Dark Diva Reviews

Summary: In a modern world where rampant disease and prostitution has been dealt with through institutionalizing the sex business, and where Lords and Ladies hold significant power, Lord Elias Doherty is a man who has always had everything he ever wanted. For his twenty-fifth birthday, all that he wanted was a Servant, but getting that Servant is only the beginning. With a powerful enemy and a political climate that is more than a little volatile, falling in love with Jared could lead them both to destruction.

Click here to read the entire review

Summary: Learning to trust someone enough to break down hard, fast limits is complicated- but fun!

Robert owns Nicole by mutual consent. She would do absolutely anything to please him- except for the one thing he really wants. His submissive's aversion to needles is worrisome in more ways than he cares to admit.

Click here to read the entire review

My Review:

This book is a roller coaster ride of pain and pleasure. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Virgelina born and bred a pleasure slave, fails her master. Yet through her punishment finds another part of herself, she didn’t know existed. Ms. Campbell writes a well crafted world, of strong yet caring Masters and submissive slaves. The characters are wonderfully designed and I found myself empathizing with Virgelina from the start.
The only down side was toward the end I noticed a bit of head hopping, fortunately this is so finely writing it’s not that much of a distraction. Not to mention your so caught up in what will happen next, you don’t really care.

Rated 4 ½ Delightful Divas by Jade!

Never particularly adventurous, Erin’s used her single mom status as an excuse to not live her life. But her son is away at school and suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a “Pain and Play” party with her best friend. Leather, floggers and bare skin as far as the eye can see.

Promising Nicci she’ll stay at the party, her outfit malfunctions and she needs a place to hide. She finds refuge in an empty pool house, but it’s not really empty. It’s occupied by Liam, a sexy dominant. Tall, gorgeous and dangerous, he’s just what Erin needs, though she doesn’t know it. Until he shows her, along with several other dirty, naughty things.

 My Review:

Intending to let Master of the Game last two nights, I was left to do my writing on the second night as I simply couldn’t put this delightful, Ellora’s Cave book down. At 72 pages it is a short, intensely erotic read which had me routing for Erin and Liam to not miss out on what they had found. Ms. Peterson touches on one of the basic issues of BDSM play; is it love, or just hot sex? 

Ms. Peterson crafts some genuine characters in Nicci, Erin, Liam, Gavin, and I dare say even the Yale boy, Gregory. Then she lets them drive the story. Nicci gives it believability by being the pushy, devil-may-care best friend which most of us have had at one time in our life. Erin is genuine, at first eye rolling over the situation Nicci has got her into, but then responding naturally to being confronted and seduced by a dominant hunk. As the dominant hunk, Liam does an excellent job being a person with all his foibles and inadequacies, and not just a Master. He balances caring and forceful strength with Erin in delicious degrees, and to Ms. Peterson’s credit, she lets Erin be both a sub and a woman, obedient and passionate in balanced degrees. Gavin lends a sense of desperation to the story when he confronts Nicci and Erin about Liam’s disappearance after Erin uses the nasty A word on him (no hints). Erin’s son, Gregory, even acts as a sort of vessel for Erin’s transformation from mother back to woman. 

A well-structured and fast paced plot takes you to an ending most of you will devour, and I could only find two little nit-picky things about the story might have been better. However, I’m not even going to mention them here, because the story is beautiful the way it is. I hadn’t even finished this page turner when I knew it would be the second time I’ve dispensed five Delightful Divas, and my reviewer’s recommendation for all of you who have emotion to pick this book up and enjoy.

He Learned to Obey Women! The Melinoe Institute trains submissive males. Raymond Reynolds has been living his dream with Sunny ever since recovering from his participation in the Melinoe Project.  He’s also been producing some of the best new fetish photography of his career, his models being the mistresses and boys of Melinoe.  Between shoots, his training in submission continues.  Sunny, with help along the way from Mistress Susan, Donna and Dr. Sampson, among others make sure all his needs are taken care of.  But there’s a snake in every garden. The Art of Melinoe is the scorching new sequel to The Melinoe Project, D. L. King’s original novel of female domination and male submission. 

