I enjoyed this story a lot. The idea itself was beautiful, the circus element and the imagery kept me captivated. I liked Kelsey and Theo together and I was rooting for them...mostly. 
 I wasn't a big fan of Theo's behavior -- namely, the slap -- even though it did make sense later. My heart ached for him in the few times he allowed his vulnerability and care for Kelsey to show through. 
 And my biggest complaint is the added kink for kink sake. It's never explained what Theo is, it's just sort of implied that Kels is going to agree. There were no safeword discussions, or anything of that nature. There was talk of training, but no real depth into that. And lastly... 
 Why the frick was Le Maitre even part of this? It didn't need him. It's like the author went, "oh, I need someone crazy to fuck her in the ass a few times, then it'll fit the BDSM slot!" It was unnecessary and actually changed my rating and opinion of the entire book after thinking about it for a few days. 
 Overall I'm giving this 3 stars, because like I said, I did enjoy the story itself for the reasons I stated above. I just think I need to find something perhaps a little more vanilla for myself to read next time. ;)