Book Review: Rough Surrender

Rough Surrender
Cari Silverwood

Release Date: June 4, 2012

Book Description:
One master, one woman who craves surrender, and a sky that will challenge them both.

At a time when airplanes are as new-fangled and sensational as the telephone, Faith dares to fly.

The one territory she has not explored is her own sexuality. In Leonhardt she discovers the man who can teach her how a woman surrenders her body and her mind. However, Leonhardt has a shadowed past and his own learning to do. He doesn't have the right to keep Faith from flying, even if he thinks airplanes are flimsy death-traps made of canvas, timber and their inventor's prayers.

Faith has her limits, Leonhardt has his flaws, and sometimes the nicest people get murdered by unscrupulous bastards. Even if Leonhardt can save the woman he loves, the battle for Faith’s heart will be the hardest one of all.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
“Because it thrills me. Because when I fly, I am truly alive. You must come up and fly sometime. Do something new in your life! I dare you, sir!” Rough Surrender (Kindle Locations 602-603).

I have to admit this was my dare read, as I don’t often venture into such an explicit content. Now… don’t take this the wrong way. I don’t consider myself a prude, but historical BDSM erotica is not really on my to-read list. So, this was quite an unexpected read, and what a surprising experience it was! I was not familiar with Cari Silverwood’s prior writing, but she masterfully pulls it off: the setting, the characters, the mystery, and of course, the scorching romance.



In the early 1900’s when aviation is still viewed as novelty, Faith Evard is among the first women pilots. Adventurous, feisty, and sufficiently wealthy to sustain her extravagant hobby, the sky is where she truly feels herself alive. Being a well-bred young lady, her stepfather would rather see her safely married off but Faith has other ideas about her future. But Cairo’s Aviation Week might hold more than just the expanse of bright blue skies, when Leonhardt Meisner unexpectedly enters her life and opens a whole new world of experiences to her.

Leonhardt Meisner, an engineer, has moved to Cairo to distance himself from the London society and his own sexual preferences. The events of the prior year, when a prostitute, from a local London establishment he used to frequent, is found dead, whipped and badly beaten, has shaken him. And having struggled to reconcile his own need for sexual dominance he forswears it, at least, until he meets Faith.

Unlike many other society ladies of his acquaintance, Faith is highly opinionated, independent and daring, but sexually inexperienced. So, Leonhardt takes it upon himself to educate her, and the two begin an affair that will challenge and surprise them both. While Leonhardt and Faith slowly ease into their unorthodox relation and continue to test their boundaries, Cairo is shaken by the gruesome murders of women. Then, Mr. Smythe, the proprietor of the London brothel suddenly appears in Cairo.

Mysteries amount, the romance sizzles, and Faith and Leonhardt seem to be caught in the middle. With a backdrop of a murder mystery, and the focus on romance and sex, a great cast of characters, saucy dialogue, and historical setting, Cari Silverwood delivers an entertaining read that certainly leaves an impression.