Second Bookses
It's like second breakfast. Only with books.
This Man (This Man, #1)
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/man-0
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews September 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/dameks-redemption
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews September 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/against-ropes
This is not your typical erotica.I've waxed rhapsodic about the other books in the Original Sinners series, and looked forward to this collection of five short stories with unabated glee, but it's a very different book than both your typical erotica as well as the other books in the series.For starters, the other Original Sinners books are inextricably tied together. Could you read The Mistress Files without reading the others? Probably, although you would miss the subtle hints of what we already know of Mistress Nora's past, as well as what I hope are clues to what we can expect in the upcoming four books that will be part of "The White Years."The stories in The Mistress Files are more straight-up erotica. While the predominant plot here is Mistress Nora recounting sexcapades with five of her clients, each story delves into personal issues of the clients and why they have come to Mistress Nora. It's less a Dominatrix's how-to guide -- as billed in Nora's first-person narration -- and more a counseling how-to.Unlike a large percentage of BDSM erotica currently on the market, The Mistress Files demonstrates that sex -- even so-called "vanilla" sex -- is about being open, accepting all parts of yourself, and doing the same for others. Nowhere do you find the "broken" people who turn to BDSM and need to be fixed.Mistress Nora is a god-like figure in her own right -- accepting all who come to her without judgment, caring for them as if they were her own, and then sending them out into the world again. This is the one "smut stories" book you don't have to feel guilty about reading.
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/slow-surrender-0
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/strictly-business-1
SEAL of Honor
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews September 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/seal-honor
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/game-marriage
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/wethering-storm
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews September 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/disenchanted-widow
The Seduction Hypothesis
I'll cut to the tl;dr chase: We need more books like this one.I'm not saying that because this was Nobel Prize-contender literary fiction, but because The Seduction Hypothesis is what's missing from so much of the erotica coming out right now: smart, funny erotica written for smart women (and men as well). When the story opens, Lindsey, our erstwhile heroine, is on her way to a con with a group of fellow smart people: grad students, comic book nerds, scientists... In other words, my kind of people. Lindsey is a big fan of Ball and Chain, a fictional graphic novel series with a BDSM theme. When she shared her interest in the novels with her boyfriend, he balked, leading to their breakup. Of course, they'd already made plans to attend the con together, so there they are, heading to the con with the same group of friends, where Lindsey plans to cosplay her favorite character from the series.While there, she meets the creators and is asked to fill in as her favorite character. And when ex-boyfriend Ben sees her in costume, well, he has to confront his own feelings about what Lindsey might have been asking and how he feels about it himself.The Seduction Hypothesis is a quick, fun read, but most of all, it's exactly what I've been looking for. For starters, it skips over the trope that every Dom out there comes with his own Barbie Dreamhouse Dungeon all ready for the spanking. It acknowledges that people come to the world of BDSM at their own pace, and sometimes after balking at it at first. It shows more of the give and take necessary for a couple to really find their way with this type of relationship -- i.e., it's more than checking things off on a pre-printed checklist.Best of all, the book features people who might really exist. Sure, Lindsey has a smoking body (as does Ben), but they are TOTAL DORKS. Ben stumbles his way through everything. They are at a con. Most of their conversations have to do with all manner of nerd-like things. I'm willing to bet that more people who read erotica can relate to these characters than the ultra-suave mega-rich characters currently overpopulating the genre. Give me a nerd in cosplay attire any day of the week. And more in this series, please.
Blood Warrior: Dragon Kings Book Two
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/blood-warrior
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/stone-ascension
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/hot-floor
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/shadow-wolf-3
Reviewed for RT Book Reviews August 2013 issue: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/pitch-perfect-0
Currently reading
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography
Diary of a Submissive: A Modern True Tale of Sexual Awakening
Bellman & Black
Deep into the Heart of a Rose
