poison

Super fast thoughts before full review

Why was Holly so selfish? She really seemed like a selfish diva. She had no problem with her and Grace being in the closet, but makes a federal case out of it when Elise wants the same thing? Hypocrite much?

So it loses a full star for annoying diva/selfish heroine, but not bad as lesbian romance goes. It's not like the lesbian romantica genre has piles of titles to choose from.

This is my first novel by Rebekah Weatherspoon, and won't be the last. I love F/f, and while this book didn't pull me in as much as I'd like, it was pretty good.

Lets start with the characters.

Suzanne, the little girl/bottom/sub in this story was sort of...I dunno, just meh? She wasn't very interesting to me, anyway, and had a tenency to get whiny, which I don't care for.

Pilar was pretty decent, she's a decent top, though she's a touch light on the D/s, which is what I really appreciate, but she's not a bad character, she's just in the story less than Suzanne.

The plot is the real issue here. I don't think there was one. It was more a series of interconnected D/s scenes, and scenes between the characters, which is ok, except I didn't really care for one of the characters, which makes it problematic. Throw in a total lack of any tension in the background, and its not a plus for the book.

Finally, we have the BDSM scenes/Sex scenes. They were not bad, but not to my personal taste, I think people into gateway/softcore BDSM scenes will enjoy them.

So, 3 stars out of 5, not without promise, but several things drag it down for me from what it could have been.

Why in these shifter books are cougars afraid of wolves? It makes no sense, in the wild a female cougar toys with a male wolf...

Instant falling in love, no particular tension, no real opposition, dunno, but it could have been a lot better.

A romance about a shifter and a succubus, in this world succubi have no powers at all, need a savior, and need regular sex.

I love succubi, but um, this ain't them, more like useless plot device slut girl. Not impressed with this take on them,band Willow was totally useless.

Lesbian Sci-fi romance. Light on the eroticism, most sex scenes are fade to black. Let's start with the beginning. I love the author. This is the fifth work of fiction I've read by her, and while I generally want erotica/romantica over pure romance, I love her work anyway.

This book is sci-fi with minimal info dumps. Its almost all show, and little tell. The plot is twisty, but it intertwines seamlessly with the character development, and as usual with Melissa Good, the characters are strong, and interesting to read about. The plot never bogs down, and overall, I really liked the story.

The characters are great. Senior Agent Jesslyn Drake is, I'd guess, modelled on Xena, like Dar is, from Dar & Kelly's series. She's not Xena, but she's an alpha female, dangerous, straight forward, and uniquely feminine. I really liked her. She kicked ass when she needed to, showed her badassery without ever feeling like a cartoony cliche, and the romance between her and Dev was so genuine and sweet, I loved it.

Biological Alternative, set 0202164812, instance NMDev1, aka Dev, is a biological alternative unit, a specially designed and bred test tube concoction, which is basically a human, except with a specially designed genome, selecting for qualities that are wanted, and without unwanted qualities, then schooled and trained to do jobs for "real humans" When the book starts, almost all Bio Alts have been used as janitors, waiters and other menial jobs, and are thought of as mentally deficient, and basically just drones. They have no rights, and belong to whoever purchased their contract, I'd say as a slave, but slaves usually have some sort of rights. Dev is contracted to Interforce, the agency Jess works for to be her partner, and given special training in technical and pilot skills, so she can help Jess do her job. Her growth from start to finish is such a joy to watch, and her and Jess are a lot of fun together.

I loved the world building, I loved the characters, Dev especially, though Jess too, and the plot was pretty good, even considering this is a romance. I really enjoyed this book, and my only complaint is I want more graphic sex. =) Still, its awesome, I loved it.

Lets start with the rating for this book. I agonized over 4 stars, and its all Goodreads fault. It doesn't QUITE get to 5 stars for me, but if only we had half stars, I'd go 4.5 stars easily. Since I round down, sadly, Being Amber suffers thru no fault of its own.

This is a dystopian future, after a virus has decimated the world's population. No zombies, for once, but we do get a new society, with lots of interesting foibles. I loved the classification system, like, really loved it. I'm not generally a fan of post-apocalyptic literature, but this was just so good.

