Nobody's Angel by Kallypso Masters

Greetings and salutations my fellow hump day nation.  Whether you love what you do or are merely trying to get through, we are on the downhill slide of this week and for that we say "woo-hoo!" Is it wrong to channel my inner Seuss on a BDSM spotlight week - I say nay.  Somehow in my brain it all works.  After all today, being Leap Day, is kind of the Brigadoon of the calendar.  Yes, I am all over the map - maybe it's the muscle relaxers (back out....again!) or just the sheer joy of seeing this never ending February end and the month of Tyra and Jenn beginning.....I have to say, part is due to my brain being sizzled like hot bacon over reading this series - sizzled I tell ya!  I got some heavy things to say, so let me treat you all with a little eye candy, kind of the subbie blankie of the week....Mmmmmmm, just feels right?  No?!! (Ok - Ink Master is my current obsessions and like this weeks genre, there's more than meets the eye - with his activism for causes like NOH8, PETA, Drop in the Bucket and more - wash his hair and he makes one fine, dirty/sexy slice of eye candy!)

Nobody's Angel, Kallypso Masters, September 2011

Marc d'Alessio might own a BDSM club with his fellow military veterans, Adam and Damián, but he keeps all women at a distance. However, when Marc rescues beautiful Angelina Giardano from a disastrous first BDSM experience at the club, an uncharacteristic attraction leaves him torn between his safe, but lonely world, and a possible future with his angel.

Angelina leaves BDSM behind, only to have her dreams plagued by the Italian angel who rescued her at the club. When she meets Marc at a bar in her hometown, she can't shake the feeling she knows him—but has no idea why he reminds her of her angel.

When Marc's search-and-rescue partner, widower Luke Denton, confides he believes Angelina is the angel his wife promised to send him, Marc is convinced she is meant for Luke. A painful incident from his past keeps Marc from letting any woman drive a wedge between him and a friend.

While Luke can provide Angelina with love and stability, Marc knows his friend can't satisfy her submissive needs. Marc offers one night to show her that BDSM is not about pain, but a power exchange with mutual trust and consent. But he knows he can’t commit emotionally to anything more.

When the abusive Dom from Angelina's past threatens, Marc's protective instincts kick in; he must keep her safe. Again at the Masters at Arms Club, she turns the tables on him—and turns his safe, controlled world upside down. (Forewarning - These books MUST be read in order!!!!!)

For those not quite able to wrap their heads around the genre of BDSM or who are uncomfortable with the concepts and feel they are books about people who hurt each other for fun and pleasure - Kally Masters may be just the ticket you're looking for!  The Rescue Me series, beginning with Masters at Arms introduces a group of Doms, bound by the oaths and blood of military service, the loyalty borne of teamwork and discipline and the people necessary to complete them.  After reading Masters in Arms, I was beyond ready to follow the story arcs of these three Doms and one Domme who serve together at one time and later reunite after war to build a club in Denver to suit their lifestyle and needs.  Book 2, Nobody's Angel, tells the tale of Dom Marc, the man who refuses to see himself as a hero, living in the shadow of his dead brother's spirit and previous betrayal. 

Fired up from the beginning, this page turner weaves a spell that refuses release, much as a true Dom, until permission is received in the end.  What I find so fascinating is this world of strong, dominant males who are so very human, so very flawed and some, even quite broken.  Their D/s world is about regaining control, creating safety, security and ultimately a trust that somehow goes beyond just Love.  Watching two powerful, machismo males fall in love down that rabbit hole and a strong, very real woman learn to release her inhibitions and ultimately admit her desire to submit is like falling down the rabbit hole.  What Masters does so very well is explain, without sounding clinical, educating the reader as the leading ladies learn about the lifestyle through these men.  Unlike a traditional erotic romance, the ultimate climatic moment comes with that point of true power exchange and it feels every bit as romantic in it's own special way.

The storyline is solid, and there are even some nifty little action scenes and a few club scenes thrown in to really jazz things up - but it's the characters that get you - right from the start. I love that the secondary characters are obviously lead ins for future stories - Strong secondary plot with Adam and Karla set up the next book obviously! Angelina's running mental dialogue is funny, realistic, painfully honest.  Watching her be attracted to two men after a lifetime of mental pounding about good catholic Italian girls behavior is entertaining, cathartic and watching her heal under the careful tutelage of the right Dom is sexy, liberating and straight up hot!  The sex is graphic and frequent but not the core of the novel - to assume so is to demean the spiritual growth of these broken winged birds into creatures that learn to soar with pleasure, flying the reader with them all the way.  (The tension of who Angelina will end up with really plays out at Marc comes to terms with his deeper emotions and knowing that Luke will get his own HEA just from her upcoming release list made me feel a little better while I struggled with that particular storyline - not because I wasn't enjoying the idea of a menage but just the emotional destruction and reconstruction that comes after such a great loss is so heart wrenching, the reader just WANTS him to have that ultimate joy of finding true love.)

Grab your box of Kleenex and prepare for an emotional ride that is totally worth the price of admission!  Nobody's Angel is a highly recommended read and this reader totally can't wait for Adam, Damien and Luke's stories - these heroes deserves HEA's.  Good things always come to those who wait?  Assume the position and say Yes, Sir, indeed!