Title:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to work in the videogame industry. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say, when At Any Price (Gaming the System) came to my attention earlier in the week via a link in this post by Skye Warren, I was immediately intrigued. My mind began to whir. Was the heroine going to get ‘serviced’ next to the servers? Would the hero decide to ‘review her build’ during the daily Scrum meeting? In my experience, game dev. is a whole load of (stressful) fun, but calling it sexy would be … a stretch, to say the least. Unless you count listening to hundreds of emote .wav files to make sure they don’t sound unintentionally orgasmic, getting shot (repeatedly) with Nerf guns when you tell the dev. team they need to fix a bug the night before manufacturer submission, asking the rigger to make a character’s boobs smaller, and informing the lead artist that the creature he’s spent the last few days concepting needs to look ‘less penis-like’.

However, it turns out that the videogame backdrop for At Any Price (the first in a series of three books by author Brenna Aubrey) is more peripheral than integral, despite the references to patches, servers and avatars. It’s true that Adam, the hero, can code like a god (apparently, he’s the Zeus of C++) but it’s his addiction to his mobile and laptop, rather than his association with MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing) game development, that ultimately define him in Ms Aubrey’s story.

It all starts with an online auction. Gamer girl and blogger, Mia Strong, from whose point-of-view At Any Price is told, is strapped for cash; her mother is recovering from cancer and, thanks to a bunch of medical bills, about to lose her house. Mia herself is struggling to foot her college tuition. What’s a girl to do? Well, if you’re her, you decide, in a rather Catarina Migliorini-meets-Belle de Jour move, to wave your middle finger at the social stigmas surrounding prostitution and sell your virginity online.

 I’ve decided to decry the crimes and impositions put upon my sisters since the beginning of time until now. And I offer, therefore, a new paradigm. One where a woman can sell her purity and enjoy the fruits thereof.

I’m not spoiling the story by revealing that Adam Drake, CEO of Draco Multimedia Entertainment, is the guy who wins the right to deflower Mia. But despite a raft of contractual clauses pertaining to said deflowering, things go a bit … awry.

Hands up, I was more than a little worried that our leading man might turn out to be yet another carbon copy of the dreadful Christian Grey (beware the millionaire with the contract), but, thankfully, he managed to dodge the Fifty Shades of Gaming bullet. So how best to describe Mr Drake, then? What sort of man pays three-quarters-of-a-million for some skin and blood? At the risk of revealing myself as a complete geek, one who is Alpha in both the traditional (me Tarzan, you Jane) and gaming (fully functional but his assets need work) senses of the word.

Mia? She, too, is very much a work in progress – not without her bugs and, like Adam, in possession of an emotional and social codebase that needs a whole lot of finishing.

At Any Price raises some interesting and difficult questions. If you sell yourself for money, just the once, are you a prostitute? Will society continue, as it has done for hundreds of years, to see prostitution in the negative and malign those who engage in it? Independent Institute research fellow, Wendy McElroy’s words seem particularly appropriate in this instance:

“Prostitution is not merely an exchange of sexual favors; it is a financial exchange. At this point, individualist feminists rise to defend the free market as well as a woman’s self-ownership. This is expressed by the question: ‘Prostitution is a combination of sex and the free market. Which one are you against?’”

Of course, I couldn’t help but jokingly accuse a bunch of ex-colleagues of writing At Any Price under a pen name, which lead to some hilarious back-and-forth about whether the hero performed at ‘a consistent 60fps per second’, if he ‘qualified as a Class A’ (for the non-nerds amongst you, that’s the worst type of bug you can get during development and, generally means that no one is getting any sleep for the foreseeable future) and this extremely witty parody from a good friend of mine who is married to an Executive Producer:

“As his fingers pumped the buttons of the controller her thoughts turned to what else those dexterous digits could do… the washing up, putting that picture on the wall that’s been lying around for 6 months, clearing out the garage. #reallifeofagamerswife”

Sexually speaking, At Any Price is relatively tame. But the story is more than interesting enough to carry things along. Some readers may find the coitus interruptus aspect a bit frustrating, but the good news is that although this book is the first of three about Mia and Adam, there’s no make-you-want-to-tear-your-hair-out cliff-hanger.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• At Any Price (Gaming the System) – Kindle
• At Any Price (Gaming the System) – Paperback

Amazon.com

• At Any Price (Gaming the System) – Kindle
• At Any Price (Gaming the System) – Paperback

*Apologies for the lack of stick figures in this one, troops. My black ink pen has run dry and I’ve yet to buy a new one!