So, the citizen classifications, in order of importance: Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Amber. Diamonds are genetic royalty, talented and without any genetic flaws. Emeralds are similar, but without the extreme talent. Sapphires are smart and without genetic illnesses. Ambers are the rest. A genetic flaw, or lack of intelligence, something. A genetic predisposition to illness, as a female, and you are sterilized by the state, so you cannot drag it down with your lines chronic illness.

Our heroine, Jaci, was born a sapphire, but she fails the genetic lottery and is sent away to Amber Zone. This is her story. I am not going to spoil any other part of the plot, but suffice to say, I enjoyed it.

Actually, I thought she handled the change astonishingly well, and I really liked her. Xander, the Hero was also pretty good.

So I liked the characters, I liked the plot, how was the sex? It was pretty good. Pretty gateway, though, so not the sort of material that sets me off into my happy zone. I suspect people into lighter stuff will love it.

***provided by the Author through BDSM group TPE BAR Read2Review***

Well, that was intense!

So, White Ivory is a story of a slaver with a heart of gold, his stable of slave girls, and his newest acquisition, who asked to become a slave.

Caroline was a supposedly quiet and submissive girl, who did what others wanted, but never seemed to get what she wanted. She felt like her husband, and father before him, had never cared about her, let alone loved her, and from the descriptions she gave, she sounds correct. However, she had quite a temper when she wasn't getting her way, and was tremendously willful, in todays terms, we'd call much of her behaviour "Topping from the Bottom" even if Piet didn't let her get away with most of it, she still bratted and misbehaved.

Captain Robert Douglas is a Scotsman cum Mercenary, who becomes one of the heart of gold slavers. He likes Caroline, and does some of her training.

Piet Van Gryf is the slaver with the heart of gold. He owns ~15 girls, and wanders between them, from day to day, and during the day. He is, in his words, "a little bit in love with Caroline". I am not totally sure I buy it. I didn't feel a particularly strong connection between them.

I enjoyed the training aspects, they were arousing, and interesting, but I did find the number of girls off-putting for a number of reasons. I can say from having been in a five girl one Master household that attention for everyone, even the favorite, is hard to come by, and neglect and depression can sink in fast. I was lucky to be liked by the other girls and we were kept together, so we could keep each other company, at least, but Piet's girls seemed to be each on their own, or a couple in pairs. Tough to imagine living like that for an extended period.

The extreme torture scene, I guess I ought to cover it, since many other reviewers have. I loved it. I'm depraved, admittedly, and that scene has been foremost in more than one of my personal fantasies, so lets just say not everyone will be put off by it. Not that I approve of being having it done to them non-consentually in the real world, but this is fiction, and my fantasies are what they are.

So, despite its flaws, I really enjoyed it. If there had been 6 girls, and Caroline had been slightly less bratty, it would probably have gotten 5 stars.

On a personal note Why does everybody hate the perfectly obedient girls? Why? He has to sell every girl that isn't at least somewhat defiant? What ever happened to a good, obedient slavegirl? Even the 24/7 Masters have to hate us now? *sigh*

The Riding School is a pony play short, the first chapter in a series, which follows the shenanigans, exploits, and training of a spoiled rich girl, whose father is apparently super perverse, as he's sending his only daughter off to get trained in pretty outrageous circumstances.

The plot, essentially, is spoiled Jenny, born into wealth, and lazy as all getout, has made nothing of her life, her Dad is sick of it, and sends her off to the stables to be turned into an obedient, speechless filly.

Is it realistic? Oh heck no. But its pretty hot, and the scene is well done. I didn't much care for Jenny, she's your typical bratty "non-doormat" that makes its way into every story these days, but maybe with time and training, she'll become a worthwhile pet. We'll see in future installments, as this one ends before she even has her first scene with her trainer.

I liked it, for what it was, a steamy but short ride(pun intended!)

***This book was provided by the author for an honest review***

I skipped [b:The Nightlife: New York|18310166|The Nightlife New York (The Nightlife, #1)|Travis Luedke|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1376331777s/18310166.jpg|21732686], though I really am going to have to go back and read it, and really liked [b:The Nightlife: Las Vegas|18483636|The Nightlife Las Vegas (The Nightlife, #2)|Travis Luedke|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378994849s/18483636.jpg|21998101], and I loved [b:Blood Slave|17181677|Blood Slave (The Nightlife)|Travis Luedke|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1356470084s/17181677.jpg|23628313], so I was thinking going into this I was going to like it a lot. But, it has historical content, and that usually doesn't do it for me, so I was slightly skeptical. Well, make me a believer, why don't you?

