Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: The Gilded Cuff (Surrender Series #1) by Lauren Smith

Title: The Gilded Cuff

Author: Lauren Smith

Series: Surrender Series # 1

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Every passion has its price . . .

Journalist Sophie Ryder has been following Emery Lockwood’s story since she was a little girl. There has always been something in his haunted eyes that she couldn’t resist and now, when she’s certain he holds the key to solving a string of kidnappings, she’ll do anything to speak to him. Even if it means venturing deep into the seductive world of the Gilded Cuff, a luxurious BDSM club on Long Island’s Gold Coast and Emery’s personal playground.

From the moment Sophie enters his shadowy, sensual domain, Emery Lockwood knows this tantalizing new little sub was meant to belong to him. However, Sophie wants more from Emery than just pleasure . . . she wants his past. And that is something he isn’t willing to give—no matter who is asking. But every moment he spends with Sophie, Emery feels his control slipping and he knows it’s only a matter of time before he surrenders to her heart, body, and soul.

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Excerpt:

Sophie barely had time to protest at the dom’s tight hold on her wrist before he dragged her across the room to where a group of people circled a couch against the wall. She could have said “red” and stopped whatever game he’d intended to play so she could keep searching for Emery, but the word died on her lips. A large crowd of people all turned to face her, amusement flashing in their eyes. The crowd’s focus on her was not comforting in the slightest. She was prey, for a so-called contest, in a BDSM club. Searching the faces for Emery’s, she prayed she’d be lucky enough to find him. If not, she’d use her safe word and get free of the man and his “contest.”

Holding her, he grinned darkly at the onlookers. “Found a newbie. She’ll be perfect.”

Sophie again jerked to get her wrist back and failed. She stifled a gasp as he promptly smacked her bottom with an open hand. Her gaze darted across the crowd, trying to seek out Emery’s familiar face. He had to be here somewhere. Most of the club members had moved in to watch her and this dom.

“Stand still, bow your head,” he commanded.

To her shock she obeyed instantly—not because she naturally bowed to anyone who shoved her around, but because something inside her responded to the commanding tone he’d just used on her. He seemed like a man who would enjoy punishing her, and she knew enough about this lifestyle to know she never wanted to end up over a spanking bench, even if the idea did make her insides flare to life.

“Bring her here, Royce.” A cool, rich voice spoke, pouring over her skin like whisky—slightly rough, with an intoxicating bite to it. When this man spoke, the voices murmuring around her stopped and a hush fell over the area.

The crowd around her and the man, Royce, parted. Another man, sitting on the blue brocaded couch, watched them. His large hands rested on his thighs, fingers impatiently drumming a clipped beat. Royce shoved Sophie none too gently, sending her to her knees right at the man’s feet. She reacted instinctively, throwing her hands out to balance herself, and her palms fell on his thighs and her chest collided with his knees.

Air rushed out of her lungs in a soft whoosh. For a few seconds she fought to regain her breath as she leaned against the stranger for support. The large muscles beneath his charcoal pants jumped and tensed beneath her hands, and she whipped her palms off him as though burned. She’d practically been in the man’s lap, the heat of his body warming her, tempting her with his close proximity. Hastily she dropped her head and rested her hands on her own thighs, waiting. It took every ounce of her willpower to concentrate on breathing.

She still didn’t look at his face, focusing instead on his expensive black shoes, the precision cuffs of his dark charcoal pants. Her eyes then tracked up his body, noting the crisp white shirt and thin, blood red tie he wore. It was loosened beneath the undone top button of his dress shirt. She had the sudden urge to crawl into his lap and trail kisses down his neck and taste him.

“Raise your eyes,” the voice demanded.

Sophie drew a deep breath, letting air fill her, making her almost light-headed. And then she looked up.

Her heart leapt into her throat and her brain short-circuited.

Emery Lockwood, the object of her darkest fantasies, the ones she’d buried deep in her heart in the hours just before dawn, was looking down at her, predatory curiosity gleaming in his gaze. He trapped her with a magnetic pull, an air of mystery. She was caught in invisible strands of a spell woven around her body and soul.

The boy’s soft angelic features were there, hidden beneath the surface of the man before her. He was the most devastatingly, sensual man she’d ever seen. His high cheekbones, full lips, and aquiline nose were all parts of the face of a man in his early thirties. But his eyes—the color of nutmeg and framed with long dark lashes any woman would kill to have—were the same as those of the wounded eight-year-old boy in her photo. Although she could see that they’d hardened with two decades of grief.

