Title: 

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.

The mold-breaking doesn’t end there, either. Einan, our heroine (Ein for short) isn’t, despite the hellish ordeals she goes through, a damsel dishrag in need of rescuing.

Halle-bloody-lujah.

The girl has a backbone of pure steel and is able to compartmentalise the sacrifices she makes with her body for the sake of her children in a way that we rarely see. She loves her man (and her woman) fiercely but her relationships don’t define her personality or her well of inner strength. Even when they’re not there, she survives and endures.

The BDSM content is intriguing, to say the least. There are clear markers for the modern D/s lifestyle – such as Ein’s simple and beloved rope collar – however, as with her characterisation, Sorcha doesn’t go for the obvious. This is definitely not the standard male Dom, female sub story. I won’t say any more than that to avoid introducing spoilers but even if switching and F/F are not normally your bag Ein is still worth your time; the characters’ relationships are twined together so beautifully that I’m pretty certain you won’t find the time to get hung up on who is topping and who is bottoming.

The sharp-eyed amongst you may have noticed that I wrapped the word ‘erotic’ in the first paragraph in quotation marks. That’s not unintentional. Even though Ein does have erotic elements (capture fantasy, D/s, polyamory) I would tentatively suggest that if sits closer to the dragonless fantasy genre than traditional erotica. Why? Because the Gutrian/Cedesian tapestry into which Ein’s love stories are woven is just too colourful and rich to ignore and, to my mind, supersedes the sexual content.

A wonderful, albeit intense, read and the perfect book to drag me out of the erotic romance cookie cutter funk I’ve been drowning in lately.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• Ein – Kindle

Amazon.com

• Ein – Kindle

*Please note that a copy of Ein was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for a fair review.

The post Ein (The Dustmother Trilogy) – Sorcha Black appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Title:

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.

What I loved most about this one was how patient the staff were with her. A fantasy doesn’t work out? Sure. No Problem. As soon as she’s dried her tears, they send her back to costuming and try again. (They had so many things to choose from in that department, I don’t think for a moment we saw everything it had to offer.) Not unlike Goldilocks, Kaylee just has to try and try again until she finds the kink that’s just right.

I think the most negative thing I can say about Kaylee’s Keeper is that it’s a little sad that The Castle isn’t actually real.

JANE’S TAKE

Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “Jane! Can you skydive?”
Jane: [Hell no, but you look kind of hot so I’ll give it a crack]: “Yes, of course I can! In fact, I used to be an instructor.”
Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “Awesome. Grab a parachute and get your arse in that plane over there.”
Jane: [How hard can it be?] “You’ve got it.”

6,000 feet later …

Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “Are you okay, Jane? You look kind of green …”
Jane: [Fucking hell this is high!!!] “Oh, fine, fine. I think I had a bad prawn at lunch.”

12,500 feet later …

Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “You ready to jump?”
Jane: [FUCK!!!] Totally … absolutely … er … definitely. My, that weather doesn’t look at all good, does it? Maybe we should turn back?”
Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “It’s 30 degrees and sunny with no wind.
Jane: [FUCK x 10!] “See! Terrible conditions!”
Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “Er, Jane? Are you sure you’ve done this before?
Jane: [Oh, my God. Does Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear suspect something? That I’m not, perhaps, the skydiving goddess he imagines? Act defensive! Put him off the scent!] “How dare you! What exactly are you suggesting?”
Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “That you may not know how to skydive?”
Jane: [He’s fishing! Play it cool; there’s no way he can know I’m not telling the truth …] “Now why on earth would you say that?”
Attractive Random Person Dressed in Skydiving Gear: “Well, for starters, you’re strapping yourself to the emergency first aid kit rather than your parachute.”

Have you ever fudged the truth a little? Massaged your C.V. to get that perfect job? Not been entirely honest on that health questionnaire: “How many times a week do you take regular exercise/eat chocolate/drink more than two units of alcohol?” (Never, no, every day, only at Easter, and only at weddings. (Snort.)) Well, Kaylee’s Keeper is all about what happens when a sub pretends to have a little – okay, a lot – more BDSM experience than she actually does (none).

“Have you ever engaged in BDSM play before? Kaylee checked off her answer, yes, and kept going, swallowing back that same slight twinge of guilt that she’d felt back when she first typed that lie. She had never played. Up until now, all of her spankings had been received through fantasy and daydreams.”

I loved this book for a number of reasons. It did a wonderful job of showing that the fantasies in our heads don’t always play out as we imagine they will in real life. It did a wonderful job of showing how important open and honest communication is between partners. It did a wonderful job of showing that we don’t automatically know what will turn us on, that we often discover these things over time, through experience, with patience. Oh, and it absolutely showed why it is never ever a good idea to lie to a Top.

I don’t want to say too much more and ruin this delightful tale for you, but I will confess that the violet wand scene at the end of this story is awesome, as is the one that leads up to and includes Kaylee’s first use of The Castle’s universal safeword, onion. You’ll never look at an Allium cepa in quite the same way again.

