BONDS OF COURAGE

BONDS OF COURAGE by Lynda Aicher

Pages: 263

Date: 17/06/2014

Grade: 4.5

Details: No. 6 Wicked Play

            Received from Carina Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

Pro hockey player Holden Hauke has kept his sexual needs buried for years. After a near miss over a picture of him bound to a spanking bench resulted in a mid-season trade, he's kept his image clean. But with the season over, he's ready to surrender control. And he's found just the woman to help him—if only he can convince her to give him a chance.

Bending men to her will is nothing new for Vanessa Delcour, aka Mistress V—she's a full-time rep for pro athletes, a part-time owner of exclusive sex club The Den, and an experienced Domme. But when Holden Hauke comes looking for a discreet partner, Vanessa's concerned about his motives. Touching his training-toned body during a scene wouldn't exactly be a hardship, but taking him on crosses barriers between work and play that she's had in place for years.

From their first intense encounter in Mistress V's playroom, Hauke knows he can't let this chance slip away; he's found the woman he's always needed. Submissive or not, he's willing to push her every limit to prove how good they can be together.

My thoughts:

‘Bonds of Courage’ is the sixth title in the ‘Wicked Play’ series and more than lived up to the expectations I had based on those earlier books. Over the course of six books I have gotten very attached to The Den, the people who own the place and their partners.

This instalment features Vanessa Delcour – full-time rep for professional athletes, partner in The Den, an exclusive sex club, and known as Mistress V an experienced Domme. For years she has successfully kept all the threads of her life separated and she is determined to keep it that way. Vanessa is in control of her life and doesn’t allow anyone to breach her carefully set boundaries or anything to control her. It is a balancing act but a successful one until Holden Hauke applies for membership at The Den.

Holdon Hauke is a professional hockey player. He has kept his sexual needs and desires buried, especially after one indiscrete photo of him tied to a spanking bench nearly cost him his career and forced a mid-season transfer. With the summer break on his hands Holden turns to The Den in the hope of finding a discrete Mistress. One look at Vanessa is enough to tell Holden he’s found what he’s been looking for.

With their first encounter going off to a bad start because of Holden’s lie on his application to The Den and Vanessa’s reluctance to let anyone in to her life never mind her heart a relationship between these two seems doomed from the start. Holden is not prepared to give up though. He may be submissive, he is determined to do whatever it takes to show Vanessa that they belong together.

For the sixth consecutive time Lynda Aicher has brought her readers two characters who are interesting, easy to root for yet realistic and flawed. I fell in love with Holden the moment he made his first appearance. I loved the ease with which he surrendered to his needs despite the risks involved and Vanessa’s attempts to push him away, and delighted in the release he found in bondage.

“The firm clasp of the thick bands of leather was his freedom.”

Vanessa was a little bit harder to like. She was so determined to be independent, to keep all the different threads in her life separate and avoid all attachments, that it was almost too easy to believe she really was the hard bitch she portrait herself as. That image made the rare occasion on which her hard shell cracked all the more beautiful though.

“It made no sense, but he was under her skin, burning through her as no other sub ever had.”

This story is a reversal of the BDSM story we usually read. In this book it isn’t the sub who needs to be convinced of his needs, it isn’t the sub running away from something new and scary. This time we are dealing with a sub who knows exactly what he wants and has a job on his hands convincing his Domme that his needs happen to mirror hers.

“He could make her happy. Please her. He got everything he needed by giving her what she needed. It was a perfect combination that.”

I loved Holden for getting Vanessa, for taking his time and for reading her well enough to know what all her small sign and gestures meant. I loved the moment he gave her a pair of flip-flops.

“The only time she wasn’t in heels was when she let her shields down, and he wanted that all the time with him.”

I’m very grateful that although there is lots of angst and conflict in this book I didn’t have to read my way through a lengthy split between the protagonists based on fear or a misunderstanding. I’m equally happy that the author kept things real; the resolution of issues was organic and believable.

Overall this was a wonderful, smooth, very sexy and fascinating read. The descriptions of Vanessa’s sessions with Holden were captivating as were the occasions when the two of them gave into their feelings without any play involved.

I discovered that there is one more Wicked Play story to come in September 2014. While I’m delighted to have another book in this series to look forward to I am already sad that book will also mean I’ll have to say goodbye to The Den and all who play and love there.

“I’m yours. In every way. Beyond the playroom. Beyond the spankings and bondage and play – I belong to you.”

