Kari Wagner is curious about the BDSM lifestyle so she visits Club Shadowlands for beginner’s classes in BDSM with her boyfriend, Buck. Going in with an open mind, as Kari learns about the rules and regulations of the club, she balks at Buck’s rough treatment of her and tells him she’s having second thoughts. This inflames Buck, but he quickly backs off, sensing that the club’s owner, Master Z and another Master, Dan, will abide by Kari’s wishes. Seeing the wide-eyed look upon Kari’s face, Master Dan offers to be Kari’s master for the evening.  Will she take Master Dan up on his offer to show her pleasures of the flesh?  

I wondered how Cherise Sinclair would continue her Masters of the Shadowlands series because I found her first story, Club Shadowlands, so delightful.  Master Dan was introduced in the previous story and I couldn’t help but fall in love with this tortured soul. Still mourning the loss of his wife believing he’s directly responsible for her death, Master Dan never chooses a submissive for more than one evening.  Sensing something within Kari which speaks to him, he offers to tutor her for the evening. Kari’s never explored BDSM but feels comfortable with this dominant. Both are surprised when Kari willingly returns to the club and once again the two pair up. While the time period depicted in Dark Citadel is short, Ms. Sinclair puts a lot of steamy BDSM action which kept me furiously flipping the pages of this installment in her series. Master Dan instinctively knows which buttons to push with his new submissive and in a truly diabolical plot twist within the capture gardens, both come to realize that there’s something more than just playful D/s between the two of them. Cherise Sinclair is an author to watch in the BDSM genre, gifting us with complex characters and sizzling scenes, making readers like me begging for more!