Vow of Silence, Chronicles of Surrender series, by Roxy Harte

 

We've met Dr. Psycho / George on many occasions in this series, and we finally see things through his eyes.

With Garrett and Thomas and Celia gone, George is running things now. There are changes, and I'm not sure I like the changes he made, though I understand the need for them. But that's life. Things change, whether you want them to or not.

Meanwhile, his personal life has all kinds of things going on, and we finally learn why he chose to stop being a practicing psychiatrist.

I'm pretty sure Roxy Harte is starting another long series arc with this book, and it's one I look forward to following along. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, though I suppose one part of the story was sort of tied up for the end of the book.

Here's the blurb:

Is love enough to sway destiny?

George Kirkpatrick is reeling from the loss of his friend and boss, Garrett Lawrence, the owner of Lewd Larry’s Fetish Fantasy Nightclub. He finds solace in the arms of a very vanilla woman…until a female from his past returns to further complicate his life.

Lin Kuan, a renowned San Francisco metal sculptor, met George Kirkpatrick under false circumstances. She believes she's dating a psychiatrist, not a sadist. Too late she discovers she's in love…and is determined to change him.

Gigi Marconi seeks penance in pain, but not for the life she ruined. Will the vow she made as a child destroy her before she has a chance to face the truth? Or will the love of the man she once betrayed be her salvation?

There were a few things that didn't exactly work for me, the "very vanilla" woman's reactions to a few things seemed off. But that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened that way, just that it's not how I would have expected it to work out, I guess.

Vow of Silence is a dark book. Much of what happens isn't BDSM between people who happen to have that particular kink. It's BDSM as practiced by people who have been wounded in some way emotionally, and who deal with those wounds by searching for physical and mental pain, or by giving physical and mental pain to others. That's not to say the sex and the scenes aren't hot and inventive and well described, because they are. And most of the scenes are consensual. But there were times I felt guilty for enjoying the submissive's pain, if that makes sense. Which it doesn't, because it's a fictional story and fictional characters. But the author created the story and characters well enough that I felt guilt, so I guess that's saying something.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 2 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: 2 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 3 of 3 
• Extra Point: Yes

As I finished the book I would have expected that I would give the intensity level a 10 of 10, because the BDSM is quite intense. But once I started breaking it down, the relationships don't have a strong punishment component. And the D/s, while present, is quite shaky for most of the book. So, while the BDSM is intense, the sum of the parts is only going to be an 8 of 10. It does get the extra point, because the main theme is strongly related to BDSM.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was different and interesting. It was not nicely tied up at the end, we will have to wait for the next book for that, I assume.
• Pacing was fine
• Prose and dialogue were fine, though I expected the voice to change more than it did between characters.
• Character development was well done.

Vow of Silence is easy for me to rate - it was an entertaining read, and the Heat Level says all that needs to be said about some of the scenes.

• Book Rating: Vow of Silence: 9 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 8 of 10
• Heat Level: 5 of 5

I am anxiously awaiting the next book in this series, though I don't see a mention of a title or when we may see it.