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Shadows #3

Barely Restrained

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Roni is the head bartender at the Tampa nightclub Shadows. All she wants is to date normal humans as she brings enough baggage to the table as a changer. However, when her past comes calling and she kills her tormentor once and for all, what she thought she knew about her new lovers turns out to be a lie.
Surviving the punishment for her crime is the easy part but can she accept what her lovers are?

Author Note: Contains adult sexual content, including m/m and BDSM practices.

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2011

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About the author

Brenda Cothern

80 books305 followers
Brenda is an Amazon and ARe best-selling author and resides in Tampa, FL with her husband, six cats, a dog, a turtle named Tammy, and a rabbit named Alice. She is active in the Tampa Bay GLBT, kink, & leather communities, and the owner of Florida Leather & Fetish Pride Weekend event which includes a Mr. & Ms. title contest.
When not putting the voices in her head on paper, Brenda is attending book and fantasy/Sci-fi conventions to meet fans. She also attends leather/kink events as Ms. Florida Leather & Fetish Pride 2016 and teaches about the leather and kink lifestyle.

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(Where you can find several FREE reads!)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Angela Goodrich.
1,608 reviews101 followers
September 13, 2015
Yet another awesome installment in the Shadows series. In Barely Restrained we are treated to Roni’s story. Because this is the third book and Roni is a bartender at Shadows and has been in the previous books, I knew what she was and what it meant for her to be a changer as we have met her preferred male and female forms before. But knowing that Roni is a changer doesn’t mean that Roni wasn’t a mystery because she has been a woman of few words despite her constant presence and we find out rather quickly, that there’s a lot about her that she hasn’t told her Shadows family about.

Despite the happiness of the couplings of her friends and co-workers, Roni only dates norms and by all indications, date is a rather generous term for those relationships. So when Zac happens to take notice of her and catch her eye while she’s bartending the Swingers’ Night event at Shadows, she’s relieved that he’s human. However, upon learning that he’s not unattached, she’s not sure that she wants to see where the mutual interest leads. When Zac returns not once, but twice and refuses to be dissuaded by the way she treats him in two of her alternate forms, she gives in to her curiosity and goes home with him. Because she recently accompanied Nick on an undercover venture – in yet another form – she was aware that Zac was in the kink lifestyle, even if she didn’t actually know what that meant. I appreciated that not only did Roni ask questions about Zac and Hunter’s lifestyle throughout the entire book, but also that they encouraged her questions, answered them, and made sure that she understood the information they gave her. This helped to forge a bond of trust between the three that was apparent during their play scenes – scenes that I must say were freaking hot.

There was more of a suspense element in Barely Restrained than in the previous books because Roni’s past was literally stalking her – and while she knew who it was, her refusal to think about it in order to preserve her sanity meant the reader was kept in the dark for quite a while. But when her stalker puts Zac’s life in danger, he learns that Roni is not the same scared pet he controlled years ago and I will only say that Roni proved just how big and bad she could be. As much as I hated the punishment that she was dealt because she thwarted her attacker permanently, it did set the occasion for Zac and Hunter to take care of her and prove to her just how important she was to them – especially when they saw her true form (which sounded pretty creepy when she described it) and did not reject her as she feared they would. Their acceptance of her made it easier for Roni to accept their offer to start a life together – one I expect to hear more about in the next book in the series, Embracing Sin.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
Profile Image for Lora Lunsford.
9 reviews
June 10, 2011
omg - they just keep getting better - I was on the edge of my seat finishing this one and yeah I know it was the rough draft so hurry up and finish it please so I can buy it for my collection!
Profile Image for Derek Mitchell.
3 reviews1 follower
September 12, 2011
A very interesting book. Set in the club Shadows, which we were introduced to in the previous books in the series. This story expands on the story of Roni. We have seen the cheerful changer in quite a few scenes, but rarely outside of the Shadows. Now thanks to this book we get to learn more about her and we are introduced to yet another facet in the supernatural world that Brenda has woven over Tampa Bay.

From the get go the book is packed with intensity and strong imagery. Brenda has woven a story that seems to blend the erotic and philosophical sides of the BDSM world in a manner that almost anyone with a libido will find arousing.

The world that Brenda has created seems to grow and grow. I am looking forward to what new and erotic things that she creates... Where are the Were-Bears!
Profile Image for Staci Suhy.
558 reviews24 followers
January 6, 2014
This book was different from anything that I have ever read (in a good way). Good story.

** I received this book for free as part of a First-Reads promotion
Profile Image for Karen.
2,681 reviews
September 22, 2015
Loved this book. Well written and very enjoyable. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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