Surrender

November 24, 2014
The Devil’s Den contemporary series launch brings spectacularly hot chemistry to a cast of unsympathetic characters with nobody to cheer for. Robyn Gonzalez is a virginal sweetheart fleeing her abusive family. She needs to pay for college, so she becomes a stripper at a sleazy club in Corpus Christie, Tex. After she encounters a Mexican drug dealer who’s a walking cliché, her common sense and dignity vanish, and she runs into the arms of Garrick Dempsey, the club’s possessive, manipulative bouncer. As Robyn feebly protests that she wants to maintain her independence, Garrick issues edicts about what kinds of work Robyn can do, lays out rules and boundaries, and educates her on why women need men to protect them. Texan readers who pick this up for the setting may be dismayed to see it used to excuse an abundance of misogyny and sexual violence. Only the frequent, genuinely hot sex scenes provide any redemption for an unpleasant story. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.