Review: This Is Who I Am by Cherise Sinclair

Title: This Is Who I Am
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Series: Masters of the Shadowlands, Book 7
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 27 May 2013

When trying to save a woman from slavers, Sam screwed up. Royally. Now Linda wants nothing to do with him. Or with BDSM. She won’t even admit she’s a masochist. As a dominant and sadist, he can give her what she needs, and when an opportunity arises, he slips into her life, intending to make amends. She’s everything he knew she would be…except for her bullheaded determination to be ‘normal’.

Now the horrible time is past, Linda just wants to return to her small conservative town, pick up her quiet life, and be normal. But how can someone who likes pain be ‘normal’? To her dismay, when someone spray-paints her home with obscenities, Sam shows up to rescue her. Again. Doesn’t he understand that the last thing she needs in her life is a sadist? He’s amused by her objections. But his dry sense of humor can’t disguise that he’s tough as nails and dominant and stubborn. He’s not going to let her drive him off this time. Soon she realizes she wants him to stay.

When he takes her to the Shadowlands, she feels as if she’s found a home…until she hears a voice from out of her nightmares.

It's been a long hiatus between books - from 2011 to 2013 - in this series, and then an even longer one for me. I didn't read this book until just a few days ago. I admit that Master Sam made me uncomfortable. I liked him whenever he showed up in the other books, but I wasn't sure how I felt about reading and entire book with his sadism at the fore.

Fortunately, once again, I needn't have worried. Cherise Sinclair took me well past my comfort zone and made me love this book. Sam and Linda are a perfect match, and seeing them recognize who they are - separately and together - is incredibly satisfying.

Linda has healed a lot since her involvement with the slavers (that we were first introduced to in Make Me, Sir). She's had a few months to heal and has started to get her life back on track. But she's also denying a very important part of herself - that she's a masochist and needs pain to feel complete. Again, this isn't something I understand at all, but I thought Ms. Sinclair did a wonderful job of showing Linda's needs and how she comes to terms with them.

Sam's need to be a sadist is a bit more unclear to me. I understand that he gets something out of the exchange, but I'm still not sure what. And that's okay. While I would never be okay with a lot of the things that Sam and Linda enjoy, I understood that they did - and that made me love this book ... even when I was supremely uncomfortable.

Cherise Sinclair's Masters of the Shadowlands series is still a favorite for me. And with Sally's book - one I feel like I've been waiting forever for - up next, it seems it's going to continue to be great.

Grade: A-

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