NEED by Sherri Hayes

You have by now figured out, I am a huge fan of the Finding Anna series. The second book in this series is Need. Please make sure you have read Slave before reading Need, if not you will be totally lost and this book will seem long-winded with no real meaning. With that said, I want to address the pace of the book. In this portion of the story of Stephan and Brianna, you will be taken into the real pace of recovery. Yes it is a work of fiction, but I don’t see how you could really connect and empathize and feel the emotions if she would have just jumped over this part of their journey. The author isn’t trying to just tell you a story, she is trying make you part of the story. To do that you have to go along each step of the journey with Stephan and Brianna, even the slow painful steps.

Now that Stephan has realized he doesn’t just want to save this woman, but that he loves Brianna deeply, he is faced with the chance that she will leave. He finally told her that she was free to go. He also offered her the chance to stay with him and continue her healing process. If she stays, he will have to continue this balance he is walking on a thin line of normal relationship and the abuse she endured. How can he show her that in BDSM relationships she will have the power and control she needs, that same power and control that was taken from her months ago? While this is going on in his life he is still struggling to find a way to heal Brianna from her past abuse and protect her from the unknown danger that is still out there. He has to balance his own needs of dominance while going at it in a way to keep Brianna connected to him and not her past.

This isn’t easy since his needs parallel the abuse she endured. How does he show her she can trust him to love her and not hurt her when he wants to do the same things to her that she was sold for in the past? Of course others have their solutions of how to best heal Brianna but it is the love Stephan has for her now that keeps him from giving up and giving in to others ideas. He knows that only Brianna can heal herself, she has to believe he loves her and doesn’t want to use her. He knows he wants to be a huge part of that recovery but he also knows he can insist his needs be met and destroy what they are trying to build together.

Brianna wants to trust the love for Stephan she is beginning to feel. She wants to be what he needs but it is to close to what she has endured in her abuse and she is struggling to find the thin line between sexual desires between two people who love each other and being sold to the highest bidder as a sex slave. How can she feel real love and trust when she is being triggered by her past? Does she even know what love is? Has she forgotten how it feels to be loved and cherished? Does she even have it in her heart to trust another person when trust has always left her alone and abused? She does have a friend now whom she can talk to about her fears and questions. Brianna is trying to find the trust that is needed before she can open up about her concerns. She is faced with the hardest battle in life, do you trust what your soul is telling you to do, or do you give into the fears for self-preservation? No matter what she decides, trusting someone will be a huge hurdle she is going to have to jump over before these two can make a life together. Just as she seems to be willing to make that jump to a real relationship with Stephan, one of the main threats to her life shows up at her door, literally.

Once again the expert of cliff hangers, Sherri left us at the end of Need wondering who was at the door. Was this threat going to tear Brianna away from Stephan, or was this going to be just the trigger she needed to put what Stephan as taught her into action and help her rise from being a victim into a survivor? Brianna is in need of many answers as to why she was sold and who was behind that. Will the visitor at the door be the source of those answers?

I stated before Need wasn’t full of drama and fast pace action, BUT I highly doubt the author would have left us wanting more if Brianna had been the same victim as she appeared in the first book when she open the door to danger. We were allowed to see that slow growth and had the opportunity to see that Stephan did understand what she needed. I think seeing the love grow slowly between Stephan and Brianna in this book allows us to be more invested in the final outcome of this couple. Seeing how she has taken some power back in her life leaves us with many more questions about the next book. Will she fight back now, will she save herself from future danger? Seriously ask yourself would you even care when the next book comes out if you hadn’t been carried through her recovery at this pace? The way Need was written doesn’t allow you to stop caring about those two characters. You become invested in not only her recovery but in what those two might be able to accomplish given the odds in front of them. You are going to see the pain, doubt and the strength of two young people as they struggle to reclaim their individual lives while merging together to make a life as a couple.

Don’t read this if you are looking for a quick fix, this author doesn’t give that to you. She makes you sit and feel the emotions and leaves you with wanting more. I hope you end up trying to find answers to questions you never though existed till you realize what victims of abuse go through and what heroes are willing to give up in order to love and help heal those victims.

The third book in this series is coming out soon. I am anxiously waiting for the release of Truth. Once again I hope that readers will take each of these books and put their own judgments aside and absorb what the author is trying to say. Realize that human trafficking does exist and just setting the victim free isn’t the answer. It is only the beginning of a long journey for each survivor.