Children's author Erika Walsh has always been a bit of a homebody. She is uncomfortable in large crowds and is prone to panic attacks. She's lived a rather sheltered life surrounded by her father and a few friends. Included in Erika's small social circle is her best friend's brother, and her father's successor, Christopher Milton, whom Erika has always had a bit of a crush on. At an awards ceremony honoring her father, Erika meets Max. Her attraction to this stranger is instant, and all her feelings for Christopher seems to vanish.

M. L. Crawford, or Max, is the owner of a rival publishing company and is known to be rather ruthless in the way he does business. He is a private man and prefers to stay out of the public view. His evenings are spent at his secondary business, The Gate. A club where others like Max come to live out their BDSM sexual preferences and desires. When Max sees Erika on stage with her father, at the awards ceremony, he feels like he has been punched in the gut. Wasting no time, he locates her at the bar and the pair begin an easy conversation. However, all to soon he is interrupted by a man he has some history with, Christopher Milton.

Erika cannot get Max out of her head. She doesn't see the man that everyone around her describes. When chance brings them together again, Max slips her his number and leaves it up to her to contact him. She has never met a man she responds too as she does Max, so she calls him.

The more time Max spends with Erika, the more he is beginning to think that he has found the one. Erika is accepting of his sexual preferences and acceptable to trying new things. She takes everything he dishes out and opens herself up without question. The more they're together the more Max's feelings for Erika deepen, and he doesn't want to let her go.

When Erika's dad dies and Chris steps up to convince her that Max is just out to use her, Erika's mind is sent into a tailspin. After years of not showing any interest in her, why is Chris now declaring that he loves her? Why is Chris dumping a folder into her lap of women Max has been with? Nothing Chris tells her about Max matches up perfectly to the man she knows, but the seed of doubt is creeping in.

I really enjoyed THE GATE. The ending abruptly drops off and leaves the reader scrambling for the next book in the Dark Path series. THE GATE is well written, and the characters hold a bit of variety. At first, I was a bit annoyed that Erika chooses Max over Chris, since Max is portrayed as the "bad guy." The more I read the more it is revealed that perhaps he isn't as bad as his reputation implies. Since this is the first of the Dark Path series, it seems to me it is also setting the stage for more. THE GATE is the first book I have had the opportunity of reading by K. T. Grant, and the Dark Path is a series I will certainly keep up with.

Book Summary

A chance encounter between a successful author and a billionaire owner of an underground BDSM club, leads to the most pivotal relationship of their lives...

Erika Walsh has carried a torch for Christopher Milton, heir to her father's publishing empire for years. After one steamy make out session she begins to wonder if it might develop into something more. But when M.L. Crawford, better known as Max, her father's publishing rival, seeks her out at a society event, she's drawn to his magnetic charisma and powerful demeanor. Their verbal bantering and innuendo laced overtones stir feelings she never knew existed, and soon Erika is consumed with knowing the real man under Max's restrained public façade.

Erika's sweet nature and naivety excites Max to near madness. He wants to train her in the art of seduction and make her succumb to his every wish and command...as his perfect submissive. Yet, Christopher is determined to keep Erika from becoming the latest victim of Max's sinister sexual hungers. He knows all too well what Max hides in his black soul and will stop at nothing to reveal all of Max's secrets in order to protect the one thing he holds dear above all else - Erika.

Max's dark desires scare yet arouse Erika, as he opens her eyes to a new bold world full of passion and ecstasy she never imagined until him. But the biggest question remains: Is Erika's craving for Max just an illusion that transpires behind the walls of The Gate?