One Gold Heart

Dominant Cord #1

by Sadie Haller

Finn Taylor is an asshole. So why does he keep showing up in Mac's late-night fantasies as the Dom of her dreams? She can't even ignore him, because she's stuck working with the fellow musician for the Christmas concert season.

Mac Wallis is a mess, and Finn can't fall for a submissive who's so damaged she needs medication just to get through a performance. But he's drawn to the beautiful oboist, even as he keeps pissing her off. He can't resist trying to take care of her--in every way.

Genres: BDSM, Romance, Erotica, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Amazon, Adult

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

USA Today bestselling author, Sadie Haller, lives in the little blue house by the sea with one husband, two dogs, three cats, and six hens (they actually live in a littler red house out the back). She writes kinky happy ever afters for musicians, politicians, celebrities, and the occasional member of the royal family.

Reviews

[~ Cariad ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - ugh, good job it had a decent amount of spanking, that's all I'm saying!

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (4/17/2019)! 🎁

[Greyling54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the story a lot. Rather sweet after some of the darker stuff that I read or read about. My major complaint is musical. A wind quintet would name itself "Dominant Chord", not "cord". Yes, the one they choose allows those in the know to infer the BDSM, but that's not really the way a classical music group would want people to be thinking about when they want to get hired. Also, Bach's Christmas Oratorio is a very lengthy work for chorus and chamber orchestra. It's usually performed in 2 pieces. It is absolutely NOT a piece for a wind quintet. Oratorio, by itself, to anyone with a modicum of musical experience means piece for chorus with some sort of orchestra. Handel's Messiah is probably the most well known oratorio. Can't really see that working well for the quintet. (Sorry, rant about basic musical element now over.)

I liked the characters. I thought the situation with Mac's background and her willingness to at least consider trying to overcome her past experience was well done, if perhaps rushed. I wish the book had been longer.

[EroticaAfterDark (Lilith)]

FREE: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

[Ella Rose Brunton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like it very much. It kinda dragged on a lot and didn't hold much of a plot line. A bit boring.

[books are life · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out more of my reviews on my blog www.gemmareadstoomuchforittomenormal....

2.5 stars

One Gold Heart is book #1 in the Dominant Cord Series and the first book I have read by this author. I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review so here goes...

This book is a short nugget of kinkiness and I think I kind of liked it.

Mac is a feisty but damaged girl; I liked her spunk and attitude.

Finn was a sweetie, he seemed to genuinely want to take care of Mac and I found his character very endearing.

There were elements of a dom/sub relationship but I’m sorry to say I didn’t find this book particularly sexy.

The sexual encounters between Mac & Finn were all very orchestrated. Now I know that this was part of the story to help Mac move on in a sexual relationship after being the victim of a rape. But for me I just didn’t feel anything from the sex, there wasn’t any passion and sorry but it just didn’t float my boat.

The story for the most part crawled along at a snail’s pace and then the last chapter went from them experimenting with very vanilla sex to an all out BDSM smorgasbord of everything.

I mean seriously, bondage, vibrators, butt plugs and anal in one chapter whew!!!

Sorry but this just didn’t work for me, the relationship just escalated far too quickly. In the space of 2-3 weeks Mac went from being unable to be alone with a man bar Sully. To living with Finn, being collared and declaring their undying love!!!


This is a sweet story but it didn’t wow me so only 2.5 stars from me.

