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05

At Any Turn – Brenna Aubrey (Gaming the System)

At Any TurnTitle: At Any Turn (Gaming the System)
Author: Brenna Aubrey
Publisher: Silver Griffon Associates (28 April 2014)
ISBN: 1940951046
Reviewer: Jane

The angst! Oh, the angst!

At Any Turn should seriously consider a brand partnership with a pharma company manufacturing Captopril (“Free bottle with every copy!”) given the elevated blood pressure levels people are likely to experience when reading it. My daughter recently discovered a cartoon series on Netflix, appropriately titled Total Drama, and I’m pretty sure that this book is a more grown-up version of it, all rolled into a convenient, three-hundred-and-sixty-seven page package. I swear, if you’d hooked me up to a pressure cuff or stuck a finger on my pulse while I was reading this thing, you would have rushed me to the nearest A&E.

At Any Turn picks up where At Any Price left off (spoilers ahoy-hoy for those who haven’t read the first book in the Gaming the System series); videogame millionaire, Adam Drake, and gamer-girl blogger Mia Strong are attempting to explore a post-virginity-auction relationship. Adam is working on controlling his workaholic tendencies and Mia is anxiously waiting to find out if she’s managed to get into med school. Given that the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ drama of book one, I thought that At Any Turn might follow a slightly smoother plot trajectory. You know, give readers a bit of time off for good behaviour.

No. No, no, no, no, nooooo.

Unlike At Any Price, which was narrated by Mia, Adam takes the reins in this one, and I can only say that, emotionally, he is like a light switch at the mercy of toddler – turned on and off repeatedly until you think you’re in an 80s discothèque. One minute he wants to stay in a relationship with Mia. The next, he’s totally over the whole thing or playing silly games with her emotions.

He couldn't lose her

I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t.

Continue reading →

03

Guest Post: Femininity – Dirty Little Whispers

WomenToday, I have the pleasure of hosting the very lovely Dirty Little Whispers here on Behind the Chintz Curtain. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Emma both online and in person (thank you, Eroticon 2013!) and when I was pondering the idea of femininity and what it means to us in this day age, was beyond pleased when she agreed to share her thoughts on the subject.

Before I hand over to Emma, a little background on this post … A few weeks ago, Molly, who runs the weekly Sinful Sunday meme (which both Emma and I both regularly take part in) asked for photographs themed around men, maleness and masculinity. What did those words mean to each of us? And how did we interpret those words visually? The prompt produced some beautiful photographs and it was really interesting to see the diversity of the pictures and how varied our perceptions of the words were. Which lead me to think more about the word feminine. Does it still have the connotations it did, say, ten years ago? Thirty years ago? And how do we each define our womanliness?

Over to you, Emma … Continue reading →

01

Sinful Sunday: Phoenix

This month’s Sinful Sunday prompt is ‘Black and White’:

“Not to be confused with monochrome which means ‘one colour’. I am looking for purely black and white images. No Sepia, no Cyanotype, no Split Tones, no Infrared etc just plain ole Black and White.

However, in order to add interest I am going to suggest that it would be fun if we all posted the original colour version of the image alongside the Black and White so we can see how the two compare.”

Ever since I took my triptych images for the last Sinful Sunday competition, I have become more and more interested in how I light my photographs. The below picture was lit almost entirely by the glow of a fire (hence the post title) with a little stray light coming through the doorway of an adjoining room.

I’m actually not sure whether I like the black and white or the colour version, with its very orangey tones, as the two variations give me completely different feelings. Which do you guys prefer?

Oh, and ten points if you can spot the stray piece of LEGO I forgot to pick up off the floor before shooting this! :-)

 

Phoenix_B&W

Continue reading →

30

Freebies and Discounts: Catholic Priests, Butts, Eggs, and Rock Chicks

I’m not sure if this is the most eclectic Freebies and Discounts post I’ve ever done but, if not, it’s pretty close to it. In today’s bargain round-up: butt plugs, vibrators, masturbators, and vintage Colleen McCullough …

 

THE THORN BIRDS, COLLEEN McCULLOUGH – AMAZON U.K.

