Make Me, Sir

Spoiler Disclaimer

Synopsis

All around the Tampa area, bratty submissives are being kidnapped from BDSM clubs by slavers whose clients want the pleasure of breaking their spirits. As a result, the FBI agents on the case are looking for female agents with experience in the scene who would be willing to go undercover as bait. When Gabrielle Renard's friend turns up missing and is suspected to be among those taken by the kidnappers, she doesn't hesitate to step up as a volunteer even though she's only a victim specialist, not an agent, and her experience with BDSM clubs is minimal. She's assigned to Club Shadowlands, which hasn't yet been hit, but which the FBI fear may be soon. Gabi isn't entirely thrilled to be working with Marcus, the Master of the trainees, who she pegs as a stuffy lawyer, not unlike her parents with whom she has a troubled relationship. Although acting like a brat doesn't come naturally at first, she quickly discovers that she's more fiery than she thought. Since she's been sworn to secrecy about her mission, she's giving her new dom a hell of a time and keeping him on his toes, trying to figure out why. However, before long, she starts to see Marcus's nice side and is surprised to find herself falling for him. But one of her fellow trainees leads Gabi to believe that she's his girlfriend, leaving her all but certain he's only being nice to her because it's his job as her trainer.

Assistant DA Marcus Atherton is a long-time member of Club Shadowlands, but he was only recently named Master of the trainees. Thanks to his ex-wife who always wanted attention, he can't stand bratty subs and prefers someone more biddable. When club owner Zachary insists that Marcus take on a bratty new sub, he's furious, but reluctantly agrees as a favor to Z. As he works with Gabi, he can't quite figure her out. One minute, she's melting under his tutelage and the next, she's acting up for no good reason. Since she swears she wants to be there, Marcus continues to patiently work with her, hoping he can get to the bottom of her issues. In an effort to do just that, he puts her into subspace one night, which leads to her accidentally confessing her undercover mission. Marcus is livid about not being told, but once he understands exactly what's going on, he's happy to help out. When the slavers finally make their move and Gabi disappears, Marcus will move heaven and earth to get her back and to show her that she's the only woman for him.

Review

Make Me, Sir is the fifth book in Cherise Sinclair's Masters of the Shadowlands erotic romance series, which primarily takes place in a BDSM club of the same name. Marcus has only recently taken over as the Master of the trainees when club owner Master Z insists that he personally take on Gabrielle, a bratty new sub who was just admitted to the club. After a failed marriage to a brat who always sought attention, Marcus doesn't really want to repeat the experience and typically prefers more biddable submissives. However, as a favor to Z, he reluctantly agrees. The more time he spends with Gabi, though, the more her behavior baffles him. She definitely has a submissive side and can melt under his skilled domination, but just when he thinks he's getting through to her, she acts up again. Little does he know that Gabi is working undercover as a decoy for the FBI, trying to take down a human trafficking ring. She's actually a social worker, not an agent, but after her friend was kidnapped and she heard the agents in charge were looking for women in the bureau with experience in the scene to pose as decoy submissives in BDSM clubs, she volunteered to help. At first, Master Marcus rubs her the wrong way, but before long, she's craving his touch. She hates disappointing him and wishes she could tell him the truth, but since the slavers are looking for bratty submissives to break, she knows she has to keep up the ruse. As her assignment winds down, Gabi realizes she's become more attached to Marcus than she intended, but based on comments from other submissives at Club Shadowlands, she believes that Marcus was only being nice to her because Z asked him to and that she'd never be his type. When the traffickers finally come after her, she finds herself fighting for her life, but if she makes it out alive, Marcus will have his work cut out for him convincing Gabi that he genuinely wants her.

Gabrielle grew up as the only child of exacting parents who seemed obsessed with propriety and projecting the aura of a perfect family. They expected too much of her, which led to her running away and ending up joining a gang. After a traumatic event, she was rescued by a kindly victim specialist who inspired her to get her life together and become a social worker herself. During college, she played a little at public BDSM clubs, so when her friend is kidnapped, Gabi volunteers to put her experience to use as a decoy. The profile of the women the trackers have been taking are bratty submissives who their buyers want the pleasure of breaking, so although it doesn't entirely come naturally for her, Gabi tries to play her role well. When she meets Master Marcus, the dom she's been paired with, the stuffy lawyer reminds her too much of her parents. However, the more time he spends with her, the more she begins to see a different side of him. Gabi knows she's confusing him with her behavior and hates seeing the disappointment in his eyes every time she sasses him, but if she wants to attract the attention of the slavers, she has no choice. As she gets closer to the end of her assignment, she starts to realize that she's falling for Marcus and wishes he felt the same, but another sub has claimed he's her boyfriend and that Marcus hates brats, convincing Gabi that Marcus doesn't truly want her. Then the traffickers finally come after her, leaving her fighting to survive and everyone else in a race against time to save her. Overall, I thought Gabi was a good heroine. After what she'd been through in the past, she was brave to step up to help her friend. She has a backbone and the spirit of a survivor, but at the same time she can be sweet. I like that she cares so much about other people and wants to help everyone she can.

