Ohmygoodnessgraciousgeezlouise THIS BOOK. GIVING IT UP is sweet and surprising and insanely sexy and super hot and loving— it is, in my opinion, a triumph. Checks a ton of my boxes—secret crushes, people finding their own power, people learning to be vulnerable, people learning to claim what they need, families who are meddling and loving, and a lady and a dude finding 'home' in each other.

Basically, Bea has had a crush on Warren forever but is convinced he wants nothing to do with her. Warren has had a crush on Bea for forever but is convinced he's not good enough for her. He does, however, know he's a tightly wound coil about to pop and phones a local Dominatrix company for said relief. Bea overhears him talking to them and balking at their price and in a moment of utter insane bravery says he should use her instead.

What follows for Bea is a serious journey of self-discovery and some delightful process-y stuff for us readers. My entire exposure to professional dominatrixes (dominatri? what is the plural? anyway...) comes from Lady Heather on the Gil Grissom seasons of CSI, and I'm a total nerd for learning new things and the insider info of professions. I'm the one who asks the Uber driver too many questions, you feel me? So I love this piece of GIVING IT UP—learning what this world is like.

I also love learning about Warren, who is carrying the weight of all worlds on his broad and capable shoulders and desperately needs someone to take care of him. While Bea starts off as his Dom—and he does need that—she finishes the story as his partner with Dom tendencies and that is exactly what he needs. Of course, our dude has some serious introspection and a few fumbles to get there, but of course he does.

Lest you think GIVING IT UP is sacchrine, holy frigging hell, the sex scenes are hot. They're exploratory and halting at times, but the sex builds along with the emotional connection (which is catnip to me), and I enjoyed every sentence. Thanks, Ms. North, this one is super fun. Highly recommended for folks who like D/s, BDSM, aren't averse to anal play, and love when the erotica is attached to an emotional arc.