So, I really enjoy Michelle. She's a Vampire, she's a slut, a whore, and she doesn't apologize to anyone for it. She does apologize for being a murderer, but that's ok, it seems worth apologizing for. I enjoy how she lives life with a gusto, and tries to minimize the damage she causes, but when it goes bad, she isn't afraid to get her claws dirty.

Then, there is Aaron, who has grown on me. Originally, I wasn't all in on Aaron, though I did enjoy him with Anastasia in Vegas, but he's not bad. He's not as interesting to me as Michelle, but he's getting there.

The plot follows our hero and heroines journey of discovery of each other, and an investigator who is intent on stealing immortality for himself. We get Michelle's pulse-pounding backstory, which I must say had me fanning myself for air, because um, can't someone chain me up in a dungeon and ... anyway, it was hot, and tragic, and sexy and nasty all at once, and I loved every second of it.

This book was outstanding. I'm putting the author on my autobuy list.

***provided by the Author through BDSM group TPE BAR Read2Review***

I read some of the reviews of my friends before I read this book, so I went in to it with the knowledge it was not your typical vampires in the shadows type story. I think that helped me.

I liked this book, and I typically like Larissa Ione's books, so thats probably no surprise. I liked it on its own merits, though, as it did a number of things, and broke a number of genre conventions/tropes that really tire me out. First, even though the Hero/Heroine have a bad backstory, they don't bicker like they've been married 40 years, instead they get into it, and through it like adults. What a novel idea. Talk out your issues? It might be the first novel I've ever seen this. Second, Vampires have been outed, and exactly what would happen in the real world happens. They are immediately grabbed, slapped on medical tables, and used to provide medical breakthroughs, and then less savory stuff.

The heroine was great. I loved her. She was smart, brave without being an idiot or foolhardy, caring, all sorts of positive adjectives. The hero was also pretty good, even if he did give off some of the same old alpha male type vibes as all the other heroes (I love alpha males, but man, some variety, please?!)

So, if you like traditional vampires, but living in untraditional circumstances, this might be for you! If you want totally in control and never fearing vampires, this might be a culture shock.

Captive is about a young lass, naive and somewhat foolish, and the hardships and atrocities that befall her.

I'll treated might be a good phrase. She is beaten by the very man who stole her house and money, thrashed and forced into lesbian affairs by her former lady in waiting, raped repeatedly, and kept as a naked servant for the entire book.

There were some scenes that seemed gratuitous, with the former butler, for example, but all in all, the plot was your essential naive girl being trained to be a slave.

The sex scenes and bdsm scenes were excellent, as usual, as Mr. Brooks really knows how to put the sizzle into his work!

***this book provided by the author via bdsm Tpe bar r2r***

The Life of Riley is a series of connected episodes in the life of Riley Buckland. A young lady with extremely dubious taste in men, but a very active sex life.

Her roommate gets up to some bdsm shenanigans, and Riley dives right in, falling for a man who has a male lover, tells her bdsm leaves no room for love/affection(wait, what?!?) and various other douchey stuff.

Still, she's a frosh, so I guess stupidity is to be expected, and when he admits he doesn't even like her, but is just using her as an outlet for his sadism, she decides to go vanilla, that always works!

I can't say this stuff doesn't happen in the bdsm community, but its akin to becoming a lesbian because your ex was a douche, and not because you love pussy (This is another mistake to not make, people. I love lesbians, and women, personally, but not over man trauma! Just because I'm naturally a bisexual slut) The scenes were interesting enough, and I liked Angel, so this ends up at three stars for me.

But, despite liking Angel we need to discuss this ultra-sub thing. First, she controls who comes on to her? Is this a UK thing? Whats an Ultra-dom? I mean, I get that its a Dom that doesn't sub, but most Doms aren't switches or they'd be called Switch, not Dom! I can tell you as a slave I have tremendous trouble telling people no, or doing things people will be mad about, so these ultra-subs doing what they want definitely tweaked me.

provided by bdsm group r2r

This book was not at all what I was expecting!

