Book Review: Trapped by Karen Nappa

Club Indigo Book 1

Neither is looking for love, much less for forever.

But when a tornado traps them in a laundromat, one night together just isn’t enough.

Hard-working Laura Turner dotes on her family but she has little life of her own. After a loveless marriage and a bitter divorce, a dominant man is the last thing she wants.

James Black has worked hard to establish his construction business. Divorced for three years, he knows what he wants, and it isn’t the too-young and too-demanding submissives who throw themselves at him at Club Indigo. When James introduces Laura to the pleasures of the lifestyle, he realizes he may have found what he has been looking for – an intelligent woman who can be his partner, as well as his submissive.

A tornado brought them together, but a dark past keeps driving them apart. Can James coax Laura from the fear that won't let her get what she needs, or will she stay trapped by her memories?

Publisher's Note: This hot contemporary romance contains elements of power exchange and is intended for mature readers.

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My Review:

I love that these leading characters have a few years of experience behind them. It makes them very relatable to me. The previous marriages and past relationship baggage are also relatable – to a lot of us, I think. I adored James; the man has the patience of a saint. I loved Laura, but she pressed so many of my hot buttons that she frustrated the living daylights out of me. She knowingly and willfully puts herself in danger. She won’t ask for or accept help unless she’s given no other alternative. She holds her current partner responsible for her ex’s past bad behavior. She can’t have a reasoned, adult conversation unless she’s cornered into it. Argh! I can feel my shoulders rising up to my ears just from the stress of remembering it. I’ve read deeper into the series so I know I enjoy where it’s going, I’m just sorry I couldn’t love Laura as much as I did James. I really liked the way the Lifestyle is portrayed here. And particularly the careful way it treads around Laura’s past abuse. I also appreciated the stressing of ‘safe, sane, and consensual’ that isn’t always found in a lot of the fiction in this genre.

I read a borrowed copy of this book.