MASTER’S MISTRESS (The Angel Eyes #1) by Jamie Schulz

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 1, 2020

A man bound by chains. A woman burdened by regret. Will love set this tortured pair free?

In this nightmarish future where women own men, Bret Masters refuses to serve anyone. But after spending years evading slavers in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, he’s furious when he’s finally caught and sold. So, although his mistress has a pretty face and deliciously tempting curves, he vows to escape.

Angel Aldridge hides her pain behind fences as sturdy and vast as her ranch. And even though her newly acquired slave is a ruggedly handsome cowboy, she’s not about to let her fantasies endanger the people she swore to protect. But between her always-watching enemies and her wounded heart, she’s reluctant to admit she may need him in more ways than one…

As the two toil side by side, Bret is surprised to discover Angel’s vulnerability and her compassionate nature. And the more time they spend together, the harder she finds it to resist her feelings and to soothe her lonely soul. But when they’re stranded alone together, the barriers between mistress and slave may not be strong enough to withstand their red-hot attraction.

Can Bret and Angel overcome their fears to sow the seeds of lasting love?

Masters’ Mistress is the steamy first book in The Angel Eyes futuristic dystopian cowboy romance series. If you like complex characters, gritty western settings, and slow-burning desires, then you’ll adore this enthralling story.

This is a planned six-book continuing series with cliffhangers and comes with trigger warnings for sexual situations and violence.

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REVIEW: MASTER’S MISTRESS is the first full-length (and second instalment) in Jamie Schulz’ adult, post-apocalyptic ANGEL EYES dystopian series. This is ranch owner Angel Aldridge, and Bret Masters’ story line. MASTER’S MISTRESS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one JAKE’S REDEMPTION for back story and cohesion.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be some triggers for more sensitive readers.

SOME BACKGROUND: Several years earlier a catastrophic war destroyed cities and towns throughout the world, and ‘changed the social order’ between men and women. In the ensuing aftermath, a second civil war between the sexes in America resulted in women becoming the dominant and controlling sex, while men were reduced to slaves to be used and abused.

Told from several third person perspectives including Bret and Angel MASTER’S MISTRESS follows the building but acrimonious relationship between ranch owner Angel Aldridge, and Bret Masters. Angel Aldridge doesn’t believe in the workings of the new matriarchal misogynistic system wherein men are nothing more than slaves to be used and abused. At a recent ‘auction’ of slaves and breeders, Jake Nichols (Jake’s Redemption .5) begs Angel Aldridge to buy his best friend Bret Masters, a man he hasn’t scene for close to five years. Angel knowing a desperate man when she sees one purchases Bret Master, only to discover Bret’s physical and emotional frailty is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg for a man who has suffered in his recent imprisonment, and in the past. As Bret’s strength and health begin to return his attitude towards Angel becomes combative and strong. What ensues is the back and forth, up and down, caustic relationship between Bret and Angel, as they navigate a world where Angel is the master and owner of a man who is beyond angry that he is still considered, by outsiders, a breeder and a slave.

In the new world order, Bret Masters is nothing more than a breeder and a slave. Wanted for his handsome looks and knowledge of running a ranch, Bret finds himself a hot commodity on the open market, a commodity that comes with demons from the past. Living and working at Angel Aldridge’s ranch does nothing but add to Bret’s already darkened view of his current situation, a situation he believes to be nothing more that a smoke-screen for slavery and more. Unable to see that his ‘imprisonment’ keeps him safe and alive, Bret refuses to consider or accept the world in which he now lives. Angel Aldridge is a woman whose past continues to control her present but her attraction to Bret is constantly dampened with each encounter with our story line hero. Never one to follow the rules, Angel pushes the boundaries of the current rules and regulations that keep men under the control of dangerous women, as she protects and treats her ‘property’ like family and friends. One of the few women who do not consider her property as slaves, Angel is respected by her workers, but threatened by the women who govern the state of the new world order.

The contemptuous relationship between Bret and Angel is fraught with issues of trust, betrayal, vengeance and lies. Bret is biding his time before he makes his escape but every planned attempt finds Bret having to ‘save’ his master from outside threats. Bret’s attraction to Angel is a battle between head and heart having experienced abuse and assault at the hands of someone he once loved. The back and forth petulant, acerbic and angry interactions between Bret and Angel were a bit much; accusations and threats preceded and ended almost every encounter. The one lone $ex scene was passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Bret’s one-time best friend Jake Nichols returns, as well as Angel’s friend Monica Avery. Bret and Monica’s relationship has to be kept secret as they live in a world dominated by controlling women who frown on a loving relationship between a woman and a man. Bret is also ‘owned’ by our story line heroine.

MASTER’S MISTRESS is a heart breaking and emotional story line about a world destroyed by a spiteful few; a world wherein sins of the past control the present and the future; where a number of women are ensuring that men are no longer the dominant sex, or ever in control. The premise is entertaining and captivating; the characters are broken, angry, struggling and depressed; the romance struggles in the face of a world turned upside down. MASTER’S MISTRESS does not end with a happily ever after nor a happily ever after for now, but ends rather abruptly with more story to tell.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one JAKE’S REDEMPTION

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy