Masters of the Shadowlands (Series) by Cherise Sinclair

Posted on December 04, 2024
Word Count: 3920

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Series on Goodreads

Feeling some sub frenzy and frustration I decided I wanted to read some smut. I have a few books I’ve enjoyed but wanted something new. I didn’t care how fantastical it was, but I was kind of interested in more ethical bdsm rather than the usual capture-and-force-then-stockholm style of story that’s so easy to find. A quick google search and a skim through some reddit threads later I was checking out the Masters of the Shadowlands series. Holy cow 16 books! Lots to read if they can keep my attention long enough.

The first book, Club Shadowlands is only $3 on Amazon (Kindle), so I figured what the hell, no big investment there, give it a shot. And it was a bit of a bumpy start in the series but I’m completely hooked now.

Book 2 was the weakest link for me and I came really close to not continuing the series. The series is easy to obtain without cost, so I read books 3, 4, and 5, and then went back and bought them to support the author, wishing that I had been able to skip paying for book 2 because I disliked it so much. But the series really starts getting good in book 3, and 4 and 5 are solid, branching outside of the club into more real story, rounding the books out quite a bit more. They’re still smut, but they feel a lot more balanced with more interesting things going on and more real stakes than just someone’s heart. The books are very fast reads, so it isn’t a huge time investment to bust through books 1 and 2 to get to the better books if you have to read everything in order like I do.

Each book focuses on a different “Master” (a title given to only the best-of-the-best dominants in the club), but is still set in the same club with the same cast of characters allowing you to really get to know the people there. Each book introduces a new submissive, and while their experience levels actually do range which is nice, they always have to have significant guidance from the book’s main love interest. They do tend to at least provide some back, too.

• Through book 5 there doesn’t seem to be any such thing as a switch. There’s either a dominant or a submissive and that’s it. Book 6 at least mentions once that someone in the club is a switch. They exist! But no one cares about that.
• All the good dominants can “read” people and always know when a submissive they just met is hiding something, or when their arousal means they want to try something. I would like to see at least once “yeah okay that’s hot but no it’s not something I ever want to try, fantasy can just stay fantasy on that one” instead of “oh I see that arouses you so I’m going to set up a way for you to be in that situation whether you like it or not”. Too much “your body knows better than you.”
• Yeah okay they have a safeword, but they still don’t have any choice in what’s going on. Negotiations are limited and mostly non-existent in books 1 and 2. Negotiations are at least mentioned in book 3 and in 4 and 5 there’s some acceptable negotiation, although it’s still not quite how negotiations work.
• There is respect for safewords and hard limits, although the books get a little dubious about it sometimes for sake of the fantasy here and there. But a safeword, when used, is never violated.
• Healing through BDSM. Dangerous concept. I was happy to read in book 5 an actual suggestion from the dominant to the sub to get real counseling help for her problem. Of course he was going to help her work on it himself, but he also told her that she should look into help, and she actually was like “yeah I should do that” and that was really, really nice to see. More talk of counseling and whatnot past book 5 but the stakes got higher and the need more real than just a woman working on her trauma.
• The club rules bother me in relation to how all submissives are supposed to act, but it is a very expensive private club. So I guess they can set whatever rules they want. You pay to be there, you can agree to the rules; sure whatever. (I don’t call my owner “sir” I sure as hell don’t want to call random-ass dominants that. I’d be like – mark me down as a switch and leave me alone.)
• I appreciate that while the books are relatively tame, there are regular nods to more intense scenes with no judgement. And that as the series has continued they’ve gotten less tame. I’m starting to wonder how much of those nods may be series foreshadowing.
• A lot of “he wouldn’t, would he??” and of course he would. And then he does.
• Throughout the books there’s occasional but regular mention of a 70-yr-old couple in the club doing scenes and it’s always sweet to read <3
• The book shifts perspectives between characters. It was jarring in book 1, but by book 3 it’s got a much better rhythm and division.
• The characters are interesting and likeable people. For the most part. After book 1, the dominants are more flawed and well-rounded people, too. Although they still have an almost supernatural ability to tell how a submissive is feeling, even without the actual supernatural ability that Z has.
• The dominants insist on a lot of decent communication which is nice to see.
• Several of the women have been abused or raped in their past, and they all have some trauma. While it affects them all in different ways, they all are very strong competent women. This feels really solid, reflecting a grim reality in the “heroins” of the story. They all have some sort of trauma, but all each trauma is different, is being processed and reacted to differently, and feels very realistic, adding depth instead of just throwing it in for something to “fix” (although it is something that the dominants in the books want to fix, of course). They are protective of others, and several of them aren’t afraid to kick someone or throw a punch to protect someone else. And none of them are afraid to tell their dominant to stop being an idiot if he needs tending to because he got himself hurt somehow.
• The “Masters” of the stories, however, feel a tad cookie-cutter. But they are different enough, and as the books go on they gain more depth. They also have trauma that affects them in other ways. They aren’t actually all that cookie-cutter, but they are all fucking loaded (or at least very well off), muscly, smart, and intuitive, with cocks that are too damn big. They also all kind of dominate the same way, using the same or similar moves, in spite of having somewhat different interests.

