I read in series order. It’s a compulsion of mine and I rarely hit a new series without reading the previous books. But I loved the sound of this blurb and decided to live a little and read out of order. I know. Very daring of me. I’m glad I did as I have found a new-to-me-author to read!
To Have and to Master instiled a lot of humour and lightness into a BDSM erotic romance. While it was a sexy read with a domineering hero and submissive heroine, it wasn’t the steamiest of erotic romances I’ve read. But that didn’t matter because I loved the heroine and the set-up so much, especially the humour.
Varushka was wonderful and endearingly funny. She was sheltered and very submissive. She’s also very young emotionally from being sheltered so much in her family and from small village life. Usually these type of heroines would get on my nerves but did I mention how funny and endearing Varushka was? She managed to be so nervous when meeting Konstantin and worrying that she wouldn’t make him the perfect wife. But she was so eager to please Konstantin and then eager to learn everything imaginable in having her wicked way with him. Everything was new to her when she moved to America and it was a big culture shock for her. But I was giggling so much when she confessed in church to the priest just how wicked Konstantin was with her and how much she enjoyed it.
Konstantin I also really liked, though he didn’t come across as a super domineering Master. He was a sadist but he didn’t come across as very sadist to me. There’s a lot of spanking that goes on! He was so sweet and patient with Varushka. He didn’t rush her but he encouraged her to preview the lifestyle he lived to see if they could be happy with one another as Dom and Sub and Master and Slave. Because I haven’t read the previous two books I can only go by Konstantin’s personality and behaviour in this book.
Like I said above, the erotic romance in this book was kinda light when it came to a dom/sub relationship but it matched the humorous tone. Konstantin wasn’t expecting to fall so hard for his little bird. He felt so conflicted because of how innocent and young she came across. There’s no age-play whatsoever but he was worried that his wicked perversions, as he called them, could cause her harm. Varushka was twenty-one to his thirty but there was a definitive difference between them in how life sculpted them both. Kon moved to America at an early age and lost his parents when he was a teenager. He became self-sufficient (and super rich) while all Varushka had known was her family and the life she lived in her village. But despite the differences between them I really thought they were perfect for one another.
Varushka was really coming into her own and was so confident in learning about her sexuality and how much she loved to orgasm. A lot! She learned there was no shame in exploring her sexuality and her relationship with Kon. I did think the ending was a little rushed with the family conflict and another something I can’t name because spoiler! Despite this I really enjoyed this story and I loved how easy it was to fall into the writing. It was really engaging and I loved the secondary characters, especially the bromance Konstantin had with the two previous heroes from the previous books (I so need to read those). And the chickens. I LOVED the chickens. And the goats. Adorable goats!
All in all this was an enjoyable, sexy read and I can’t wait to read the previous books in the series.
I give To Have and to Master a B+