Review: Branded Sanctuary (Nature of Desire book 7) by Joey W. Hill

Let me start out this review by saying I love Joey W. Hill's Nature of Desire series. After Rough Canvas, I didn't think a BDSM story could get any better - Rough Canvas had the need for submission, and the need for a submissive. It had the intense emotional connection that can happen between Master and submissive. And the scenes were smokin' hot. Rough Canvas was one of the best love stories I've ever read. Then I read Natural Law and, Oh my. Next I read Ice Queen and Mirror of My Soul and when I finished Mirror of my Soul I had to pick Ice Queen back up and start from the beginning. The story touched me in ways that can't be described.

So it is to be expected that when Ms. Hill finally found time to give us book seven of this series, that I read it the first opportunity I had.

First, let me say you should not read Branded Sanctuary until you've read Ice Queen and Mirror of my Soul. We first meet Brendan in those books, and there is much you won't understand in Branded Sanctuary if you haven't already met Brendan.

With that said, it is going to be very hard for me to talk about what I liked and disliked about Branded Sanctuary without putting some spoilers in. So if you haven't yet read Branded Sanctuary then you may want to stop reading here, just knowing that I give the writing a 10 of 10, but the story a 4 of 10, which is how I ended up with a Book Rating of 7 of 10.

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Second warning: There are spoilers past this point.

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Joey W. Hill can explain a submissive's mindset better than any other author I have ever read. Submissive people have a mind of their own that they are more than capable of using, they aren't stupid, they aren't worthless. They choose to gift their submission to someone they care for and respect. A healthy Dom/sub relationship involves a lot of feelings, and a whole lot of trust. The trust aspect was missing in this relationship, and that really bothers me - but the feelings were all there, times ten.

Chloe and Brendan both blew it in the trust department on several occasions, and I don't believe either did anything particularly noteworthy in order to prove themselves trustworthy once again. Brendan freaks and bails on Chloe emotionally once, and Chloe is about as untrustworthy of a Dom as I believe I've ever seen. And yet Brendan gives her complete trust. There is something broken in both of them, and I wanted to see them both healed. But I don't believe we saw that. I think Chloe is well on her way, but I'm not so sure about Brendan. I was made to care for these characters, and I wanted them to find peace and happiness.

As someone in the BDSM lifestyle, before I found my soul mate and married him, I met a few vanilla guys I liked and tried to make it work with them. It was a disaster. I cared for two of them deeply, but my needs were not being met and when I tried to tell them what I needed they couldn't handle it. I learned the hard way that a relationship between a vanilla and someone who is wired to be very un-vanilla just won't work in the long term. And so I can't bring myself to believe that Chloe and Brendan's story is one of Happily Ever After, but at best, Happy for Now. I understand that we are supposed to believe that Brendan is so submissive that he'll want whatever Chloe wants and will be fine just making her happy - but I just can't bring myself to believe he's never going to want to be flogged or spanked again, I can't believe he isn't going to miss the discipline of a Mistress who knows how to handle him, who knows how to give him those extreme sensations. I feel sad for Brendan that the woman he loves isn't going to be able to give him those things. Submissives have needs, too. Part of finding a relatonship that works for everyone means finding someone with needs the opposite of yours. If you like to be flogged, find someone who likes to flog. If you like to be bound, find someone who loves shibari. If you can't stand needles then stay away from the people who love to do needle play. Brendan can take a 10 of 10 on the pain threshold level, and it doesn't look like he's going to be getting anything worse than about a 2 or a 3 from now on, if that. I find that very sad. It's okay for a submissive to have needs that they want to make sure get met. I wish Brendan had healed enough to see that.

Here is the blurb:

Chloe has always been a creature of joy and laughter. Since a brutal attack nearly a year ago, the trauma she experienced has gotten worse. She has started hiding from her life, even putting up walls between herself and those she cares about most. During a panic attack one night, she impulsively calls a number that she’s had for many months. Chloe met Brendan at her boss’s wedding. With confidence and seduction, he easily steps into the role of helping her manage her fear. By the end of the long call, they’ve indulged in some serious flirtation and mind-blowing phone sex—and she’s feeling things she’s buried for too long.

The problem is that Brendan is the perfect male submissive—and Chloe isn’t wired for the D/s lifestyle. While their attraction is undeniable, Chloe doesn’t know if she can be everything Brendan needs. As a submissive, Brendan would never ask her to be something she’s not—even if it will break both of their hearts to turn away from how they feel about each other.

I know Branded Sanctuary wasn't written to be a tragedy, but I can't help but seeing it that way. I thought things were going to be okay when Chloe punished Brendan near the end, but then she has to apologize to him because she doesn't like to hurt him. That just tells us, the readers, that she doesn't have a clue what hurts him, she doesn't have a clue about what he needs. I just feel so sad for Brendan. Well, for both of them, actually, to be so in love with someone when the relationship is not going to be fulfilling for one of them.

So, as I said earlier. Joey W. Hill is an incredibly talented writer, and I give her writing a 10 of 10. But the story? The story only gets a 4 of 10, because I could only see tragedy in the ending, not the Happily Ever After that I thought I'd be seeing, based on the other books in this series. The book gets a 7 of 10, though I was tempted to give it a lower rating. I care for both of these characters, and I really wanted to see a happy ending for them.

Book Rating: Branded Sanctuary: 7 of 10

Nature of Desire Series
1. Holding the Cards
2. Natural Law
3. Ice Queen
4. Mirror of My Soul
5. Mistress of Redemption
6. Rough Canvas
7. Branded Sanctuary


You can see my ratings of the earlier books in this series here.

On The Ragged Edge Of The World by Jamie Craig

This story starts in Calendar Boys-October: Trick Of Silver, and picks up a week or two after the end of the first book.

