The final two books in the Harris Brothers series by Amy Daws are here, and I’m not emotionally ready to say goodbye!

Wow. I’m not sure how I’m going to write any sort of review that’s good enough to describe the Gareth Harris duet after Amy Daws has left me an emotional mess. But I’m going to try.

For starters, I’ll lay it out that Surrender and Dominate are hands down my favorite novels in this series. They both really stand out from the rest of the Harris Brothers novels in a way that I can tell Amy Daws was stepping out of her element to give her readers something new and something a bit more elevated.

For anyone who’s read a novel by Amy Daws before, they know she’s hilarious and it’s easy for her to step into the comedy role with her books. They’re usually pretty fun, easy to read, and for the most part lighthearted.

Surrender and Dominate aren’t anything like that — which explains why it took so much longer for these books to come out. Gareth’s story is much more gritty, twisty, and emotional, but still very much sexy (I’ll talk more about the sexy part in a bit).

As the oldest child of the Harris clan, Gareth is old enough to remember much of what happened in his family around the time that his mother got sick and died. And subsequently spent much of the rest of his childhood and adulthood acting as the leader of the family — because their father had mentally checked out so much.

This has left Gareth much more broody than his brothers, who barely remember that time. He’s also way more selective about who he keeps company with — including women. Add into the mix that he has sensory issues, specifically involving touch, and it just creates another wall in which to keep people at arm’s distance.

But that doesn’t mean Gareth isn’t interested in people; in fact he’s spent quite some time internally obsessing about his stylist Sloan. Ever since they first met, and she knew just how to touch him without sending his sensory issues haywire, Gareth was done for. Sloan, however, was already married so Gareth never crossed any type of boundaries with her.

Two years later though Sloan and her husband split up, and Gareth is right there to pick up the pieces. Gareth and Sloan find just what they need from each other, but it’s in no way an easy love story for either of them. Neither of them is initially ready for their relationship to be anything other than physical, and both of them carry a considerable amount of baggage.

Not to mention Sloan decides to keep much of her home life private, including the fact that she has a young daughter with her ex.

Okay, let’s talk about those sexy times now because they’re a big part of the first part of the duet Surrender. I don’t want to talk too much about this because it’s a big spoiler, but I will say that what goes on between Sloan and Gareth is nothing like what readers see in the previous novels of this series. That emotional baggage that Sloan and Gareth are dealing with have a big effect on what goes on between these two in the bedroom. It’s different from anything I’ve read before. It’s electric, tantalizing, sexy, and deep all at the same time.

Sloan and Gareth set a very strict arrangement for their sexual relationship and it’s a struggle for either one of them to admit that their feelings are starting to grow deeper. There’s a lot that plays out between them in the first novel and readers are left with an insane cliff hanger at the end of it. Luckily, book two released early and is already out now, so you can read the full duet without suffering for a few days like I did!

I can’t say too much about the second book in the duet without giving away what happens in the first book. However, I will say that while Dominate retains the emotional/gritty feel of Surrender, Sloan and Gareth work on their relationship becoming something more than what it was before. Part of this has to do with the cliff hanger bringing them closer, and part of it is just that they were at that point in their relationship already but too scared to make the jump.

With their relationship evolving, this brings on differences to their relationship, but they’re no less emotional. If anything, the heavy emotional work comes into play in this novel. Because now they have to open up to one another, which opens themselves up to hurt along the way. Not only are they dealing with changes in their relationship, but they both have changes going on within their families. In some ways this threatens to tear them apart and in other ways it also brings them closer together.

Basically, it’s a lot. So prepare yourself with some tissues nearby.

A great thing that Amy Daws is able to do in this duet is work in a lot of Harris family time. Since readers aren’t just saying goodbye to Gareth, but the whole gang, I think this is particularly satisfying. There are lots of sweet moments between the siblings, but also a lot of drama that’s brought up with their father trying to make amends — as well as the surprises that come along with Booker and Poppy expecting their first child.

It all makes you want to hug this family tight and never let them go. You almost wish that a long lost brother would pop up in the end so the series can go on. Alas, that does not happen. Even though it is sad to know that this series has peaked just to end, Amy Daws truly did an exceptional job on this story and I know we can expect more great things to come from her.

Surrender and Dominate by Amy Daws are available now on Amazon! Read Surrender on Kindle or Paperback, then head over to read Dominate on Kindle. And don’t forget to add them on Goodreads!