Book Review

Solid 4 star book review for Crazy in Love by James Crow.

I have a few James Crow books on my Kindle, but this is the first time I’ve read anything. Now I’m wondering why I waited so long to read one.

Lacey Jones, in her early twenties works in a dead-end job washing dishes for a sleezy boss at a diner. The only highlight in her life is when Dominic Clay, owner of the best sex club on the strip, and his Russian submissive (or slave, I feel, as she refers to him as Master and that makes the way she speaks to him even more of a no-no), and manager of his club, Anya, go in to eat a Russian dish made by sleezy Benny at the diner.

As the story unfolds, the reader learns more, and more about the lives of Lacey and Dominic, and what they’ve both had to endure up to this point. It even gives a little bit of background on Anya, but she’s still not likeable. There are some triggers in this story for sexual assault, so reader beware.

Now, let me talk about Anya for a moment. The way she ‘speaks’ to Dominic, along with her behaviour, she wouldn’t last more than a week, at most, with a Dom, in my opinion, especially as he’s referred to as a Master. Being a bit of a brat sometimes is okay and can even be fun … except for the punishment that comes with being a brat. But Anya, a pain sl*t, is way out of line a lot of the time, and a character I didn’t like from the get-go.

Dominic Clay , early forties, is a character I definitely liked, except for his inability to get rid of the crazy, Russian submissive after the way she deals with him. I know Doms have a lot of patience and perseverance when teaching their submissives (especially slaves), but Anya really pushes those limits beyond all reason.

The ending, for me, was a bit weird. I don’t want to give too much away, so all I will say is : Once a sadist, always a sadist. It is my opinion they need to inflict pain like they need to breathe. Going from sadistic to no pain at all isn’t realistic in my view.

Apart from that, I found this to be a good read and will recommend this book to those who are not sensitive to sexual assault or sadistic pain being inflicted between consenting adults.