Change

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Synopsis

It's been three years since Brianna Reeves went to court to face the man who abused and sexually trafficked her. She and her loving dom, Stephan Coleman, have moved to a peaceful home near Le Seur, where their love has grown while she has slowly been healing. Brianna feels like she's almost ready to return to school to get her GED and maybe extend her education beyond that, but first she must relearn how to drive with Stephan's help. Since having to step down as CEO of the Coleman Foundation, Stephan has been feeling a need for a challenge, so he starts seeking out new opportunities. Meanwhile, their best friends Logan and Lily announce their engagement and their desire to have both Stephan and Brianna in the wedding party. In order to be there for her friends on their big day, Brianna will have to face down more of her demons. She also finds herself dealing with one of Lily's bridesmaids, a devious woman who sets her sights on Stephan in spite of knowing that he's with Brianna. However, the worst part comes when, following a charity ball at a fancy hotel, Brianna runs into a man who used to pay to abuse her and has to muster all the strength she's found through her therapy sessions and Stephan's love to bravely face her attacker in order to save another girl from the same fate she suffered.

Review

Change is the fifth full-length book in Sherri Hayes's Finding Anna series and the next installment in Stephan and Brianna's lives together. It picks up where the epilogue of the previous book, Trust, left off. Four years have gone by since Brianna's abuser, Ian, was killed, giving her a reprieve from testifying at his trial. To escape the after effects of the media glare, she and Stephan have moved to a beautiful new home in a rural area outside of Le Seur, but Stephan has kept the condo in Minneapolis for when they go to the city to visit. They're living a nice quiet life, and Brianna is far enough along in her recovery from being sexually trafficked that she's decided to finally go back to school in the coming year. To prepare for that, she starts learning to drive again with Stephan's help. She's also starting to become more comfortable with deepening her sexual play with Stephan, so he slowly introduces new toys and equipment into their sexy times. Without work, Stephan is a little restless, so he explores new opportunities. While Stephan and Brianna continue to grow and change in both their relationship and their personal lives, Logan and Lily announce their engagement and Lily begins whirlwind preparations for their wedding, which she wants to include both Stephan and Brianna. Brianna must work to overcome some of her fears in order to be a part of Lily's big day. Between the changes for Logan and Lily and Brianna's friends, Cal and Jade taking next steps in their relationship, wedding fever makes both Stephan and Brianna start to consider what the future looks like for them. Meanwhile, Brianna comes face-to-face with her past when she spots a man she knows from her time with Ian and it looks like the man is about to abuse another young girl. She must also deal with one of Lily's bridesmaids who sets her sights on Stephan.

Brianna is still very quiet and submissive and can be easily frightened by the unexpected, but she's come a long way in the past four years with Stephan. It was exciting to see her relearning how to drive and preparing for the upcoming GED classes. It was also heartening to see her as such an eager participant in her sex play with Stephan, something that now brings her comfort and solace rather than pain and degradation. With Stephan's patient tutelage, she become more comfortable with several new sexual scenarios, making this the steamiest book in the series yet. Even though I know that Brianna is only a fictional character, I couldn't help feeling proud of her for pushing herself out of her comfort zone to be a part of Logan and Lily's big day, since they've been such good friends to her and Stephan. It's not easy, at first, with Lily's college friend, Bridget, flirting rather blatantly with Stephan. Although Lily has words with her at one point, everyone for the most part tries to ignore the annoying woman until she does something really devious. Even that, Brianna handles surprisingly well. But one of her best moments is when, following a fundraiser at a fancy hotel, she spots a man who abused her when she was with Ian and she has to muster her courage to try to prevent him from further abusing the young girl who was accompanying him. The way Brianna steps up to help the girl in the aftermath was wonderful and makes me wonder if, as she continues to grow, she might have a future in counseling or some sort of victim advocacy. I kind of hope so.

Stephan is still the same patient, loving man he's always been. After nearly facing prison in the previous book for having purchased Brianna's freedom from Ian and being forced to step down from his job as CEO of the Coleman Foundation, he was just looking for a quiet place to escape the media, some of whom had painted him in a very derogatory light. He's found that at their new home with Brianna whom he's crazy in love with. However, even though he's wealthy enough to not have to work, he rather misses the challenge, so he's been scouting new opportunities. In the meantime, he teaches Brianna how to drive again and helps get her acclimated to the idea of going out alone to school when her GED classes begin. When she starts to show an interest in other types of sex play, even though it still gives her anxiety to try new things, he eagerly but patiently introduces her to more exciting forms of play, which really satisfies the dom in him. As best man for his best friend, Logan, he's also involved in some of the wedding planning, which places him in Bridget's orbit. He isn't the least bit interested in her blatant flirtations, but he tries to be polite without doing anything to encourage her. When Brianna spots one of her former abusers, Stephan doesn't hesitate to go after the guy in a smart way to try to prevent even more abuse from occurring and completely supports Brianna's need to make sure the girl is okay. I still adore Stephan and think he'll always be one of my favorite book boyfriends.

Change was yet another sweet and sexy installment in Stephan and Brianna's romance. I believe that Sherri Hayes intended to end their story with the fourth book but I'm so glad she decided to continue. I enjoyed seeing this couple experience new changes for the better in their lives. I'm glad Stephan was able to get back to the philanthropy work he loves so much, because he's really good at helping and caring for people. I'm especially impressed with the strides Brianna has made in her interactions with others as well as in her life as both an individual and with Stephan. Because of what happened to her in the past, I think she may always be wary of other people but she bravely faced a number of things that made her anxious without melting down, so she's grown a great deal. Since Brianna was also able to expand her sexual interests, there were plenty of yummy, sexy scenes for her and Stephan that explored new territory for them. I think it's wonderful how loving and trusting they are with each other. It was also great to see Logan and Lily and Cal and Jade take steps forward in their relationships, which spur Stephan and Brianna in the direction of making decisions about their own future together. There's a touch of drama and conflict with Bridget and her machinations, and there's also a small amount of suspense and excitement when Brianna identifies one of her former abusers. All in all, Change was a very well-rounded book that was a pleasure to read. I was excited to learn that the author has plans for one more installment for Stephan and Brianna, which I'm very much looking forward to, but it's going to be very hard to say goodbye to this couple when the time comes.

Note: This book contains a small amount of explicit language and a number of explicit sexual situations, including a D/s relationship, bondage, spanking, sensory play, and use of sex toys, which could be objectionable to sensitive readers.

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Sherri Hayes

Themes

Opposite Sides of the Track
Psychology 101
Tortured Heroines