Mastered (The Enforcers, 1) Audio CD – CD, December 6, 2016

"You only have one job, my angel. Obey."FINAL DECISION:THE STORY: Evangeline Hawthorne has just given her virginity to an absolute jerk who gave her no pleasure and then insulted her. Her friends convince the innocent, naive and sweet 23 year old that she needs to dress up and go to the exclusive club that her ex attends and show him that he has not damaged her and that she is fine without him. When she gets to the club, she ends up meeting Drake Donovan who owns the club. Drake is ruthless, cutthroat and lives his life with no regrets and no weaknesses. He decides that he wants Evangeline for himself. In exchange for her complete surrender, he will take care of her and introduce her to pleasures that she never dreamed up.OPINION: This book is only the first half of the romance between the main characters. It ends on a cliffhanger. Banks explains that this book was too long and she didn't want to cut it so it was divided into two books.MASTERED has a Fifty Shades feel to it, but with much less kink. Evangeline aka "Angel" is incredibly naive and innocent. I did, however, like her character as she is also genuine and compassionate. Through this book we see that she gains the respect and caring for Drake's partners (who definitely all need books of their own). Evangeline's motivations are clear. She is a good person who will do anything for Drake.Drake remains mysterious throughout this book. He has some trauma in his past, but nothing is revealed here. The most about this character is revealed at the end where he does something pretty unforgivable to the heroine. At the end of this book, he needs to seek forgiveness from her so maybe we will learn more about him in Part 2.As might be expected with a Banks' book, this book is scorching hot. While Drake participates in the BDSM lifestyle, the depiction here is pretty tame if compared with Fifty Shades. (I also liked the characters more here).WORTH MENTIONING: This book includes a sex scene between the heroine and another man while the hero watches. This is part of the hero and heroine's sex play.CONNECTED BOOKS: MASTERED is the first book in The Enforcers Series. It is also part 1 of 2 of the romance between Evangeline and Drake.STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.

The basic plot is a familiar one and I was thinking been there, read that, but I couldn't put this book down I enjoyed it so much and it kept my interest. First of all $10 for an ebook is way more than I usually pay, but I thought I would give it a try. Drake Donovan , powerful, rich, seems to be the boss of his own mob ( not that it is ever disclosed in this book) is immediately attracted to Evangeline Hawthorn when he sees her at his club. She is unaware of her own beauty, innocence, kindness and honesty that attracts Drake's attention as it is something he doesn't come across in his world. Not only does Drake have sex with Evangeline the first time they meet, but he offers to make her his mistress soon after which she accepts knowing how dominant Drake is and being told he will totally control her life. Normally this is a turn off for me, but somehow the author put so much life and detail into her characters I couldn't stop reading. (She also gave Evangeline a backbone and didn't make her a total doormat which helps.) This also extends not only to the two main characters, but to the men who work under Drake that are also featured prominently. Part of the allure is that Drake is so rich and powerful that what he does for Evangeline is surprising, but also he has never had such a relationship with anyone like her who cares and loves him for himself, not his money. He's at a loss sometimes as this relationship is uncharted territory he's never experienced before , but it has opened a part of his soul that hasn't experienced such goodness and love. I also liked Evangeline's total acceptance of the men in Drake's organization and how they return her acceptance of them is heartwarming and humanizes them. This book ends in a cliff hanger and continues onto the next book. I like the author wrote Drake's and Evangeline's story into two books instead of one which fleshes out their characters. The explicit sex is hot including the threesome scene which was surprising since Drake is so possessive, but is written well without betraying Drake's and Evangeline's relationship. Their relationship didn't get too saccharin for me possibly because of Drake's BDSM streak. I got involved with all the characters in this book and will continue onto the next to find out what happens next.

I loved reading all three books in this series. Sometimes the dialog would get to be a bit much (There was a lot of dialog that was repeated over and over again in different chapters), but overall it was a fun read. It's too bad they weren't able to take out all the extraneous information to fit the story all in one book. It would have been nice to have the other two books about different people.

Ms. Banks is one of my must read, no matter the blurb, authors and I had no idea what to expect in this book. I've had this book in my TBR pile for a while and I'm actually glad I waited until the next book in the series to come out before reading it. (I won't say why because that would be a spoiler). Drake is such a brooding alpha male, surrounded by a bunch of other brooding alpha males that could /should each have books of their own. Ms. Banks infuses such mystery about each of these men that you yearn to know their back stories. Evangeline is such a naive country girl, that it is a wonder she has survived in the city this long. Their coming together is not only combustible, but has such twist and turns that you don't want to put the book down. I'm glad I can immediately begin reading the next book.

Very Seductive! And Wild!

I have to confess that Maya Banks belongs in my Top 5 Favourite Authors.This book did not disappoint, hence my 5 star rating.I could not put "Mastered" down.I love both Evangeline in her innocence, but heart of gold and spine of steel, and I absolutely adore Drake!I can honestly say that I learnt something new about myself, when I found especially one of the BDSM scenes toward the end of this book beyond scorching hot. I never thought that I would find that particular thing so interesting. I can honestly say that I wish I was Evangeline!!Can't wait for part 2 "Dominated" and am so looking forward to where Evamgeline and Drake's journey will lead.Well done, Maya, one of the best story tellers around.

Bei Maya Banks Büchern habe ich persönlich schonmal das Problem, dass ich im Verlauf des Lesens gelangweilt bin, weil mir einfach nicht genug passiert.Ehrlich gesagt war dieses Buch zeitweise auch kurz davor, mich zu langweilen. Nicht so schlimm wie bei anderen Werken der Autorin, aber trotzdem sollte das nicht passieren.Wer auf BDSM und männliche Dominanz steht, kann dieses Bich getrost kaufen. Es hat allerdings ein offenes Ende; der Folgeteil erscheint Anfang Mai.Die Beziehung zwischen den Protagonisten würde ich als "Vollzeit BDSM" bezeichnen, das heißt die weibliche Hauptperson hat eigentlich keine andere Beschäftigung als ihren Mann zufriedenzustellen. Wer's mag. Mein Fall ist das nicht so ganz, vielleicht fand ich das Buch auch deswegen nicht überragend.

A page turner, great characters, a good and thrilling plot.I also like the style of the author.Maya Banks like always did a fantastic job.I really recommend reading this book if you want to have a nice time.

Wow!!!! Not sure what else I can say to described this book. I don't have words to described how much I enjoyed this novel by the talented Maya Banks.I truely and thoroughly enjoyed this novel... It is well written, descriptive and full of life. The only negatives I have is that I want to know more about Drake's men but the again it adds to their characters as well and that is a good thing.Definitely highly recommended.