Handcuffs and Leather (Rawlings Men book One) by Kim Dare

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Master Preston’s Bright Bottom by Lee Benoit

 
Master Preston’s Bright Bottom is a Torquere Press Sip about a service submissive who proves himself in the only way he knows how when the Master he has his eye on turns him down -- he offers non-sexual services that the Master is very much in need of. In this case, handyman services.

Here's the blurb:

Months ago, Paulo had one, intense public scene with Master Preston Rose, and now he can’t stop thinking about it. When he hears that Preston needs a handyman and gardener, Paulo offers his strong back and clever hands for manual labor. He'd rather offer his mouth and ass, but it's a start.

Preston, overwhelmed with work and secretly suffering painful arthritis in his hands, accepts Paulo's help with misgivings. He hasn’t had a sub of his own in years and Paulo's lack of experience is a big red flag. Preston wouldn't choose Paulo even if he was looking for a new sub, which he isn't -- is he? Working for Preston and getting to know the reclusive Dom, Paulo's more determined than ever to remain a part of the retired Dom's life, but will all of his work be enough to earn him the collar he dreams of?

Before I break down the BDSM elements, I should explain that the submission here is mostly of the non-sexual variety. There is very little sexual activity, and that will show in the breakdown. It's still a charming little story showing the heart of a service submissive.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline:  No, the relationship is not that kind of relationship. It might get there later, but for now... not so much.  0 of 3
• Dominance and Submission: Yes. Again, mostly of the nonsexual variety, but it's there. 3 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: No.  0 of 3
• Extra Point: No

As for the writing elements, the plot is a nice one. Pacing was good, prose and dialogue were well done, and character development was very well done.

• Short Story Rating: Master Preston’s Bright Bottom: 10 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 3 of 10
• Heat Level: 2 of 5

This is an author I don't believe I've read before. I'll be keeping an eye out for other books by Lee Benoit.  I checked out her website and discovered she has a page of free stories up, and one of them, Lua-de-mel, immediately follows the events of Master Preston’s Bright Bottom. It's a nice little clothespin scene, and it was nice to see this couple interacting in a scene.

Logan's Project by Chris Owen

 
Logan's Project is a short that takes place on a construction site, between a "suit" and a rather large demolition expert.

Here's the blurb:

Logan is a man who likes to be involved with his work, and turning a warehouse into trendy housing is no different than reading reports at the office. Except it is different, since even the dirt and grime of his building can turn him on. The other thing that turns him on is the demolition man, who Logan thinks of as Mr. Big.

Mr. Big isn't adverse to a little off the clock adventure, but which one of them is really in charge? Does it even matter? And just how down and dirty can Logan and Mr. Big get, playing games on the job site?

The story is not really a BDSM story. There is a little bit of discussion about which man will top, as both would prefer to top, which means one of the men has to agree to be the bottom... but that's not top/bottom as in Dom/sub, but more as in pitch/catch.

Logan's Project is a fun little short about two men having sex on a construction site after hours. No romance at all, just down and dirty sex.

• Short Story Rating: Logan's Project: 9 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 0 of 10
• Heat Level: 3 of 5

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Corporate Needs by Bridget Midway

 

Corporate Needs is the third book in Bridget Midway's Corporate series.

We first met Princess in the first book in this series, Corporate Desires, and now we see her again, still as a Domme, but she's not enjoying it anymore. It's now just a drudge of a job.   

Here's the blurb:

Princess Watkins was damn good at her job as a Dominatrix at Suite Surrender, an exclusive BDSM B&B owned by her friends May and Winston Biggers. At least she thought she was before Winston decides to bring in his friend, Dominant Erik Hendrix, for consideration as his replacement as Dungeon Master over all of the Doms and Dommes working there. Erik Hendrix expected to be made Dungeon Master at Suite Surrender. What he didn't expect was to be competing for the spot. He also didn't expect that his competitor would be a very sexy Domme. Too bad he has a strict policy against dating another Domme. With her skills questioned, Princess wonders if maybe she should go "vanilla" and date the dull, new accountant. But with her strong pull to Erik, she's also starting to question her role as a Dominatrix.

I didn't enjoy the second book in this series, at all. Some of the same things caused problems in the third book - the pacing had issues, some of the submissives' needs seemed to be ridiculed, and there was the idea that an overweight submissive was somehow lesser. I appreciated that the submissive in this case stood up for himself, finally.