Marcus is an assistant DA who grew up in rural Georgia, so between his Southern gentlemanly charm and handsome good looks, he's a sought after dom at Club Shadowlands. His ex-wife's bratty behavior and constant need for attention left a bad taste in his mouth, so now he usually takes his pleasures with more docile subs. Having just recently taken over as the Master of the sub trainees, he's surprised when Z asks him to take a personal interest in a brand new trainee. It's an unusual request, which makes Marcus wary, but he agrees, only to be slightly annoyed when he discovers how bratty she is. Still, he's committed to training her for the next month, so he makes good on his promise. Gabi keeps confounding him at every turn, though. She says she wants to be there, and he can tell that she definitely has submissive qualities. However, time and time again, just as Marcus thinks that he's made a genuine connection and is making headway on figuring out why she's such a troublemaker, she reverts back to her old behavior. Despite his frustration, Marcus can't help but start to like Gabi. Unlike his ex, he can tell she isn't doing it for attention and she does have a sweet side that's very attractive to him. But it's not until he puts her into subspace and she accidentally confesses that he finally understands the real reason for her brattiness and her mission in being at Club Shadowlands. Marcus is upset about not being told sooner, but once he's apprised of the situation, he's more than willing to help. When Gabi's assignment is over and she leaves the club without even saying goodbye, he knows he has to find a way to get her back. And when the bad guys kidnap her, he'll move heaven and earth, risking his own life, to find and rescue her. For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, I didn't fall for Marcus quite as hard as I did for several of the other heroes in the series so far, but he was still a really good character. I love that he was so patient with Gabi even though he didn't understand her behavior and he paid attention to the things that mattered to her, coming up with a great scene to convince her of his love. But ultimately he was a somewhat underdeveloped character, which might have contributed to me not feeling as connected to him.

Many past and future heroes and heroines of the series put in appearances. Zachary and Jessica (Club Shadowlands) were front and center with their own POV scenes. After a rather uncomfortable first meeting with Z's grown sons, Jessica starts to have doubts about his feelings for her. This is only exacerbated by her suspicions that he's keeping something from her and his seeming deference to Gabi that's different than the attention he shows to the other subs. This leads to some excitement for them and ultimately a deepening of their relationship. Dan and Kari (Dark Citadel) are seen with Kari expecting. Nolan and Beth (Breaking Free) take the next steps in their relationship. Cullen and Andrea (Lean on Me) are still going strong, too. We see a little more of Master Raoul who will be paired with Gabi's friend, Kim, in the next book, To Command and Collar, as well as Master Sam, who will become the hero of the next-next book, This Is Who I Am. We're introduced to Vance and Gaelen, the FBI agents who are in charge of the investigation and who are also doms on the side. They will be matched as a threesome with long-time supporting character Sally who has been having trouble finding the right dom for her in the eighth book, If Only. There's also a brief mention of sub trainee, Uzuri, who finds her HEA in book #12, Mischief and the Masters, and Gabi has a short interaction with dom Holt, who becomes the hero of book #13, Beneath the Scars.

Up to this point I've loved every book in the Masters of the Shadowlands series, and while I did enjoy Make Me, Sir, it wasn't quite as perfect for me as all the other books have been. I liked Marcus and Gabi as individual characters and they worked well together as a couple. However, I think that because there was a different dynamic to their relationship, it didn't quite give me all the feels I'd hoped for. I understood that Gabi was under orders not to tell Marcus about her undercover mission, but him being in the dark led to a lot of confusion and frustration for him. That's not to say that they didn't make an emotional connection before he found out the truth, but it still kind of put a bit of a damper on their interactions for me because sometimes Gabi's reactions were real and other times they were forced for the sake of the role she was playing as decoy. I was also a little disappointed in Gabi for not fighting harder for a relationship with Marcus and her lack of communication with him about that possibility. Again, I understood that she was led to believe he already had a girlfriend and that he didn't like brats, but I still couldn't help feeling like she should have had a little more faith in their connection and at least talked with him instead of basically ghosting him. I did, however, like the human trafficking suspense subplot. As I would expect, all the doms at Club Shadowlands abhor the very thought of it and all do their part to stop it. There are things left unsolved at the end of the book, and I know that this part of the story will continue into the next book, maybe further. I look forward to finding out how that all turns out. The other thing I've always loved about this series are the doms. Underneath all their overbearing, hard-ass natures (Marcus's included) there's a certain sweetness. They may be disciplined, but they treat the subs with kindness and respect. I'm very particular about my dom heroes, but the ones in this series keep me coming back for more. So even though Make Me, Sir wasn't quite perfect, I still very much look forward to reading Master Raoul's story soon.

Note: This book contains explicit language and sexual situations, including BDSM elements, voyeurism/exhibitionism, flogging, sex toys, costumes, intimate shaving, anal play, and a MFM menage scene, all of which could be objectionable to sensitive readers.

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Cherise Sinclair

Themes

Amazing Animals
Physically Ordinary Heroines
Psychology 101