My Control
(I received a free copy for review from Netgalley)**Note: If you haven’t read the books that came before this one, this review will have spoilers.**
In this Inside Out novella, we see things from Mark and Crystal’s point of view. This (kind of) takes place after No In Between, so you shouldn’t read it if you haven’t at least read the four novels.
The investigation into Rebecca’s disappearance is still going on, Ava has been arrested for Rebecca’s murder, and this novella basically centers around how Mark is handling the situation as he waits for more information.
As a Master, Mark Compton is not accustomed to losing control, but as the full weight of losing Rebecca settled on him and he had to face not only his feelings about her, but also about Crystal, that’s exactly what happened. He’s realized that he will never be able to tell her that he did have feelings for her and he continues to blame himself for putting her in danger in the first place. He pushed her into situations she wasn’t entirely comfortable with. He brought Ava into the mix. Now, Rebecca is gone and Mark feels responsible.
It was nice to see a different side of Mark than what we see in the Sara/Chris stories, and to get inside his head for a while. In the novels, he comes across as a very controlled, unemotional person (which he is), so having a glimpse of the man behind all that armor was interesting. I suppose we partially have Crystal to thank for that. I don’t know the whole Crystal/Mark relationship story, but I’m curious to see how it will unfold.
Crystal isn’t the type of girl Mark usually goes for. He likes his women submissive, from what I know of him, and Crystal doesn’t like giving up control anymore than Mark does. But in this novella, control seems to be something they both struggle with—Mark, fighting to hold onto it and prevent himself from feeling anything deeper than sensual pleasure with Crystal, while Crystal tries to be what Mark needs without submitting to him.
I’m looking forward to the next novella to see what happens with Mark and Crystal. (Expected publication for the next one, I Belong to You, is November 2014.)
