An unexpected connection leads to surprise and decadence in LINGER by Lauren Jameson. On her last night in Las Vegas, Doctor Scarlett Malone meets Logan Brody, a rough- and-tumble cowboy with a big heart and an even bigger spirit. Where she meets him is In Vino Veritas, a wine bar and BDSM club with a rigorous training policy for their dominants. As Mistress Scarlett, she dominates Logan for one last night of kicks before her move to Montana. She never expects to see him again, but when she sees the face of the man who hired her as an intern, she is shocked to find the beautiful submissive who captured her attention so tightly. As the pair of them fight for dominance in their new relationship, Scarlett's patience will be tested and so will Logan's secret reason for refusing to let a Mistress into his heart...

LINGER is a delightful short read which doesn't demand much from the reader except an open mind and a good attention to detail. It is a pretty book with a lot of naughty romance within, in an unusual setting, but without any unfamiliar leaning. From a crowded Vegas wine bar to a big empty house in Montana, Logan and Scarlett get to know each other in the most intimate ways a person can. Their romance comes in a slow burn, but the sex between them doesn't take much of anything slow. The side characters, Luca, Bren, and Axel, don't appear much in the novel but when they do it is always to the advantage of the kinky romance, if not necessarily to the plot.

The characterization of Scarlett Malone is excellent. She is a strong woman and a Domme who is very good at what she does. She is also intelligent, earning her veterinary doctorate and showing her competence at animal care at several points throughout the book. One complaint I have about her is that we don't get to see enough of her expertise in the veterinary science or enough of her other interests outside of BDSM. I love the way Lauren Jameson has taken a character which could be very one-dimensional and made her multifaceted and fascinating without depending solely on her sexuality; however, I still would have liked to see more Scarlett Malone than Mistress Scarlett.

I have a similar feeling toward the romantic hero Logan Brody. We know three major things about him through the book; he is claustrophobic and afraid of crowds, he is a submissive, and when he is not he is an alpha-male with a gift for looking after animals. I would have liked to see more of his personality shine through. Jameson seems to have based a lot of his personality around his post-traumatic-stress-disorder rather than on a personality. He hasn't got much to work with and most of the novel is dedicated to Scarlett trying to find out information about him that we don't get until the final chapter of the novel.

The writing in LINGER is very good, though the language of the activities outside of sex does leave something to be desired. Also, there are some moments in which suspension of disbelief does not work. Though I don't have trouble believing there is one submissive cowboy in the immediate area of Montana, I find it hard to believe that there are two and that they are both open enough to know each other's preferences. Even if this is something Laura Jameson has experienced firsthand, the language she uses doesn't quite justify the coincidence.

LINGER is a delightful book with a pair of sympathetic but not overcomplicated protagonists. The BDSM scenes are very good, the relationship is very sweet and romantic without being saccharine, and the conclusion is satisfying if somewhat clichéd. I would advise anyone who was looking to be introduced into BDSM literature to take a look at LINGER and see what they can find.