Novel Review: Sweet Surrender (Sweet, #1) by Maya Banks

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: Erotica with BDSM/Adult Romance

Publisher: Penguin (Berkley Sensation)

Publish Date: 2008

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

First Book in the Sweet Series by Maya Banks, and it “might just singe your fingertips off.”—New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh
Under Faith Malone’s soft exterior lies a woman who knows what she wants: A man who’ll take without asking—because she’s willing to give him everything…

Dallas cop Gray Montgomery wants only to find the guy who killed his partner and bring him to justice. What he’s found so far is a link between the killer and Faith—and if Gray has to get close to her to catch his man, all the better. She’s everything Gray desires in a woman, but he suspects she’s playing games. No way would she allow a man to call the shots in their relationship. Or would she?

Faith sees in Gray the strong, dominant man she needs, but he seems determined to keep her at a distance. So she takes matters into her own hands to prove to him it’s no game she’s playing. She’s willing to surrender to the right man. Gray would like to be that man. But catching his partner’s killer has to be his first priority. Until Faith is threatened and Gray realizes he will do anything to protect her…

Something Specific:

Quotes:

• "'It takes a very special woman to submit to a man but still retain everything that makes her strong and unique. Her own person.’” (Mass Market Paperback, pg. 193) I like this, the thought that it takes a strong woman to submit in this way.

The Cover:

This cover is fine. It suggests deeper things without revealing too much, and without making it too embarrassing. The colors are nice, and the overall image is just rather simple. Then there's this cover, which is much more revealing and sexy, giving more of an idea that this is erotic. The position of the clothing bothers me a little, but overall it's alright, if rather embarrassing. And finally, there's the fruit cover, which I am not a huge fan of. On the bright side, it's less embarrassing, more simple; but on the other side, it's a piece of fruit, and I don't really understand what the point of making a piece of fruit, particularly a ?, seductive and sexy. Plus, it has nothing to do with the book, so that's another mark down. But overall, none of the covers are that bad, and my favorite is probably the one above.

 

Review:

I rather enjoyed this book. It wasn’t amazing, it didn’t blow my mind or anything, there were a couple slow parts, but overall I rather enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more of the series.

I liked Faith, the main character. I enjoyed her personality, particularly how she knew what she wanted and went after it, even if she was at first a little bit misguided. Within the BDSM scene, she at first was a little misguided in how she was acting toward what she wanted, but I understood fully and related to her reasoning for it. I also liked her relationship with her father and the men around her, who she works with and generally who all just take care of her.

I didn’t feel anything particularly strong for Gray, nor did he leave me with much of an impression. I liked him enough, I suppose.

There was a good amount of sex in this book, all of which was rather good. There was BDSM and a threesome, and it was very nice. Banks usually writes pretty good sex scenes, though, and unlike whereas some of her books have so many that some of them seem to have no point, I didn’t feel that way with this book.

I don’t really have a whole lot else to say about this. I enjoyed it. And I plan on picking up any others in the series when I get the chance.