Consent (Power Exchange)

“The worry like paper cuts slicing away at our composure.” That quote applies to the reader of this story as much as it does to the characters in it. AJ Rose captured me with the first two Power Exchange novels and I didn’t think she could get any deeper into the soul of me, but I guess I should have known better. Her characters and what she puts them through is not something you ‘just’ read. The writing is so visual it is almost possible to see the horror and the beauty, feel the pain and the pleasure, experience the fear and the love. Consent is everything you might hope and expect a book to be and then some. While I’m reluctant to say anything about the story beyond what you can find in the blurb I do want to mention all the emotions this book put me through; worried, scared, petrified, horrified and disgusted formed one side of the spectrum. On the other side I found warmth, smiles, heart stopping beauty and heady arousal. There were times the emotions shifted so fast I couldn’t keep up with myself and had to put the book down just to figure out what exactly I was feeling. I rarely cry when I read, regardless of the story-line, but tears obscured the words on more than one occasion while reading Consent; sad tears, angry tears, frustrated tears and happy tears all came out to play. It was a heady experience. This book is as much the continuation of a love story as it is a heart stopping thriller. In the midst of the nightmare Myah’s abduction creates, Ben and Gavin continue to take my breath away with their love and complete trust in and reliance on each other. “You don’t have to martyr yourself. If you need to break, you break. I will catch you” – Ben to Gavin “I know you will. But tell me something, Sir. When do you get to break? When does the weight of me plus the world get to be too much for you?” – Gavin to Ben. We get to see several sides to Ben we haven’t seen before and as much as it hurt, it also made him even more of a hero than he already was in my eyes. The flipside of seeing Ben for once not in complete control was seeing Gavin taking it and giving his partner what he’d so often received in the past. Their relationship had been beautiful from the moment they first met in Power Exchange. In this book it was taken to glorious heights and shown in all its multi-coloured splendour. “He’s your protector and you’re his purpose.” – Cole about Ben and Gavin. As in the previous two books Ben and Gavin’s BDSM-relationship is beautiful beyond words. Fascinating as I find this sort of relationship, it is only when I observe the dynamic between Ben and Gavin that I feel it might be something I’d be interested in...provided of course I would have a Ben to submit to. “(...) as he dragged me into a kiss so obscene, so obsessive, I wouldn’t have been surprised if his name stamped itself on my bones.” This story comes with trigger warnings and, believe me, it needs them. The horrors Myah is facing are indescribable and I’m not going to go into them in any detail here. Suffice to say I found it very hard to read Myah’s chapters. Don’t get me wrong, not because they weren’t good, quite the opposite, they were brilliant. It was the environment she found herself in, the things she had to endure and witness and the realism with which they were described, that made her part of the story so hard. “The trust with which he looked at her as he nodded set all the remaining pieces of her heart aflame, reducing them to ash. Every time a new Myah chapter started I found myself something to do, feed the dog, make another cup of coffee, have a quick look at Facebook; anything that would give me a chance to catch my breath and build up my courage before diving in again. Not going back to the story was never an option though and neither was skimming through these chapters. The need to know what would happen, how it was going to end and if a happy ending was even possible kept me turning the pages. The fact that I was able to do this proves how much I trust this author, although there were one or two moments I would have happily slapped her. Another reason I could not put the book down lies in AJ Rose’s masterful storytelling. She knows how to alternate the horrific scenes – those you’d prefer to read with your eyes closes or not read at all – with the wonderful beauty that is the relationship between Ben and Gavin, thus keeping the reader teetering on a precarious balance between disgust and delight. Consent is the story that shows there is more to people than we could ever suspect. There is strength where you’d expect only weakness. Perseverance can be found in the midst of despair. Beauty may hide under a layer of dirt and sometimes people do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. Consent is proof, if we needed it, of AJ Rose’s magnificence as a writer and storyteller. The beauty of her words, the depth of her characters and the power of her stories take my breath away every time I read one of her books. I’m in awe and forever grateful I found her books; my world would be a bleaker place without them.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It's raw, pulsing with pain and anguish, intense and very angry. I was on the edge from the page 1. The investigation itself is scrupulous, bordering on illegal and extremely emotional. Tempers fly high while in pursuit of any lead that might get them closer to finding Myah. The strain of responsibility for making things right for his baby brother Cole, worry for Myah almost burn Gavin out, but Ben is there for him as his partner and his Dom. They grow closer, discover new limits and strengthen their commitment to each other. Parallel to the investigation Myah tells the story of her captivity, the horrors that are perpetrated on those who have no one to stand up for them. Her accounting is painful to read. It's very explicit and detailed. While Ben, Gavin and Cole untangle the web of lies that forced her out of Chicago three years ago, Myah is trying to cope and come to terms with all that is forced on her. She is as fierce as a lioness. In the end she lives - a woman, a mother, a caregiver, a survivor. I loved this book even though it was at times difficult to read. It's a testament to human strength and will to survive. The ending is romantic, happy yet a little bittersweet. Even after a passage of time the wounds are not completely healed. But Degrassi family takes care of their own, takes people into their fold and makes them their own. Wonderful intense read! I highly recommend it!