The post At Any Price (Gaming the System) – Brenna Aubrey appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Bondage! BDSM! The Beatles! And, no, that last one’s not a typo. In this joint review of The Compound, Michael and I get a bit rock ‘n’ roll. (I know, I know, I know. Just go with it.)

*Proceed with caution: spoilers ahoy-hoy

JANE’S TAKE …

Completely confused by the presence of the Fab Four in this review? Don’t worry, all will become clear as mud, I promise.

Take a sub who can’t let go (Alexis) and send her to a strict BDSM bootcamp, one that specialises in whipping bottoms into shape (pun intended):

Give her a trainer, John (not the hero), who’s hell-bent on getting results, dammit!:

Throw in John’s colleague, Paul, who’s busy writing a very catchy song called Hey Jude. Wait. No, sorry, wrong Paul (I think). Throw in John’s colleague, Paul, who sees Alexis and develops a thing for her:

Get Alexis to lust after Paul but spend 80-90% of the book being put through a whole load of unsatisfying pain play by big bad John:

Let Paul and Alexis shag in the final few pages (note the man wearing handcuffs at 0:19 seconds in this video! Bondage! Beatles! BDSM!):

This one started out with such a hiss and roar, I was expecting to be a hot sweaty mess by the time I’d finished reading it. ‘Michael!’ I was practically shouting over email. ‘This is hot! And I’ve only read the first chapter! Awesome choice!’ Er, yeah. As you may have guessed, those sentiments didn’t last:

@Michael Okay. Time out.

I’m about 90% of the way through now. And I’m ticked. I’m ticked off with John who, if he’s the Sub Whisperer everyone says he is, should know better. I’m ticked off that I’ve read most of this book and Paul is still spectating from the sidelines. Grow a pair of ben-was, dude.

The first few chapters I thought I was going to get a Roissy-style deal. Then, from the three-quarter mark, I’m suddenly reading a Mills & Boon.

And the love at first sight? You had me at flogger? Gag. (Just to be clear, I’m talking about the reflex, not saying that a ball gag would have had any bearing on the whole love thing.)

Lastly, the tying. Where is all that rope going? You know what I’m going to be drawing, don’t you? Those bondage scenes, trying to figure out exactly how our intrepid heroine is positioned.

Shutting up now.

You good?

Michael, at this point, raised a very interesting question:

@Jane: Were you like me, and waiting for Master George and Master Ringo to show up?

That was all the encouragement I needed to start going bananas with Beatles clips. In fact, there was so much singing and tapping of feet going on I forgot to draw any stick figures.

In all fairness, The Compound was perfectly acceptable from a writing point-of-view but the contrast between the heavy play and the soft love story was just too jarring for me. And I have to admit I spent a lot of time Googling and asking various online friends about some of the breast caning scenes it contained; they seemed very severe at times and I was left wondering about Alexis’s safety during them more than once.

Lastly (and this is just a general observation more than anything else), what is it with all the duplicate cover images these days? They’re everywhere! Seriously, erotica publishers are in sore need of more stock libraries to source their images from …

MICHAEL’S TAKE …

Alexis is a masochist. She really enjoys pain. But something is missing and she isn’t quite sure what that something is.

Part of the problem is that she wants more of an experience. The kind you can’t have playing in the public area of a BDSM club with other people rubbernecking. Or at least she can’t. Part of the problem is that the only Dom she has really clicked with is Arthur. Who is married. And while his wife is okay with him playing in public, the deal is no going behind closed doors.

So the opportunity comes up for her to spend some time at … The Compound (insert ominous music here and maybe an evil laugh). For a slave training operation, it actually has kind of a resort atmosphere; while some residents apply to attend, others are sent by someone they’re already in a relationship with. No one is there against their will. The point is to make the various ‘students’ better submissives/slaves/people than they were before.

Alexis is a bit of a problem child. Right after she arrives she spots the man of her dreams. And then gets assigned to someone who is anything but (Jane explains the name thing in her review). And John finds her a bit of a conundrum.

I don’t know when the dirty suspicion came to me, but after an uncounted time of lying in a heap, I suddenly knew another fact of the conditioning I was being put through – and the difference between my training and that of the others. All the hints and unexplained happenings … The bastards were building a link between pain and sexual arousal and satisfaction.