On The Ragged Edge Of The World hits a lot of my genres, it is well done Urban Fantasy complete with werewolf politics, werewolf hunters, etc. And it is D/s erotica. It is also M/m, which technically isn't my thing, but the D/s is well done enough that it works for me quite well. Notice I'm not calling it BDSM... it has a little of the the B (being cuffed to the bed a few times), but it's mostly a D/s love story all wrapped up in an Urban Fantasy werewolf story.

You really do need to read the Calendar Boys short for the book to mean as much, though.

Here's the blurb:

Darren Sumner spent fifteen years hunting werewolves, a member of the elite organization Argenti. But one night of betrayal sent him from his Argenti family to the arms of werewolf Aden Richter--one of the most powerful Alphas in Washington D.C. Neither can deny their passion or their hunger for the other, but as Darren tries to find his place in this new world, he wonders whether desire can be enough. Rumors of an upcoming power struggle between the packs bring the question of Darren's role to the forefront. Is he Aden's partner and a leader of the pack? Or is he nothing more than Aden's lover, placed outside his family? Darren struggles to prove himself as the tensions between the packs mount and Aden's ex-lover puts a plan of vengeance into action.

I'll give both books a 9 of 10, and the series a 9 of 10.

Calendar Boys-October: Trick Of Silver: Rating 9 of 10
On The Ragged Edge Of The World: Rating 9 of 10
Series Rating: 9 of 10

It was an enjoyable read, with well developed characters, nice dialogue, and good pacing. Can't ask for much more than that.

Calendar Boys-October: Trick Of Silver
On The Ragged Edge Of The World

Chaos and Communion (Book 5 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The fifth book in this series once again deviates a good deal from the format of the first three. We get even more of the back story in this book. We learned a great deal in book four, but book five pretty much tells us everything. I think.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Stopping a murder that happened forty years earlier may be the only way to heal a tortured mind... Six months after Jesse Madding is brutally tortured by Marcus Brooker, he is still experiencing flashbacks, panic attacks, and jumping at his own shadow. His lovers, Gideon Keel and Emma Coolidge, would do anything to help him, but Jesse cannot tolerate the thought of being alone, and refuses to be hospitalized for treatment. Desperate for a change, Gideon and Emma suggest a radical solution. Jesse wants to fix his life. More than anything, he wants to be normal again. He doesn't want to live in fear. He doesn't want to be ashamed of his scarred and mutilated body. He doesn't want to shy away from Gideon's touch. Certain that the holding pattern will kill him, he agrees to Gideon and Emma's proposed solution: travel to an alternative dimension and save Marcus Brooker from witnessing Mary's grisly murder...in order to save Brooker's soul.

The BDSM scenes aren't as intense in this book, but they really can't be, with Jesse's state of mind. There is one intense scene in the book, as well as a not so intense one in Sangre, but compared to previous books in the series this one is pretty tame.

We get to watch Jesse fight to get his life back though, and I'm glad that the author didn't just glance over what Jesse's experience was likely to do to him. And I like that Gideon was willing to do whatever it took to help him heal. We knew Emma would, and I figured Gideon would, but it was nice to see.

The story line is good, and I enjoyed it, though not as much as I enjoyed previous books.

To be honest though, the last two books have been more intense than I was ready for at the time. Too much drama and not enough fun. I usually like drama okay and even appreciate it, but these books just made me tired. The blurb for the next book makes it look like things may get even more intense, and I'm just not up for that right now. Part of the blurb for the next book says "Jesse must convince the vampire who doesn't remember him, or the love the three of them share, to fight for their lives.". I do intend to read the next two books in the series at some point, just not quite yet. I don't want to see Emma possessed, and I don't want to see Gideon lose his memories. Not now, anyway. I like these characters and I don't want to see anything else bad happen to them. Not that bad, anyway.


Heat level: 3 of 5
Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10 (after reading first five books)



1. Master of Obsidian
2. Unveiled
3. Mosaic Moon
4. Seduction in Black and White
5. Chaos and Communion
6. Dominion
7. A Renaissance In Blood

Seduction In Black And White (Book 4 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The fourth book in this series has our threesome going out of town. It was different from the others. Still a good book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the others. Too many secrets, too much conflict, too much pain.

And the violence. There is a lot of violence in this book. Non-consensual violence you can't just skim over, as there are important things being said while the violence is happening.

Here is the blurb for the book:

History doesn't always die. Sometimes, it lives on. Discovering it can be too seductive to resist...A chance encounter on their first vacation in years introduces Jesse Madding to Marcus Brooker, a man who claims to have known the woman for whom vampire Gideon Keel abandoned his evil ways to fight for good. Though Jesse would rather get those answers from his lover, Gideon isn't nearly as forthcoming. So Jesse pursues the truth the only way he thinks he can. Gideon agrees to the New York trip, hoping for three weeks of pure pleasure with his human lovers. Pleasure is not all they find...

This book deals with some of Gideon's history. History that's been hinted at in other books, but we begin to get the rest of the story here.

In the other books I've enjoyed watching the characters grow, and watching the relationships grow. We don't really get that in this book, if anything there are too many setbacks to say that anything grows or gets better.

At the beginning of the book we see that the three are more comfortable together, that they've come a ways since the end of the last book, but... that's about it.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Uncomfortable books can be just as good as enjoyable books. Part of the problem is probably that I was expecting more of what I saw in the first three, and this one was so different.

If you've enjoyed the characters in the first books then I still recommend this book. Just be aware that it's not quite as much fun as the previous books have been. This one is much more serious.


Heat level: 3 of 5
Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10 (after reading first five books)



1. Master of Obsidian
2. Unveiled
3. Mosaic Moon
4. Seduction in Black and White
5. Chaos and Communion
6. Dominion
7. A Renaissance In Blood