My Review: Wow, this book took this series into a very different, but equally dark, road. In this book, Myah, Gavin's sister in law and his ex-partner on the police force has been kidnapped. Then the race is on to find her. The book is incredibly dark...all the way through. There is rape, torture, and forced drug-dependency. It's graphic, it's brutal, and I couldn't stop reading it. What Myah goes through is heartbreaking, and watching her break over and over again is too. Although those scenes with her were brutal, I think that added so much to this book. She's so strong! But the book also shows the other side, the men who love her desperately trying to find her. Tempers get short, they feel powerless, and the whole situation is incredibly tough for everyone...Cole, her husband, Gavin, her bff, and Ben, the stoic guy trying to keep them all on track, but who's also losing his mind with worry and stress. Everyone in this book is pushed to the limits. But that makes this book an incredibly powerful read. It's also a book that pushes the limits in other ways. A new character is introduced who should be a bad guy...but I kind of fell for him...a lot. I love it when an author can turn expectations on their side like that. I hope that we see him again...maybe in a few years with a pairing that was hinted about at the end? I could go for that. Overall, if you can handle really dark subject matter, I highly recommend this one. I stayed up entirely too late because I couldn't put it down.

This book involves rape, violence and the black market. It is written to be realistic, so bad things happen to good people. It was hard to read at times because it was not life and fluffy. Myah is kidnapped. She has been written as a strong female role model in the other books. She is woman working in a predominantly male workforce. But she is strong, independent, kind, caring and loving individual. She demanded and receives the well deserved respect amongst her colleagues. In this story, she is married to Cole and they have a little baby together. What she goes through is terrible. Heart wrenching. Sadly, I can see this really happen to people in the real world though. Because not everyone is a saint. There are people out in the world who are the nightmares of nightmares. She is both psychically and mentally torn apart. Her self identity crumbles. Despite that, her morals are still their. She still wants to protect those who need protecting. She understands that in other people's eyes, who are in the same situation as she is, view her as hope. It is hard on her. All along, we have Ben, Gavin and Cole working together. Cole is a complete mess, needless to say, over Myah. The further they dig, the more they fear if they will find her alive. Myah's past caught back up to her and people from her previous life are starting to disappear/killed off. The three of them have to work off the grid to find her in time. Some things they do are not completely legal, but if it helps to get one step closer to Myah, so be it. During this book, we have a scene that involves a threesome. Gavin, Ben and one other. I wasn't sure if I would approve of it. I love Ben and Gavin, and I wasn't sure if I'd appreciate a third person intruding. Luckily, the author was able to pull it off, which doesn't usually happen in my eyes. She was able to describe the scene very well and in fact made Ben and Gavin stronger as a couple. I do have to break it to you, someone we know from a previous book dies. The ending was good enough. We do find some justice, and the bad guys get what is coming. At least the ones that were involved with Myah.