 

If that quote sounds odd for this story, that is because I borrowed it from Mind Guest by Sharon Green. The way John describes what he wants to do with Alexis at one point brought this to mind. But the funny thing is it doesn’t work. What Alexis needs is something that John and Paul (and George and Ringo) once explained:

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

Amazon.co.uk

• The Compound – Kindle
• The Compound – Paperback

Amazon.com

• The Compound – Kindle
• The Compound – Paperback

Kobo

• The Compound – ePub

The post The Compound – Claire Thompson appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

Prepare yourselves. Michael and I decided to read and review Rush in tandem. And let’s just say that we had, er, pretty strong reactions to it. Warning: it’s a general winter of discontent below the fold and we only just refrained from using SHOUTY CAPITALS in our respective reviews. Buckle up.

MICHAEL’S TAKE …

First off, let me say this. Maya Banks has been doing this for a while now. I don’t really think this is her version of Fifty Shades of Grey despite the fact that it did sort of feel that way. (Oh, and if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read this because this is a fully-fledged rant.) Having said that, she has accomplished something I wouldn’t have thought possible: created a male lead in Gabe Hamilton that makes Christian Grey and Gideon Cross (Bared to You) look like normal, well-adjusted, thoughtful young men.

Gabe is in the hotel business. He and his partners, Jace and Ash, have been friends since college and seem to collectively be this generation’s Conrad Hilton. They are all thirty-eight and none of them have settled down – making all three eminently eligible bachelors. Well, actually, Gabe was married to Lisa for a while. And while we don’t find out much about it, it was some sort of power exchange relationship where he made all of the decisions. Until the day she decided to leave him and ran to a divorce attorney and the press painted their relationship as abusive. She got a hefty settlement when he didn’t fight her.

Since then, Gabe has avoided romantic entanglements. Oh, he has relationships but they all have a contractual component. Every woman he sleeps with has to sign his combination Slave Contract Non-disclosure Agreement. After that, he and his chosen paramour get physical for a while but never more than six months before he moves on.

So then he runs into Mia. Jace’s little sister. A twenty-four-year-old who seems to have gotten an MBA or at least a business degree but is waitressing at a pastry shop. Sweet little Mia who was raised from childhood by her big brother after their parents were killed. And it turns out he was wanted her for years. Long enough that he has now decided that a fourteen-year age difference doesn’t matter as much as it did when she was twenty or sixteen or whatever.

So he goes to Jace and explains to him that he wants to use and abuse his baby sister for the next six months or so. Oh, wait, no, he doesn’t. That probably wouldn’t work out very well.

So he goes to Mia and explains to her that he wants to use and abuse her for an unspecified period of time. Oh, and she really should have career goals so she can be his assistant so he can do the using and abusing right in his office. As long, of course, as she signs up to be his NDA’d sexual submissive. So at this point she files a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Oh, wait, no, she doesn’t. But she probably should have.

So a bunch of stuff happens and then Gabe and Mia end up in a hotel room in Paris with three prospective business partners. In order to prove to himself that he doesn’t have feelings for his best friend’s little sister he binds and essentially tosses her to the wolves – after setting a few ground rules.

There are roughly five kinds of men:

1. The kind whose personal code would, for moral and religious reasons, make them want to leave.
2. Those who prefer other guys to women.
3. Guys who aren’t really Doms but aren’t going to pass up an interesting opportunity.
4. Actual Doms who delight in the joy of a submissive woman.
5. Abusers who won’t hesitate to hurt women to make themselves feel superior.

The thing is, it is mighty hard to tell which is which just by looking at someone. The fact that Gabe assumed that these three potential investors were 3s and 4s was idiotic. I don’t even think scenarios 1 and 2 entered his head. But you don’t take a chance on having a 5 in the room. That was one of the most boneheaded moves I have ever seen.

And I have to say that Mia was part of the problem. Being submissive is one thing. Letting someone walk on the fine line of being abusive (assuming you don’t think that Gabe crossed the line) is something else. Later on, Jace worries that her next boyfriend might actually be abusive as a result of her time with Gabe; if only the latter had given as much thought to what was going on.

Honestly, my favorite moment was when Jace punched Gabe out. Because someone needed to. Of course, it didn’t actually knock any sense into him. That would have to come later.

I did kind of like the ending but I am still thinking Gabe may need a couple of decades or so of therapy.