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

Amazon.co.uk

• Kaylee’s Keeper (Masters of The Castle #2) – Kindle

Amazon.com

• Kaylee’s Keeper (Masters of The Castle #2) – Kindle

The post Kaylee’s Keeper (Masters of The Castle #2) – Maren Smith appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Me!

Roleplay. It’s not a kink I know a lot about or tend to indulge in. Not because I have anything against it but because it just doesn’t really push any of my hot buttons. Why not? Well, I’m kind of inclined to think that because it’s taken so long to get to the point where I’m comfortable with the kinks that do rev my engine, I don’t want to pretend.

I want to just be me.

Raw.

As I am.

In fact, the things that I tend to find the most powerful in a D/s context involve being stripped back to nothing, all ‘other’ gone, both mentally and physically.

We once attended an impact play class that, unexpectedly, included a small roleplay element and, of all the things my other half and I have tried and done together over the years, adopting alternate personas proved to be one of the most difficult and challenging. Discussing the merits of a wooden paddle in front of ten others? No problem. Pretending to be a helpless stowaway on a bad-ass pirate ship? Well, let’s just say I got pretty desperate for him to make me walk the plank and put us both out of our misery. Tongues became tied, faces red, and all of a sudden we weren’t quite sure what to do with one another. Quite simply, roleplaying threw us.

Is it, perhaps, a personality thing? Maybe. I was never the kid who auditioned for the school drama production; playing another person just doesn’t come naturally to me and I think the need to be myself overrules everything else, no matter how titillating or deliciously debauched the scenario. Says Mollena Williams, who wrote a really fabulous piece on roleplaying in Tristan Taormino’s The Ultimate Guide to Kink:

‘I am, among many things, an actor and a performer, and I have been practicing my craft professionally since I was about four years old. But even for me, with a lifetime of formal training and experience under my belt, turning up the heat in bed by playing make-believe games can sometimes feel awkward, vulnerable, or difficult.’

This sums it up perfectly. There’s a certain vulnerability to roleplaying and I just don’t think I’m fearless enough to put myself out there like that. Yep, I’m a scaredy cat.

Do I think that engaging in D/s is a form of roleplay? I can’t answer for others but for me it’s most definitely not. I don’t step into another personality or adopt a character that isn’t already a part of me. I simply let another side of my regular self loose.

Having said all this, though, I should make it clear that I absolutely have fantasies; things and situations that I imagine or dream about. Some of which will remain in my head as lovely dark secrets and others, less fanciful, that will, perhaps, see the light of day. But all of these imaginings tend to involve me being, well, me – faults, flaws and all.

Title image: Th. van den Brink (Beeld en Geluidwiki – Gallery: Pipo de clown)

The post Kink of the Week: Tonight, I’m going to be … appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Werewolf beats all: Interview with the CEO of fantasy sex toy site Bad Dragon (NSFW)
Source: San Francisco Bay Guardian Online

Secretly wish you could have sex with an orc? Well prepare yourself. This article looks at Bad Dragon (NSFW), a U.S. company that creates sex toys based on sci-fi and fantasy characters. The editorial is great – especially the link to their digital edition flowchart to help you decide which sci-fi penis is for you – but the bit that really amused me? The interview with company founder and CEO, Varka, who insists on talking about himself in the third person. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Bad Dragon’s most popular make-believe appendages include David the Werewolf, Natascha the Anthro Husky, and Bruiser the Fusion.

I have a husband who likes Lord of the Rings. I’m officially scared.

She shed her clothes. I shed my inhibitions… I knew then it would always be about sheds
Source: The Sun

If you haven’t been following Fifty Sheds of Grey (@50ShedsofGrey) on Twitter, where have you been?! Billed as ‘erotica for the not-to-modern male’, this parody account of E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey has become so popular it’s been turned into a book. Shed porn abounds (pictures of grey garden sheds, in other words) and readers can treat themselves to the best of the Fifty Sheds tweets, my favourites to date being:

After that weekend in the shed, I never saw her again. She wasn’t looking for a relationship – she was just DIY-curious.

And:

The black leather didn’t worry me. Or the heavy breathing. But I must admit I was a bit concerned when she said, ‘Luke, I am your father.’

Berkley Inks Huge Deal for Maya Banks Romance Trilogy
Source: Author Link

Well done to Maya Banks, who has managed to secure a seven-figure deal for a new erotic trilogy featuring three men who ‘dominate both in the boardroom and in the bedroom’.

I’ve been reading Ms Banks’s work for a while now – in fact I’d count her book Sweet Persuasion as one of my favourites in the D/s erotic romance genre – so this is quite exciting news. (Damon Roche, I wish you were real!)

So, just how long will I have to wait to get my hands on the new series? Well, it looks like the first book will be released in early 2013.

The post Sci-fi sex toys, shed porn, and Maya Banks appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.