I’ll start this like I’ve started so many of my reviews – by saying I hate to write reviews. And I do. But some books give me more than just a few hours of pleasant escape. Some books give me a reading ‘experience’ and those are the ones that I feel like I owe the author something in return. If you read, you know what I’m talking about. They’re the books you can’t just simply stick a bookmark in and set down because it’s time to make dinner or go somewhere. They suck you in and take you along for the ride – like that train in Harry Potter. Like it or not, you’re going. This was a bumpy ride. I’d thought about doing a re-read of the Power Exchange and Safeword before starting Consent, but, as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary. There were enough subtle reminders sprinkled throughout Consent to jog my memory. “The ghosts of cases past whispered haunted greetings as I pushed through the glass doors of Second Precinct half an hour later…” AJ Rose has always been able to tug at my heartstrings. I have read every single thing she has written and there wasn’t one of them that didn’t bring me to tears. But this one… this one is tough. I love angst – I do. I’ll pass on the sweet/silly love story every time and grab the one that tears your heart out instead. And I know that AJ can write angst. She’s a master. So I went into this expecting the ‘feels’. They came quickly. “…I held on to Cole while great wracking heaves shook him, as though the very angels in heaven wept in sorrow and were using him as their collective voice.” I always liked Cole. I was glad to see him get more screen-time. His character really got a chance to fill out in Consent and we get to see several different sides of him: scared, resigned, frustrated, tender, humorous and mad-as-hell. “… my hands completely full of frothing, spitting DeGrassi black sheep.” Cole had some of my favorite lines in the book. (Yes, there are some light-hearted moments and humor.) “Uncle Ben and Gavin don’t wear dresses.” “That we know of,” Cole murmured. I follow AJ on social media, so I watched her post things like, “Oh, Myah…” and “Oh, Myah, I’m sorry…” and “I broke her.” I knew this book was going to be right up my alley. Or so I thought. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will just say that I had to put this one down a few times and regroup. I’ve only had to do that with one other book (Abi Roux’s Touch & Geaux). Gavin’s emotions, as always, kind of gut me. At least he has Ben. “I couldn’t speak. A rusty ball of nails lodged in my throat, impeding all but the burst of air I tried to calmly suck in. I reached for him, and he surged up to wrap me in his arms, his warmth chasing away everything I feared most.” “So I did my best to let go, let Ben guide me to my happy place, and let myself be reminded that love was the strongest of assets, the hardest of armors, and the sharpest of blades.” Like everyone else who has read Power Exchange and Safeword, I fell in love with Ben & Gavin and squealed in glee when AJ said she was writing a third book in the series. It was so wonderful to have those two men back in my life for a few days - they were every bit as wonderful as I remembered them. There is a new little twist to their relationship in Consent and I know a lot of people were nervous about it, when AJ released an early blurb, but I trusted her to know Ben & Gavin better than any of us and she proved me right. The “twist” was hot as hell, handled beautifully within the storyline and left Ben and Gavin well sated, so, hopefully everyone else is happy now too. Then there’s Brady. Because I’m not a real people person, I tend to resist new characters in any series, but Brady stole my heart from the very moment he was introduced. There are several new interesting characters, but Brady… well, you’ll see. I know I said after reading Edmond Manning’s books I’d never give another book five stars, but I guess I lied. Forgive the double negative, but, I can’t NOT give Consent five stars, and it’s not because I love Ben & Gavin so much or because I kinda’ sorta’ know AJ from social media. It’s because of her words. They’re clean. They’re precise. They’re almost surgical in precision and she has a way of conveying what her characters are feeling like no one else I’ve ever read. “Skeletal fingers of violent memories skated over my skin, like a reaper pianist attempting to play my bones in a macabre dirge.” “Unease squirmed in my gut like a pile of worms in an occupied coffin.” Yeah, I had that same ‘squirming worms’ feeling while reading Consent. More times than I care to remember. But that’s AJ at her best. She can do ‘sweet’ but she makes ‘dark and compelling’ her bitch. There’s no sugar-coating to make the story easier on the reader and I, for one, appreciate that. I want to FEEL exactly what the characters are feeling – even if it breaks me too – and, let me tell you, the scene that begins with Gavin breaking a coffee cup just about destroyed me.

I am a die hard fan of this author, and although the book was superbly written and I undetstand that she trying to do when it comes to trafficking young gay men, but I hated where this book went...I hated that two of the MCs that I have come to adore were involved in the story line no matter if they were heroes in the end or not. There is enough tragety in real life why do I need to read about it too...It was dark and disturbing and it ruined the image of Ben and Gavin for me...I am sorry to say this...I see where everyone else gives it kudos and I undetstand their point. I undetstand the message and I applaud the strength displayed by the characters...but it still ruined it for me. I can never look at the characters the same.