I actually pre-ordered the next book, Rush, which will be featuring Jace. I am curious to see how he and Ash fare from an outsider perspective. Because even if they were kind of the guardian angels in this one, they probably won’t be in their own stories.

JANE’S TAKE …

My Rush reading experience can pretty much be summarised by my Goodreads ‘in progress’ status updates and ranty emails:

Status update 1: “9% in and the words ‘steel’, ‘minx’ and ‘kitten’ have been used. :-/”

Status update 2: “Oh, for the love of Pete: ‘There is no negotiation’. REALLY?”

Status update 3: “Rapidly losing the will to live reading this. I’m so not absorbed that I’m watching clips of Scottish Terrier puppies on YouTube every few pages to try and boost my flagging spirits.”

[Pause in reading]

@Michael: “Are you going to finish this or what?”

@Jane: “I’ve stalled … I got partway through, got cross, skimmed the last bit, got even more cross, and then put it down. I really do need to finish it though. It’s dreadful and deserves my full wrath.”

[Michael starts reading]

@Michael: “Wow! I am still not sure what to make of it but if Jace kills Gabe with his bare hands when they get to New York I think I could let him off for temporary insanity if I were on the jury.”

@Jane:  “So you’ve been to Paris, then? … Gabe is a total sh*t. The term ‘control freak’ seems most appropriate. And for the love of a flogger, why the HELL would you invite business associates to Top your ‘beck and call girl’? Because, let’s be honest, that’s what she is.

The thing that really irks me though? Maya Banks writes so bloody nicely. There’s just something about the flow and rhythm of her prose that appeals to me. It’s why I keep buying her. But her actual characterisation and interactions are so hit and miss. I haven’t felt this cross about a male protagonist of hers since Micah (Sweet Temptation). I mean, come on! Contrast this idiot with Damon from Sweet Persuasion.

@Michael: “I couldn’t understand what could upset you so much but when I got to that scene I understood. This guy makes Christian Grey and Gideon Cross look stable.”

@Jane: “I think our joint review of this is going to turn into a joint rant …”

Um, yeah, it kind of did. If you don’t find narcissistic, wankerish men off-putting in an erotic romance then you’ll probably like this. Because that’s exactly what Gabe is. The writing’s solid, though, and that’s what stops it from becoming a total bust. I quite liked Jace and Ash as characters, too, although the way this series has started I’m tempted to lay money on them turning into total morons during the next two books.

Series prediction:

• Book two = ménage meltdown. Jace decides he can’t share his women with Ash anymore. Ash can’t decide what to do with his penis now he’s on his own.
• Book three = Ash has ménage withdrawal but has to ‘rescue’ Caroline from her bouncer boyfriend and in the process emerges from his DP funk.

Roll on Fever.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• Rush – Kindle
• Rush – Paperback

Amazon.com

• Rush – Kindle
• Rush – Paperback

Kobo

• Rush – ePub

The post Rush (The Breathless Trilogy) – Maya Banks appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

You know how you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover? Well, I took one look at Spanktastic and totally (totally) did.

Oh, my, is it hot.

But do you know what’s even better? The inside. Because does Spanktastic ever live up to its super-seductive exterior. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it surpasses it – and a barebottomed red-head draped over a velvet chair is pretty hard to top, in my opinion!

This book is an absolute feast for spanking gluttons. Twenty-two luscious stories, in which different women have their bottoms turned a delightful shade of pink by the various inhabitants of fictional town, Rock Creek – a BDSM-friendly community whose residents are free to indulge their fetishes behind closed doors or in front of them. (I should point out here that whilst Spanktastic is a collection of shorts, they’re all linked together by this common setting and, thus, intertwine to create an anthology with a ‘novelesque’ feel. So even if you’re not generally keen on short-form erotica, Spanktastic may just appeal to you.)

The stories are all delightfully different – with twenty-two in total, I was a bit worried that they might be a bit ‘samey’ – but, no. Author Sadey Quinn does a brilliant job of keeping the scenarios varied, interesting and – most importantly! – hot.

F/f, M/ff, FM/f, F/ff, M/f … Voyeurism, exhibitionism, medical, humiliation … And that’s just for starters. I’m struggling to think of types of play that aren’t included in Spanktastic. Yet all are handled with finesse, and even the scenarios that wouldn’t normally push my buttons, well, did.

My personal favourites?

