Marriage Games | C.D. Reiss

THIRTY DAYS That’s all Adam Steinbeck demands of his wife. Thirty days in a remote cottage, doing everything he demands. After that, he’ll sign her divorce papers and give her complete ownership of their company.

THIRTY DAYS That’s how long he has to rediscover the man he once was. The Dominant Master he hid when he fell in love with her five years ago.

THIRTY DAYS She wants the business they built badly enough to go to the cottage for a month. Cut off ties to the world and do his bidding. She can submit to him with her body, but her heart will never yield.

She thinks this is his pathetic attempt to repair their marriage.

She’s wrong.

“We can figure out the business, but I can’t figure out you. I don’t feel close to you. When we’re in a room together, I’m as lonely as I’ve ever been.”

Marriage Games by C.D. Reiss

Book 1 of The Games Duet

Publisher: EverAfter Romance

Date Published: October 25, 2016

Pages: 296

Genres: Contemporary romance - BDSM

*Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains explicit sexual content and situations that some readers may find objectionable.*

Diana & Adam were a team, they ran McNeil-Barnes, a publishing company that was going bankrupt. They were like a well-oiled machine. For five years they worked to make the business profitable, they were happy, they had a great relationship and a rising business or so Adam thought. Diana blindsided him with a divorce and wanted the company and more. If you read the synopsis then you know what he asked for in return.

“You let it get too far without talking to me. That’s on you. I’m sure I did plenty wrong, but what you’ve done? You didn’t give me a chance. You didn’t let me love you the way you wanted to be loved.”

When I came across this book I was on the fence, so as one does, I began reading reviews. One of them stated Marriage Games was similar to 50 Shades of Grey and also that authors should stop ripping off that book. Now, I’m not a fan of that series, however I don’t think there’s anything wrong with becoming inspired by other books. Of course no one likes plagiarism, but I'm not sure why that review stated that because the only similarity I saw was the BDSM and self-discovery themes. I also have to admit that I only read the first book, 50 Shades of Grey, and that was torture enough for me, so I don’t know if this book was similar to the other two in the series.

I was fascinated with the book, even though I was constantly jarred because of the short chapters (there were 87) and numerous flashbacks during the first quarter. There was also something about the writing that was off-putting at first and it took me a while to put my finger on it. It was simply that the dialogues and inner monologues did not merge together well. Some of the analogies and imagery Adam was spitting were unsuitable for the modern prose. Don’t get me wrong her first-person style was expressive, but it wasn’t appropriate with Adam’s point of view and the plot. It was a BDSM plot with the main hero singing poetry. It didn’t do it for me. As the book went on the amount of flowery analogies diminished quite a bit (or maybe I had gotten used to it) and two thirds of the way into the book the POV changed to Diana and we got to find out her mindset and what she was battling with.

There were also quite one quotes that I just had to mention lol.

“His body was a hard mass hovering over me, blocking my view of anything else. Like a mothership descending over Manhattan, covering the sky.”

Midway through I really took note of Reiss’ writing and how well put together and vibrant the characters, pacing and plot was. The author did a brilliant job with the characters; she made me aware of their humanity. They both had well developed personalities with major flaws. I both hated their choices and could, for the most part, understand them. Marriage Games was a breathtaking journey of self-discovery. It was a powerful, a unique, and a thought-provoking read.

I read another review where the writer was annoyed with how Adam regurgitated all the information the author researched on BDSM. I didn’t find this true at all. Reiss put a lot of thought in the way the BDSM information was integrated into the scenes. They didn’t distract me, but added to my knowledge. If this was the first book the reader picked up on this topic then I’m sure the material would be welcomed for a better understanding of the story and characters. I nearly missed out on an incredible read because the blurb was deceptive, it didn’t sell the book well and lets not forget the bad reviews I read. Sadly the story ended on a cliff-hanger and I honestly wish it had concluded with this one.

Rating: ★★★★☆