Title: Willing Victim
Author: Cara McKenna
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave (06 August 2010)
ISBN: 9781419928482
If you have a penchant for non-con (non-consent) role-play, a man with a dirty mouth, and rough-and-ready sex, you’re going to love this one. Willing Victim is all about indulging those slightly darker and more aggressive fantasies that many of us have but are often afraid to admit to.
First thing’s first. If you’re at all sensitive to reading about rape – in either a real or imagined capacity – then this is definitely not the book for you. (Note my over-zealous use of bold and italics here.) Per Willing Victim’s Reader Advisory warning:
‘Although all sex acts are 100-percent consensual, Willing Victim contains role-playing scenarios that may upset some readers who are sensitive about rape, even in a simulated capacity.’
Still here? Good. Then on with the review …
Laurel’s not really sure what she’s doing with her life. Despite being a qualified engineer, she’s simply drifting from one day to the next, making ends meet by waitressing. Then one day, quite by chance, she meets Flynn, a native Bostonian who works construction. There’s just something about this hulk of a man that draws Laurel and she finds herself doing something completely out of character: asking him out. Initially, he refuses her offer, but Laurel refuses to take ‘no’ for an answer and, eventually, Flynn capitulates – after a fashion:
‘He scribbled an address in South Boston.
“Friday and Saturday nights, eight to one. Tell the guy working that Flynn invited you.”
Laurel studied his slanted handwriting. “Okay,” she said, wondering if all this newfound impulsivity would leave her by the weekend.
“If that doesn’t scare you off,” he said, “ you can try askin’ me out again.”’
What Laurel discovers when she turns up both surprises and intrigues her: Flynn’s a fighter, a stalwart of the underground boxing circuit. But that’s not all. Courtesy of a woman named Pam who has a casual sexual arrangement with him, she learns that the ring isn’t the only place Flynn likes to channel his aggression:
‘“… Flynn’s just willing to go place with me that other guys won’t. Sort of rough places. Well, really rough places.”
.
.
.
“He’s a bit of a thug,” she added with a fond smile.
“In and out of bed, it sounds like,” Laurel said. Not that it was necessarily a criticism.
Pam shrugged again. “What I told you about him sexually…don’t jump to condemn him or anything. He’s actually really kind.”
And that’s the crux of this book. Fabulously dirty, aggressive sex with a real rough diamond who’s not afraid to play in very dark places – provided (and this is important) it’s what his partner wants. Is Flynn hard on those he has sex with (or, more accurately, ‘fucks’)? Oh, yes. Is he violent towards them? No. That’s not what Willing Victim’s about. The clue is in the title: this isn’t a story of abuse.
I’ve seen some reviewers describe this as a BDSM book but, in my opinion, it isn’t. Although there’s unquestionably a power exchange between Laurel and Flynn – and they have a safeword in place – Willing Victim is much more about non-consent role-play. Bluntly, ‘being forced’ in a controlled and pre-negotiated environment.
Characterisation-wise, Cara McKenna does a great job with both protagonists. Laurel is suitably cautious about what she’s stepping into and Flynn’s clearly in tune with his partners’ needs and limits. He’s not a blunt instrument, either. The flip-side of him is his kindness – because although Flynn describes himself as an ‘asshole’ to Laurel at the beginning of Willing Victim, it soon becomes very clear that he’s not.
Finally, a word on Flynn’s language. As I mentioned in the very first sentence, it’s dirty (the ‘c word’ abounds) – but well done. If filth is going to come out of a man’s mouth during sex, this is the kind you want. To that end, I’m pretty positive you’ll be fanning yourself and/or jumping on your partner rather than cringing.
Tickle your fancy? Click on the below links to purchase a copy.
Amazon.co.uk:
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