The Sadists, in which a sub by the name of Fern has the misfortune – or should that be pleasure? – of being sent by her Master to serve two sadistic Tops …

‘When they paused once more, Mistress Natasha walked around Fern and stood right in front of her. Their eyes were only inches apart, and Fern shuddered when she saw the expression on the Mistress’ face.
“Don’t you know, Fern,” she said icily, “that I haven’t got an ounce of pity in my body?”’

… and Cleaning for Master Holden. Woe betide any girl who leaves dust bunnies beneath the bed at number Forty-five, Harper Hills:

‘“Come here,” he says.
Joanne walks to him and stands in front of his desk. He holds out his white gloved hand for her to see. To her horror, it is nearly covered in a very thin, yet obvious, layer of dust.
“What is this?” he asks. The edges of his lips are curled in a very small and evil smile.
“It’s … dust, sir,” she says.’

Spanktastic it really is. If you’re a fan of The English Vice, you won’t want to miss this one.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• Spanktastic – Kindle
• Spanktastic – Paperback

Amazon.com

• Spanktastic – Kindle
• Spanktastic – Paperback

Kobo

• Spanktastic – ePub

The post Spanktastic – Sadey Quinn appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

One of the outstanding contributors to this noticeboard is Becca, who does an amazing job of letting all the group members know what’s just popped up and where we can find it. And the other day, she unearthed what can only be described as the most hilarious sounding erotica ever, Flight to Oblivion by one Captain Chris Felton. Per the blurb on Amazon (and, yes, all the following typos are actually in the product description):

‘Kester Wylie is invited to fly on an inaugural flight for a friends new airline. Seven hours into the 4 hour flight they find things are not wuite right. Kester has to break into the planes anti hijack cockpit and try to land the jet. He alters the auto pilot settings and lowers the plane, where he crash landed it on a desert island as they were almost out of fuel. There follows a struggle with the survivors, and he befriends two females and a Japanese team of cheer leaders. He takes them under his wing and eventually they are rescued he finds that the cheerleaders and their manager are all pregnant. He discovers the plane was brought down by a sophisticated missile system. Build in Shanghai by a Chinese his tech military contractor. He gets involved in an intreaguing plot to kill him. Along the way he encounters many beautiful females whom he seduces and they end up living with him, a tale of adventure and enigma and highly charged erotic situations.’

Holy cr*p! Executive Decision meets Bring it On meets Castaway meets Never Say Never Again. Danger! Disaster! Steven Seagal! (Okay, maybe I’m making that last one up, but it feels like he should be in this book!) It’s an erotic mash-up of epic proportions. One that I feel requires some supplementary visual diagrams.

Yep, you guessed it. The stick figures are back with a world first: Book Blurb by Pictures. (The Amazon product description team are going to be beating down my door …)

Part One: Kester makes an Executive Decision

 Part two: Castaway – The Cheerleader Years

 Part three: Bring on the Babies!

Part Four: Look, I know I said I’d Never Be Late Again but …

You know, after all this writing and drawing, I have the strange urge to watch Airplane! …

NB: Need more stick figure action? The lined ones go wild on horses in this post.

The post An erotica blurb in pictures: Flight to Oblivion – Captain Chris Felton appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

Confessions Collection Vol. 1 was one of those books that took me a bit longer to read than usual because I had a hard time figuring out what was going on at first.

London Brown, Caden Jacob Carrington the Fifth, Rhys Christos Edward Stowell, and Desniah Williams. From an outsider perspective, these are four of the youngest and most powerful people in British society. But the insider perspective is very different.

When Desniah is discovered as little girl, she can only say one word: London. Eventually, she’s adopted, but at the age of nine, something happens that turns her world upside down yet again.

The main thing I didn’t understand was the relationship between Desniah and London. I didn’t think they actually had one. I thought London was just the name that Desniah used when she was working as a call girl. But that isn’t true at all. Desniah and London are two entirely separate people. London is aware of everything that happens to them both but Desniah is not. In many ways, London does look out for her ‘other’ personality – but not in all ways.

London has a strong self-preservation instinct and she’ll act to defend herself when she feels threatened. And the person who most scares her is Rhys.

Both Rhys and Caden are firmly attracted to Desniah.

Caden is willing to accept London as a substitute. Rhys is not.

Desniah is attracted to Rhys and repelled by Caden but thinks she has a future with neither.

If there is a good way out of this, I don’t yet see what it is.

Very cerebral. I liked it, but wasn’t particularly engaged by the play scenes.