Club Shadowlands Book 1

Out of the entire series, this one is the most fantasy-based. The submissive gets herself in over her head and the dominant… while not a literal mind-reader, can read emotions off people. Like… Psychically. Coupled with the fact that he’s a psychologist, he literally knows people better than they know themselves.

I guess mild spoiler warning for this review, but all of what I mention happens in like the first chapter or two, so…

Definitely be ready to set reality aside for this one. The submissive, Jessica, at the start is so cold she could have literally died and rather than getting her to a hospital or at least call her a cab, the bouncer tells her to go away. Then the club owner takes pity on her and tells her she can stay in the unheated lobby, or agree to the club rules and come on in. As the series continues the characters are smarter and more sensitive than that, so book 5 club vs book 1 club I think would have acted a little differently. But you gotta get the main woman into the bdsm club somehow.

Of course she signs the contract having not read it. However the thing that pisses me off is that she was so cold and fuzzy-headed that she couldn’t read or understand the words past like the first page. This is kind of an unacceptable state to have someone read or sign a contract in. They’re appalled later when she doesn’t know the rules because she didn’t read the contract. Like. Dude. If the rules are so fucking important you should have explained them. People don’t read. Even fully conscious competent people don’t read and she was 5 minutes away from passing out.

As much as the BDSM in the book is pretty tame, the power play in this is delicious. It may have just been because I was in sub frenzy and kind of worked up when I started the book but I was super into a lot of the scenes in the book, starting with the shower scene right at the beginning. She’s in real trouble with how cold she is and the club owner and the book’s love interest, strips her and gets her into a shower. Doesn’t do anything from there, just stands there watching, on hand to help in case she passes out right there in the shower. The whole scene just screams that he has the power and she needs to be taken care of. Which she does. She was literally turning blue. To the point that a hot shower actually probably would have done worse for her than a lukewarm one and an ambulance… but… fantasy.

After she has more of her head about her, she does a lot better in the setting. Discovers her true submissive nature. Blah blah blah.

The whole thing is smut. There are almost zero out-of-club scenes, and I think most, if not all, of it is the few pages at the start where she crashes her car to set up the book. The entire story is the love story between her and Z. Which is fine. The power play was fun. I had to set some reality aside to really get into the book, but I was interested enough in continuing.

I do really like that Jessica is an accountant. A whole person. We don’t get to see the whole person in this book, but we do see enough of her to know she’s there. She has trauma, she has layers, she’s fleshed out and has depth. I do not like that Z is so fucking perfect. Fantasy doms bother me. I like my dominants flawed and very human – it makes them an easier goal to strive for and I think the perfect fantasy dom is a toxic fantasy making the hopes and dreams of submissives everywhere too lofty and unattainable. I like my fantasy doms to feel like a real person . . . deep and flawed, too.

He does start getting more cracks around the edges in later books, but since he’s not the focus anymore it’s hard to tell how human he becomes. Mostly after this book he gets used as a narrative tool to manipulate the other (more real-feeling) dominants into figuring their shit out. Or, oh no the scary owner is on the scene and everyone respects that authority he exudes! Weird. Whatever. It does make me grin when he makes an appearance in other books, so I can’t be too upset over it.

