lauren Smith

Blurb 

Every passion has its price . . .

Journalist Sophie Ryder has been following Emery Lockwood’s story since she was a little girl. There has always been something in his haunted eyes that she couldn’t resist and now, when she’s certain he holds the key to solving a string of kidnappings, she’ll do anything to speak to him. Even if it means venturing deep into the seductive world of the Gilded Cuff, a luxurious BDSM club on Long Island’s Gold Coast and Emery’s personal playground.

From the moment Sophie enters his shadowy, sensual domain, Emery Lockwood knows this tantalizing new little sub was meant to belong to him. However, Sophie wants more from Emery than just pleasure . . . she wants his past. And that is something he isn’t willing to give—no matter who is asking. But every moment he spends with Sophie, Emery feels his control slipping and he knows it’s only a matter of time before he surrenders to her heart, body, and soul.

Title: The Gilded Cuff 

Author: Lauren Smith

Series: Surrender Series Book 1

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Purchase links:

Amazon * Kobo * B&N

Amazon * B&N

Excerpt:

He kissed her with raw possession, his mouth showing her how wicked it would be between them. Wild, dark, and completely free. She wanted that more than anything, the freedom to let go, to give in to the erotic dreams she’d spent years ignoring but never had felt safe enough to give in to before. His kiss broke down every barrier, obliterated every part of herself she tried to hide. Sophie lifted her chin, offering him her mouth, pleading for him. Emery drew a quick breath, eyes widening before his lashes fell to half-mast, his gaze drawn to her lips.

When he took her lips, he dominated her with the depth of his claiming. She breathed him in, like drawing the first heavy breath upon waking from a thousand-year sleep. Sophie came alive in that single moment. The woman she’d been all these years since losing Rachel, the scared little girl fighting against the evils in the world, was gone. In her place was the woman she’d always wanted to be, a woman not afraid to live her life. She couldn’t shut this man out like she had her other friends or her family. No. He demanded she give in to him. Electric tingles pulsed outward from the places they touched, setting her senses on fire, fogging her mind. His kiss consumed her—enveloping her until she was lost, set adrift in a haze of desire, longing, and aching.

She felt his mouth tremble against hers; he seemed to strain to keep his possession under control, to bank the fires of his passion. His tongue slipped between her lips, thrusting in time with the rocking of his hips against hers in tiny circles. He gave up his control and took her over. His body weighed hers down, his hips rocking into hers. He could have done anything to her in that moment, and she’d have agreed to it. Sophie’s inner muscles clenched, empty and wet, yearning for him, but it was his kiss that was her downfall—almost brutal with craving, as though he was a thirsty man savoring his first sip of water from her mouth. All his focus, all his energy seemed to be on her, on her lips.

Amazon best-selling author Lauren Smith is an attorney by day, author by night, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She’s a native Oklahoman who lives with her three pets—a feisty chinchilla, sophisticated cat and dapper little schnauzer. She's won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including being an Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-Finalist and a Semi-Finalist for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.

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My Thoughts:

Sophie is a journalist with a knack for solving cold cases. She is taken by Emery's case and sets off to try and talk to him. This proves harder than she would have thought because he is a reclusive billionaire and mostly stays in his gated mansion.

Upon talking with a friend, she finds out that that he frequents a BDSM club and talks her friend into getting her in.

Sophie is a great character. She is independent, loyal, trustworthy, compassionate, and has a never ending drive to save others.

Emery has closed himself off since his incident many years prior. He is cold, calculative, dominant, and standoffish. He wants Sophie as soon as he sees her.

These two bring out feelings in each other that no one else has ever managed.

There is plenty of sexy, steamy scenes, romance, mystery, secrets, agendas, intriguing characters, and a plot that drew me in.

I recommend this book whole heartedly if you like books that are both hot and suspenseful.

I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. It was golden and I can not wait for the Gilded Cage, the next book in this series.

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