Purple Passion by Sindra van Yssel

 

Purple Passion is the first book I've read by Sindra van Yssel, but it won't be the last. In fact, if my TBR folder weren't so full right now I might just start buying up her back list and reading them all, after finishing Purple Passion.

Darren was pretty close to my definition of the ideal Dom. First and foremost, he's a good guy, next is that he's honest even when it's not easy to be honest. And finally, he's come to terms with his kinks and doesn't apologize for them. Oh, and he's pretty creative with them, too. A nice addition.

Darren McCorvey can’t believe his good luck when sexy violet-haired Lisa Martinez sits across from him at a table in a restaurant. Never mind she’s only at that table by mistake -- she certainly didn’t intend to join a bunch of BDSM aficionados -- he recognizes a submissive streak inside her that she thought was nothing but a weakness. She can’t believe this hunky guy is interested in her, but the things he’s into attract and scare her all at once. She pretends she’s interested to piss off her controlling ex-husband, and doesn’t intend to let it go any further. And Darren has no intention of falling in love, ever again. But after one fierce kiss it doesn’t seem to matter what they intended, what they’ve feared, or what obstacles their pasts can throw in the way.

I actually wasn't thrilled with the way things started, but it worked okay as a way to introduce Lisa to the lifestyle and to let the two characters meet.

The author handled the newbie explanations well, so I didn't feel as if she were talking down to the audience. And I love the way she had Darren introduce some of the new things to Lisa.I especially liked the way he helped her deal with bondage when he saw how scared she was.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 2 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: 3 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 1 of 3 
• Extra Point: Yes

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was mostly the relationship, with a few smaller side plots here and there that added some depth.
• Not a thing wrong with pacing. This was a very enjoyable book to read.
• Prose and dialogue were very well done.
• Character development was beautiful

I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more books by this author. Note the Heat Level? 

• Book Rating: Purple Passion: 9 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 7 of 10
• Heat Level: 5 of 5

I highly recommend Purple Passion, it's a very sweet story, and the D/s is smokin' hot.

Beautiful C*cksucker II - Such a Good Boy by Barbara Sheridan

 

I read the first story immediately before reading the second, and I'm glad I did. Beautiful C*cksucker II - Such a Good Boy takes place 22 years after the events of Beautiful C*cksucker, and it answers a lot of questions about what happened to those characters after the end of the book.

Here is the blurb for Beautiful C*cksucker II - Such a Good Boy:

For too many years, career obligations and cultural expectations cost Mikisaburo Nabeshima the possibility of love.

Now older, wiser, and infinitely more alone, personal business takes Miki back to New York where another chance encounter with another handsome policeman rouses suppressed desires.

David Kirkland is a brash young cop who grew up on New York’s meanest streets. When the man he believes killed his foster mother is set free, Dave vows revenge. If he needs to leave the country and go undercover with a sexy but infuriating older man then so be it, though he never expected the business arrangement to turn personal.
As Dave confronts a deep seated need he’s never fully acknowledged, the killer they're after proves more deadly than they anticipate.

I've now read two books by Barbara Sheridan and my impression at this moment in time is that she is a huge tease. We did get more action in this book than the earlier one, but she still gives us the set up and then doesn't give a conclusive ending. And all of the good sex we keep hoping to see, where there is actual submission that sticks... we are led to believe that if it does happen, it does so after the end of the book.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 0 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: I think it's going to be there at some point, but it really isn't there very much during the events of the book. 1 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: Not really, it's hard to give it more than a zero, but there is a touch and I can't give it a half point. 1 of 3 
• Extra Point: No

This story is about the lifestyle, but it's also about two humans who come from different worlds and different generations, and it's about a police investigation.  I did enjoy the fact that the BDSM doesn't happen overnight, but I don't really appreciate that we never got to see it happen. We got all of that build up and then... it may or may not happen later, you be the judge.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot is well thought out and well executed.
• Pacing had a few minor issues but overall was fine.
• Prose and dialogue we well done.
• Character development had depth and interest and worked for the story.

Once again, I don't know what to rate this one. I liked the characters and the plot and the story, but for the second time in a row I felt like there was all of this build up that wasn't followed through. How to show pleasure and displeasure at the same time?

