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    Letting Go
    Letting Go
    Letting Go
    Audiobook9 hours

    Letting Go

    Written by Maya Banks

    Narrated by Alix Dale

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “I love Maya Banks and I love her books.” —Jaci Burton, New York Times bestselling author

    In her sensational Breathless Trilogy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks tested the boundaries of desire. In her Surrender trilogy, there’s only one thing left to do: cross them. And never have the consequences of erotic exploration been so irresistibly inviting, so shockingly intimate, and so totally unexpected…

    Josslyn found perfection once, and she knows she’ll never find it again. Now widowed, she seeks the one thing her beloved husband couldn’t give her: dominance. Lonely, searching for an outlet for her grief and wanting only a brief taste of the perfection she once enjoyed, she seeks what she’s looking for at an exclusive club that caters to people indulging in their most hedonistic fantasies. She never imagined that what she’d find would be the one man who’s long been a source of comfort—and secret longing. Her husband’s best friend.

    Dash has lived in an untenable position for years: in love with his best friend’s wife but unwilling to act on that attraction. He’d never betray his best friend. And so he’s waited in the wings, offering Joss unconditional support and comfort as she works past her grief, hoping for the day when he can offer her more.

    When he finds her in a club devoted to the darker edges of desire, he’s furious because he thinks she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. Until she explains in detail what it is she wants. What she needs. As realization sets in, he is gripped by fierce, unwavering determination. If she wants dominance, he is the only man who will introduce her to that world. He is the only man who will touch her, cherish her…love her. And the only man she’ll ever submit to.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 4, 2014
    ISBN9781480559080
    Letting Go
    Author

    Maya Banks

    Maya Banks lives in Southeast Texas with her husband and three children. When she’s not writing, she loves to hunt and fish, bum on the beach, play poker and travel. Escaping into the pages of a book is something she’s loved to do since she was a child. Now she crafts her own worlds and characters and enjoys spending as much time with them as possible.

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    Reviews for Letting Go

    4/5

    145 ratings15 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I fell head over heels for the description of the book in Maya’s website, I mean who wouldn’t? A book about a man that has been in love, for year, with a woman he couldn’t have because she was his best friend’s wife, has epic romance written all over it! Maybe my problem with this book was exactly my high expectations.So, Joss lost her husband, Carson, three years ago in a accident and she finally decides to move on with her life or may I say her sex life. Anyway, she saw herself as a submissive and had fantasies about being dominated, so she ends up bumping with Dash in her first visit to a BDSM club. And Dash is a dom, of course. Not much of a surprise but that scene was written perfectly.After that moment, I kept getting the feeling the story was going around in circles, it was like the book collapsed.Joss gave in pretty quickly after Dash confessed he always had feelings for her. I mean, your best friend’s husband, who you were never ever attracted to in any way, confesses he always wanted you and suddenly, BAAAM, you’re attracted to him too? It could work if Joss was 16 or so, but not like this. Maybe Dash should have been forced to fight for her a little longer at that point. But then it got worse, even though they jump fast into moving together, Joss spends a lot of her time thinking about her dead husband. I think the only times she didn’t think or mention Carson was when she was having sex with Dash and all this Carson mentions/thoughts were frustrating. And then, Dash,who desperately wanted Joss for years let it all fall down with a conflict that could have definitely been solved when she was at the hospital. The book was well written but I had to remind myself, constantly, that this was a Maya Banks book, it just felt too repetitive to be hers!I hope the next book in this trilogy gets better, I really liked Jensen but I bet Kylie is going to be as annoying in her own book as she was in this one.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant, as always! I can't wait for the rest!
    • 5/5
      I have the entire series and believe me it’s worth the buy! The series is surrounded by a trio of women who are hitting a runt in their personal life. Each book is tailor to one woman’s life, but altogether it flows perfectly. I highly recommend this especially for those living the BDSM lifestyle. I honestly have to say it’s better than 50 Shades of Grey.
    • 1/5
      Letting Go
      1 Star

      As a fan of Maya Banks's romantic suspense and historical romance series, this book seemed a natural choice when I needed a BDSM book for a challenge. Let me preface this review with the disclaimer that BDSM is not a preferred genre, and as such my comments will more than likely not be in line with the many readers who enjoy this genre immensely.

      As it turns out, the BDSM elements are not the reason for this one star review. Rather the writing, characters and story are so weak as to completely undermine whatever message the writer is trying to impart.

