Dare to Surrender by Carly Phillips

He’s been waiting for her for years. Now that she’s free of her jackass of an ex, he doesn’t intend to let her go. Mkay, I could also see how this might be the start to a stalker-horror film, but we’ll run with it.

What’s it About?

Isabelle Masters is done…

Done with her cheating boyfriend.

Done with his domineering ways.

Just done.

Taking off in her leased Mercedes to start over turns out to be the best decision she’s ever made — despite being arrested for grand theft auto and hauled off to a local police station. Being rescued by the most unlikely person possible, Gabriel Dare, makes it all worthwhile. After all, she’s yearned for the sexy man for years—yet now is her chance to finally take the plunge and dare to become the independent woman she’s always wanted to be. But can she be in control of her life if she surrenders to a man like him?

First Impression

Our novel begins with Isabelle breaking up with her boyfriend of a few years, after she caught him cheating on her. It’s only when she leaves him that we start to discover just how much control her ex had over her. It wasn’t just that he cheated, but rather throughout their relationship he cut Isabelle off from her friends, pressured her to quit her job, and take care of their household. While their relationship didn’t enter the physical abuse realm while they were together, it’s clearly evident that there was mental abuse going on. Then we have Gabriel who comes along as her knight in shining armor willing to rescue her from it all.

After leaving her ex Isabelle has no place to go, no job, and just $500 to her name. Gabriel offers her a place to stay, and quickly reveals that he’s wanted her for so long, and that she’s different from any other woman who has come before. He doesn’t want her to leave the safety of his apartment. While their physical chemistry is off the charts, I must say I would have been extremely disappointed if she had fallen into his arms like he wanted. She simply would have been going from one gilded cage into another one, without ever having the chance to stand on her own two feet. It might seem bizarre for a romance heroine to turn her back on our six-pack ab hero before the halfway point, but I was actually pretty proud of her. I’m not saying she can’t be with him ever, but I was just happy she realized moving in with the dude so quickly after leaving an abusive relationship would have been a huge mistake.

Three Months Later

But that’s not the end of their story! Far from it ladies and gents. Three months later their worlds collide once again when Gabe’s sister, Lucy, seeks out Isabelle to help decorate one of their exclusive night clubs on a secluded private island resort. Gee, I wonder if anyone else might be behind this little ruse? Yeah, it’s Gabe. We know it. She knows it. Lucy tries to shirk it off by saying she wouldn’t be risking the reputation of their club on the whims of her brother. But, yeah she is. Isabelle knows she’s being manipulated and that Gabe is behind the request that she travel to this private island. Lo and behold when she arrives there’s a certain devastatingly handsome man waiting in her penthouse suite.

The funny thing is, she knew he was behind it, but she went anyway because she’s been thinking about him non-stop since she walked out on him 3 months before. They proceed to do some rather PG-13 activities, and she essentially thanks him for letting her walk away all those months ago so that she could walk back to him on her terms. At first I thought, oh honey you didn’t walk back to him, he pulled the strings to get you there. I couldn’t help but feel that she was once again being manipulated by a man who just wanted her in his bed. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that she really did hold all the cards. She knew he was behind it, and if she really didn’t want to get involved with him she simply didn’t have to go. But then I thought about how he pulled her work into it, and how her boss probably would have insisted she not lose such a big account or else risk losing her job. And then I really didn’t know what to think.

Series: NY Dares, book 1. Follows the Dare to Love series. I question if I missed something in the previous spin-off novels, particularly how Isabelle and Gabe met. It’s mentioned briefly in the prologue, as though his first glimpse of her pulled him in so that he was just waiting around for the relationship with her boyfriend to end. If that’s the case, meh kind of creepy.

Final Impression: Honestly I don’t know how to feel about this book, or the romance portrayed in it. On the one hand I like to think that Isabelle is finally taking control of her life, and living it the way she wants. On the other, there’s definitely a fine line into manipulation that I think Gabe is guilty of crossing. Yes, they have a connection, but I think I much rather would have preferred if Isabelle had been the one to ultimately pursue Gabe when she determined the time was right, rather than allowing this ruse of a job offer push her into his arms.

Smut Level: He definitely likes to tie up her hands and slap her…nether region. As he likes to say his ultimate aim is to bring her mind-numbing pleasure. If she has to use her hands to get more pleasure, even if it means embracing him in the midst of love, it means he’s doing something wrong.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. CP Publishing. 230 Pages.