Guest Review: Handcuffed by Her Hero by Angel Payne - 4 Wine Glasses

Title: Handcuffed by Her Hero 
Series: The WILD Boys Of Special Forces #2
Author: Angel Payne 
Format: ebook
Published: July 2013 by Angel Payne Writes
Links: Goodreads | Amazon
Source: Author's Publicist/Assistant
Reviewer: Laura 
Rating: 4/5

Between a rock and a hard place.To Sergeant Zeke Hayes, the expression has always been a non-factor. There's never been a situation he can't blast, punch, negotiate or smart-ass his way out of, which makes him the perfect fit for his Special Forces battalion--and a natural-born Dominant who's made a lot of submissives happy from Mt. Rainier to Vancouver.
That all changes when Rayna Chestain enters his world.
A rock.From the moment Z snatches Rayna from the lair of a South Asian slave trafficker, his inner grizzly roars to life with protective intensity. This is a huge damn problem, because Z isn't wired to be a one-woman man. Growing up an orphan on the streets of Seattle has taught him that beyond a few hours in a dungeon, trust means disappointment and love leads to agony. But here he is, in the remote wilderness escape he'd promised not to share with anyone, harboring Rayna from a fiend who now wants his pound of revenge flesh from her--in the form of her beating heart. Zeke will stop at nothing to keep Rayna safe, even asking his SFG brothers to join him in the fight to hold his fortress secure.
A hard place.Sheltering Rayna? Z's never done anything more right in his life. But wanting her? Dreaming of her body beneath him, bound and surrendering to his domination? It's the most forbidden fruit he can crave...and the only thing he can't stop thinking about.
A new beginning?This is a dead-end canyon that no rifle, bomb or sweet talk will let Zeke escape from. The only way out is to confront the reality of what Rayna has done to him...the mountain she's moved in his intractable heart.

Thoughts:
Let’s be honest; when it comes to BDSM-related book, I’m not too hard to please. Still, there are a few authors who just do it for me. There’s something in the way they write about domination and submission that hits all the right points on my BDSM romance checklist (Note: this checklist only exists in my head). Angel Payne is one such author. I got my first taste of her when I read Permanent Marker. I really enjoyed that book, but I think Payne’s grown a little since then. 

This is the second book in a series, so I had lived with Zeke and Rayna a bit already. I didn’t really know them, though. It was a treat to finally get into their heads, especially Zeke’s. In the previous book, Garrett was “the reluctant Dom.” Now, Zeke is the kind of Dom I love to read about: the kind who’s dominant down to his soul. He beat himself up a little too much, and I wasn’t a big fan of that. Sometimes those Doms can be unbearably stubborn. Rayna was a bit of a surprise. She was so quiet and delicate in the previous book. Now, her bratty colors shine through. I mean, there had to be some spunk under that red hair, right? I loved her. She’d been through a hell of a lot in the previous book. It was nice to see her stand up for what she wanted. I love it when I really love a heroine. That’s the best, because I have a tendency to be really critical of them.

I really had no idea where the plot was going in this book because everything seemed settled in the previous one. I really can’t say much about it in the review because that would be a major spoiler. Let’s just say I was surprised, and I have to give Payne some major props for being unpredictable. It makes the story so much more interesting. I like her style and the way I can just experience her stories instead predicting the normal romance formula or trying to figure out the suspense elements. She does a really great job balancing the romance and the suspense. I can’t wait for the next book, but I have to… because it doesn’t come out until next year. 

One quick note that might be slightly spoilery: I was a little bummed out by Luna’s lot. I was hoping she would get her own book later. Maybe that will still happen? *crosses fingers*