Karissa Knight's "The Client" is a sizzling tale of forbidden attraction and suspense. Knight's well-drawn characters and a plot filled with twists make for an engaging read that's sure to captivate those who enjoy steamy romantic suspense.

Very suspenseful and action packed romance which pulled you into its dark web. Loved the characters and great plot line.

A hot and suspenseful read. Mina and Jonathan are a story of professional to personal, instant wicked heat, with the suspense of danger. This was outside of my usual rom-com genre and I really liked the added elements of danger that were in this book. I definitely want to read the next one in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

The pacing within this book felt off to me. Some parts were too quick and I wanted them to last longer, however other bits were to slow and dragged out for my liking.
I did enjoy this book and would recommend to anyone looking for an easy light read.

I was torn on what to rate this book as I enjoyed parts but then it seemed really slow as times to the point that I wasn't going to finish it. I did enjoy Mina though.

Not my usual type of thriller but I loved this one. I was browsing for something slightly different when I saw the client on NetGalley so I thought I’d give it a go and I’m glade I did.

Mina is a high profile criminal defender lawyer. She is currently at the top of her game and is very good at getting criminals off, however this weights heavily on her conscience. One evening she received a call on her personal mobile from a high profile CEO Jonathan Thomas Heun who needs a criminal defender lawyer having become a person of interest when his PA is goes missing and later turns up dead.

There is natural chemistry between Mina and her new client however she doesn’t mix business with pleasure and makes this crystal clear from the start, but there is something about Jonathan that Mina just can’t resist and this incredible thriller has a rather romantic twist which I liked.

I really enjoyed this book, just about every page had twists and turns and that really excites me. It was also nice to read something really original. Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review!

3.5/5 stars

My initial thoughts reading this book is that it was somewhat slow in the beginning. As the book neared its climax it picked up but prior to that it was a slow read.

The book is about a high profile lawyer, named Wilhelmina Green (Mina as referred to by Johnathan), who defends high profile clients in criminal cases. One day a case arises and the infamous Jonathon Thomas Heun calls her to represent him as his lawyer. He is a suspect in a murder investigation of his former assistant. Throughout the book Mina starts to fall for Johnathan but she doesn't completely know if he is in fact innocent of the crime, since so much evidence points at him.

The book portrays an introduction into BDSM, a romance that is very much based on Johnathan being the dominant and Mina being the submissive between the two. While the writing of the sex scenes is juicy and leaves you wanting to read more, the actual part where the characters feelings are involved is lacking. I couldn't correlate their feelings to be ones of love or affection, it just felt like all they did when they were together was talk about the murder investigation or have sex with no talks of emotion before or after. I couldn't really see the characters fall in love.

However, the thriller and mystery part of the book was much more interesting. I felt as if I was always guessing to find out who the killer was and how it was all tied together. Every time I felt like it couldn't be Johnathan, something pointed in his direction.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The story follows a criminal attorney, Mina, with a somewhat difficult past. As she tries her best to move forward and become the best at her job, she is requested by Jonathan personally to prove his innocence in a murder case. As the story unfolds, Jonathan is a mystery and let's just say, he fitt he bill for hot, possessive, billionaire! Mina was a very independent female lead and you could tell she was looking for someone to love. Their relationship was absolutely fire! I enjoyed their relationship and seeing how they went from professional to not ao professional. I very much enjoyed this story and do recommend it to others!

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and opinion. The character build up was really good but so many stories where happening at the same time. The author could not commit to a specific line to take her book. It was not a pleasurable read for me.

As a defence attorney Wilhelmina has represented some characters. This is a quick-paced story which works well. Acting in her job as a defence lawyer she was hired to be the Ceo in a case about who assistant who they say the murdererer is This attraction shesheis intense and she intends to explore it.

Good book, detailed. Fledgling author that has potential to be great. No typos, hea, strong character development. Alpha could have been more, but absolutely good read. Will read other books for sure as she grows.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me this eArc to review.

Sadly, I did not like the heroine of this book and gave up fairly early on. The premise sounded interesting but it wasn't enough to keep me reading.

B O O K R E V I E W

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Wilhelmina is a well known lawyer who's past decisions hunt her daily. Her guilt for freeing guilty people from the consequences of their crime will always follow her. When CEO Jonathon Thomas Heun requests her personally to be his lawyer in the new murder case against his assistant, she doesn't want to be hated by the public anymore but when more women who are connected to Jonathon go missing she starts to question if her client is what he seems.

This book was definitely a full on rollercoaster with all the crimes happening and all the new suspects. I wouldn't usually read a book like this since it is VERY spicy. This book is dark romance so there is no fluff whatsoever. I did like that Mina felt guilty for representing all those criminals who are now free and roaming the streets again. I had a bit of a love- hate relationship with Jonathon. I didn't know if he actually loved her or not. He felt a bit controlling to me with the contract and everything but that could just be me? That little plot twist near the end SHOOK me. I felt like the whole BDSM part of their relationship was not really needed since from my view Mina just needed someone's love. I felt like there were a lot of extra scenes and this book almost put me in a slump since it took e 9 days to read and I usually am able to read a book in 3-5 days.