      Banks spends an inordinate amount of page time attempting to convince the reader of the legitimacy of the BDSM sub-culture. This is completely unnecessary as consenting adults are entitled to their preferences; no one has the right to judge and those who enjoy the genre don't need to be convinced. The result is a tediously repetitive sequence of scenes in which the hero and heroine justify their choice of lifestyle.

      Moreover, the characterization and plot also suffer as neither is sufficiently developed outside of the author's preoccupation with the characters dominant/submissive sexcapades. Regardless of the fact that I personally do not find anything remotely sexy or sensual about a relationship in which the woman is completely subjugated, neither Joss nor Dash are particularly interesting as individuals and their emotional attachment is unbelievable. The conflict that pops up at the end has potential and should have been the focus throughout the story, but ultimately falls flat because by that point who cares?

      In sum, to put it simply this book is badly written with tepid characters, mechanical sex scenes and no plot to speak of.
    • 2/5
      Good gravy, this is awful. I was going to push through to the end since I'm over halfway through, but I picked it back up this morning, read a paragraph, and said, "Nope. Life's too short." Bullet points of wretchedness:--SO so so repeatingly repetitive. OMG. By 175 pages in, we have learned only three salient things about the couple: 1) heroine was married to hero's late best friend; he's loved her all along; the best friend knew and was okay with it; 2) she's longed for a Dom/sub relationship for always but couldn't ask her husband for it because of his past; he's a dominant who's never pursued a serious relationship because of his love for her; 3) he's bringing a new partner into the business he ran with his late best friend. And every three paragraphs or so, one or the other of the main characters agonizes over one (or several) of these points WITHOUT EVER COMING TO ANY CONCLUSIONS OR ADDING ANY NEW INFORMATION. I actually yelled "We know!" at the book at one point yesterday.--The characters talk about Dom/sub relations ad infinitum. And there's nothing compelling about their discussions--not as a discussion of the practice and not as revelations of their characters. It's as though the author feels she has to very gently pull her reader along to this very very strange, very very shocking, but I promise you it's really okay if you look at it this way, idea. Which is *weird* (this was published post-Fifty Shades of Grey, so, again, we know) and kind of insulting, honestly. It's like an inside- out version of protesting too much. The insistence on the convincing starts to make it feel like there's something wrong with it after all. Which, just, GTFO. And ALSO, if you DO feel like your readers need convincing, the best way to do that is by showing the relationship in action, not by having two characters sitting on the couch spewing a bad wiki article about BDSM.--The DOM/sub stuff is presented oddly. The hero describes it almost as if it's a stereotypical* 1950s marital situation. (I take care of everything and make all decisions; you do exactly what I say, always.) Which, I mean, if that's your kink, sure, you do you. But as an explanation of what it's about, it's *strange.* It's like, almost, but no. And, memo: Being a Dom does not give you license to be creepy af. The male MC does all kinds of borderline abusive stuff like stalking the female MC, dictating the FMC's behavior before he has any "right" within a mutually consensual agreement to do so, and insisting on removing the FMC from her accustomed environment.--The author interrupts sex scenes to give us character interiority we've already heard a thousand times. What?--And, possibly the single most maddening thing: when discussing Dom/sub relations, the characters invariably refer to Doms as men and subs as women. *angry kermit arms* I can excuse this on occasion because that is the particular make up in this story and it would be natural in dialogue for the characters to insert their own situation into a general discussion. But it happens over and over. References that have no need to be gendered *whatsoever* are constantly gendered as Dom = male, sub = female. Like so: "'I know some Dominants... Well, I've heard that they punish their women if they disobey or displease them.'"** THEIR WOMEN? Aside from the fact that the language plays into that weird, limiting perceived 1950s thing, some Doms are women! Some male Doms have male subs! Gosh, sometimes they're BOTH women! Take all of your erasures *waves arms about encompassing the all of it* and get. out. *retires to quiet corner to take deep breaths*...And that is why I'm not finishing this book.*I know many, many marriages in the 50s did not look like this. But you know the image we all have in our heads? Dude goes to work with the only car. Lady stays home tending the home and meets him at the door more dressed up then I've ever been and takes his briefcase while handing him his slippers and a drink? That.**Page 101 if anyone cares.
    • 4/5
      Love the first book it was really good. Except for the repeat mention of Carson's name.
    • 3/5
      Was well written but the love story was too sickly sweet for my tastes. It would be hard to go into details without ruining the story for someone else.
    • 4/5
      First off, I really love Maya Banks' writing. So much. She evokes so much emotion and is so vivid with her writing. You can tell why she is a best seller!

