REVIEW: The Dominant by Tara Sue Me

The Dominant by Tara Sue Me (The Submissive Trilogy #2)
Publisher: NAL Trade (Penguin Group: Berkley, NAL)
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Source: Netgalley via publisher*
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

Nathaniel West doesn’t lose control.

As the playboy CEO of West Industries, he governs the boardroom during the day; as a strict dominant with exacting rules, he commands the bedroom at night. He never takes on inexperienced submissives, but when Abigail King’s application comes across his desk, he breaks his own restrictions and decides to test her limits.

Abby’s combination of innocence and willingness is intoxicating, and Nathaniel is soon determined to collar her as his own. As long as she follows his orders and surrenders herself fully to him, no one will get hurt.

But when Nathaniel begins falling for Abby on a deeper level, he realizes that the trust must go both ways—and he has secrets which could bring the foundations of their entire relationship crashing down...

My Review

I’m going to start off by saying that I actually read The Dominant (along with its predecessor and sequel) when it was still a fanfiction story. While I did enjoy it as a fanfiction, I didn’t enjoy it so much as a published novel even with the similarities I originally fell in love with.

What can I say about Nathaniel? He’s a controlling, demanding, possessive, but has a touch of compassion and kindness somewhere in there. He was a Dom who loves the Dom lifestyle, but feels like something is missing. He sees that missing something in Abby. However, Nathaniel didn’t believe their worlds would ever cross until Abby’s submissive application is set in front of him. Throughout the book, Nathaniel struggles with his feelings for Abby, wanting to be her all while trying to separate his Dom tendencies. 

The romance was not entirely there since it was mostly sexual from the beginning, but it does grow into more later on. And I must say that their sexy times was way more than sexy. It was effing hot up in here, is all I’m going to say. I did like that both Nathaniel and Abby took their time to be reacquainted to one another and gave each other a chance to be more.

I’m new to BDSM type of books. I don’t know much about it, but I definitely got a more eye opening experience from this book. Possibly a more understanding view on this lifestyle. I don’t see it as something deviant or something not normal so I sympathized with Nathaniel and his confusion on wanting to be a lover or Dom or both. 


I think the problem with this book was the lack of description on the characters, especially Nathaniel and Abby. I couldn’t visualize what they were supposed to look like in my head. There was some character growth for both of them, but I believe it would have been better if The Submissive and this book were joined into one book with dual POVs. There would be more development on both sides instead of just one or the other. My main issue with this book was basically it being almost identical to the fanfiction. There was not much difference besides the changed names and a few minor scenes here and there that were tweaked. I guess I was expecting more change from fanfic to the published book. I was mostly disappointed by that front. 


*Thanks to Penguin Group: Berkley, NAL for sending a copy for review purposes

I was not compensated for my opinion