 The Art Of Melinoe suffers from a lack of good editing, in the area of keeping the plot and story moving along. While this book has an excellent basic premise, a colony or compound where men are subservient to woman, and many serve as outright slaves, it missed the mark for lack of adversity, conflict, and a cohesive plot. Now as this reviewer writes BDSM herself, she knows that the whole concept doesn’t really work well without both the concepts of reward and punishment for submissive. Art Of Melinoe suffers from a decided lack of the latter, as if the author was afraid to tell of serious punishment.

In fact, there is little adversity at all for the main character Ray, as he is rather inexplicably not a slave, but submissive to a lady named Sunny, who really seems to dote over him more like he was her favorite pet than a submissive. The author seems to be going for sexual role reversal with Sunny and Ray’s relationship as she tends to call him baby, and use him rather as a kept sexual toy. The plot, if there actually is one, has no real direction, as we wind through mindless sexual encounters where Ray or other males are anally penetrated, but we seem to be going nowhere for lack of any real conflict. What the author tries to pass for a plot, Ray’s supposed fear of being naked in public, is fairly unbelievable, as it is revealed males in Melinoe are there of their own free will, and why would a male who doesn’t like public nudity choose of his own free will to be in a place like Melinoe.

At one point, amongst the endless meals, pool sessions, showers, TV watching, and therapy with no purpose, there does pop up a bit of conflict. When a Dr. Westgate more or less kidnaps Ray from Sunny and forces some painful restrictions on his body while she attempts to use him as a pony slave. Of course the episode is brief, and Dr. Westgate’s motives or reasons are never explained, which makes the situation all the more frustrating.

If you as a reader are into vanilla male submission, where males are sexually used, and portrayed as kept property, but no real adversity is ever encountered and the story never really goes anywhere, then Art Of Melinoe is perfect for you. However, if you enjoy a fast-paced story with sex, but a plot that makes you wonder and imagine; stay away. Bottom line I can’t really give Art Of Melinoe more that two Delightful Divas.

Rated 2 Delightful Divas by Jenn! 

Summary: Former Dom, Dak Ricci is a part of a BDSM group called S.A.F.E., which means Security Away From Extremists. The group concentrates on saving abused slaves and submissives from their dominants. After an emotional save, he decides that's it for him. However, his friend and fellow Dom has another plan for him. He wants Dak to do one last rescue.

Brea Oliphant pushes her Dom to the limit to get the abuse she thinks she deserves. During a BDSM luncheon, another Domme sees what she perceives as abuse and contacts S.A.F.E. to help Brea.

Dak decides to help Brea when he learns her Dom is the same man Dak's last submissive left him for. He's going to make this save about revenge.

As soon as Brea and Dak get together, the sexual tension between them is so palpable that they both rethink their BDSM roles. But when the truth about Dak's involvement in her save and Brea's past comes to light, will their connection be enough to keep them bound together?

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Strong BDSM theme and content, anal play/intercourse, dubious consent, exhibitionism, female/female sexual interaction.

My Review: Ms. Midway’s book from Loose Id publishers is a complex story set around two broken people finding themselves in the BDSM lifestyle. Being in the lifestyle myself there were parts of this book I connected with strongly, and parts I worry about. Taken as a whole it is a good story with the requisite amount of hot sexual play done, as Ms Midway seems to preach, in a consensual manner.

It’s just that undertone which frightens me about this book, its PC outlook on BDSM. Let’s get this straight, BDSM isn’t PC, even if you scrub it until it’s raw, it’s not going to be regular fare. It is not meant to be. Woman in Chains uses several devices; a BDSM rescue group, a pathetic Dom named Master Blade, and an incident that I had not heard of, perhaps ripped from headlines or made up, where several white supremist scumbags capture, rape, and abuse an African-American girl, to more or less insinuate that there are dark forces at work in the BDSM community. What bothers me is the thought that the Master Blade’s of the community are commonplace, and that racists torturing a black girl is in any way BDSM. It bothers me even more to think new subs would read this book and think its general outlook to be totally realistic.

However, this leads us to the second undertone of this book, and that sadly is racial, because although the Dom, Dakota Ricci, is white, the sub character, Brea Oliphant, is black, and so we are forced to confront the racial issue throughout the book. This reviewer gives Ms. Midway credit to a degree for keeping it as an undertone, and not making it the focal point of the story, but one wonders why it needed to be there at all. BDSM is not about white Masters and black slaves, and to draw that picture draws the reader back to the image of the white racists torturing the black girl.

