The Submissive by Tara Sue MeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
5 Truly Surprising Stars
Let's just get this out of the way first.
Yes - this started out as Twilight fanfiction. Yes, it has obvious similarities to Fifty Shades. And for some people, those two points would be enough to say far, far away from this book. This series has gotten a bad rap because of the fact that it has gone through very little editing from the original version that was posted online (other than the obvious name changes etc). But, this book surprised the hell out of me. In a very, very good way.
I have been pretty much burned out on the Fifty Shades/Crossfire clones that seem to pop up every week. But I picked this up while browsing in my local bookstore the other day, read the first 4 chapters standing there in the 'Romance' section, and found myself immediately hooked.
The first thing that struck me is that it is very well written. Yes, there are obvious similarities to Fifty Shades present, but the actual writing is actually very well done. There are no run on sentences, or instances of the same phrases used dozens of times. The author managed to take a storyline that has been done to death over the last year, and put a neat little twist on it that, for me, was really addictive and enjoyable.
Yes, the BDSM elements are on the tame side, but Nathaniel states up front that he isn't a sadist (unlike our misbegotten Mr Gray). But, the sex scenes are still hot and...unlike in FSoG, it didn't feel like I was reading the same scene over and over again.
Without giving anything away, i have to mention 'The Twist'. It might not have surprised some people, but it took me off guard, and I thought it was great as surprise endings go. It added another layer to Nathaniel's character that made him much more endearing (in my eyes anyway...but maybe not to some). If I have a complaint, it's over the actual ending...there isn't really one. The story just sort of....stops. That was the one aspect of the book that really reminded me of FSoG...no clear cut ending.
All in all, The Submissive was a surprisingly enjoyable and well done and erotic tale that I couldn't read fast enough. Can't wait to get a glimpse inside Nathaniel's head in The Dominant.
