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G-Spoon - LargeAs you may know, I am a big fan of dildos – glass ones in particular. They’re body-safe, easy to clean, look lovely and have a firmness to them that’s hard to beat. It goes without saying, too, that they don’t need to be re-charged or re-batteried at inopportune moments. However, up until a few months ago, I’d always opted for glass dildos constructed of borosilicate (Pyrex), due to the material’s well-publicised ability to withstand extremes of heat or, more technically, ‘thermal shock’.

Enter the awesomely-named Fucking Sculptures (whose taglines are some of the best I’ve ever come across (pun intended): “As unique as you are. Hand-sculpted, fine fucking art” and “Where sex meets art, then fucks itself”) and their stunning soda-lime glass creations. Continue reading

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Ein - Sorcha BlackTitle: Ein
Author: Sorcha Black
Publisher: Belfry Publishing (22 March 2014)
ASIN: B00J6S8YSW
Reviewer: Jane

Quiet.

That’s the word that springs to mind when I reflect upon Sorcha Black’s first solo novel, Ein. It seems like an unusual adjective to apply to an ‘erotic’ fantasy – I can’t recall a time I’ve ever thought of describing a story from this genre in such a way – but against all odds given the content (torture, sadomasochism, non-con), it just seems to fit. And this lack of literal ‘noise’ in Ein is in no way negative. Far from it. As a writer, it takes some serious, serious skill to wield a club weighed down with a heavy storyline and stop yourself from beating readers over the proverbial head with it. 

If I’m going to read fantasy, I generally prefer the urban kind. It’s not that I have a rubbish imagination, rather that I tend to enjoy those books that have some sort of link to my own reality. There’s a level of grittiness to a novel that’s only a few steps removed from real life that I just don’t seem to be able to find in one that’s infested with plagues of elves and goblins. Creatures that breathe fire and have hairy feet don’t really get my engine going. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is about my limit.

So is Ein an urban fantasy, then? Well, no. Somehow, it manages to sit smack bang in the middle of an erotic fantasy no-man’s (or should I say ‘no dragon’s’) land. And that’s a place that I’ve not visited before. It’s as if Sorcha Black’s gone a hundred metres towards Graceling, hung a left up the hill towards Comfort Food, crossed the bridge towards Robin Hood’s house, and finally pitched the Ein tent on a patch of land about a mile down the road from all three. Perhaps the reason the story feels so relatable is the mediaeval undercurrent that seems to flow gently through the world that the author has created. Continue reading

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Bad Girl Good Title: Bad Girl Good
Author: Sadey Quinn
Publisher: Sea and Sky (26 July 2013)
ASIN: B00E6HJ16W
Reviewer(s): Michael & Jane

 

A huge apology to Sadey Quinn, Bad Girl Good’s author, who has been waiting super-patiently for me to post our review of this book. As many of you may be aware from my Tumbleweed post, things are slightly chaotic behind the florals at the moment and I’m rather behind on, well, pretty much everything. Hmm. Maybe I need Todd, Bad Girl Good’s male protagonist, to keep me in line…?

 

MICHAEL’S TAKE

Bad Girl Good is a Domestic Discipline novel. When Chloe breaks one of her boyfriend’s rules, Todd gets to spank her.

Bad Girl Good is a Total Power Exchange novel. Chloe has given control of her life to her Dom, Todd, and he disciplines her when she violates any of his dictates.

Which one of those is accurate? I am still not entirely sure. Continue reading

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Bond Confessions, Volume 2Title: Bond Confessions (London Brown) Volume 2, Novella 1
Author: Leila DeSint
Publisher: New Dawning Bookfair (4 July 2013)
ISBN: 9781301725502
Reviewer: Michael

If you recall, Michael reviewed Leila’s Confessions Collection Vol.1 back in February and was left wondering just what was going to happen in the next instalment …

 

‘Two men. One a politician on the verge of greatness and the other a philanthropist on the cusp of corruption, each own a piece of me.’

 

This is a short review but this latest instalment in the Confessions series really isn’t that long.

I’ll admit that this is one of those books that took me some time to get started with but, after that, I was genuinely pulled back into the story.

The positive thing for me is that Desniah seems to be gaining more control over her life. London only plays the smallest part and Desniah makes a massive decision at the end – or at least I hope she did.

Caden makes a huge step forward as he finally realises the truth that has been staring him in the face for long. Continue reading

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Jack's Floggers crop

What we used: standard riding crop
From: Jack’s Floggers
Material(s): leather, glass fibre
Price: £12.00
Reviewer(s): Lizzie & Thomas

A crop is a crop is a crop. Or is it? Find out what Lizzie and Thomas think of their newest purchase from U.K.-based Jack’s Floggers.

First thoughts

Lizzie
So, can I just say that my eyes were going all over the place when I saw Jack’s line up of truly beautiful implements at LAM (the London Alternative Market), which is where Thomas and I bought this lovely, lovely riding crop a month or two back. The quality of Jack’s products was abundantly clear but, not only that, they were all, without exception, incredibly stylish. This crop stood out to me, first and foremost, because of the colour – I’m a sucker for red – but as soon as I picked it up, I thought ‘ooh!’. Our current Bondage Boutique crop, the one we reviewed a while back, is now a little worse for wear and, lately, we’ve noticed the keeper has started to part company with the shaft.

