LisaP

Unexpected Angel by Sloan Johnson is the first book in her Isthmus Alliance series. This book embraces the much used formula of possessive Dom meets sweet woman, sparks fly, woman is defiant (*hear me roar*), man introduces woman to his world, pair have hot and kinky sex, and happiness ensues. While I generally like books of this nature, there was just something about this book that fell short in its execution. I wanted to love it. After all, who does not think a muscled up hot and sexy bald dude is not something worth reading about??? Sigh! I really wished I had liked this one a lot more.





Tasha Skinner has finally walked away from her emotionally abusive douche-bag ex-husband and divorced his sorry ass. She now wants to move on from that chapter of her life and and is determined to never be controlled by a man again. She wants to be her own independent woman. Her best friend wants to celebrate Tasha's new found freedom so she decides to take her to a Leather and Lace night, a kinky evening at a local night club. Tasha does not really know what she is in for when she agrees to go to the club. The night if full of surprises for our wide-eyed innocent girl!

See! Holy sexy, right?????


Dylan Caprese abhors Leather and Lace night. It is a night where wanna-be idiots take advantage of the monthly theme to dive into the kinky experience. Dylan and his friends take it upon themselves to attend the theme nights to watch over everyone and make sure than nothing gets too out of hand. When Dylan spots Tasha in the line-up, he immediately picks up on the fact that she is completely out of her element and does not belong there. Playing the knight in shining armor, Dylan rescues Tasha from her friends and takes her out for coffee. Something about Tasha brings out his uber-protective side. Little does he know that little miss independent will not stand for his demanding and dominant nature.

Essentially from the moment Dylan and Tasha meet, Dylan pushes for more with her. Her sweet nature mixed with her feisty attitude leave Dylan wanting to possess her. Tasha is undeniably drawn to all that is Dylan; however, she does not want to fall into another relationship where she gives up her independence and control. When danger threatens Tasha, the pair become more intertwined despite Tasha's adamant insistence that she does not need Dylan to tell her what to do even if it is for her own good. Dylan is patient and caring with Tasha fully understanding that the demons from her past prevent her from completely trusting him. Dylan slowly introduces Tasha to the world of dominance and helps her understand that submitting to him does not necessarily mean that she is giving up the reigns of control when it comes to her life.

The concept and story line of this book had great potential; however, I found the plot lacking in cohesion preventing a natural flow from taking place. One of the things that bothered me most was the fact that the author skipped important scenes which should have formed part of the dialogue and book. Instead, Ms. Sloan chose to have the characters "flash back" at a later time remembering the dialogue. For example, Dylan and his friend Zeke had some important information regarding Tasha's ex-husband to share with her. Rather than having this be a scene where the three of them conversed, the author had Tasha flash back and remember that particular conversation. This happened on more than one occasion throughout the book and I found it confusing and also hard to keep track of the time frames. Further, I felt like some things were mentioned in passing and then never touched upon again such as the fact that we get little information regarding the actual Isthmus Club, Dylan's tattoo shop, and how Tasha was completely clueless about her best friend.

All in all, Unexpected Angel was not the book for me. There was a lot of potential there but I was unable to get completely caught up in this book. Perhaps now that this author has her feet wet, the next book in the series will be much more cohesive. I will give it a go. I do not particularly like Holly at this point but I am intrigued by Tommy. Plus, I have a soft spot for sexy Doms. What can I say!!!