• Book Rating: Beautiful C*cksucker II - Such a Good Boy: 7 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 2 of 10
• Heat Level: 3 of 5

Beautiful C*cksucker by Barbara Sheridan

 

This one has been around a while, but I figured it should read it before reading the followup book.

It was a nice enough story, believable enough for a first encounter, I think. It left me wanting more, as the ending is a bit too vague for my tastes, but it was an enjoyable and mostly believable read.

The club they go to had a few things happen that left me scratching my head, things that I don't think would happen at a mixed sexes BDSM club. However, since I've never been to an all guy BDSM club... I guess I can't say it would never happen that way.

Here's the blurb:

What NYPD patrolman Ray Watts wants to do is finish his shift and take a much needed vacation. If he has to first suffer through playing chauffeur to some pain in the ass foreign cop visiting New York on a special fact-finding detail then so be it.

But what Ray gets is a pleasant and arousing surprise when Inspector Miki Nabeshima from Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department shows up and skillfully escorts him into a world like none he’s ever known, a world Ray never thought much about, but once he’s ushered in, he knows he’ll never be able to turn back.

As the breakdown below shows, most of the BDSM is alluded to, or is watched by the main characters.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 0 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: 1 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 0 of 3 
• Extra Point: No

As for the writing elements:

• I'm not sure I can tell you what the plot really was. The story is of the couple getting together, but it's not really resolved.
• Pacing was fine.
• Prose and dialogue were well done
• Character development was fairly in depth for this length story

I'm  not sure what to rate this one. It was an enjoyable read but there wasn't much sex, most of the BDSM was talked about or hinted at and not really shown. It was a bit of a tease, actually. But it was a good story with great characters. And it was kind of sweet.

• Book Rating: Beautiful C*cksucker: 8 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 1 of 10
• Heat Level: 1 of 5

 

Out of the Woods by Syd McGinley

 

I read Out of the Woods because most of the time I adore the writing of Syd McGinley. Parts of the story worked for me, but parts did not. At all.

I like the world and would enjoy learning more about it. I liked the characters. I liked most of the setup and plot(s). But the story moved too slow for me, and I didn't quite appreciate where the story ended. Not a huge cliff hanger, but a big enough one that it bugged me.

Here's the blurb:

Wild boy Tarin is determined not to be captured by the men who live in the decaying Before Times buildings on the other side of Tarin’s woodland home, but he’s just as determined to protect the younger boys in the woods.

No one remembers being a child or knows where all the women have gone or how society crumbled, but for as long as they can remember, boys have lived in the woods and are hunted by the men each Fall. Some boys believe in a mysterious Lady who protects them, while others think the men are magic. Tarin knows better – he’s met a man, and escaped by stabbing him.

Hunted through the woods as he tries to protect the weaker Cory, Tarin is trapped and claimed by the very man he knifed. All Tarin wants is to stay in the woods and not have to get ‘civilized,’ but he’s carried off into a different world of rules and discipline. Will he be able to survive now that he is Out of the Woods?

I am intrigued enough that I will probably read the next book. Maybe.

I find myself having a hard time grading this one on BDSM elements because it isn't BDSM. The "boys" are 18 and 19 year old wild boys who have lived in the woods and survived as best they can since about 10 or 11, and who don't remember anything before that age. The "boys" are captured by the men and then civilized and trained and expected to please their men in all ways. There are boys claimed by the officers and then there are boys are who community property who can't refuse anyone.  I'll talk abut each element, but I'm having a hard time putting a number on them.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: Discipline, for the most part, is scary and not tittilating. Bondage is more of being caught and not being able to escape, not so much being bound.
• Dominance and Submission: Some of the boys do seem to be naturally submissive, but Tarin is not.
• Sadism and Masochism: No.

As for the writing elements plot pacing prose dialogue character development world-building

• Book Rating: Out of the Woods : 7 of 10
• Heat Level:  2 of 5

 

Walking Spencer by Chris Owen

 
At twelve pages long, this is an ultra short story. But it's a pretty good one. It's all about the thought processes behind the first time one is given an idea (such as being walked on a leash), carrying through to it happening for the first time, and then being told how much farther it can be taken. Such a simple concept, and it's perfect for a short story.

Here's the blurb:

When the next door neighbors ask Dean to walk their dog while they're away Dean is happy to help out. Spencer is equally happy when Dean's playful game with a dog leash leads to something far more intense than Spencer had bargained for.