      On to this book. It's a great start to what I expect to be a wonderful series. I LOVED Dash. He was a sweet, hot Alpha. A man who would do anything, anything at all to make the woman he loves happy. He is also a very serious Dom. And he loves Joss. Joss who is his best friend's widow. Joss who was healing from her loss. Joss who is now ready to find love again. And maybe a bit of kink to go along with it. Dash is what Joss needs and their emotional and physical connection is palpable. They are great together... even when Joss is feeling guilt for betraying her husband (which I can totally get. I am not sure how long it would take to move on after losing a spouse and I can only guess how hard it would be).

      If you are cool with the whole D/s plot you will adore this book. Although, I will warn you if you are a serious D/s person you will probably see this as a bit "light". Personally, that's how I like it...but I know some people are much more picky about it! I see this as a great love story with a bit of a controlling Dom plot in it. Not a D/s book with serious players that happen to fall in love.

      Definitely worth your time!
    • 4/5
      DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: Josslyn found perfection once, and she knows she’ll never find it again. Now widowed, she seeks the one thing her beloved husband couldn’t give her: dominance. Lonely, searching for an outlet for her grief and wanting only a brief taste of the perfection she once enjoyed, she seeks what she’s looking for at an exclusive club that caters to people indulging in their most hedonistic fantasies. She never imagined that what she’d find would be the one man who’s long been a source of comfort—and secret longing. Her husband’s best friend.Dash has lived in an untenable position for years: in love with his best friend’s wife but unwilling to act on that attraction. He’d never betray his best friend. And so he’s waited in the wings, offering Joss unconditional support and comfort as she works past her grief, hoping for the day when he can offer her more.When he finds her in a club devoted to the darker edges of desire, he’s furious because he thinks she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. Until she explains in detail what it is she wants. What she needs. As realization sets in, he is gripped by fierce, unwavering determination. If she wants dominance, he is the only man who will introduce her to that world. He is the only man who will touch her, cherish her…love her. And the only man she’ll ever submit to.
    • 2/5
      Is it just me or did it really seem like 3/4 of this book repeated itself. Telling the same story different words ever other freakin page?

      This should have been so much better.


    • 4/5
      The psychological tension builds in this novel, Roth's first, until it reaches a crescendo towards the end. Powerful stuff. Letting Go revolves around academics Gabe Wallach and Paul Herz. It explores religion, social class, relationships and social constraints in 1950s America.
    • 3/5
      A novel that examines the unintended consequences of...well, just living a life that, in the main is not vindictive, or violent, but....difficulties arise. This is not a deliberately shocking novel, but one that was a sign of more entertaining works to come.
    • 5/5
      So far as I can see I am the only one who thinks that this is the best book by Roth. I read it at least four times and I will read it ar least four times more.
    • 2/5
      You can sure tell this was early Roth.
    • 4/5
      So, this is the 23rd Philip Roth book that I have read, though it is his first novel. I have found that first novels are often radically different from the rest of an author's work, though in this case I wouldn't say that it was all that different from some of Roth's other novels. One obvious thing that sets "Letting Go" apart is it's length; it is much longer than his other books. I haven't actually compared page numbers, but even if it weren't actually longer it (though it was) it would still seem longer. There also seemed to be a lot of name dropping going on - several references to Proust, Henry James, and others: Proust is fast becoming one of my favorite authors (though my prose sadly does not reflect that) and I am going to give James another chance. I think the author referencing may be a way to add legitimacy or to show off, but that is forgivable certainly.I can't give the book a negative review - though I did find it to be tedious. I didn't really like any of the characters, though that doesn't really matter all that much. It did seem that the reader had to endure the same scenes repeatedly: Paul and Libby arguing over the same thing repeatedly, Gabe and Martha arguing over the same thing repeatedly, Gabe and Bigoness arguing over the same thing repeatedly, etc. I suppose the repetition drills in the fact that people often repeat themselves and do not often change or give in. I especially found the scenes with Bigoness to be difficult to get through; the character himself was annoying, and the confrontation with Gabe was frustrating.A lot of the territory staked out in this novel Roth explores again (and again) later on, and I enjoyed those books a great deal more. I generally prefer Roth's work more from the mid-70's onward. If I were ranking, I'd say that this is probably my 3rd or 4th least favorite Roth book (1st has to be "The Great American Novel" and 2nd has to be "Our Gang").Still though, it was an interesting book, and there is a lot of good stuff in it. In reply to arthurfrayn, the other reviewer of "Letting Go" here, I agree with you on all points. The characters all ring true more or less ; though there are things that today seem rather racist, sexist, and classist, I don't really fault Roth for them. I think this is a very good book - maybe as good or better than "Portnoy's Complaint," but not as good as most of his other work.