If you’ve never read The Thorn Birds (or seen the incredibly cheesy film version staring Rachel Ward, Richard Chamberlain and Aussie icon Bryan Brown – c.f. the roll-around-laughing-til-you-wet-yourself trailer above), click on the above buy link right now. Now, I say! This iconic novel is currently in the Amazon U.K. Kindle Monthly Deal Bin for £0.99 and if you want to be swept up and away by a book that makes Days of Our Lives seem light on the drama, look no further.

 

TWO FOR $25.00 ON SELECTED BUTT PLUGS – LOVEHONEY U.S.

As the title suggests, Lovehoney U.S. are currently running a ‘two for’ promotion on selected butt plugs, so if you’re looking for a bit of bottom love, this is definitely one to check out. There are some nice silicone plugs on offer (I’d recommend choosing toys made from this material over the jelly types as the latter often contain phthalates), including the Beaded Silicone Butt Plug with Finger Loop, the Lovehoney Booty Buddy, and the Adrien Lastic Anal Triball Beaded Butt Plug.

To see all the butt plugs in the promotion, click here.

Continue reading →

28

Wicked Wednesday: Pulling the trigger

Screen Shot 2014-05-27 at 13.48.45

“The above screenshot comes from an article of The Guardian, which was linked on Twitter. If you have anything to say about trigger warnings, now is your chance. But you might want to read the article first.”

 

Wow. This is one hell of a Wicked Wednesday prompt. Where, oh where do I start?

Firstly, by saying that I don’t believe in the censorship of books. Period.

Secondly, that I’m well aware that this liberal view of mine comes at a price. There’s no question that there are grotesque things out there in written form, things that I have no interest in reading. Ever. But I know that for freedom of expression to be truly ‘free’, then we must allow writing on all subjects, whether or not they offend us. When we start drawing lines, defining what is and isn’t okay from a personal viewpoint – and, ultimately, all censorship comes down to an individual (or individuals’) own set of judgements and beliefs – we risk getting ourselves into serious trouble: persecution, marginalisation, oppression.

The beauty of freewill is that we get to choose what we read. And what we don’t. You only have to look at the various books that have been banned over the years to see just what a blunt instrument censorship is. It doesn’t understand fine detail, it doesn’t make subtle distinctions. It is wrecking ball that smashes its direct target but also tends to take out everything else within a hundred-mile literary radius.

So, then. Trigger warnings. We’ve all seen them. In fact, it’s actually becoming increasingly difficult to purchase a book without being hit in the face with one. They run the gamut.

From the very simple: Continue reading →

27

Edges, Limits and Boundaries

Edges, Limits and Boundaries

Soft limits, hard limits, personal boundaries, personal fears. It doesn’t matter if we’re kinky or vanilla, every single one of us has things that we’re comfortable and not comfortable doing sexually; lines that we don’t want crossed, things that we adore doing. And it’s most certainly the case that one person’s ‘hell no!’ is another person’s ‘hell yes!’ That’s a good thing. If we were all the same, life and sex would be terribly boring. What intrigues me, however, is how our comfort levels and perceptions of what we do and don’t like, can and can’t tolerate, can – and often do – change over time.

Now, before I go any further with this train of thought, I’d just like to make it really, really clear that hard limits should always, ALWAYS be respected. No exceptions. They are not there to be pushed. They are not there to be ‘broken though’. A hard limit is a prohibition, a definite no-no. End of story. And a hard limit remains so until such time as the person whose limit it is chooses of their own volition and without coercion for it not to be.

Public service announcement out of the way, let’s continue.