4.5 rounded to 5 This was difficult to read at times. I was conflicted in trying to decide whether the violence and the heartbreak was necessary to tell the story. Ultimately , the question I asked myself was how would the story impact me if what happened to Myah and the boys were simply mentioned, just hinted at, or left to my own imagination. Undoubtedly, I would have felt their pain but would not leave a lasting impression about the horrific life of the victims of sex trafficking. I would have focused more on Gavin and Ben's relationship, which was intense and emotional. So what I loved: Gavin and Ben's relationship. I feel like I finally understand the BDSM relationship, what drives a Dom or a sub to seek the lifestyle, the trust that's required for both, the inner strength needed by both. Even in the scene where there was a third party, the focus was on Gavin and Ben. I thought that was beautifully written. Myah's strength.. Yes, she endured and witnessed horrific acts. Yet her humanity was intact. Even though at times she felt like death would be better than surviving, she still managed to care about others. I wished Rose would have given more of her recovery process. What didn't work for me was the death of one of the characters. Of all the boys, he suffered the most. It left me feeling helpless even though other boys survived. AJ Rose is a talented writer. The first two books in this series are in no way a light reading, but this goes beyond angst. I loved it, kept me engaged, and I'm still thinking about it. Even though I didn't like everything about the story, it still deserves a high mark in my opinion.

This was not an easy read - this book contains repeated horrors - rape, torture, forced chemical dependency, and abuse of not only a primary character, but also teenage kids. Be warned! That said, I was staggered by the intensity of this book. When Gavin’s former partner on the force and his now sister-in-law goes missing, he jumps right in with both feet to find her and bring her home. What she and those she is with endure is gritty, raw, real, and incredibly difficult to read. Ben and Gavin’s relationship continues to heal and move forward, which was a balm to my soul in this otherwise daunting novel. There is an intense and insanely beautiful menage scene that left me gasping. There are also moments that left me in tears and shattered my heart soul-deep. It isn’t often that this occurs in my jaded existence, so it was all the more powerful for it. I was disappointed with the epilogue, I must admit - there’s a good chunk of information that happens off-page, as it were, and the loss detracts from the whole. It is for this reason alone that I am rating this at 4.5 stars. If your heart and mind are strong enough to handle this, I definitely recommend it. It isn’t a touchy-feely fluffy book - it will *wreck* you, but you will appreciate the fluffy all the more for having experienced Consent.

This book was a huge disappointment. I loved "Power Exchange", which provided a nuanced description of the D/s relationship, with three-dimensional characters and an engaging story. "Safeword" was a little less accomplished, but that tends to happen in second books. I was eagerly waiting for the third one, but it fell flat for me. I'm perfectly willing and able to suspend my disbelief when reading fiction, but the author is asking a bit much in this case. First we have to believe that Gavin, a retired detective, and Cole, his CSI brother, both have so little trust in police competence that they have to go rogue and take the investigation into their own hands. We then have to believe that Ben, a licensed psychologist and police consultant, apparently agrees with this hare-brained scheme to the point of participating in it. And we can only shake our heads when Ben, an experienced Dom, goes straight off the reservation in pursuit of facts, or when Ben and Gavin take a break from the investigation to have a little threesome with one of the witnesses. Everything that was mildly irritating about Ben in the first two books comes into full bloom in this one. He doesn't come across as a Dom, or indeed a grown-up; he comes across as a brat who has no business dominating others, to say nothing of being a psychologist, while he is such an utter mess himself. Gavin and Cole have also lost much of their complexity as characters. Everyone in here feels like a cardboard cut-out, and I found myself looking forward to a happy ending for only one reason: the book would end. I will definitely be downloading the sample before I purchase any more books from this author.