Dark Citadel Book 2

I took a lot of issue with this book. This one is way too … romance for my taste and the characters are a little to stuck in their own heads…? Or something. Too much inner turmoil in both the characters, and the inner turmoil was kind of lame. I was at least happy to see that we didn’t have any more mind readers in the mix.

The book’s love interest moves on to another “Master” in the club and another new brand-fucking-new submissive who has no idea what she’s doing.

Oh he’s still in love with his dead wife and while he’s teaching her to be a submissive, can she teach him to love again???? GAG.

I don’t have a lot to say on this book because I really didn’t get into it. I came really close to stopping the series here because it was so lackluster for me.

But I read the preview of the next book at the end of the book and it seemed a lot more interesting so I decided to keep going.

Breaking Free Book 3

While still a little weak as a book, this is where I mark the series as getting good. It’s very healing-through-bdsm with no talk of therapy that I can remember, so I did have to completely shelve that issue for this book. (More people need to be in therapy.)

Beth was seriously seriously abused by her husband. She escaped him and still wanted to play but would never give up enough control to be satisfied. Z gets tired of seeing her unsatisfied and gives her an ultimatum – she can submit to the cruelest-looking “Master” in the club, or her membership is canceled. And if she gives up, or he gives up on her, her membership is canceled. She craves this too much to give up, plus this is the safest club in the area; going to other clubs would be too dangerous for her.

Nolan scares the hell out of all the subs, but he’s skilled and actually extremely careful with her. And I liked seeing how careful he was, and how the trust built up slowly from the scared thing she was at the start.

There are actual stakes in this book because her husband is hunting for her. This is the first book that brings in any significant outside influence and has a relevant character that isn’t in the club. The “camera” actually leaves the club and the scene-ing to follow plot instead of just the love story. It’s not a lot but it was significant enough to make this feel like a real book and not just a very long erotic story.

I think this was the first book that managed to bring tears to my eyes, too, because I had managed to get invested enough in the characters.

Beth is actually an experienced submissive, in contrast to the newbs in books 1 and 2, but broken and scared. Her experience is still kind of limited overall, but she at least has some idea of what she craves and isn’t having any real conflicts over “do I really want this.” Most of her conflict is getting over her fears, and keeping herself safe. Nolan’s conflicts seem a lot more grounded in this book.

Lean on Me Book 4

I loved this book.

Andrea is very hispanic and I’m so glad I know at least a tiny tiny amount of Spanish because I understood about 90% of what was sprinkled through her speech. (I’m half Cuban and I really should know more Spanish than I do, but my mother says I’m the “worst Cuban ever” so whatever.)

I also fucking love Cullen. I wanted to know more about him from the moment he was introduced in book 1.

Between Z in book 1 not looking for a submissive (but being open to the idea), Dan being very opposed to finding a submissive he was interested in, and Nolan also not being that interested in finding a submissive, this is another book in the chain of “oh no he’s not interested but wait his heart is telling him to go for it anyway.” I assume this is a romance trope or something.

Cullen is being forced to take Andrea onto his team of “trainees” – the best-of-the-best of the submissives in the club who want more than to just be a submissive in the club, they want to be a submissive for the club. She’s not experienced enough (but she is at least a little experienced), and she’s far too sassy. And she managed to worm her way in to this expensive club where the trainee program is free, by her best friend pulling in a favor for her. No one’s happy about it.

Andrea is submissive but is looking for a “true” dominant (yeah aren’t we all, lol). Lucky for her, they actually exist in the Shadowlands club. She gets herself in a little over her head with Cullen who is displeased with having to take her on his trainee team, and doesn’t like her sass… yet is drawn to it for some reason (lol).

IDK what it is that makes Cullen so much more attractive to me than the other dominant characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed following him in this book. The “Masters” all feel a tad cookie-cutter, but there are enough differences to make them interesting. And Andrea was a fun spitfire that made me laugh several times. I love when smut makes me laugh.

The characters felt deeper in this book than the three before. They talked about their family. The “camera” follows them outside the club again to see Andrea’s family. She felt extremely well-rounded as a character, and he had more depth than the three dominants before. This book starts adding more depth to the cast of characters, overall, as well, making the club feel a lot more like a community setting than a background or a stage.

