Let me be upfront, I loved Jungle Fever and was chomping at the bit for Exit Strategy. I just knew it was going to be an excellent continuation of the series. So imagine my surprise when I begin to read Exit Strategy and am completely underwhelmed. Geez louise, WHAT HAPPENED?!?! I'm confused as to how book 1 was so interesting and compelling, and Exit Strategy was so, lackluster. I'm going to lay out all my beefs with this particular book in a list.
1. Editing and POV. The typos were manageable but a bit distracting. More importantly an editor would have surely pointed out that Keisha’s part of the book was all told from 1st person and Tristan’s was all in 3rd person. I cringed literally every time I had to read Tristan’s part. And I felt the author’s more authentic writing was saved for Keisha which left me unable to connect to Tristan at all. Maybe some people were able to overlook this style of writing, but I couldn't.
2. 3 weeks apart?! All in all, after such a dramatic exit and safe-wording at the conclusion of ‘Jungle Fever,’ Keisha only manages to stay apart from Tristan for 3 weeks? And the first time they meet in person, she hops in to bed with him to pursue the same damaging sexual relationship she ran from? WHAT?! Mind blown. Now I could understand this if she weren't suffering from dangerous psychological triggers or had a deep discussion with Tristan about the cause of her panic attacks. But she didn't. Instead she lacked any thought to her own self-preservation.
3. Triggers. The author doesn’t really include Keisha tackling her triggers until about the 65% point of the book. As mentioned previously, to completely end a relationship in such a dramatic fashion would imply that the cause behind the triggers were rather important. Clearly not. Keisha is going to therapy but not much is gleaned since the sessions aren’t described in the book. Keisha and Tristan eventually both come clean about their psychological issues… in the LAST QUARTER of the book. Sorry, not realistic at all. And if Tristan were a true experienced Dom he would’ve made the disclosure of her anxiety mandatory. Instead, he selfishly pursues the same dominant/submissive relationship regardless of Keisha’s mental stability. Completely gave BD/SM a bad wrap. Alas, this is a book so I guess I can’t expect too much realism.
4. Tristan. Tristan held all the cards. Every single one. And as much as I like an alpha male, I like authenticity even more. He was pushing Keisha to come back to him without willing to work on himself too. He wanted Keisha to submit to him with out gaining her trust. And the shift from a simple BD/SM and professional relationship, to “I love Tristan” without Tristan realizing he loved Keisha back? I couldn’t make my brain wrap around it. In the first book, Tristan oozed sex appeal and dominance. This time around, he was annoying and childish because of all the mixed signals he gave. Also, Tristan’s need to be dominant with Keisha took priority over his career, Keisha’s career, and Keisha’s social life. Definitely did not seem healthy.
5. Keisha. Keisha's professional and social demeanor simply did not match up to her bedroom submissive persona. She completely changed from the chick I grew to love in book 1. In Exit Strategy she had a backbone made of spaghetti and lacked any independence to speak of. Yes, she was vulnerable but the character created in Jungle Fever would’ve managed to keep her professionalism in check and served Tristan up some fierce words for his behavior. I guess she had a lobotomy in the 3 weeks away from Tristan because homegirl was NOT the same in Exit Strategy. She gets mad for 2 seconds and then is back to “Yes, sir.”
6. Keisha and Tristan’s BD/SM relationship. The BD/SM relationship is GREAT… in the bedroom. However, this was an all-encompassing BD/SM relationship that took place basically whenever Keisha was in Tristan’s presence. She was to be a docile chick with her head always bowed and accepting of Tristan’s dominance…all the time. I don’t like that at all. That’s psychological manipulation and it grew difficult for me to see how this was a loving relationship. At one point Keisha was scared to vocally state her feelings about a professional matter because Tristan might punish her in the bedroom. What does that sound like to you? Like I said, I’m all for ‘yes, sir’ in the boudoir but stripping a once fierce and independent Keisha to a subservient version of herself, no bueno. And also, to move from BD/SM relationship to love without any regular dates or truly building a foundation was highly suspect.
7. Blake's crime. Ok, Blake’s crime was foul. He deserved to go to court. However, I didn’t see what all the emotional turmoil was about. He drugged Keisha and didn’t get but 2 steps away in his ill begotten plan to kidnap her. And Keisha is traumatized? And Tristan is spending exorbitant time and energy for the best attorney when nothing really happened? This particular plot line could have been wrapped up easy and the author could’ve spent more time focusing on the romance between the main characters.
8. The Aimee/Sara storyline. The book blurb made it seem that there a previous sub was about to start living in Tristan’s home. I was ready for drama. Turns out Aimee is bed-ridden for the rest of her life. That zapped all the drama right out of this wannabe love triangle. The entire stalker and threatening letters aspect of the book was far fetched. Sara had nothing better than to stalk Tristan and his friends…because she was shunned as a submissive? Not buying it. The whole ‘Aimee-moving-in’ story-line seemed unnecessary.
9. Jada and Nathan. Again, the book blurb made it seem like Jada and Nathan were facing some serious challenges. Womp womp. There was 1 super small incident that was easily explained away. Jada seems more of the fierce woman I wanted Keisha to be. Midway through the book, I was over the Keisha/Tristan love story and more interested in Jada and Nathan.
The long and short of it, this book didn’t feel like a cohesive novel. The writing style and tone completely changed in this book and I found myself bored and disconnected. I was very disappointed, since I waited so long for this book to come out. It’s still possible that I’ll read about Jada and Nathan.