The plot was better in the third book, but most of the BDSM just didn't work for me. For instance: Being hit with a single tail hurts. Yes, it's possible to turn the hurt into pleasure, but it still hurts. It's sensation that can be transformed, so that it hurts and brings pleasure at the same time, but to say someone expected it to hurt but only felt pleasure... totally blew that entire scene for me.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline:  Some. 1 of 3.
• Dominance and Submission: Yes, but as in the second book, it's kind of a confusion of who is feeling what and when.  2 of 3.
• Sadism and Masochism: No, I don't believe I saw much sadism, and the biggest masochist was once again the person that was seen as an overweight submissive who didn't matter. He does stand up for himself, eventually, but I can't give points for S&M. 0 of 3
• Extra Point: No

As for the writing elements, the plot had promise but wasn't executed as well as it could have been. Pacing was much better in the third book then in the second, but still had a few issues. Prose and dialogue were fine. Character development was okay.

• Book Rating:: 6 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 3 of 10
• Heat Level: 1 of 5

The romance did finally work for me towards the end of Corporate Needs. I don't believe we were given a strong idea of how the relationship will move forward, but we do have a decent idea that it will work out.

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

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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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Little Fishes By Syd McGinley (A Healing Heart Sip)

 

I've enjoyed the Dr. Fell series, and these two characters are sort of an off shoot of that series. Tommy and Dr. Tanaka aren't quite the typical BDSM couple. In some ways they are, but Dr. Tanaka seems to follow the Zen philosophy in everything he does - and that includes how he Tops.

Little Fishes is about meeting your lover's family, and about the surprises you sometimes encounter, things you learn about your partner that they haven't shared with you.

Little Fishes is not focused on sex, but on the relationship.

Here is the blurb:

Dr. Katashi Tanaka may be in hot water when he takes his boy, Tommy, to meet his family. His little sister, Mariko, is irrepressible and sure to gossip with Tommy, and his mother may be the only person alive who can oblige Dr. Tanaka to do anything. Tommy learns some secrets about his stern owner that may ruin not just their spa getaway but their whole relationship.

I don't believe the "entire relationship" is ever in danger, the blurb is trying to add more drama than there actually is. There is plenty of drama, no need to add more in the blurb.

BDSM elements:

• Bondage and Discipline:  There is one scene, no bondage, a touch of discipline, and some talk of later discipline.  1 of 3.
• Dominance and Submission: Yes, we see that Tommy is completed devoted to Tanaka. 3 of 3
• Sadism and Masochism: No, not in this particular story. 0 of 3
• Extra Point: No

I want to be clear that this couple has done some extreme things in previous stories, but this particular story happens to be more about the relationship than the sex or the scenes.

As for the writing elements, the plot was wonderful for such a short story, prose and dialogue were fine, and character development was very well done not only for Tommy and Dr. Tanaka, but for the rest of the Tanaka family as well.

• Story Rating:Little Fishes: 9 of 10
• BDSM Intensity Level: 4 of 10
• Heat Level: 1 of 5

You can buy Little Fishes from the Torquere site, and since this is part of their Healing Hearts series, all proceeds go to Doctors without Borders.   

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Toy Box: Public Places

 

I wanted this anthology because of the piece by Jay Lygon. I loved Chaos Magic, Love Runes, and Personal Demons, so when I found out there was a short with Hector and Sam in Toy Box Public Places, I was all over it. Even though sex in public is not one of my things. I take the whole consensual thing pretty seriously, and if someone hasn't consented to watching something, then that's a problem for me.

Luckily, that was not a problem in Public Places. Nothing happens in front of people who haven't consented to watch.

The Touch of Nostalgia by Heidi Champa is the first story, where two people meet and head to a back room to have some hot stranger sex. It's not BDSM, but it's just rough enough to not be totally vanilla, either.

Poke on the Water by G. R. Richards ends up with a threesome. This story did the least for me of the three in the anthology, though I'm sure there are others who will say it was their favorite of the three.

And finally, Brat by Jay Lygon has Sam and Hector together after a long absence while Sam has been busy with his various jobs. Hector is taking Sam out of town for some marathon sex, but Sam's head isn't in the right place and he's being a bit of a brat. Never fear though, Hector knows just what Sam needs. I did appreciate that Hector checked in with Sam once though, in the past Hector has had a bit of a temper, and it was nice to see him totally in control in this short.

I'm not really sure how to go about rating the anthology as a whole. Only one of the three stories is BDSM, and while that one had a nice scene in it, it doesn't feel right to rate the whole book based on one story. And if you've read the other books in the Chaos Magic series then you pretty much already know what kind of scene it was without my having to spell it out for you.

It was a nice little short read, and I'm glad to have been able to check in with Hector and Sam again.