Okay, now I’ve said my peace on the undertones in this story which bothered me, and your all wondering; what about the story? Okay then, let’s get into it. A shade too slow for my taste, Ms. Midway seems to linger on details a bit too long, and tries to show the same things from each character’s point of view which always slows a story down. Ms. Midways paints the Brea character to be the most broken in the beginning, a victim of abuse at the hands of her father. We are made to see her as almost hopeless, perhaps needing to be sent to a mental health facility, but as time goes on she grows and we see the real broken character is her new Dom, Master Dak.

This reviewer saw two plot faux pas in the story. One occurs near the beginning as Dak is rescuing Brea from Master Blade and he finds her locked in a wooden drawer under Master Blade’s bed, subjecting her to being burnt alive should there have been a house fire while her Master is away. Dak is outraged at the slave’s exposure to this danger, but Dak himself later leaves his home with Brea locked in a downstairs cell, and this reviewer fails to see the difference between the incidents. If Blade’s actions are wrong, and they are, so too are Daks.

The second faux pas in this reviewer’s opinion is the tossing in of marriage at the end of the story. In my opinion, Ms. Midway betrayed the BDSM lifestyle and the image of a simple collaring of Brea by Dak, in favor of the more vanilla, but HEA ending. Does she really believe in the principles and practices of D/s relationships, or are they only important as they relates to the vanilla world?

Does this book deserve to be read? Yes, but with caution especially for those new or exploring the lifestyle of BDSM. Books are not only meant to entertain, they are allowed to enrage, and this book did both to this reviewer. Taken as a whole, and seen realistically, it is a good story to which this reviewer gives four Delightful Divas.

Rated 4 Delightful Divas by Jennifer Campbell!

Arriving at a private play party by himself, Michael doesn’t know if he will be playing with anyone or not. He hopes Marie is there, but since he was late to response, he doesn’t know who will be there.

Would Marie be there? Would this be the time she was allowed to play with someone else, would it be Michael? Would he finally get her on a cross?

Only time will tell.

Warning this title includes BDSM with floggers, a knife, and a whip.

Review:

Mechele Wade’s latest Red Rose release is interesting, as it focuses on play at private BDSM party, but it lack’s the spark to be really good. To this reviewer, it looked like she had all the tools to write a thrilling account of knife and private party play, but several factors conspired to never pull you in.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

First of all, Chapter 1 drags, virtually no dialog and too much time spent on mundane details about Michael. There is a general dearth of BDSM-orientated dialog which is usually rampant at the private parties I’ve attended. The character of Dan, Marie’s husband, may have been purposefully left weak, but it doesn’t play well as a male dominant.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

However, the real flaw in the story is Marie, as she has no strong internal voice that tells us what’s going on with her. Yes, she speaks, moans, and shivers more than her share of times, but Ms. Wade doesn’t give her feelings and outlet so we are left to guess what she is thinking. Truth be told, Ms. Wade’s use of internal thought (italicized type) is confusing, as she allows some internal thought to go without, and the ones she chooses to italicize seemed random and not particularly important. This struck me as similar to Ms. Wade’s earlier effort, Fantasies Unveiled, where the female sub started with a strong internal voice, but lost it as the story progressed. For example Michael is a fountain of internal speculation, too much in fact, but virtually none of it is italicized.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

All in all, I found this book less interesting than Fantasies Unveiled, and I can’t see bestowing more than two Divas to it.

 Internal Affairs Detective Luke Gamble has been known to take risks in both his personal and professional lives, but none more dangerous than bedding a colleague and subject of an ongoing investigation who carries a gun and handcuffs and is all too willing to use the latter on him.

Detective Tally Cavaleri is into bondage and domination and finds the perfect subject to work out her demons in the willing Luke Gamble. But will the detective be so willing to accommodate Tally’s fetishes when he discovers their past link or exactly how long Tally has had her eye on him?