The stakes are a little lower in this book, returning to mostly relationship-based stakes, but they felt better than book 1 and 2 since they included more than just the does-he-love-me BS.

Make Me, Sir Book 5

This book seems to set up the plot for several books to come, introducing a human trafficking organization targeting submissives. And it’s come to the Shadowlands. Oh no!

The premise is that Gabi is a Victims Specialist/counselor with the FBI and her best friend was abducted. Although she’s not an agent and has no field training, because she’s had some limited experience as a submissive and they just happen to be short a decoy, she’s able to talk her way into being a decoy submissive. But the thing is that they’re specifically targeting brats, looking for someone to break. And the Masters at the Shadowlands don’t tolerate bratting. (Dun dun dun…)

She’s feisty and very creative as a brat; I love her so much. I laughed several times in this book. This book follows Marcus. I really like Marcus. He’s got a pretty good sense of humor (no matter what Gabi thinks) and while he started out the book very uninterested in a brat, he very quickly realized she was a hell of a lot of fun and he liked the challenge. His inner turmoil revolves around the fact that she’s hiding something, not that he’s doubting himself about liking her, which is also a nice change. He wasn’t looking for a sub, but also had no real conflict when he realized he liked her. I’m so tired of the “oh but I don’t want to love her” conflict.

Gabi is a natural brat, but has to take it up a notch to ensure she gets the attention of the trafficking spotter while the dominants around her are trying repeatedly not to laugh at her antics to not break their hard facade they’ve carefully cultivated (they should let it crack more, a smiling dominant is just as scary as a hard-looking one… possibly more-so). And of course she must be punished because this sort of behavior just isn’t tolerated.

She’s broken from past trauma, but in a limited (but fairly serious) way. This is the book where the dominant figures out her problem and sits her down like ‘honey you need counseling’, and she’s like, ‘yeah I’ve had some but I didn’t realize this was as much of a problem as it is and yeah I think I’ll look into counseling’. Like. Holy shit. I never see that in books like this and it was extremely refreshing. That’s the sort of talk that I have raged about wanting to see in media for so long. Not just smut books, but like, everywhere. It’s a very small part of the book but it mattered so much to me.

The stakes in this book feel very real and very high. We get another action scene that has enough time dedicated to it that it feels dangerous and high-risk for the characters. There’s a lot more time spent outside of the club, and we get to see some of both of their families.

The book felt very well rounded and solid. Looking forward to reading the next one!

To Command and Collar Book 6

Raoul’s book. I’ve been getting really curious about him from what I’ve seen of him in the other books. This also revolves around a character we’ve seen at least mentioned in a previous book – Kim. The woman that Gabi went through all of book 5 to try to find. Raoul is helping with the FBI investigation and actually happens across Kim, with Z’s money he buys her. But Kim can’t just go home, the danger isn’t over.

The stakes feel dangerous in this book, keeping a constant edge on what’s going on. It’s a longer book and feels really solid. Kim has some very genuine and immediate trauma having been kept as a slave for … what was it, 7 weeks? An eternity. And now she has to, consensually, keep the act up. Except it’s not entirely an act, now is it? The conflict in the characters are definitely the usual tropes of – “do I want this? I don’t know;” and “does she want this? She shouldn’t… I shouldn’t.” Except the plot makes it feel a lot more legitimate. Like, no really, she was just kept as a slave for a significant period of time and was seriously abused and she’s kinda messed up right now, and he knows it and doesn’t want to push her into anything that might prevent healing or make anything worse.

But she’s going to do what she has to do to not only keep herself safe, but throw herself into something she’s scared of for the sake of the other women who are still stuck in the human trafficking ring.

And she’s getting regular therapy throughout the book, not just a magic dominant who makes her feel better… although he does do that, he’s doing it with help of her actual therapist and her best friend Gabi – a professional counselor for victims like her. Although the therapy stuff is glossed over, it’s there and it makes the whole situation and her progress feel a lot more grounded.

We also get to see a little bit of Sam and an obvious set-up for the next book with him. I know who the next dom is! Even if I hadn’t already read the synopsis of the next book, lol.

I had a hell of time putting this one down.

Buying books 7 and 8 before I even completely finished #6…
This author is too good at dropping interesting characters into the narrative that I desperately want to know more about.