One of things that I am coming to realise the longer I explore my sexuality is that the devil is very much in the detail. And the gulf between the aforementioned ‘hell yes!’ and my safeword is actually much wider than I originally thought. Not because I’ve been sloppy in articulating what I’m okay with and what I’m not or because I’m getting kinkier (I don’t think I am) but because identifying the things that arouse is a bit like going off to explore the jungle. You take your map with you and it defines the terrain you’re going to cover, but the route you follow to your destination often ends up revealing a multitude of alternate trails and tracks that you just have to go back and explore. And on occasion, those offshoots lead you to places you originally sought to avoid. Continue reading →

25

Sinful Sunday: His Take

“It’s not how the world see you, it’s how you see yourself.”

Well, that’s true to a certain extent. But I’m always curious as to how M sees me. This week, I decided to give him my camera. I told him he could take any picture of me that he liked and I would publish it for Sinful Sunday – and this is the result.

Didn’t realise just how many freckles I’ve acquired on my back over the years! :-)

 

His View Continue reading →

20

Dungeon Crawl: Thorn King (A.K.A. shameless self-promotion)

I’d just like to say that Sheri Savill shamelessly guilted me into joining in with this week’s Dungeon Crawl. There was much crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth – and then she launched an online assault that was so wicked, so pointed, I felt I just had to submit:

 

Sheri Savill & Chintz Twitter

She’s shameless, that Savill is. No limits. No boundaries.

So in retaliation, I’m going there. I’m going to ring my own bell and promote my short story Thorn King, which, as some of you may be aware, has just been released as part of Cleis Press’ erotic fairy tale anthology A Princess Bound.

See what you made me do, Sheri? See? Post a dark erotica excerpt. How could you? (The Corvette’s in the post.)

 

THORN KING

 

Just what is this … thing, this creature?

There is no time to consider the question; my mind blanks to a sheet of white nothing as a blisteringly hot tongue begins lapping at the crimson trails smearing my leg. I groan, my head falling backwards like a heavy, dead weight. The feeling is … indescribable. Sublime. Completely foreign.

Arousing.

The idea that some strange being is tasting my blood – feeding on me – should fill me with horror. Yet, with each lick, blood rushes to my clit until it is so tight and swollen I feel as if it might burst. It’s almost as if the cut in my leg has become a soft, luscious cunt and the tip of his tongue a tiny, rapacious cock.

I stare at the umbrella of leaves above and see a heavily pregnant moon shining between the trees. It leers down, a sinister voyeur to this strange, twisted encounter. His tongue continues to stab relentlessly. To probe at my flesh until it feels as if it has invaded my body, that he’s slid inside me like a dark, dark river.

 

Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to purchase a copy:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Cleis Press

 

Who else is joining in with this week’s Dungeon Crawl? Click on the banners below to find out.


Dungeon Crawl

19

Squirm: Cari Silverwood talks inches, virgins, billionaires and tentacles

Squirm - Cari SilverwoodBored with the same old billionaire bikers? Tired of erotic romance heroes who only have nine-inch penises? Not enough grease in your Chanel No. 5? Then you need …

[Cue voice of Brian Butterfield] …

CARI SILVERWOOD’S NEW EROTIC ROMANCE PARODY, SQUIRM! 

Every erotic romance you’ve ever read over the past two years rolled into one handy novella. Horny virgin? Check. Fifty shades of Charlie Hunnam? Check. An enormous penis – I mean tentacle – that just won’t stop poking? Check.

 

Cue interview …

JANE: Does eau de biker have a two-stroke top note and can I buy it from Selfridges or John Lewis?

CARI: I hope you appreciate how much Googling I had to do for this – I’d heard of Selfridges though. To let the US and rest-of-the-world readers in on this, think Target and Walmart with a smidge more class.

I think two-stroke would be a wonderful way to describe this sought after perfume. Although the exact ingredients are a closely held secret by all motorcycle clubs, there’s definitely a base of petrol/gasoline along with the other obvious ingredients like beer, grease, and pizza leftovers.

I doubt you can buy it at Selfridges/Walmart due to the price being the blood of an untamed virgin … or the kiss of one. My inner voice just yelled at me that blood is too icky for a humorous story about a tentacle monster ravaging a virgin. Let’s stick with kiss. Continue reading →