I have loved the Submissive Series. Abby and Nathaniel story is one that I have loved to follow. Jeff and Dena have been introduced in a previous book and are part of the Delaware BSDM group that Wests have demo'd for. Although other characters, Julie and Daniel, also pay a visit in the book, Ms. Me focuses on Jeff and Dena's story. There is a bit of intrigue as Dena is being stalked. She hires Jeff, her ex Dom, to help find the stalker. There are still sparks between the ex Dom and Submissive, but can they ignore the pull between them. Can they over come the past to stop hurting one another to maybe finally be together?

Unlike Abby and Nathaniel, I couldn't seem to connect with Dena and Jeff. Tara Sue Me unravels their past through flashbacks between the two characters to better understand how they came undone in the first place. Although as a woman, Dena's reasoning for leaving is understandable. As perhaps one of the characters reveals, they needed to be apart in order to come together stronger. It just seemed that the constant distancing was wearing on my reading experience. The stalker plot was a bit too easy to figure out.

If you love the Submissive Series, you may wish to pick up this book to complete the story. If you haven't read the Submissive Series, I do recommend you read Abby and Nathaniel's story; this one could be left out. ( )

4.5 "2nd Chance to Submit" Stars for the story and 4 stars for the narration!

Lovers of BDSM titles will not want to miss the Submissive Series. Reminding me of one of my favorite BDSM Series, The Club Sin Series by Stacey Kennedy, The Collar had me enraptured from the very beginning. From its attention on the push and pull between the main couple--who although perfect in the bedroom, come from polar opposite upbringings--to its detailing of the numerous friendships that have been built from their shared interests in dom/sub play at a local club, I loved all aspects of this listen. Furthermore, the talented narration by Angelica Lee also makes this a perfect choice for a hot and steamy listen.

For those of you who are wondering if this titled can be enjoyed as a standalone, the answer is yes it can! In fact, this is the only book that I have listened to in this series (though I now plan to remedy that soon)! In that regard, I will note that although listening to this series in order is essential to a complete understanding of all of the secondary characters in this novel, Dena's and Jeff's love story is fully contained within The Collar.

Seeking relief from her otherwise overly controlled life, Dena Jenkins, the daughter of an influential politician who is short-listed for the vice presidency, and a powerhouse lawyer in her own right, decides to try her hand at relinquishing control at a BDSM club. There she meets Jeff, a blue collar raised dominant, who after earning his GED became a personal investigator. Irrespective of their differences outside the playroom, Dena soon finds herself calling Jeff "master" as his collared submissive. However, when a personal tragedy and family pressures culminate in the termination of their relationship, both remain involved in the BDSM club and occasionally even play in training sessions together, but they otherwise keep their distance. Living in this limbo has its own pressures and after several years, Jeff finally decides that before they can both fully move on, he will create some distance between them by moving out of the area, for at least a short while.

When a personal threat, however, arises, Jeff puts his moving plans on hold in order to fulfill Dena's wish that he personally investigate the threat. Soon they are forced to reevaluate their past decisions as their mutual chemistry once again becomes undeniable. But can they get over the past hurdles that caused their relationship to end prematurely? Moreover, will Jeff be able to pinpoint the cause of the threats against Dena before its too late?

The narration of The Collar is provided mostly by Angelica Lee with a small cameo appearance at the end by John Michael Morgan (which basically seems like an introduction to the next Submissive title). Given the brevity of Mr. Morgan's appearance, I will limit the review of the performance to Ms. Lee's role.

Ms. Lee excels in a number of the factors that I look for in a good audiobook production. In that regard both her male and female voices sound authentic and are easily distinguishable from one another, making the reliance on dialogue tags unnecessary and allowing you to sit back and enjoy the story. Additionally, Ms. Lee also did a great job at producing slightly different intonations for each of one of the large cast members of the same gender, thereby also allowing you to know who was speaking just by listening.

Ms. Lee also does a relatively good job at conveying the particular mood of the scene just by her inflection and delivery. For example, you could feel the heightened suspense in the scenes where Dena and Jeff are dealing with the potential threat against Dena. Perhaps the one area where I did feel that the delivery may have been slightly dramatic--although arguably any BDSM scene is naturally heated--was in the passionate scenes. Nonetheless, I still found the narration in general to be enjoyable and to add to the story as a whole.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed both the extremely erotic, hot BDSM scenes, as well as, the personal struggles and suspense element of this listen. Now, I can't wait to listen to more of The Submissive Series!

Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ( )