Say My Name: A Stark Novel

4.5 stars--SAY MY NAME is the first installment in J. Kenner’s adult contemporary Stark International Series focusing on billionaire architect Jackson Steele, and professional assistant Sylvia Brooks. Stark International Trilogy is a cross over series from Kenner’s original Stark series. Sylvia Brooks is Damien Stark’s PA; we were first introduced to Jackson Steele in the Stark Trilogy novella-PLAY MY GAME. You will not have to have read the original Stark series to understand or follow the Stark International trilogy. Many of the characters including Damien and Nikki Stark cross over between the series, but any important information from the Stark series is revealed where necessary. Told from Sylvia’s first person point of view, the storyline trope follows a second chance at love for two people, who five years earlier, spent two glorious nights together before nightmares from the past forced Sylvia to push Jackson away. Jackson has never forgotten or forgiven Sylvia for the humiliation and pain she caused his fragile male ego, and now that he and Sylvia would be working together with Damien Stark, Jackson is bent on revenge, retribution and payback. What begins as Jackson attempts at avenging Sylvia’s blatant dismissal of their connection, spirals out of control when Sylvia finally acknowledges the truth about what happened five years before. The connection between our couple has already been established. Their attraction to one another has never waivered and working together on Damien Stark’s latest project will place our couple in constant contact. Stark International has contracted to develop a resort on Cortez Island but the architect and investor is MIA. As project manager, Sylvia approaches well- to- do businessman and her former lover Jackson Steele in the hopes of pushing the development forward knowing their history together will make for a volatile working environment. As the sexual attraction builds, Jackson and Sylvia give into the desire only to find themselves at odds when Damien’s past comes barreling in. Sylvia has bared her heart and soul to a man whose own secrets he keeps buried in the past. The $ex scenes are intimate, intense and passionate. There is some slight discipline and bondage play between Jackson and Sylvia that, honestly, felt out of place in the overall storyline premise. The sexual language is graphic and bold. SAY MY NAME is an intense and dramatic introduction to J. Kenner’s Stark International Trilogy. There are many similarities between Kenner’s Stark Series leading couples including a history of abuse and harm, obsessions, sexual needs and desires, and colorful family histories. All of Kenner’s characters are engaging, charismatic, rich and beautiful. There are moments of heartbreak and betrayal; love and hate; forgiveness and love. There is no cliff hanger but a definite ‘more to come’ with Jackson’s revelations about his past.