Sanctum by Lexi Blake is a satisfying snack of love, romance and hot, steamy sex. Sanctum is a stand-alone novella in Ms. Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries series.

Sanctum is a compelling story about how lack of communication can cause even couples in love to break up. Unfortunate circumstances forced Ryan out of his life as CEO of his own company. His feelings of failure were typical for a man; and his fear of being able to provide for his submissive forced him to make the decision to let Jill go. Jill was so focused on making her master happy and didn’t speak up for herself. When Ryan ended their contract and asked his friend to take care of Jill, she was so hurt by the perceived betrayal that she didn’t protest. Ryan and Jill went their separate ways, each hurting and unable to move on.

When fate brought them back together, neither could deny their mutual attraction or the love they felt. However, they still had so much to learn about communicating with each other. Successful BDSM relationships are built on trust and communication. In the past this is where Ryan and Jill both failed and both needed to accept their responsibility in their breakup. They also needed to learn to share their honest thoughts and feelings if they were going to have a chance to succeed.

With help from a matchmaking Ian Taggert  (always a pleasure to see Ian make an appearance), Ryan and Jill are able to finally overcome their past problems and get the HEA they desperately deserve.

The sex scenes in Sanctum are hot and steamy which I expect from Lexi Blake. The love that the couple feels toward each other just adds another layer to their lovemaking, especially as Ryan and Jill slowly reconnect and learn to be a couple again.

Even if you have not read any of the Masters and Mercernaries series (and if you haven’t, why not? You are missing out) you will still enjoy Sanctum. It gave me something to enjoy while I patiently await the next book in the series. Thank you Ms. Blake for this delicious treat.