was described as a "stepbrother discipline romance", but it is really a "coming of age" story for a young woman finding herself. Unfortunately, the stepbrother character is really empty.Catelyn graduated college but had to move back to her hometown due to lack of jobs and moved in with her step brother Turner, and so far the only job prospects were local grocery store (where she worked when she's 16!) or even smaller places. And in a small town there is no privacy anywhere... anything that was done immediately enters the rumor mill and is known around town. Catelyn slowly falls for her stepbrother Turner and decided to try modeling for a women run spank kink website which pays quite well, only to find that Turner is quite skilled in spanking. Catelyn found out she's actually quite turned on... And Turner is quite happy to oblige. When evil nosy cousins found her secret modeling gig and spread it all over town, Catelyn had enough and decided to fight fire with fire...
Shameless is a very fitting title as by the end, Catelyn is no longer ashamed of her desire for kink AND for her stepbrother. She'll not deal with such by hiding anymore. So she is, literally, shameless, but not in the "flaunting" way, but the empowering way. Catelyn started out is a young lady barely moving through life. One day she found her kink... and also found her stepbrother irresistible. Thus the kink and edgy label. As the book progressed and she learned more about herself and seek out what she wanted. She is nicely defined with complex needs, not only for self-worth, but also for her kinks, and they evolved nicely throughout the book. Going through life dealing with multiple extended families and both friendly and evil acquaintances and cousins is also quite interesting. There's a big catfight that was truly the highlight of the book.
My main problem with the novel is with Turner, the MMC. The mysterious big stepbrother was never fully defined, nor did he ever explain where did his taste for delivering spanks came from. It just seems awfully convenient. Later in the book he got very protective and decked another guy at a dance club which is how Catelyn found that they really... really... want to go to bed together.
All in all, due to lack of development on Turner, I can't give this book a top rating. Out of 5, I can give this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Category: Contemporary / Bad Boy
Primary Plot: Young woman found she had a hankering for spanking kink... and her stepbrother's talent of the same
NOTE: BDSM - spanking
Overall Rating: 4/5
