Bound by Desire by Missy Lyons

 

Bound By Desire is an FBI story that just didn't work for me. I have this thing where I always say something nice, even if it's a book I didn't like. I'm having trouble finding something nice to say. Here's the blurb:

Denise has always been a strong woman and the men in her life have expected her to be just as demanding and dominating under the covers. Despite a successful career, and graduating at the top of her class in the FBI academy, she never had the same success in love. Her secret desire to feel conquered, and completely ravished in bed, has kept her from finding a man to whom she wants to submit. Then she meets Victor.

Unfortunately, Victor is her boss at the FBI. This woman has a degree in criminal justice, has worked as a copy for years, made it through the FBI academy, and is finally working as an agent. She's going to risk throwing all of that away for a man? Really?


BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 1 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: 1 of 3. It was there, but it wasn't convincing.
• Sadism and Masochism: 1 of 3
• Extra Point: No

As for the writing elements, the plot was the relationship and it didn't work for me. I thought there was going to be an FBI plot, but all cases were quickly solved and were not really part of the plot. Pacing had problems. Prose was terrible, and dialogue was even worse. How many times do you call someone by name during a conversation? And what's so bad about contractions? Most people use them when they talk. Even FBI agents. Character development was not consistent.

• Book Rating:Bound by Desire: 3 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 3 of 10
• Heat Level: 0 of 5

 

Corporate Desires by Bridget Midway

 

Corporate Desires follows a few years after the events of Corporate Seduction. Edna Zulma, formerly known as Madame Z, is living with her mother after spending a few years in prison. She's broke, she has a jerk of a parole officer, and she ends up with a job working for a... well, here's the blurb:

Fresh from her recent incarceration, Edna "Madame Z." Zulma wants a normal life. Unfortunately between her new boss and her parole officer, she's finding it hard to be plain ol' Edna. Throw in the very sexy office manager, Burton McCutcheon, and Edna is starting to think about the BDSM lifestyle again. Burton's goal of staying focused as he tries to start his own business is affected as soon as Edna Zulma arrives. When he discovers her BDSM past, he decides to fulfill her fantasies...and his.

There were multiple problems with the plot for me, but the biggest was why Edna spent time in prison at all. Supposedly it was for tax evasion, but we are also told that she donated every bit of the income generated to charity - not just the profits, but every bit of money given to her... and she was operating the business on money willed to her. There would be no tax evasion there. None. At all. She wouldn't owe taxes on any of that money.

That wasn't the only issue for me - supposedly the state took all of her money away from her and that's how she went from multi-millionaire to flat broke. That doesn't happen, either.

And then the radical personality change from Mistress Z to Edna Zulma... it just didn't work for me. I didn't feel that the story explained the personality change - the Madame Z from Corporate Seduction would not have done so many of the things that Edna Zulma did in Corporate Desires.

As for the BDSM portion, we end up seeing Edna topping one boss and submitting to the other.  It physically nauseates her to top her boss, and that whole story line just didn't work for me. The author didn't make me understand why it bothered her so much - this was something she enjoyed doing for so many years, why is it suddenly something she isn't capable of doing?


BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: Yes, but it's kind of stumbled through, it's not really done as something that is supposed to turn you on. 1 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: Again, it's there but it's all jumbled up. 1 of 3.
• Sadism and Masochism: The masochism is certainly there for one individual, but it's not treated with respect. The masochist is ridiculed by the author, the way his needs are handled within the story bothered me a great deal.  
• Extra Point: No

As for the writing elements, I had a whole lot of major issues with the plot. Pacing was rough. Prose and dialogue were mostly okay.  Character development tried, but because the main character was such a drastically different person in this book than she was in the previous book, I can't say it was very good.

• Book Rating: Corporate Desires: 4 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 2 of 10
• Heat Level: 0 of 5

Again I will say that for people in the BDSM lifestyle, it bothers us to have someone's needs be ridiculed. I had a lot of problems with the plot and with the drastic change in characterization of Madame Z / Edna Zulma - but my biggest problems involved the lies that were told, the flimsy blackmail (Madame Z would have never agreed to be blackmailed into topping someone, especially with no legal standing for any of it), and the way the biggest submissive in the story had his needs put down and ridiculed by the author.

1. Corporate Desires  
2. Corporate Seduction
3. Corporate Needs


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