Giving In

Author Essay

Dear Reader,

BDSM. Some of you may already be familiar with the term. For those of you who aren’t, BDSM stands for the practice of Bondage and Discipline, Domination and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism in interpersonal relationships. Sounds pretty extreme, doesn’t it? And a lot of it definitely is, by the consent of the practitioners. But there’s a whole emotional underpinning to some BDSM that doesn’t always get expressed in novels that feature it—the reason that some characters are interested in it in the first place.

So it isn’t just about the sex then, you ask? For some people, it absolutely is about the sex. But for others, it’s about control—having it, using it, giving it up. And for some people, physical control is less important the emotional control. It’s the idea of a pure emotional domination and submission that is at the heart of GIVING IN, the second novel of the Surrender trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks. Maya Banks explores this aspect of domination and submission in a bold new way, with characters who leap off the page and into your hearts. Kylie is a survivor for whom emotional submission is more meaningful—and in some ways, more difficult—than physical submission, and for Jensen, the man who wants Kylie to give him the gift of her emotional surrender, it’s the most precious thing in the world.

These two characters will break your heart as they struggle towards each other and a better understanding of what each wants and needs from the other. I hope you’ll join them on this journey.

Happy reading,

Cindy Hwang

Executive Editor

Berkley Books