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mac is a musician who had a tragedy in her past give her anxiety attack when it comes to performances. Yet her best friend, Sully, winds up injured and asks her to take his place in the quintet he usually plays on. After some arguing she reluctantly agrees and shows up at the practice for the group. This was a pretty good book and I can relate to the anxiety attacks as I have them myself. Finn is a dominant who is also a member of the group and when Mac shows up and announces that she was there as Sully's sub, he mistakes it and thinks that she was supposed to be there in a few days for their play night. Mac quickly gets the situation straightened up with a call to Sully, but with that call Finn finds out she needs drugs to cope with her performance anxiety so winds up being hostile to her all night. Sully is trying to bring Mac out of the shell so he set them up to have dinner. Finn is drawn to her and becomes determined to help her break through the walls she has built. This was a really good book. This was my time reading this author although I do have a few of her other books. I really liked both main character's and their friends. This was book one in a new series too me. This book was well written with no errors in spelling or grammar. I am looking forward to reading the next book.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after reading Prime Minister which she co wrote with Ainsley Booth and I wanted to try a solo novel by Sadie Haller. This is my first real bdsm themed novella I have read outside of books like fifty shades of grey and I think it explained more in depth the role between dominates and subordinates in a relationship. I wasn't sure if it was going to be my cup of tea at first but the more I read I found that I really enjoyed it.
Finn really took care of Mac's needs and allowed her to heal and trust again after being the victim of a career ending vicious rape more than a decade earlier. He was patient and kind with her after they got to know each other.(I liked the storyline here.)
If you are are on the fence about this genre this maybe a good book to try.

[Michelle Larson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where's the rest?!

Sorry but this one was just plain too predictable and completely unrealistic. Female rape victim submits to flute-playing Dom/man she's known less than a week just because her male friend says it's "safe", moves in with him, and then falls in love with said Dom in about a month. The story and character development are severely lacking in detail, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks. If you're looking for hot & steamy, skip this one.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. DNF.

The editing on this was terrible. Missing quotation marks every other page. Add to that a slow story where I just don't care about Finn or Mac, and stilted dialogue that my eight year old could write and I just can't get through it.

[HeatherTX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable!

I am in general a fan of musicians but they are typically are of the bad boy rocker types! In "One Gold Heart" we get a classical musician that happens to be a Dom with a heart of gold! In my opinion Finn is almost too sweet but his character fit perfect with Mac's in helping her to overcome her very painful past. I look forward to future installments in the series.

The BDSM elements were light at best.

***Copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley for an honest review***

[Bitchie]

Shouldn't it be "chord", if it's about a music group?

[Monique · Rating 1 out of 5]

Run, do not walk, away from this book.

[Leigh Kramer]

DNF at 12%

I can’t deal with how ableist Finn is. Mac is there doing the band a favor and his immediate conclusion after learning she takes beta-blockers for performance anxiety is that she’s an addict. In what realm?! He was such an asshole about it all. Taking prescription medication for anxiety is a completely normal thing to do, not an indication of substance abuse. There’s no way I’m going to be able to buy a romance between them.


Characters: Finn is a white flutist and Dom. Mac is a white oboist and submissive. She has a cat named Gounod.

Content notes: performance anxiety, ableism by MMC, substance abuse stigma, secondary character with broken ribs, sex toy, masturbation, Viagra joke, ableist language


*Love it or Leighve it* (aka cleaning out my Kindle)

Purchased: 2019
Why did I buy it? One of those freebie Stuff Your Kindle promotions

[Janis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t believe a word of it.

[Melissa White · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Winfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay... it took to long to get to the heart of the story or even more for the heat to get started.

[Maria Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This steamy novella is the story of Finn and Mac. When Mac joins Finn's music group as an oboist, she reveals her underlying trauma that results in her needing medication to perform in public. But Finn is determined to help her recover her sense of self and in doing so, finds he can't help falling for his feisty yet submissive new friend. I really enjoyed this story, and the play on words of the title of the group Dominant Cords was a cute way to reveal that all the members are active in the D/s world of BDSM. Finn is able to slowly break through Mac's shell and the scenes between them are steamy and yet show a caring on Finn's side that is Mac's undoing. Enjoyable entertaining story! 4 stars.

