Aya M. Productions

Note: I received this book for free from Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. I was not paid to write this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adore Maya Bank’s romantic suspense novels. When I was approached to read this new series by Maya Banks, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to venture into her other genres. Erotica isn’t something I read very often, and while I enjoyed reading Mastered by Maya Banks and it started off strong, by the end, I wasn’t in love.

The story started off strong. I liked Evangeline. I liked the mysterious Drake. I even liked all of Drake’s men. Their inner dialogues were a tad bit overly descriptive, but it was entertaining. It was especially hilarious to see Evangeline interact with Drake’s men and their baffled reactions. However, by the middle, the story was a bit at a standstill.

Evangeline and Drake were in a cycle, where she’d have hesitations, he’d get mad and have to explain himself, and they’d have steamy sex. The story ended up being overly descriptive without giving the reader many answers about Drake. Who is Drake? What does he really do? Why is he the way he is? And so on. Plus, I just don’t think there was enough interaction between Drake and Evangeline to make me believe in their relationship beyond the steamy sex.

Overall, I did find the story entertaining for the most part. I especially enjoyed Drake’s men. Mastered alone just didn’t feel like a full story. Would I recommend Mastered? I would to fans of the genre and fans of Maya Banks. I would preface my recommendation, however, with the fact that you should be prepared to wait on book 2, Dominated, which should be out in May according to Goodreads. Because Mastered ended on a cliffhanger and failed to answer a lot of my key questions, I have high expectations for Dominated. I think other readers of Mastered will too. I need answers!