Rick is a young man, just turned 18 with his life ahead of him, a young lady who loves him ready to move in with him, and a girl on the side who likes down and dirty sex. Sounds good so far!

His girlfriend has an accident, and off we go. I feel conflicted about the story, for a number of reasons. First, Rick is a cheater, which, while I have no moral compunction against, doesn't really make him likable, and second, I didn't really like him besides that, and then we have Brittany, third, his on the side sex object, who is also not terribly likable.

The sex scenes are pretty good, its more consensual sex with face slapping, biting and spanking than any sort of traditional BDSM which is a nice change from the traditional negotiations, and virginal vanilla girl learning about submitting that everyone seems so enamored with these days.

So 3 stars for some good material, some unlikable characters, and a plot that was thin. I liked it enough to move on to part II.

***provided by the Author through BDSM group TPE BAR Read2Review***

After finishing [b:Becoming Brittany|18201218|Becoming Brittany (The Accidental Killer #1)|S.L. Walker|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1375458042s/18201218.jpg|25612200], I read this one right after. My review of Brittany should tell the story of how I felt about it, but suffice it to say I thought Rainbow was the stronger book. Blame Goodreads for identical ratings, as this one is a 3.5 star for me. (I round down, on GR)

Alright, lets quickly discuss characters! Emma isn't in here all that much from a getting to know her point of view. Its clear she used to hang with Brittany when Brittany was doing drugs and random BDSM stuff? Brittany is the same as we've known, manipulative, deceitful and cruel. Richard is still an 18 year old boy, albeit one who enjoys beating and hurting women. Its way too early to refer to him as a Dom. He is a little bit less of a pussy here, which I guess you might call character growth? There are other supporting characters, but I'm not interested in them.

I am not sure I can describe the plot. Brittany wants Rick. I am not sure what she wants, in regards to Rick, like, I'm not sure if she fancies herself a Domme, and wants him as her sub, or if she thinks she's a switch, and wants to switch off with him, but she wants something. Maybe she doesn't know either, I mean, she's what, 19? Shenanigans ensue, with Brittany plotting to have him, and Rick falling for Emma, Brittany keeping Emma away from him, etc, which all leads to the big conclusion, another "accidental" killing perpetrated by Brittany. The book was suspenseful, for sure, and the suspense was well done.

The sex scenes are pretty good, and the "BDSM" scenes were also pretty good, in a "Not really BDSM, more abusive people doing spontaneous abusive stuff" sort of way. Everything sort of feels "Consentual non-consent" which is like, rape play, or whatever, in scene. They were definitely the best part of the book.

So, 3.5 stars, plot was thin, characters were slightly thin, suspense good and sex scenes good.

***This book was provided by the author for an honest review!***

Yvonne is a courtesan! Well, actually, she's a whore, into bondage, and has a serious issue saying no. Which I totally get, since I have the same issue.

Yvonne is ready to part with her Dom. She's emotionally pulling away, when he decides to take their relationship to the next level. He pulls out all the stops, coercing her best friend, (another prostitute) to help him break her and train her, enlisting a roving cast of miscreants to abuse and torment her, and finally consigning her to a Domme's mansion/school/place of business.

Yvonne learns about herself, about submission, and finally, accepts herself for what she is, after a journey of horror, shame, degradation and self-learning.

I only had one issue with the book...well, they might be countable as two?I only had one issue with this story, and its with Yvonne's friend, who first, probably should have not gotten involved, and second, gets bushwhacked/press-ganged into slavery alongside her friend, but didn't strike me as submissive at all, leading to my discomfort. I dunno about others, but when the heroine is essentially a slave, non-conning her into slavery doesn't bother me. When the heroine is a vanilla girl, not so happy does it make me!Still, loved the book!

Veronica Close, "Vee" is a young lady, drifting through life with no clear direction.

Aunt Veronica Close, "Roni" to her friends, is the owner of a BDSM bar, The Edge, where sex, BDSM and voyeurism/exhibitionists are the rule of the day. Roni decides to give the club to Vee, and shenanigans ensue.

I liked the characters, I liked the story, and I liked the scenes. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book, and definitely recommend it as a good gateway novel.

***book provided by the Author through BDSM group TPE BAR Read2Review***