[Stephanie Bolen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best

I'm sure she's done better because I'm following her. The premise was interesting a woman who was raped and a man whose wife overdosed fall in love. He thinks she's a pill popper and she thinks he's an ass upon first meetings. They then help each other get over their emotional baggage. But it's really a tale of a broken woman learning to trust again. All the way up to the sleepover was one book. And then after the sleepover it was a different book with different characters. All the zippiness went away and the abbreviated timeline did it no favors. It was stripped of the very things that made it enjoyable and became just another BDSM book. And not a particularly good one at that. The safe word for anything was a cute idea.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mac is a talented musician but due to her past doesn’t perform in public. When her best friend Sully is injured she agrees to fill in for him. She instantly clashes with the leader Finn and doesn’t understand why they can’t get along. This book is highly emotional, both characters dealing with issues from their past and the chemistry between them is certainly steamy. Excellent debut novel and I am looking forward to reading the next in the series. Highly recommend.

[Ana Oh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The story was a bit too veneer for my tastes. When reading more erotic works, I expect to have my mind and emotions completely pulled into the story, all senses engaged. The right ingredients were there, but the finished product felt kind of flat. I do love the premise for the story. Classical musicians, parties, and sex go together like pb&j. Just yum.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received an ARC for review

Oh my, I want a Finn. He was a DOM, but not a big, bad scary one. He was perfect for what Mac needed. I loved how they were both up front with what happened in their past. There's no drawn out, emotional angst with each one wonder what was wrong with the other one. There is a HEA, but you know that there is so much more to their story. And Scully needs a subbie.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too much of a "How-to" book, and there was just something missing. I had a hard time picturing either of them, or scenes, anything. I don't even remember there being a physical description at all of either of them.

I think this had the potential to be a good book, but I felt like there was just too much meat missing from the story.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um. This was weird. I didn't hate it, but I probably won't read it again. It did draw me in, but after the angsty beginning, everything fell into a pretty routine "all is better" finish. I didn't really like either one of them, and the Dominance was lackluster.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Finn and Mac together, but I would have liked to see more of a build up of their relationship. The best part was how patient Finn was with Mac and how he helped her through some of her issues.

[Diane Dannenfeldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

How patient Finn was with her was amazing. He talked her through everything. I think I'm in love with Finn!

[Mindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read. No real depth.

[E.G. Manetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weak 3-stars.

Characters were 2-dimensional.

[Lisa Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. I love stories where the two main characters experience personal and emotional growth. They have a friend in common Sully who has had an accident while trying to impress a girl and broke several of his ribs. Sully plays the oboe in the band that Finn has put together and they have an extensive Christmas concert schedule that Sully cannot now play in. He calls Mac and calls in one of his favors from her; to take his place in the group.
Mac had a terrible thing happen to her when she was in school after she had won a competition with a serious prize to it. A fellow student whom she bet out assaulted her in the worst possible way. Sully walked in on him and beat him up and call the police but the damage had been done to Mac. She didn’t remember anything until she was in the ambulance and started to freak out. Sully has to fill in to blanks for Finn when they eventally tell him what happened and why she has to take medication to fight the anxiety attacks she get she she performs in public performances. It also explains whys she does not perform because she doesn’t like to take the pills
Finn didn’t know that Mac was going to be taking Sully’s place in the group and was upset by the fact that she had to use drugs to perform. This is where his life experiences came to the for front. He didn’t like people who took drugs in order to function. Their first meeting was a disaster because Sully had forgotten to call Finn and tell him a few details or I should say all the details.
This is a story how these two people try to over come their fears using methods that they are both familiar with. A story how by over coming the fears they find something they never thought they would ever find.

[Book Monitor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was disappointing. Mac has a trauma in her past that has kept her from getting involved with anyone for many years. She is asked by her friend to take his place in the quartet for the Christmas concerts and meets Finn, and her life changes for the better.
For me this story was far too unrealistic and not very well told, the leading man was too good to be true and Mac's character seemed very young and very unbelievable, although she is clearly supposed to be in her late twenties at least. Their relationship moves way too fast whilst the pace of the story telling is sluggish, and the dialogue doesn't sound very real or natural.
There were some good parts to this book, the character of Sully has some promise. But there are so few other characters, despite opportunities to introduce and develop others that the flaws are very much on show. I read it to the end because there was enough of a story to keep me wanting to know how it played out. The concept had merit but sadly the execution let it down.