I had just a bit of trouble with the head hopping on this one, so I had to backtrack to figure out who was thinking what. Not a huge problem, but something I don't expect from this author.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 0 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: 2 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 1 of 3

As for the writing elements, no real plot but it's so short the story is fine that way, pacing was fine, prose and dialogue were fine, character development is okay for such a short story.

• Book Rating: Walking Spencer: 8 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 2 of 10
• Heat Level: 3 of 5

Ermine & Bougainvillea by I.D. Locke

 

Ermine & Bougainvillea is a nice little short that is most memorable for the world building.

I've never thought dryads were exceptionally cool before... but now I do. The level of worldbuilding in this relatively short story was top notch.

Here's the blurb:

Wynn is an ermine shifter running for his life from homophobic coyote shifters who took exception to a gay shifter in their territory. He makes it to the safety of a dense tangle of bougainvillea vines where the coyotes can’t follow and falls into exhausted sleep. When he wakes, he discovers that the bougainvillea is actually home to a half-dryad named Etireh who pushes all of Wynn’s arousal buttons without even trying.

Etireh turns out to enjoy some of the same things that Wynn does, namely, Otherworldly gay men with a thing for kink and BDSM who would take pleasure in games of domination and submission. In Wynn, Etireh finds a partner who enjoys being submissive to his dominant and is more than willing to push boundaries and play in ways Etireh barely dared to dream about.

A few things fell flat for me. The introduction of Etireh's mother didn't make much sense. If we'd seen her again later in the story, so she could approve (or not) of Wynn then it would have been different.

And how is Etireh's name pronounced? Authors, if you're going to name your characters something exotic, give us a clue as to pronunciation. Please.

I'm still trying to figure out what didn't work for me with the sex. All of the elements were there... creativity, power exchange, a good balance of pain, some bondage. But it didn't especially work for me. I have no idea why it didn't.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 2 of 3 for the bondage
• Dominance and Submission: 2 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 1 of 3 
• Extra Point: Yes

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was just the story of meeting and then a first sex scene
• Pacing had issues, which is a real problem in a short story
• Prose and dialogue were fine
• Character development was okay, not great, but it was a short story
• World-building was really well done 

I'm going to give Ermine & Bougainvillea a 7 of 10. It was a good story with good characters and great worldbuilding, but it didn't really work for me and I'm having a hard time putting my finger on why it didn't.

• Book Rating: Ermine & Bougainvillea: 7 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 6 of 10
• Heat Level: 2 of 5

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Where he Belongs by DC Juris

 
Where He Belongs is short. At not quite five thousand words, I'd say it falls under the extremely short heading.

Here's the blurb:

Vance and Raine had the perfect little life, until their shared sassy sub, Andrew, threw a hissy fit and left them. But the big, wide world turned out to be far too lonely, and Andrew is back, wanting to come home. Vance is willing -- he knows he'll always do anything he must to keep Andrew -- but Raine isn't. Raine's heart still hasn't mended, and he's going to need some convincing before he lets Andrew back in. Fortunately for Andrew, Vance has a plan.

For such a short story, we learn a surprising amount about what happened before, so we know why these three characters are where they are in this brief moment in time we are shown. There is one surprise twist thrown in, and just enough of a scene to get us interested. It's a nice short story.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline: 1 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: This story is primarily about a relationship that has broken up, and whether it's possible for it to get back together. There is some D/s, enough so we know that in a functioning relationship it would be front and center... but what we see is mostly just people talking. 1 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: 0 of 3 
• Extra Point: 0 of 3

As for the writing elements: the plot is simple enough for such a short story and there is even an unexpected twist thrown in, prose and dialogue are both fine, character development gives us more than one would think in such a short story. 

I'm giving Where He Belongs an 8 of 10 for several reasons. One being that I think it was too short. Even just another thousand or two thousand words could have shown us enough to have knocked the enjoyment factor so much higher.  It's a perfectly good plot with perfectly good characters and I want to see more than the 30 or 45 minutes of their lives that we got to see.

• Book Rating: Where He Belongs: 8 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 2 of 10
• Heat Level: 3 of 5

I loved Finding Sanctuary by DC Juris, if you haven't read this author before I would recommend Finding Sactuary over Where he Belongs.