Bind

Cartwright kicks off her Donovan Dynasty erotic contemporary series, set in Houston, Tex., with a reasonably strong union between a traditional setup—a heroine offering herself to save her family’s legacy and a hero who refuses to believe in love—and her hardcore brand of BDSM erotica, which is not for the novice reader. Lara Bertrand knows that her father’s refusal to modernize their family’s (rather vaguely described) enormous conglomerate will destroy it, so she offers to enter into a temporary, in-name-only marriage with business mogul Connor Donovan, her friend’s brother, if he agrees to save the company. He makes a counteroffer: he’ll do it if she lives with him, sleeps with him, and submits to him sexually. Connor consistently treats Lara with care and introduces her to erotic dominance in intense scenes; she’s skeptical at first, but soon finds that submission fulfills her. Connor’s satisfying but last-minute moment of emotional awakening helps mitigate his earlier obtuseness about matters of the heart. (Oct.)