Tickle your fancy? You can buy Confessions Collection Vol. 1 by clicking on the following links:

Smashwords

• Confessions Collection Vol. 1 (London Brown) – epub, PDF, RTF, LRF

Amazon.co.uk

• Confessions Collection Vol. 1 (London Brown) - Kindle

Amazon.com

• Confessions Collection Vol. 1 (London Brown) - Kindle

Editor’s note: Confessions Collection Vol. 1 (London Brown) is an erotica – and a dark one at that – but it isn’t a ménage despite the number of protagonists. Those who are sensitive to reading about scenes of abuse should proceed with caution.

This book was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for a fair review.

The post Confessions Collection Vol. 1 (London Brown) – Leila DeSint appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Let me assure you, this is no idle thought. I’ve recently been reading Sarah McCarty’s erotic romance Sam’s Creed, and have spent waaaay too much time trying to get my head around the logistics of the sexquestrianism described in this book.

Yes, yes, I know it’s an erotic romance and therefore a work of fantasy, but when you actually have to stop mid-sentence and draw a diagram to help you work out what the hell the characters are doing to each other, then you know you’ve got issues. (Well, either I do or the book does – I can’t quite decide which.)

Picture the scene. It’s 1858. Ranger Sam MacGregor and Hispanic beauty Isabella Montoya are tearing across the wilds of Texas, dodging ambushes and loads of bad guys with six guns. They’ve only got one horse (Sam’s trusty cayuse, Breeze) so are riding double – and, inevitably, all the rubbing against each other gets to be a bit too much.

Cue first incidence of equine acrobatics: fellatio on horseback.

‘“There could be an ambush set just over the next hill.”’

(Perfect time for a bit of oral pleasure, then.)

‘He turned in the saddle, maintaining his grip on her hand, forcing her to lean around.
“Do you want to really pleasure me, Duchess?”’

(Well, men with guns are likely to jump out at us any second, but sure!)

‘She worked her way over. The back of the saddle cut into her hip and she was stretched too far.’

(Uh, what? You’re leaning forwards. Around a torso. If your hip is digging into the rear of the saddle, where on earth are your legs?’)

‘Breeze stumbled.’

(Does Isabella fall off? No way. This mishap turns her into Linda Lovelace.)

So after this very bendy blow job, they stop, make a fire, have some regular sex on nice, solid ground, and repel an ambush before mounting up again. After coming out on the winning end of the scuffle with the evil dudes, they now have additional (skittish) horses and are towing an injured dog on a pallet. Clearly, this is an excellent, excellent time to engage in some anal sex.

‘He hopped back onto the horse’s flank. Before she could realise what he was up to, he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her sideways onto the saddle.’

(Uh, where the heck are you sitting, Sam? Are your manly bits not being crushed by the saddle cantle? I’m kind of surprised you’re still on the horse, to be honest. Most don’t take kindly to having anything near their flanks.)

‘“I want you, Bella.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
She looked intrigued. “How is this done?”’

(Yes, Sam. How is this done?!)

‘He eased her a little more to the right. “Swing your leg over.”
Startled, she glanced at him. “This is possible?”

(Yep. Riding astride a horse is actually feasible. You’ve been doing it for the last few chapters. To be honest, though, Isabella, I think you would have been better to have asked this question last night before trying to fellate your man like an acrobat from Cirque du Soleil. And Sam? For the love of God, why are you trying to do this front-to-front? I think the level of difficulty is quite high enough at this point. It’s not the bloody Olympics.)

‘“Pull your skirt out of the way.” …. “Nice and easy, sweet,” he warned as she jerked about. “We don’t want to spook the horses.”’

(I think they’ve seen it all at this point.)

‘His hands curved around her buttocks. His fingers dipped into the deep crease between, pulling the firm globes apart …’

(Cue backdoor action and orgasms galore. No mention of accidental incidents with the saddle horn that’s no doubt poking into Isabella’s buttocks. In case you’re wondering, she’s never done it this way before, they don’t use any lube (other than bodily fluids) and it’s all unbelievably terrific.)