In conclusion, this was a good book. If you like dark romances with spice this book is definitely for you.

A book of two halves for me. The first half was good character building and story progression. I thought the initial idea of the story was fantastic. The second half seemed rushed, unedited and fell short for me.

I cant say I won't read the next book in the series, but I certainly won't rush to read it

This book draws you in from the get go. It is a romantic book with thrilling events and even the ever going wonder if who done it. The writing style is unique and flows smoothly.. brand new author for me and I can't wait to continue the series.

Wow I went into it expecting a romance story and got so much more. It transports you into another land where you can forget your real life worries.

I loved the actual story in this book: the murder mystery, the romance, the did he didn’t he, the mode of escapism used, the tie backs to Dracula. Jonathan was mysterious and hot and everything you could want in a dominant, billionaire love interest. Wil/Mina was interesting and complex and powerful- a spectacularly independent and strong heroine. She was able to defend herself and hold her own when shit really hit the fan. I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship and getting to know Mina in her professional role.
What I didn’t love though was some of the intimate scenes; they just seemed so disjointed in some parts and the wording and vocabulary choices were just off to me and completely took me out of the scenes. There were some good scenes that I really did enjoy, but the ones I couldn’t seem to bite 😏 into were the reason I decided to rate this 3 stars.

The push and pull between these two is agonizingly delicious. The writing style is captivating and keeps you craving more. A beautiful romantic novel.

**Disclaimer: I received a free advanced readers copy of Elements of Submission by Karissa Knight through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

Elements of Submission by Karissa Knight is a dark romance with mystery elements.  It follows an infamous criminal defense lawyer named Mina as she takes on a new client and gets sucked up into a greater mystery, while also being incredibly drawn to her new client.  It was published on June 21st, 2022.  I rated it 2 stars on Goodreads.


Here's the summary from Goodreads:

When a powerful young billionaire hires Chicago’s hottest legal star, she must decide whether he’s a killer or the man to unlock her most private fantasies.
Wilhelmina Green is the lawyer of choice for sexual predators and murderers. Her latest victory, the acquittal of a U.S. senator, has made Mina a media sensation. Escaping the attention, she secretly takes her next tombstoning dive into Australian waters. The risk of a solo jump at dawn serves as her punishment and atonement for releasing guilty men into the world.
CEO Jonathon Thomas Heun, suspected of a brutal murder, hires Mina to represent him. His seductive world of wealth and power soon draws her in as they work to uncover evidence of Jonathon's innocence. Mina senses he's keeping part of himself closed off from the world. And from her.
Dark fantasies of fear, pain and passion haunt Mina's dreams and leave her breathless. No man has ever seemed capable of having her—possessing her—in this way. Until Jonathon.
Is he a killer? Or the one she's been waiting for?
Elements of Submission is the first book in the Elements of Power series and follows Mina's dark journey into sexual submission, as Jonathon's past catches up with him.

Sometimes a girl just needs to read a smutty book, and this was one of those times.  I don't read a lot of these types of books so I'm not sure I am the best judge of them, so I'm going to respond to it in general and give some general opinions like I would give any other book.

I liked the overall premise of this book.  The idea of a defense lawyer being so conflicted about her job made a lot of sense to me considering who it was that she was defending.  Her clients were awful horrible people and she was getting them off, so I really appreciated the inner conflict that Mina had about that.  She was a compelling narrator and I enjoyed her back and froth and her character growth.  She was on the whole quite interesting to me.

I also appreciated the chemistry between Mina and Jonathon.  They had an interesting dynamic even though it was definitely kind of unethical since he was her client.  But I enjoyed how she felt drawn to him almost from their first meeting.  He was an interesting enough character but I would have liked for him to be a bit more developed.

I liked the mystery aspects of the story as well as they were trying to figure out what was going on.  It kept me guessing.

A big glaring thing that stood out to me as I read through the story was there were details that felt like they contradicted themselves to me.  There were moments when something would be said, then later they would contradict it by saying Mina didn't already know when I was pretty sure they had just gone over that.  I found that really annoying as I read through because it seemed like it a bit more was needed to be put into the editing process or something.

Overall, even though I gave it a low rating, I would still recommend this book.  I had a decent time reading it, and I think most readers of this type of book would have been able to find enjoyment in it.  So I would definitely suggest checking it out if you're intrigued by the plot.

This was an interesting read, but I felt like the main character had 2 personalities - Wil and Mina. I believe the author intended to show her multifaceted personality, but the 2 sides of her never really meshed. I felt like I was reading 2 books in one - both were well written and I enjoyed them, but the mending of the two felt forced and unrealistic. It was still a good read and I'm glad to have read it!