EIGHTY DAYS WHITE

TITLE: EIGHTY DAYS WHITE

AUTHOR: VINA JACKSON

Pages: 310

Date: 20/02/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 5 Eighty Days

            Received from Orion Books

            Through Nudge

Own

This fifth book in the “Eighty Days” series is about Lily, the girl with the teardrop tattoo, who has been present in all of the four previous books, be it in very small roles most of the time.

When Lily moves to London after finishing university in Brighton she is ready to embrace the world. She doesn’t know what she wants from life or how exactly she fits into her surroundings though. Observing her friend submitting to a man leaves Lily with mixed emotions. She is intrigued by the dynamic between them, the abandon she witnesses in her friend as well as the control the man displays, but she is not quite sure how this relates to her. Lily is on a quest to discover exactly what it is she wants and needs and her search starts with a passionate but somewhat detached affair with Leonard, a man about twice her age. Although she only meets him in impersonal hotel rooms she feels close to and safe with him. When he ends their affair, all to aware of the problems the difference in their ages will at some point cause, he leaves Lily bereft. She longs for Leonard with a desperate passion and while she continues her search for what ever it may be she is looking for, it is always with the image of Leonard in the back of her mind.

After Leonard, Lily starts an affair with Dagur, the drummer in the Holy Criminals rock band. Although she can lose herself in wonderful and imaginative sexual exploits with him, she knows from the start that this isn’t and never will be a relationship. Through Dagur she meets Grayson, a celebrity photographer and his Mistress, She, who runs a fetish club. It is through She and her part-time job in the club that Lily discovers her dominating tendencies, but even those don’t bring her quite the satisfaction she is looking for. And her confusion about what it is what she wants means that she regularly finds herself angry for no clear reason; with herself and with the people around her.

It is only when she takes herself away from London and all the people she knows that her eyes are opened to what it is she really wants and needs; to what was always available to her if only she had been able to see it.

As in the previous Eighty Days books no effort has been made to make the main character either charming or endearing; these books portray real human beings with real doubts, fears and dark sides. Lily is only 21 years old when the story starts and has only started on her journey to who she is and what her role in life will be. And she is layered; on the outside she may look like a bad girl but on the inside the good girl she has been for most of her life is still alive and kicking. It is through her various relationships and all the different experiences she has that she slowly starts to recognise that maybe there isn’t an either – or answer to her questions. Maybe she doesn’t have to make a choice between being in charge and submitting; maybe she can just be herself with the one person who never wanted her to be anything else in the first place. This makes for an interesting character study. And while there were times when I wanted to smack Lily and tell her to stop being self-obsessed, her journey felt real and the outcome at the end was very satisfying.

I loved the way in which the characters from the previous books all play minor roles in this one. It was nice to once again get glimpses of Summer and Dominik, Luba and Chey, Lauralynn and Viggo just as it was interesting to see a character like Grayson developed a little bit further. According to the “Acknowledgments” this is the last “Eighty Days” title featuring these characters, and I have to admit that I’m sorry to say goodbye to them. On the upside though we are promised a return of Eighty Days with a whole host of new characters and I’m both delighted and very curious about that.

This book, like the four prequels, is very well written. The authors manage to make both the characters and their surroundings vivid and real. In fact, there were times that the characters were maybe a bit too realistic for me; their emotions and faults a bit too recognisable for comfort. This is not the sort of book where you find yourself wishing you were the main character, at least not until the very end of the book. The journeys the characters in these books have to undertake in order to get to their personal happy endings are too much like real life for that. But then these are books about personal journeys of discovery as much as they are works of erotica.

As for that erotica it is explicit and doesn’t always make for comfortable reading. And again that is due to the realism. We do not have beautifully sculpted, idolised versions of what a dream Dom would be in these books. We get a look at everything that can be wrong about the BDSM life-style as well as everything that can be right about it. The characters in these books are searching for that which really works for them and it is a quest filled with ups and downs, happiness and sadness, fulfilment as well as disappointment. Nobody wakes up one morning knowing exactly what it is they want and how to get it, and neither do the characters in these books. And while that doesn’t always paint a pretty picture it does make for a realistic and intriguing story. In fact, there were times that things were a bit too realistic and explicit for me, although that is a result of my personal likes and dislikes and not to the way in which this book is written. For example, while I'm all for spanking and flogging I can't get excited about a sub being slapped in the face, even if the sub in question thoroughly enjoys the experience. And there were one or two other descriptions that made me shudder, and not with excitement, but these incidents did not make me enjoy the book any less. I did really like the way in which the authors reflect the difference between being in love with someone and feeling a bond because of a similar sexual taste. While the first is needed for a successful relationship, the second is required for sexual play that leaves both partners satisfied and safe. What I liked most though was Lily's insecurity about what it is she actually wants and watching her experiment to find out. It made for an interesting journey with one or two eye-opening moments for me. That some of them were not quite to my taste is neither here nor there, they may be just what somebody else enjoys reading about.