In fairness, Sam’s Creed was actually pretty well written; the story was quite exciting and the sex rather hot. Unfortunately, the suspense and tension was ruined for me by all the drawing I had to do to work out what the heck was going on sexually. And now I’m wondering what on earth the characters are going to have to do to keep things exciting in the next Hell’s Eight book. Shagging on a horse is pretty hard to top …

NB: If all this horsing around has you intrigued, you can buy your very own copy of Sam’s Creed by clicking on the following links:

Amazon.co.uk

• Sam’s Creed – Kindle
• Sam’s Creed – Paperback

Amazon.com

• Sam’s Creed – Kindle
• Sam’s Creed – Paperback

The post Anal sex on horseback – is it possible? appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

I’m such a geek. First thing I did upon hearing about this book? Googled quinacridone. (It’s a red pigment that’s often used in paints, in case you’re wondering.)

Taking it at face value, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the title, Safeword: Quinacridone seems kind of random – light-hearted and playful in its obscurity, even – and that you’re in for the standard BDSM erotica romp.

Boy would you be wrong.

This is a tale of two people, Cara and Travis, bringing together their respective kinks – objectification and sadism – and, at the same time, creating a functional, romantic relationship.

When we first meet her, Cara, a budding artist, is still very much coming to terms with her wants and desires. Her sexual trajectory has been troubled and she is decidedly unsettled by her initial encounters with the reclusive and contradictory Travis, whom she is inexplicably drawn to. He, on the other hand, is very much in tune with himself – and his need to hurt – but wary of unleashing the monster within on Cara and crossing the line. The couple’s steps first steps towards one another are tentative and awkward (although they’re both full-grown adults, at times I felt like I was watching two teenagers muddle through the beginnings of a sexual awakening) but, gradually, their rapport blossoms into something very intuitive and unique.

I knew going in that Safeword: Quinacridone was going to be intense, having previously read another of Candace Blevins’s Safeword books (Safeword: Rainbow), but this latest entry to the series stepped things up to a whole new level. Really, the only word that I can think of to describe some of the content in this novel is ‘extreme’. Cara’s objectification fantasies, in particular, sometimes push the edges of the envelope.

Interestingly, and despite the very intense level of play between Cara and Travis, Safeword: Quinacridone isn’t a story about total power exchange. I haven’t come across very many books lately that show characters in compartmentalised BDSM relationships, or encountered bottoms who aren’t actually subs. (Even though Cara gets off on being objectified and has some submissive tendencies, she can’t really be described as the latter.) She and Travis are able to switch backwards and forwards between ‘vanilla’ and ‘non-vanilla’ with one another and enjoy the ‘best of both worlds’ – something I found to be incredibly refreshing and enjoyable.

Full disclosure, Safeword: Quinacridone did push my comfort levels. Certain scenes and sections? Very, very, hot (I particularly enjoyed the human table scenario and a number of the impact sequences). But the lean towards the edgier end of things brought me up short at times – to the point that if I had been Cara, I would have painted the entire street in red pigment and had a flashing neon sign with the word ‘quinacridone’ installed over my front door. There were also a number of occasions where I found myself repeating the following line from a conversation between Travis and his friend Paul:

“I mean, I know we’re supposed to be okay with other people’s kinks, but…shit.”

Ironically, the discussions that the characters had about stuff that they wouldn’t do or considered ‘too extreme’ for real life, generally disturbed me more than the things that they actually did end up engaging in. The romantic relationship that develops between the protagonists, however, did tend to balance out the heavier stuff. Candace’s writing style is very natural and readable, too (although the ex-editor in me really wants to tell the publisher that they should have done another copyediting pass on the text as I noticed a small handful of errors in the final manuscript.)

If objectification – and I mean objectification with a capital ‘O’ – floats your boat, you won’t want to miss this one. Casual BDSM erotica readers? Just be aware that you’re about to jump into the deep end of the pool. Without floaties.

Reader advisory (taken from directly from Safeword: Quinacridone): This title contains graphic language, consensual BDSM, extreme objectification, bondage, watersports (one scene), chemical play, fisting, temporary body modification with saline injections (one scene), and the use of toys including clamps, canes, plugs, paddles, whips, floggers, and zip-ties.

*Please note that a free copy of Safeword: Quinacridone was supplied by the author in exchange for a fair review.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• Safeword: Quinacridone – Kindle

Amazon.com

• Safeword: Quinacridone – Kindle

The post Safeword: Quinacridone – Candace Blevins appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

What do you call a tale where a woman shows up for a business meeting only to be assaulted, manhandled, stripped naked, rendered immobile by being bound to a specially designed piece of furniture, blindfolded, gagged and forced to submit to her captor and, possibly, his stalwart management team?

Aw, you guessed it – it’s a love story.

