Bound - Lorelei James - new Mastered series

I love Lorelei James. Her Rough Riders series is one of my favourites. All those brothers and their cowboy ways. Tough but soft and the way they treat their women... Swoon...

So I was looking forward to rich characters and lots of emotion like those cowboys.  A little tying up thrown in and a little control. All good. But I'm sad thatBound  just didn't leave me happy. I was thrown at the end that this was a 2-part with no HEA and that I was left in suspense at the end. It's not Lorelei James' usual style.  I didn't fall in love with either main characters. They just felt a little emotionally-lacking. The tough rich Dojo master felt cold. It felt like Amery needed to get over herself a bit. I almost wanted to shake her and say "come on".  The twist in the end came at an odd point - almost like it was meant to drag the story out. The dark side of Ronin and his past/family drama just seemed off. Is he a murderer? Does he deal drugs? It's intriguing but not in an "OMG I need to know kind of way".  The sex is almost off the charts and I liked the BDSM side but it also felt like Amery trusted Ronin a bit too fast and there are too many doubts in her head. Also, what shitty friends she has. It's a unique storyline, Sensei meets average girl. But she seems a little too naive and he felt like a bad guy.  He seems to overpower her and she knows nothing about him.  He seems manipulative and it feels like she shouldn't trust him but she does.  The Dojo posse also feel awkward. Like a secret cult.  Amery seems to grow in the duration of the story but not enough. 

I will read the next part in the series and hope the characters grow more. I hope Lorelei can pull the story together too.

To preorder Unbound, part 2 of the mastered Series, see link below.