REVIEW: Conviction (Club Destiny #1)

Conviction (Club Destiny #1), by Nicole Edwards
Published July 29, 2012
Publisher: SL Independent Publishing
Format: audiobook, provided for review by Audiobook Jukebox
Genre: adult erotic romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 2.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Samantha Kielty only thought she knew who she was and what she was made of. Until she was offered a position that would take her from her small office in San Antonio, Texas to that of her company’s larger, more upscale headquarters in Dallas, Texas, Sam hadn’t seen anything. Her new boss was not only intensely sexy, he was also about to show her things she had only read in books.

Logan McCoy’s life was steady going until he set his sights on his new Vice President of Project Operations. The woman makes his blood boil and makes him want things he hadn’t realized he was in search of. Logan only hopes that Samantha is capable of handling his dominating, controlling ways… especially between the sheets, or in the shower.

When Logan and Sam get together, sparks fly and they bring out each other’s deepest, darkest desires. He will push Sam past her sexual boundaries, and she will bring out his need to possess her in every way. But, can they find love within the inferno that burns between them?

This is going to be a hard review for me to write. There were parts I liked and parts I wasn't crazy about. And, admittedly, I think I may have liked this book a little better had I read it instead of listened to the audio version. I love my audiobooks, but it's a bummer when they don't live up to my expectations.

When Samantha is transferred from the satellite San Antonio office to the main Dallas one, she only thought she was embarking on a new and exciting professional move. Once she met her boss, Logan McCoy, she realized that her new experiences would venture into personal territory as well. Despite fighting their attraction, Sam and Logan eventually give in to the inevitable. 

Sam and Logan were really good together. I loved the chemistry between them, and I was very much caught up in their dancing around each other in the beginning.They were attracted to each other, but there were very real concerns created by the fact that Logan was Sam's boss. I understood their reticence, but it was obvious that there would come a time when those concerns would become moot.

The thing is, after Sam and Logan got together, a bit of the magic was lost for me. And then, things got a bit more troublesome when Logan's predilections came to light. Apparently, he loves to watch other men with his woman. 

It’s not that I have a problem with threesomes. I don’t. But here’s where my hang-up lies. All the ones I’ve read about in the past have been a lead-in to a serious, MONOGOMOUS, relationship. In nearly every case, the threesome took place at the beginning stages of a burgeoning relationship before the feelings of propriety or jealousy set in. In many cases, it was the threesome that caused those feelings to arise in at least one of the people involved, which then caused the main relationship to take shape. And the examples that fall outside of this situation are those that ended up forming a triad relationship where all three people love and are exclusive with each other.

But, in Conviction, neither of those situations is the case. Even after both Logan and Sam admit to serious, deep feelings for each other, they continue to engage other people in their sexual relationship because it’s something that Logan gets off on – watching another man with the woman he loves. He has no desire to invite the extra person (or persons) to be a part of their relationship permanently. And, since the most frequent person who joins them is his twin brother, there’s a definite ick factor with that. (As an aside, why are these brothers not weirded out by seeing each other naked and screwing??)

I just cannot wrap my brain around this at all. How can this work? How can there be no feelings of jealousy or resentment? My difficulties in picturing how a relationship of this type would work caused within me a larger difficulty believing in this story on a larger scale. I can’t believe two people could profess their undying love for each other while inviting other random people to their bed on a regular basis. Beyond that, I also had a hard time believing that the other issue of Logan being Sam’s boss could work out as smoothly as it did.

I though the writing was well done for the most part. The beginning plodded a bit, as we got Sam’s backstory around her transfer to the Dallas office for her company. I think that whole part could’ve been shortened to a few paragraphs, and it would’ve been fine. Several chapters on the subject only succeeded in dragging things in the beginning. But, once Sam arrived at the Dallas office, the story did get interesting, and I was definitely engaged.

I liked the idea of Club Destiny, the kink club owned by Logan and his brother Luke. I wish more would've been done with it. But, even though the club is in the book's name, it was only mentioned in conversation, and no scenes in the book took place there, which I found a bit curious.

The narration of the audio version could've been better. Since Conviction was told in dual POV, there were two narrators. Unfortunately, both of them just sort of read the book. There wasn't much of a dramatic performance on the part of either narrator, and I really do prefer a smidge of theatrics.

At this time, I'm honestly not sure I'll continue with this series. Some of the future books sound interesting, and although I don't appreciate Luke's part in Logan's and Sam's relationship, he alone, as a character, intrigues me. We shall see.