For Ben by Kate Richards

 Roy Simms is about to make full partner in a big NYC law firm. HIis wife, Teri, assures him that once they reach their career goals, they can relax and enjoy life...maybe even consider starting a family. He’s not sure how much longer their marriage can survive if they don’t make time for one another. One evening of passion and spanking makes him ache for the connection they’ve almost lost.

Teri Simms doesn’t understand why Roy needs so much prodding to reach for the stars. With his education and talent, he should be senior partner long since. But he’ll get there. Her own vice presidency occurred only five years into her tenure with the financial firm, and if it takes seventeen hours a day and most of her weekends, so be it. Roy will just have to continue to be understanding.

A phone call from a stranger will change everything. This two-job-no-kids couple is a family, due to the tragic death of Teri’s sister and brother in law. They must fly immediately to Corbin’s Bend, Colorado and take charge of little Ben, almost four years old. The change of scene brings to the forefront everything good and bad about their marriage. It’s time to face some difficult truths.

If you read the blurb then you know that Roy and Teri must travel to Corbin’s Bend to take care of their nephew after Teri’s sister and brother-in-law die. As such, you won’t be surprised to learn that you will likely need to keep a tissue or two handy while reading For Ben. This was an emotional read for me and I definitely made use of a tissue several times while reading this novella.

When the story opens, the reader gets to meet Teri and it’s easy to see where her goals and priorities lies and it’s not family. Teri is career-driven and money-oriented, and this makes her come off as rather cold in the beginning of the book. Her husband Roy has done well for himself at the law firm he works for, but is ready to start a family … a family he is beginning to think will not happen as his wife keeps putting it off. But fate forces their hand when they must assume guardianship of their nephew. As they spend time in Corbin’s Bend, waiting for Ben to adjust to his parents’ death, they are forced to slow down – or I should say, Teri is forced to slow down. While the Domestic Discipline elements in this book are limited, I must say that Teri definitely deserved the first spanking in the book and I could certainly sympathize with Roy’s need to reintroduce DD into their marriage.

I enjoyed that For Ben was in a large part more about the relationship renewal between Roy and Teri and their building of a family than it was about Domestic Discipline. Rather than making DD the primary focus of this novella, the author weaved a story in which DD served as a tool that helped to strengthen their marriage. This was a very well-written book and I look forward to checking out more of Ms. Richards’s books as well as other books in the Corbin’s Bend series.

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