I Take You by Nikki Gemmell (4 stars)

About I Take You

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (December 31, 2013)

From internationally bestselling author Nikki Gemmell comes a tantalizing story of love within marriage—and alongside it.

Under her Chanel suit and designer lingerie, Connie Carven is no longer the typical banker’s wife. When Cliff’s horrible skiing accident shifts the balance of their relationship, Connie becomes a willing submissive to her husband’s every desire.
Cliff is eager to explore new, and troubling, avenues of passion. Connie, ever the dutiful wife, follows wherever he leads. While at first she enjoys a perverse sense of freedom within the ever-tightening bonds of her marriage, Cliff’s dark desires soon consume her entirely. She finds herself surrendering to an act that will forever remind her that she belongs to her husband alone—to be unlocked only by him, whenever he pleases.

But it is also this act that awakens Connie from the numbness that has taken over her life. And when she encounters someone new in the communal garden of her Notting Hill home, she discovers the thrill of true intimacy . . . and the price of risking everything for it.

The author of the bestselling phenomenon The Bride Stripped Bare and the exquisite With My Body, Nikki Gemmell brings erotic writing into the twenty-first century. In I Take You she looks to the classic Lady Chatterley’s Lover for inspiration, reimagining D. H. Lawrence’s celebrated tale as a brutally honest and deeply sensual modern love story.

Review

Connie Carven lives the high life, enviable by those who don't know the dark secrets of her relationship with her damaged husband. A tragic turn of events forever changes their lives. Determined to save her marriage, Connie gives into her husband's new needs. One fateful night those desires go way too far.

But a horrible act ultimately leads Connie to finding herself, and possibly love, again. Can she make the necessary sacrifice to finally embrace love? Or is she too damaged and her life too predetermined?

Nikki Gemmell, similar to her other books, does an excellent job building characters and scenarios to challenge them to their core. Too often, I find erotica tries so hard to be cutting edge that it misses out on character and story--it simply becomes a sexual tale for shock value. Gemmell never seems to fall into that trap. There is a horribly disturbing act in this book, but it's not played for shock value. Instead, it's meant to showcase just how far people can go to have control over their loved ones.

My only complaint, which shows how much I came to care about Connie, was how quickly her story was wrapped up. When you've been through a character's suffering and there's a hint of salvation or moments of happiness, you hate to see it rushed. Still, I recommend this book to readers who like a character they can sink their teeth into--a character with plenty of flaws, but something still makes you care about her and root for her to come out on the other side.

Rating: 4 stars

Please click the following links to read my reviews of two additional Nikki Gemmell books: The Bride Stripped Bare and With My Body. 

About Nikki Gemmell

Nikki Gemmell is the internationally bestselling author of The Bride Stripped Bare and With My Body, as well as Shiver, Alice Springs, and The Book of Rapture. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her family.

Find out more about Nikki at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

Thanks to TLC for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

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