REVIEW - The Raven Room by Ana Medeiros

Title - The Raven Room

Author - Ana Medeiros

Synopsis

Anything you can imagine. Everything you crave. For the members of The Raven Room, it’s every fantasy fulfilled. But for some, that desire is a matter of life and death.

Drawn by needs he cannot control, Julian ventures to The Raven Room, a secret and exclusive sex club in the underbelly of Chicago. It goes beyond sex. It goes beyond kink. The Raven Room is the only place where Julian finds release from the dangerous urges that threaten to destroy the successful life he’s worked so hard to build.

When the police link the Raven Room to the death of a young woman, it threatens to expose a number of powerful people—people who would kill to stay anonymous...

Meredith’s body can’t get enough of Julian. He has opened her sexual horizons to tempting new possibilities. But out of bed she’s an aspiring journalist, and The Raven Room is the story she’s been looking for. By writing an exposé on the club and its elite clientele, she plans to launch her career.

As Meredith embarks on a sexual journey into the forbidden world that Julian inhabits, questions emerge, and dark appetites threaten to swallow her whole. How much can she trust the man who has laid bare her erotic nature and how much will she sacrifice in order to protect him?  

What I thought

Reserved and secretive, Julian Reeve is a child psychologist and a professor. He is also a kinky guy with kinky needs.
Meredith Dalton is a student and aspiring journalist, who has a sexual "arrangement" with Julian. They both get what they want and need from each other and let's just say their arrangement / relationship is "open".

"She knows this is where I need her to be so I can take my pleasure. It's both incredibly selfish and giving. She knows it. I know it. The perfect understanding of human nature."

Meredith is aware that Julian is a member of a super secret kinky club, and after having a light bulb moment embarks on a mission to excel herself in her journalistic career by convincing Julian to take her there so she can write an exposé on the underground oasis that is "The Raven Room".

This book is not a regular romance. Yeah there is connection between a couple, but not the couple you think. (Enter Alana who I really liked)

" 'I thought we agreed to no more questions' she said gently scolding him. 'I haven't agreed to anything. Yet' "

This is an erotic suspense with enough twist to give you whiplash. Characters & mystery galore. on paper that's a winner for me, but in reality, me and this book just didn't connect.

There is a lot going on and there is a cliffy, which added to my moderate feelings. Between the frustration of Meredith selfishness and the fact that I actually wanted something different for Julian I just finished this book feeling unbalanced. That said it is book one of a series so I'm sure following through the rest of the books will level my sense of uneven and hopefully I'll have kinder feelings towards the characters.

Side bar, this is a debut novel, and a damn good debut novel. Its confident and compelling and my personal feelings aside, at no point did I want to put this down. I see a good future for this series when it is complete.

"She moved the hair away from Alana's neck. Suddenly, Meredith knew what Julian was trying to tell her."

Star Ratings:

Plot = 4/5

Characters = 3/5

Heat = 3/5

Writing Style = 4/5

Overall Rating = 3.5

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** A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review**