Haven (Beards & Bondage) by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Blurb: A week-long getaway…

City girl Claudia Cade’s carefree life is plunged into chaos when a camping trip with her brother in the national forests of Northern California turns into a deadly dash for her survival.

A solitary world turned upside down…

Nature photographer Shepard Olsen has resigned himself to a quiet existence, with only his dog by his side, until a woman in need of his protection shows up on his doorstep and throws his universe into disarray.

Two lives linked by tragedy…

Claudia is desperate to heal from her traumatic loss, but can’t stop thinking about her run-in with evil….or the grizzled mountain man whose quick thinking and good aim saved her life. When she shows up on Shep’s doorstep again, she finds she isn’t the only one who can’t move on.

…saved by bliss.

The two begin an intense, passionate relationship of Dominance and submission, pleasure and pain, but with dark memories haunting them and decisions about the future rapidly approaching, Claudia can’t help but wonder…how long can they be each other’s haven?

*** WARNING: This book contains a sexual relationship between a fashionista and a cranky mountain man who are dealing with physical and emotional trauma. And a very big, cuddly dog.***

4 stars

This is the most I’ve learned about BDSM in a fictional book. It was eye opening. And I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little bit interested to learn more.

The beginning dove right in, like from the very first page it was clear what this book was about.  I kinda dug that because some people tend to get twitchy with these kinds of books.  You read the first page and know if you want to continue or not. Saves people who are on the fence time. I appreciated that.

The sexual parts were graphic without feeling like an info dump or manual.  Their chemistry was pretty hot.  The only thing I will say is I didn’t quite understand how fast they fell.  It could have been a bit more deep in that aspect.  Much of their relationship was rooted in trauma and sex so you knew they were gonna have strong chemistry. I just wish we could have moved passed the surface feelings in a more detailed way. The author kinda skimmed over the tough emotional parts of the relationship. And while they did address most of the reasoning behind their attraction, the way they went about pursuing the relationship was sub-par for me, especially in the end.  Which is why I knocked off a star.

Other than that, I enjoyed how realistic is was. They were not perfect, in fact, I wanted to slap both Shep and Claudia multiple times throughout.  But that was what intrigued me in the first place.  I believed this could happen IRL. I didn’t know this was a series when I requested it.  Not that I’m complaining, but y’all know I’m doing a series challenge and now this is just one more to add to my list.

I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest/unbiased review.