Strapped by Nina G. Jones Review

This is a dark erotic story and I have to say it was a little disturbing at times. There were definitely scenes where I was a little uncomfortable while reading. The main male character, Taylor Holden, at times had shades of Christian Grey, but Taylor takes the sexy crazy to a whole other level. Taylor's traumatic early childhood has affected him in devastating ways. Taylor's mostly successful life is even more impressive when you factor in how he compensates for the ways in which some of his anxieties manifest in his day to day life. Shyla Ball , the female protagonist is captivated by the mysterious and complicated Taylor and her whole world gets turned upside down pretty quickly. She knows that there is something missing in the perfectly normal and mostly happy life that she has, but she just doesn't know what that something is. After a chance encounter with Taylor, Shyla's whole world gets turned upside down. Shyla goes from a typical and faithful woman to someone who allows breath play with a man who she has known for a very short time. Eric, Taylor's estranged brother causes major problems for Shyla and Taylor in a way that made me put my Kindle down for a second because I just couldn't believe what I suspected was coming was true.

 There are definite elements of BDSM so be prepared for non-vanilla steaminess. For those of you who do not like cliff hangers you need to wait for the next book to come out before you read this one because there's a big one at the end. I am an impatient reader so I have to suffer through the next few months until Strapped Down (book 2) is released sometime in early 2014. I love a good series, but I really don't like cliffhangers so that discovery was a little disappointing, especially since I enjoyed the story and now I have to be a more mature reader and wait for the next installation. 

Happy Reading!
Monica

**I received a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.**

Amazon 

Book Description:

By all appearances, Shyla Ball has an enviable life: a loyal boyfriend, a great job, and family that loves her. She doesn't realize how deeply unsatisfied she is until she has an embarrassing encounter with a handsome stranger at a coffee shop. Taylor Holden, a successful businessman, takes a sudden special interest in her and offers her a job she cannot refuse. Soon after, she learns there is much more to this intensely private man than meets the eye. He is hiding many painful secrets, including why it is that he has seemingly plucked her out of obscurity for such a lucrative position. Her "perfect" world is turned upside down by her infatuation towards Taylor and in just a couple of months, her life looks nothing like it did before. While she is frightened by the changes she sees in herself, she cannot resist the lure of Taylor Holden. As Shyla slowly gains Taylor's trust, she learns of his complex history and how it has molded him into the person he has become. When elements of Taylor's secret past resurface and threaten to destroy them, Shyla finds out there may be more to Taylor's story than even he is aware of. Strapped is a story of passion, manipulation, obsession, and family secrets.

Amazon 

Description for Strapped Down-Book 2:

The much anticipated second installment of the Strapped Trilogy, Strapped Down picks up where the first installment concluded.

Eric is not going down without a fight, but Shyla and Taylor are willing to go to equally dark lengths to make him pay for his betrayal. In their quest to seek revenge and find happiness, deeply guarded secrets from their pasts begin to surface, revealing they are linked to each other in ways they could never have imagined.

For every secret they uncover, another seems to surface as they find themselves raveled in a web that extends much further than the confines of the darkroom. As Shyla and Taylor become more entwined with each other, she learns that Taylor’s dark side is far more dangerous than she believed. Will Shyla continue to follow Taylor into the darkness, or is he far too gone for her light to shine through?


About the Author:

Nina G. Jones was born and raised in Bronx, NY and currently resides in Milwaukee, WI with her husband and two crazy Boxers.

She is the author of Strapped and is currently working on the sequel to Strapped, slated to be released in early 2014.

Nina lives a pretty wholesome life, but is fascinated with the dark side of things. She loves watching true crime TV shows and it creeps her husband out to no end. Nina has a degree in Psychology and uses her characters as a vehicle to explore the human psyche.



Guest Post from Nina.

 I asked Nina how she developed her stories. How she gets from an idea for a story to the finished product and here is what she had to say:

When starting a story, I try not to commit too much to one method. In order for me to be productive, I need to be in a relaxed state, not feeling tons of pressure to write a certain amount of words, or be committed to particular story lines. When I don’t feel that pressure, I find the words pour out of me and the story develops on its own, as if the characters are coming to life through my words.

That’s not to say that I don’t use certain devices to help guide my along major plot points. Most, but not all of the time, I do a mixture of free form and outlining. There are plot lines or scenes I know I solidify before I even begin. Then on index cards, I start writing out how those plot points should be developed on each chapter. Those index cards are fluid, changing as I write, getting shifted around or rewritten. I will note that I have written books straight from the brain with no pre-planning too.

Sometimes I get ideas away from my writing space, so I write on random envelopes, copy paper, receipts, whatever the hell I can get my hands on. I get the best ideas in the shower, in fact last night, I wrote on my shower wall with lipstick because I couldn’t afford to forget them. My husband often comes across cryptic and sometimes very intense notes on post-its through out the house. Luckily, he now realizes I am not going nuts, it’s just my process, though it was contentious there for a bit. ;)

Attached to the cue cards for each chapter are post-its with quotes or other nuggets of inspiration that I want to include in the chapter. When I am ready to write, I grab my cards and notes. That’s where the free form goes in. I am usually just as surprised as a reader when I complete a chapter. It’s what makes writing so fun, being able to go on these crazy adventures of the imagination.

Where to find Nina:

On her site Nina G. Jones
On Facebook at Nina G. Jones
On Twitter @NinaGJones
On Google+ Nina G. Jones
On Goodreads Nina G.Jones