Thomas
Like Lizzie, I noticed straight away that this crop of Jack’s looked and felt far superior to our current one. And although they’re both about the same length overall (approximately 27.5 inches from end to end) the leather strop/keeper on his design is much longer (7.0 inches at the attachment point as opposed to 4.5). Continue reading

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Kaylee's KeeperTitle: Kaylee’s Keeper (Masters of The Castle #2)
Author: Maren Smith
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications (5 July 2013)
ASIN: B00DT7YTYE
Reviewer(s): Michael & Jane

Oh, ho-ho. Michael knocked it out of the park with this joint read-and-review choice. Spanking, D/s, violet wands, vegetable safewords. Funny, hot and totally sexy.

MICHAEL’S TAKE

So Kaylee has been saving up for the moment of her life: a trip to The Castle, the hottest BDSM resort in Central Ohio. She gets to spend three whole days living out her fantasies.

She just has one teeny tiny little problem. She’s no clear idea of what her fantasies will be like in real life. She has never played, never been to a club, never done anything. And she is sure of one thing: if she tells The Truth, admits to her inexperience, she’ll be spending her entire stay in the kiddie pool wearing water wings.

So she lies. Not a big lie. She just wants them to think she has some experience. What could go wrong? It isn’t like they are going to drag her down to an underground dungeon and send in a Hulking Brute in an Executioner’s Mask with a Bullwhip, is it? Okay, so maybe it was a big lie. Continue reading

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Truth - Sherri HayesTitle: Truth (Finding Anna)
Author: Sherri Hayes
Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop (25 July 2013)
ISBN: 9781612131610
Reviewer: Jane

 

Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. (Well, mostly.)

How do I even begin reviewing Truth? Firstly, let me say that if you haven’t read the previous two books in the Finding Anna series, Slave and Need, you’re going to be seriously, seriously lost if you go straight in with this one. It cannot be read as a stand-alone. All three instalments are closely tied together and to truly appreciate the circumstances that Brianna and Stephan find themselves in, you need to understand how they got to where they are. Continue reading

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This Is Who I Am - Cherise SinclairTitle: This Is Who I Am (Shadowlands Book 7)
Author: Cherise Sinclair
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (27 May 2013)
ISBN: 978-1-62300-148-3
Reviewer(s): Michael & Jane

 

This joint review was a no-brainer for us. Michael and I are both big fans of Cherise Sinclair and it’s fair to say that we were both gagging to read this latest instalment in her Shadowlands series. When I suggested to him that This Is Who I Am should be our next project?

 

@Jane: I have been looking forward to that book for over a year:

‘”I won’t scar you. I won’t go past when you can take. If you can trust me that far, this will be much easier for you.” He met her eyes straight on, letting her read his body, hear the truth, and see it in his face. “But, Linda, I’m going to hurt you. You’ll hate me when I make you take it, and you’ll hate even more that you need it. That it fills that hole inside you and cleans away the clutter.”‘

(To Command and Collar (Shadowlands Book 6))

 

@Michael: CANNOT WAIT for Sam. And DeVries from Dark Haven. They both scare and tempt at the same time … *sigh*

 

Yep, we were pushing the download button on release day.

Did it live up to our expectations? Continue reading

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Breaking the Rules, BloomTitle(s): Breaking the Rules, Bloom (Master of Love)
Author: Kate Belle
Publisher: Random House Australia (02 January 2013)
ISBN(s): Breaking the Rules – 9781742758343; Bloom – 9781742758350
Reviewer(s): Michael & Jane

 

Take three!

In our third joint-review outing, Michael and I debate the motivations of the supremely debonair Ramon from Kate Belle’s Master of Love series. I suspect he and Sting have been hanging out together a fair bit; Michael’s trying to decide how he’d look with a pair of Eros wings.

Now, if someone would just lend us the Sorting Hat …

 

MICHAEL’S TAKE

What can I say about Ramon Mendez?

Men want to be him. Women want to be with him. He’s working on a Ph.D. in Women’s Sexuality – only he isn’t a woman. He puts ladies through a real workout – without them even taking off their clothes.

And Dude’s a Rule Breaker. If he wants to be with a woman, he finds a way. It doesn’t matter if she is in a position of authority over him, like his College Adviser, or one of his students in a mid-morning fitness class. If he sees something he likes, he doesn’t hesitate. Continue reading

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Take Me, Break MeTitle: Take Me, Break Me
Author: Cari Silverwood
Publisher: Wolf Charm Press (04 March 2013)
ISBN: 9781301060573
Reviewer(s): Michael and Jane

Yep. As requested, Michael and I are back once again as a book-reviewing double act. Are we less ranty than last time? I think so. But I still ended up drawing stick figures. Couldn’t seem to stop myself. He, meanwhile, took the high road and included intelligent and insightful quotes. (I think its clear which of us is Batman and which of us is Robin in this instance …)

 

JANE’S TAKE …

Before I say anything else, I just want to make it clear that I liked this book. The story was interesting, the characters likeable, and the sex hot. (Very, very hot in fact.) But it disturbed me. And I felt bad for enjoying it at times. Continue reading