Review:

Gray Badge of Trust is a short but satisfying read. The pairing of petite Detective Tally Cavaleri with a big guy like Luke Gamble wasn’t the surprising part. The surprising part was that a woman, barely taller than five feet, could command a big, tough guy like Gamble. Miss McKeever manages to pull off the dominant and submissive roles in a flawless and believable manner, while still revealing the underbelly of Tally and Luke’s connected histories. I liked the fact that McKeever wrote the story in the point of view of the male, allowing us to see the battle of wills raging within him. The dynamics were great, the sex was sizzling, and the writing was crisp and refreshing. What’s not to like? My only complaint was that it wasn’t longer, but then that’s what the scroll bar is for: going back to the beginning. 

Once for knowledge, twice for surprise, thrice for pleasure.

Review:

If Anthony Stevens could resist head hopping as much as he does, I think I would like his books a great deal more. In the Lyrical Press offering ‘Time For Clocks and Demons’, he has a perfectly understandable reason to head hop in the last story, Three Demon Night, as Mike and Micki the main characters have separate experiences. However, in the second story, The Weekend, he displays the changing point-of view he used so confusingly in New Ickford Manor. In my opinion, he should have gone with the wife’s point of view for all of The Weekend. There is even one point when the wife is referred to as Julie when putting on her makeup, and then just pages later they arrive at Paul and Julie’s home, and the English girl Julie is in a maid’s outfit. I was left wondering if both women were named Julie, which would be fairly confusing.

      The first story, Clockmaker, seems to struggle to stay on track, attaching too much significance to area other than the plot. The Clockmaker also ends up with an overabundance of female characters who, much like New Ickford Manor, do not make strong impacts on the plot.

      The Weekend is a strong story, in my opinion the flagship to this book, but would be much stronger with a consistent point-of-view. This story of a wife being dominated by her husband and learning to love it has the element of basic D/s play.

      Three Demon Night outstripped The Weekend, simply because it had an excuse for multiple points of view, but I felt most of the way through the story that it would have been better shown, than told like it was. More dialog from the demon characters would have been better, after all if it’s a magical dimension, why couldn’t they speak English?

      All in all I give Time for Clocks and Demons three and one half Delightful Divas, but the potential for four and a half or even five was there.

     

Fantasies begin at the threshold of Le Club d'Esclavage

Review: 

At the Dungeon Master’s Hand is part of the BDSM erotica line at Lyrical Press, Inc. This book has a stunning cover- kudos to the cover artist.  

Natalie Buchanan decides that a night on the town is just what she needs. Her two best friends throw her in a car and take her to Le Club d’Esclavage, a BDSM club. It’s a place she’d never go herself but thoughts of submitting to a certain someone have crossed her mind.

Her so-called friends leave her alone at the bar and a friend from work shows up. She can’t believe her bad luck and as soon as he excuses himself she chooses to leave. A hooded figure stops her quick exit and a night of fantasy ensues. 

Readers who are at all familiar with the dominant/submissive lifestyle will find this book disappointing. The fundamental rules of BDSM include trust, honesty, and usually a safeword- none of which were present in this depiction of a fantasy scene. The heroine was taken, against her will, and told repeatedly that it was what she wanted by the Dungeon Master. One has to wonder if this author knows that a true dungeon master is one who supervises the play of others and keeps everyone safe. He/she does not participate.  

The heroine was violated while she was passed out. Some call that rape. The repetitive curse words throughout the book deterred from the plot. Add these things to the fact that tenses weren’t consistent throughout and the only visual details were within the dialogs and you’ve got yourself a dismal read. This one goes to the un-recommended read pile. 

One Diva.

“Annoyingly obedient” is what David called me. He’d dumped me because he wanted a less submissive bottom. And now my attempt to recover from him has led me to where those same traits may mean my survival. An alien holding cell turned out to be a pound, and my new owner is a seven-foot tower of jet-black muscle with raptor legs and shark teeth.

At last I’m getting the training and discipline I longed for from my Earth lovers at the claws of my alien owner. If only I can make him want me…

 WARNING: this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language,
  violence, hot naked man-love, alien-man sex, D/s, and human pets.

Review:
Strange, bizarre and weird are some of the words that come to mind when I think about this book. It reminded me of some Henti I watched in high school. Now that’s not a bad thing. I guess this also says a lot about me huh. Any hoo, If you like alien male dom action this is defiantly your book.