He was masculine perfection, except for the thin, almost invisible scar that ran the length of his sharp jaw line. Even after twenty-five years, he still bore the marks of his suffering. She ached with every cell in her body to press her mouth to his, to steal fevered kisses from his lips. Her fingertips tingled with the need to stroke over the scar on his face, to smooth away the hurt he must have endured.

“Do you know the rules of our game?” Emery asked. As he spoke, his gaze still held her in place, like a butterfly caught beneath a pin and encased in glass. Hands trembling, she pursed her lips and tried to remain calm and collected. It was nearly impossible. The heat of his intense regard only increased as the corners of his mouth curved in a slow, wicked smile. Oh, the man knew just how he affected her!

Emery leaned forward, caught her chin in his palm, and tilted her face up to look at him. Her skin burned deliciously where his palm touched her. He pulled her, like the moon calling to the tides, demanding devotion and obedience with the promise of something great, something she couldn’t understand. Her senses hummed with eagerness, ready to explore his touch, his taste. Like a minnow caught in a vast current, she was pulled out to deeper waters, helpless to resist. In any other situation, she wouldn’t have been so off balance, and wouldn’t be letting herself get sucked into this strange game she sensed she was about to play. But here in this dark fantasy of the Gilded Cuff, she didn’t want to look away from him.

About the Author:

Amazon best-selling author Lauren Smith is an attorney by day, author by night, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She’s a native Oklahoman who lives with her three pets—a feisty chinchilla, sophisticated cat and dapper little schnauzer. She's won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including being an Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-Finalist and a Semi-Finalist for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.

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My Review:

Well, DAMN!!!

That's definitely another addition to my must read authors and series :) I immensely enjoyed reading this first book in the Surrender series. The story was intriguing and fascinating, peppered with dangers, romance, hotness and suspense. The action is fast paced and there isn't even a moment in which you can get bored. It kept me on my toes nearly 100% of the time. Both, Emery and Sophie, are enchanting characters that gained my compassion from the first few words. They are well developed and their stories are so heartbreaking that I was near tears on more than one occasion.

Emery is definitely a delicious and broken alpha male. With his sandy blonde hair and mesmerizing hazelnut eyes, he can captivate you on the spot. But adding to that his dominant aura, his closed off personality and the broken soul that shows from his eyes, makes him one of the most desirable BBFs. I am usually more into the tall, dark and dangerous type but Emory is definitely the exception to the rule :) I loved reading how he starts changing when he meets Sophie, and with the help of her loving personality he starts healing without even realizing it in the beginning. The demons he carries from his childhood are definitely traumatic and would have destroyed many people but the strength he carries in himself helped him survive the nightmare he still relives every single night.

Sophie also carries demons of her own. Similar to Emery, she also had to live through a rather traumatic experience in her childhood and her own nightmare shaped her as the strong and intelligent woman she grew up to be. But deep inside she still blames herself for the traumatic loss she lived through. That's partially the reason she seeks Emery - to try and find the answers how to heal the gaping wounds in her heart. Even though she doesn't find the direct answers she is looking for, she find she other half who helps overcome her grief and pepper her everyday life with some burn the sheets activities ;)

The chemistry between Emery and Sophie are off the charts. They simply click together from the first moment their eyes lock on each other in the Gilded Cuff Club. With every passing moment the connection between the becomes stronger and every time they touch they just become more obsessed to each other. I have to say that their bedroom activities are so hot that they left me hot and bothered on more than one occasion.

The secondary characters are also quite interesting. I definitely cannot wait to read some more about them in the following books in the series. Each one of the deliciously sexy and dominant males are definitely worth the wait to read their stories. And Hayden is just so much fun with her feisty and sassy personality combined with her submissive side that I can't wait to read her story in the second book in the series. And of course I can't wait to see how the things with the danger following Emery will be solved.

In a few words, this was one of the best suspense books I've read recently. The danger and action are masterfully combined with romance, tenderness and hotness. The characters are charismatic and so lovable that I simply got attached to them and I can't wait to meet them in the next part of this awesome series. And I so can't wait to read about Hayden and her perfect Dom :) I am sure it will be an amazing story and I definitely want to find out what really happened to Emery's twin brother :) I have to say that I definitely recommend this book to all lovers of racier romances with a streak of danger and unexpected twists that will leave you reeling ;)