Geoffrey Tennyson wasn’t one of those men who felt sorry for himself because he had a daughter and not a son. He just played the hand life dealt – and spent every moment from the day she was born until the day he died instilling in her his own version of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. There simply wouldn’t be a situation that would come up in any business negotiation that Savannah wouldn’t be prepared for.

But then Matthew Kensington enters the equation.

He’s determined to peel back the layers of business acumen and ice cold ruthlessness to find the woman underneath. To anyone else, it would probably seem like an impossible task. But with the right amount of strategic planning, a carefully crafted and briefed team of associates, and the element of surprise, he’s confident that he can pull it off.

Extreme situations call for extreme measures. And what Matt puts Savannah through is definitely intense. But she actually never says ‘no’ to him (or his colleagues), even though he gives her not one but two methods of calling for help if things get to be too much. And he stays right there with her through every single moment.

Nothing tender or sweet about this one but it’s definitely something of an emotional thrill ride.

Reader advisory: Board Resolution is kind of consensual non-consensual, so if that theme pushes any hot buttons, it may be one to avoid.

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

Amazon U.K.

• Board Resolution (Knights of the Boardroom #1) – Kindle

Amazon U.S.

• Board Resolution (Knights of the Boardroom #1) – Kindle

Kobo

• Board Resolution (Knights of the Boardroom #1) – ePub

The post Board Resolution – Joey W. Hill appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

I’m not even sure how to begin describing this book, except to say that it is brutal. You pick it up, you’re entering a warzone – both literally and figuratively.

It’s the 80s and the Cold War is still in full swing. The Russians are in Afghanistan. The Brits are there, too. Unofficially. An August night in Kabul and an SAS solider is raped by a member of the Red Army. This single violent and awful act sets in motion a story of revenge, friendship and love between two men that spans, in this particular instalment of Voinov’s Special Forces saga, nearly a decade.

Special Forces: Soldiers came to my attention through the BDSM Buddy Read feature on Goodreads. From the comments of those who had already started it, I knew it was going to be full-on but I have to admit I was totally unprepared for the level of intensity I encountered. Just a few pages in and I was at once shocked, appalled, and totally hooked, as evidenced by my Soldiers Buddy Read ‘in progress’ status update:

‘Holy sh*t! On page 28 and jaw is already on the ground. Totally shocking (easily the most intense thing I’ve read this year) but very, very well written. *Takes deep breath and dives back in*’

There is so much going on in this book that it’s virtually impossible to sort through all my thoughts and assemble them in a way that makes any sort of sense – not least because Special Forces: Soldiers clocks in at a whopping 650 pages and spans such a lengthy period of time. When you boil it right down, however, this is a book about anger, denial, lust, respect, understanding and, eventually, love between two men who have everything against them.

I wanted to hate Vadim for what he did to Dan – and I managed to at first. But then a whole lot of stuff happened that completely screwed with my head and dislodged me from a position I thought I would hold resolutely. Basically, I was outflanked by Aleksandr Voinov’s clever writing and characterisation. From the minute you start reading Soldiers you’re under siege and the outcomes of your various turbulent engagements with both Vadim and Dan aren’t always easy to call.

Interestingly, even though this book was part of the BDSM Buddy Read feature, I’m not sure that I would classify it as a BDSM tale in the traditional sense. While there is undoubtedly a power exchange dynamic going on between Dan and Vadim – and certainly elements of edge play (knives in particular) – the context is never formal. To me, Soldiers is more an exploration of how these two tough, independent men relate to one another – and it just so happens that the way they do includes elements of D/s and S/M.

Remarkably, this mammoth story is free to download from Aleksandr Voinov’s website. Yes, you heard me correctly. Six-hundred-plus pages of military man-on-man love for nary a bean. But I really need to say this loudly and clearly: Special Forces: Soldiers is absolutely not for those of a squeamish disposition. It features an explicit rape, torture scenes and graphic, graphic instances of violence (some sexual) and warfare that some readers may find disturbing. The counterbalance is that the writing is outstanding (although keep in mind this is a self-published work and there are some punctuation issues, typos, etc.).

I dare you not to be crossing everything for Dan and Vadim by the end of this book – and rushing off to read the next instalment in the Special Forces series. This is an m/m love story that will knock your socks off.

Tickle your fancy? Click here to obtain a copy of Special Forces: Soldiers from Aleksandr Voinov’s website.

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