This book, like the whole series, is a fascinating look at one person’s road toward (sexual) fulfilment told in a fun, hot and satisfying way. This is a story for grown-ups who want more than a fairy-tale.

Related reviews:
Eighty Days Yellow
Eighty Days Blue
Eighty Days Red
Eighty Days Amber

DOMINATRIX FANTASY

TITLE: DOMINATRIX FANTASY

AUTHOR: SHOSHANNA EVERS

Pages: 117

Date: 10/02/2013

Grade: 4

Details: Includes Bonus Story: TAPE

Own/Kindle

This is a story made up of three novellas:

SPANKED:

Blake is working in a diner and is nervous from the first moment he sees the beautiful woman sit down in his section. For some reason he finds it hard to do his usual and expected spiel for her. He finds himself clumsy and obliged to apologize several times while addressing her respectfully as Ma’am. When she doesn’t leave a tip he isn’t surprised. The words on the business card she leaves behind do take him by surprise though:

“You don’t deserve a tip, little Blake. You deserve a spanking. Call me if you agree.”

It isn’t a decision Blake has to think about for very long. He has dreamt about being punished by a woman for a long time and only a few hours after serving her lunch Blake finds himself knocking on Mistress Victoria’s door. Will his spanking be everything he’s imagined it to be? Will Blake be able to submit to Victoria’s sadistic plans for him? And will he be able to do it with losing his heart?

DENIED:

Blake and Victoria have been playing together for a while and Blake is having so much fun that he starts neglecting his college work. When he fails a mid-term exam Victoria has a very special punishment in mind for him. He won’t be allowed to have an orgasm until his grades improve. And Blake’s mistress has just the contraption to make sure that he won’t break any rules.

COLLARED:

After six months together Blake and his Mistress Victoria are ready to take it one step further. Victoria collars Blake and makes him her full-time slave. At long last Victoria has found what she has been looking for:

“A man who was willing to submit to her fully. All the time.”

And although Blake, in accepting his collar, has agreed to fully submit to his Mistress, Victoria needs to know for sure he’ll do anything for her. His Mistresses next test will push Blake to his furthest limit, provoke uncomfortable feelings, lead to a difficult conversation and result in a happy ending.

I enjoyed this shortish foray into the world of Victoria and Blake, Domination and submission, sadism and masochism. The dynamic between Blake and the woman who will become his Mistress is established from the very first moment the two set eyes on each other. There is never any doubt who is in charge. Blake was lost as soon as he set eyes on Victoria and only too happy to stay lost. At the same time, he is completely new to the idea of a BDSM relationship and constantly second guessing both himself and the situation he has placed himself in. His body may be thoroughly enjoying everything  Victoria wishes to inflict on it, in his mind he can’t help wondering if this is really what he wants and needs; if he can really give up the idea of a traditional relationship in order to be what his Mistress needs him to be, what he wants and needs to be.

And while Victoria’s worries may be different and much better hidden, they are as deeply felt as Blake’s. Victoria knows she has found someone special in Blake but can’t be sure about him; does he really know what he is letting himself in for or is he going to walk when she pushes him ever further?

This book beautifully portrays both the similarities and the differences between a BDSM and a vanilla relationship. It shows that just because somebody is willing to submit to someone else doesn’t mean that they stop having the same feelings everybody else has, just as it proves that being the dominant partner in a relationship doesn’t mean insecurity can’t hit you hard. To see Blake struggling with jealousy and finding the courage to bring it up with his Mistress was both sweet and a very powerful point in this story.

After reading quite a few book with powerful male Doms finding, training and keeping their innocent female subs it was wonderful to have the roles reversed in this book. In fact I think it’s a shame that books with a Domme seem to be in the minority. I would enjoy seeing more female dominance in my reading life and will be actively looking for it.

This is one sex-filled book. As the title of the first novella suggests there is a lot of spanking. But we are treated to a lot more: oral delights, anal explorations, Consensual Non Consent and third parties. I can’t say I would like to try or experience everything described. I can confess that all of it was hot and a pure pleasure to read.

As for the bonus story, TAPED:

It is Carrie’s birthday and she is about to meet her boyfriend Mike for lunch. On her way out she notices something suspicious about the supply cupboard. When she goes to investigate she is roughly pulled inside and restrained. This is Carrie’s fantasy and the only person who knows about it is Mike. But this rough and brutal man couldn’t possibly be her sweet and tender boyfriend, could it?

This is one very hot and very clever story. Definitely a bonus!