ARC Review: Letting Go by Maya Banks

Over the years, I have become quite a fan of Maya Banks. I have read several of her books, and I would say that for the most part they never disappoint. I have noticed lately though that her newer books haven't been quite as big of a hit with me as some of her older stories are. I enjoyed Letting Go, and I think that it is a promising start to her new series. But I did have a few problems with this story that left me with some mixed feelings about this book.

Joss lost her husband three years ago to an accident and has been struggling to move on since. She has finally decided that it is time to let Carson go, and move forward with her life. Even though Carson provided her with everything he could, there was always one thing that he was never able to give her. Joss has always felt like she was a submissive, but because of Carson's horrible past he would never be able to be her Dominant. Joss goes to The House (a private sex club) and ends up running into her friend Dash who was also Carson's best friend. At first he is shocked to see her there, but he quickly recovers and questions what she was doing there. When Joss explains her desires, Dash lets her know that if she is going to be a submissive then the only person that will fill the roll of Dominant for her will be him. Dash has secretly been in love with Joss since her first met her, but never acted on his feelings because of Carson and Joss. Now Dash and Joss have a chance to fulfill all their needs and desires, and they also have the chance at love. But with Joss still trying to move on, and Dash's fears and insecurities can they have a permanent future together? Or are they destined to self destruct before they ever have the opportunity to see where their relationship can go?

I liked Dash. He was sweet and supportive and really caring. He looked out for Joss and was a great friend to her for years while never making her uncomfortable despite what he felt for her. Dash was Dominant and Alpha, but he was probably the nicest and most warm one that I have ever read about. Even though he had those tendencies and there were times that he was every bit the alpha, he was also patient and understanding. He would let Joss take the lead at times and was also pretty lax when it came to living the life of a Dominant. He was even willing to give it up if that was what Joss needed. Joss was a likable heroine. She had suffered the untimely death of the man she thought that she would always be with, and yet she was able to survive and move forward. She was a great friend and was always really friendly and welcoming. She was warm and kind, and always looking to please others. I thought that at times her actions tended to show that she was a bit stuck in the past and hesitant to let Carson go, despite that she said she was moving on. But never being in that situation, I'm sure that it would be hard to let her husband go and it would be hard to enter into a relationship with someone else. I thought that Dash and Joss had a great friendship and foundation for a relationship, and the attraction and chemistry was definitely there. I did feel like their relationship progressed rather quickly even though they had known each other and been friends for years. It just seemed extremely rushed to me. They were hot together though and were able to really generate the steam.

I did think that even though this book deals with the BDSM world, that the book was definitely light on BDSM content. Despite Dash's claims of being so Dominant and a few sex scenes that were of that nature, it really seemed as though most of their interactions were not of that nature at all. I also felt like there was a lot of repetition as far as dialogue went. It seemed like the same conversations were rehashed over and over and the majority of the words were just recycled and put in a different order. I felt like I was skimming over the same thing over and over because it had been said and done before. It really drew me out of the story and I had a hard time getting really invested because of that. I also really got irritated with Joss's sister-in-law Kylie. She was really judgmental and completely naive and every time she opened her mouth it annoyed me. I honestly couldn't understand her complete ignorance. She did change a bit towards the end, but for the most part she just seemed way too uptight. I did like the rest of the characters though. I thought that they were great and really interesting. I am hoping that since Kylie and Jensen's story is next, that Kylie will get over some of her issues and open up. I like Jensen a lot, so I would hate to see him end up with someone that is so frigid and closed off. I think if you are looking for a good read that has some BDSM content in it, but that stays on the lighter side of things that this is one that you might want to check out. However if you are looking for a serious and intense BDSM read that is true to the lifestyle and has a realistic feel to it, this is probably not the book for you. I will be interested to see how the series progresses from here, and look forward to reading the next installment.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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