FishWithSticks' Fishbowl

I loved this book. I recently discovered Cherise Sinclair, and she has become a favorite. She handles tricky subjects well and without being preachy.

In this story, we finally meet Kim whom Gabi was searching for in the last book. She was kidnapped and sold as a slave, where she was brutally beaten and raped. Thankfully, Ms. Sinclair spares us actually witnessing this, but we relive it through Kim's healing process. I liked that Ms. Sinclair made no attempt to gloss over her character's recovery. Kim breaks down in tears, has flashbacks and panic attacks, and as a result, has a difficult time working with Raoul. What comes across throughout this book is Kim's willingness to work at healing, and Raoul's absolute devotion to what is best for her. He is willing to do whatever she needs in order to help her get past this and be able to come through healthy and happy.

I was pleased to see Ms. Sinclair didn't fall into the trap that I've seen so many other authors do where the main character has gone through major, life-changing, psychologically-scarring trauma, and one taste of sex with the other main character and ALL BETTER! She really made Kim (and Raoul) WORK at getting better, and even right up until the end there were still moments of doubt that she really COULD do this. Even the very end, the "happily ever after," so to speak, there was an acknowledgment that her healing was still an ongoing process, and Raoul was willing to give her whatever she needed to get where they wanted to be.

Excellent job.

So...who's next in this series? LOL