Review: Serenity's Dream (The Sapphire Club #1) by Brita Addams

Synopsis (Goodreads):

When Serenity Damrill is unjustly accused of murder, the only place she can think to hide is with her estranged husband, Lucien, at The Sapphire Club, a place where every sexual fantasy can be fulfilled. Hiding the truth, she returns after a ten year absence, ready to submit completely to her husband.Lucien, owner of the club, though skeptical of his wife's sudden reappearance in his life, is willing to take her at her word, and he institutes an erotic regimen that Serenity quickly begins to crave. Lucien’s sexual prowess is beyond her wildest dreams and soon they fall into a frenzied, erotic life.All is going well, until Serenity's accuser spots her at a Cyprian’s Ball.

My Thoughts:  I find that I'm in one of those ruts where I keep picking up books that should appeal to me on many levels but that somehow keep falling short.  In this case, we have BDSM elements (which I thoroughly enjoy) set in a historical setting.  I like historical romances.  I like books about spanking.  So, what went wrong here?

One of the biggest issues for me was that I felt like there was a lot of repetition in the internal musings of the characters.  Whole passages were dedicated to how Serenity was finding her new sexual life with Lucien to be exciting and fulfilling and then we would get a re-treading of those same thoughts a few pages later.  I'm all about characters that reach an understanding of self within a book but I don't want to read it over and over again.

I was also a bit confused by Serenity herself.  In the beginning she seemed like she was a fairly innocent lady who was unwittingly embroiled in an unfortunate incident.  Then it was revealed that she craved spankings and had been carrying on a long-standing affair in the years she'd been apart from Lucien.  It took me by surprise to be honest with you because she did come across as someone who wasn't familiar with the naughtier side of sex in the beginning of the book.

For the most part, though, I never really connected with the characters on an emotional level.  I liked them well enough, but their issues never made me tear up or grabbed me by the throat.  All in all, while it was a fairly spicy read it lacked the emotional depth I was hoping for.

More books by Brita Addams

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Serenity's Dream was a free download from ARE on 04/13/11 as part of their Earth Day celebration.