The Ties That Bind by Johnny Stone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Re-Read
Original Review
Reread February 6, 2017
Did a reread of this book for a group challenge, and three years later it still took my breath away. I remember working with Mr. Stone on this book, the everyday rereads and re-writes. Going over the plot, changing this and changing that until it was the best we could possibly want. And after letting it sit for all these years than doing a reread I still enjoyed this book like it was the first time.
This book is still a solid 5 star read for me, and will more than likely be a reread again in my future!
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Okay. Catching my breath! That. Was. Excellent!! Johnny Stone took the story of his first book in the Slave World trilogy so much further in this sequel, Slave World: The Ties That Bind, than I thought was possible.
This is a Science Fiction based story with elements of BDSM incorporated throughout.
Margo, as we know from book 1 of this story, is an anthropomorphic female. She was a woman that was enslaved and taken to Slave World where her DNA was altered along with her appearance. She now has the perfect body, the perfect face, perfect everything. She is given perfection, but at the same time has had everything taken from her.
Nathan, the love of Margo's life. The man she wants most in the world to be her Master. To use her as the submissive slave that she is. Nathan doesn't want to be that in her life. But he does try, for her. Because he loves her.
As Nathan and Margo are leaving the Slave World Ranch in search of Margo's ship that was stolen from her when she was kidnapped, even more treachery is afoot, and they are forcibly separated. I felt so much sadness for them. For Margo who lived and breathed for Nathan and for Nathan who wanted this woman in any and all ways. Again, the cruel hand of fate is not kind to Margo, which seems to be the story of her existence. She is again kidnapped and held against her will by someone that is even more evil and vile than Master Michael was in the first book.
But Margo has a very deep and dark secret, and it's this secret that she calls on in the worst of times. The secret within her that takes over and helps her survive. And I mean this in the literal sense of the word!
We get to meet new characters like, Sergeant Major James Wroth and Private Sandra "Snake" Fullerton, a.k.a. "Sandy". My two favorite fun characters! Wroth is a sexy and funny man, mostly sexy
because he's funny! Sandy is a tough but broken woman who has demons of her own, but still finds time to throw some snarkiness right back at the man she loves to hate. When these two get together they are like dynamite with a very short, lit fuse. Anyone standing close is sure to feel the burn of sexual heat coming from these two. But they also work well together on this very important mission. I promise you'll fall in love with Wroth and his many "Wrothisms"! You'll also fall in love with how he and Sandy fall in love with each other.
And Cherise... sweet Cherise. She is Margo's caretaker for a while and then her friend. She is a sweet and kind self-aware AI, which can be a dangerous combination, but you come to believe that she's so much more than that.
There are other very interesting characters some you'll remember from the first Slave World, like Donna, Cirus, Ashley, and Donovan. There are some new and intriguing characters, and some will come as a surprise. There are other worlds, one, Eden, is full self-aware AI.
I absolutely, love, love, LOVED this book! It's a non-stop, can't put it down even if I wanted to, book. The characters are well written, the world building is so in-depth that you'll actually be able to visualize it as you read the words.
I can't go to much further in-depth in my review without giving away plot spoilers. This is one that you have to read for yourself to appreciate. And ohhh the best thing about the end of this story? It leaves you wanting MORE! And there is more to come in Slave World 3 which will conclude this trilogy.
Reading Slave World, the first book is a must before reading this sequel to get the background history on main characters in this carefully crafted world of extraordinary characters.
This book is another solid 5 star read for me!
Solid 5 stars!
*I have the continuous privilege to interact with the author here on Goodreads and in my personal life. With that said and even though I was involved on a daily basis as this story developed, and was written by the author, I believe this to be a true, fair, objective and honest representation of my opinion of this book*
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