Consent: Book 3. Okay a word of the wise. Very Very graphic and disturbing novel. Numerous trigger warnings. This installment sees the continuation of the D/s romance between Gavin Degrassi and Ben Haverson. Our smoking hot guys have worked out their PTSD issues fairly well and moved on. Gavin has resigned from the SLPD and is teaching and, he and Ben are back playing games, and they've just finished rebuilding their home. Cole Degrassi and Myah Hayes have married and now have a four month old daughter, they're madly in love and sickeningly happy. Life could not be better. Then Myah is kidnapped and life goes to sh*t. This book no joke was very difficult to read. Painfully so. And unbelievably sad. It's told in dual 1st POV from Myah and Gavin. Gavin, Ben and Cole are doing everything they can to find Myah, its hard reading because their so hamstrung with Gavin resigning from the Police and Myah being taken across state lines. They have NO idea where she might be other than possibly Chicago. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The enormous pressure on Gavin to find her is exacerbated by Cole's impotent feelings because there's little he can really do. Their investigation is being funded by Ben ( thank god he's loaded) but its painfully slow going joining the dots and painting by numbers. This made for some explosive emotional angst between the brother's that might have soured their solid relationship if Ben hadn't been there to referee. It made for frustrating reading because it was very apparent just how tied their hands were and made the following the bouncing ball very slow. While I wanted to slap them up the side of their heads, I also wanted to hug them particularly Cole who unraveled with Myah's disappearance after the fourth hour and never really recovered. Meanwhile Myah is in a world of hurt. Kidnapped by men involved in Chicago's child sex slave trade industry. Illegal activity she raised concerns about the involvement of dirty cops at her old department before they shafted her to St Louis. With the arrest and charging of a high ranking detective, they're cleaning house and the middle level bosses want to know what she knows and who she told and they'll torture her to get it. Poor Myah is doing everything she can to endure. In her misery she comes across Marshall our poor abused teen from book 2, and another lad, Brady who were also kidnapped and are being used as sex slaves. Myah and they boys are suffering and she's doing all she can to keep them all alive. Its a excruciating endeavor because they're all being hooked onto Heroin and narcotics and physically and sexually abused. Even though AJ Rose gave us some distracting man on man smoking hot sex ( a little bit of it) with our guys Gavin and Ben and McKnight a street pimp with a heart of Gold, it wasn't anywhere near enough to soothe the pain of reading Myah's story. Even at the HEA I still needed a hug or ten. The journey was that bad. I wont go into too much because it will give spoilers, but suffice to say its was hellish reading. If you want a challenging book this is one. I thought the crime element was better this time around, though I was a little bit frustrated with the emotional bickering between Cole and Gavin, which even though it was reasonable due to the situation, I just found it glaring to read despite it being because they felt so dis-empowered over the whole situation. Ben was stellar, cool under pressure and smoking hot and thank goodness, I needed his calm soothing way. After the HEA, was an excerpt for book four? not sure when that will be out since this book hit the shelves in 2014 and its still not released. Damn shame really. The series overall has been well worth reading, the crime writing improved dramatically from 1st book to last, and I think that certainly helped. Not a huge amount of BDSM persay, mostly stuck with Gavin and Ben's power exchange dynamic with 1 or 2 small scenes. Still good reading and smoking hot sex.

Consent ist nun der Dritte Teil der Power Exchange und Safeword Reihe von AJ Rose. Die ersten beiden Bücher sind ein Muss zu lesen damit man die Story hinter Ben und Gavin versteht. Man schwankt zwischen Spannung, Aufregung, der völligen Liebe und Vertrautheit der beiden zu absoluten Schockern die AJ in eine verstörend spannende Geschichte packt. Ben Haverson ist mit Abstand zu den anderen D/s Büchern die ich bisher gelesen habe, einer der besten Doms nach den Regeln der Szene und die Beziehung zu Gavin absolut herzerweichend schön. Das Ende kommt.. wenn man es geschafft hat, leider wie immer viel zu schnell.

All 3 books in this series are 5 Star reads for me. Gavin and Ben are a beautiful couple who meet when cop Gavin needs a BDSM expert for a case. Each book has it's own dramatic suspense story dragging Gavin and Ben into danger. Their relationship changes over the 3 books, it grows in love and the BDSM dynamic changes after the harrowing events of book 1. They have to find new ways for their D/S relationship to work. The plots are excellent with danger lurking around every corner keeping me on my toes. I fell more in love with Gavin and Ben as the books went on. I blame AJ Rose for having bitten my fingernails & worn a tread in my carpet from pacing but also say thanks for such fabulous books.

Gavin DeGrassi no longer works directly for the police department - about the only man in his family who doesn't - but when he picks up a call from his brother Cole to say Cole's wife(and Gavin's ex-partner in the force) has been kidnapped there is only one thing he can do: dust off his detective skills and get on the case - unofficially of course. Digging for clues in Myah's past turns up dodgy policy practices, a blind eye turned for the sake of a quiet life and hints of rent boys vanishing or turning up murdered. Something was rotten on Myah's old beat and it's still going on. It take the combined efforts of Gavin, Cole, and Gavin's lover and Dom Ben to find out what. This is book 3 of the Power Exchange series and my favourite so far. The action (POV) cuts from Gavin and his frantic search to track down Myah, and Myah herself. The reader's hopes are kept on a knife edge as the men don't know if she is alive or dead and we wonder if she will be found in time (if at all). All this plus Ben showing a side to his character that is truly chilling. (Gotta love him.) There are characters from previous storylines in here but still works just as well as a stand alone. Good one.