<><>

Is Christy in for a weekend of hot fantasies or just another boring night?

Christy arrives home on a Friday afternoon to different plans for the weekend than she had.  She finds herself held captive in her own home, blindfolded, cuffed, and being forced to endure what her captors have planned. 

As she gets more excited she is trying to figure out who her captives are, will she be in for more than she bargained for or will it be an erotic walk on the wild side?

Review:
Mechele Wade’s Fantasies Unveiled is a wonderful little story, with some excellently described BDSM aspects in a novice-friendly setting. Handcuffs, blindfolds, and surprisingly knife play are all explored in this book. Being more experienced in the lifestyle, this reviewer had only a few minor problems with the story which she felt kept it from reaching its full potential.
First, the author needs to contain the use of personal pronouns to start sentences, as there are places in the book where it gets repetitive, and annoying for this reviewer, but perhaps not the general reader.
Second, something is lost, at least to this reviewer, when the author reveals the identities of Christy’s captors far too early, in Chapter two. In thinking it over, I wondered if this was done purposefully to tame the story for novice-friendly levels. Certainly I would have kept the identities of Christy’s captors a secret until much nearer the end, as revealing them let too much suspense out of the story. Now please understand readers, Christy doesn’t know till the end, but you do. My advice to the author is, don’t tell them what they don’t truly need to know, as you will let the air out of your story.
Third, Christy has a true and wonderfully submissive inner voice (italicized) through the first two chapters, and then it seems to go away, until very late in the book. As a submissive myself, I live for inner sub voices that tell of pulsing feelings inside, so I was sadly disappointed when Christy’s took a vacation.

          

Note: Sapphire Blue our reviewer has even each story a review and rating, she also gave the book a rating of 4 Divas. 

         ON BENDED KNEE by Candice Brown-Porter                4 Divas
    
Evan was not really looking for a sub, but Morgan was looking for a Master. Seeing something in her, Evan decided to train her, and that’s all he intended to do. Morgan wanted to learn and ended up falling in love. Unfortunately, gaining the right to wear Evan’s collar wouldn’t come as easily as Morgan’s feelings for him had flourished. Now she had to prove herself to the man she would call Master.

    This story was an intriguing look into the initiation of a Submissive. The lesson of how to relinquish control in a safe way was clearly executed and very well written. Love scenes were indicative of the lifestyle and portrayed a connection deeper than just the physical. On Bended Knee was a very enjoyable read.

LITTLE BOOK OF FANTASIES by Miranda Heart                3 Divas
        
    Kaitlyn has always fantasized about a man dominating her. Believing that it was safe, she wrote her fantasies down in her diary and left her diary beside her bed. Until her new boyfriend Steven, a secret Dom, discovers the diary and the fact that Kaitlyn is just the type of woman he’s been looking for.

Great premise, although a little confusing in the beginning. Heart has set the perfect stage for Kaitlyn’s initiation into the lifestyle. While I enjoyed the set up, the characters’ emotions just didn’t ring true to me. Steven wasn’t a very assertive Dom, which made him unbelievable. The sex scenes were hot but lacking in true emotion.

A SCANDALOUS ARRANGEMENT by Kayleigh Jamison        4 Divas

    Anna has befallen a fate numerous women in her time period faced. Because of her brother’s debts Anna has been given to a Madame to become the next show piece in a brothel. With the lure of her virginity Anna is purchased her first night on the floor by the Earl of Westmorland, Vere Fane. Unbeknownst to Anna, Vere has a plan for her. Anna is first angry, then astonished by the way in which Vere has chosen to use her. Her reaction is quickly overshadowed by pleasure and a deep desire to please Vere.

    A Scandalous Arrangement is a vivid look into the BDSM lifestyle, and not for the faint of heart. Still, the emotional thread between Vere and Anna is clear, their connection true and enticing.

UNWRAPPING AMY by Emily Ryan-Davis                5 Divas

    Amy wants to be dominated, or so she believes. However, because of his parents’ abusive marriage, her husband, Mac refuses to do anything that might hurt her. When she gets an assignment modeling sex toys, Amy sees this as a chance to show Mac what she really wants in their sex life, as opposed to saying the actual works. Mac is tired of his estrangement from Amy, tired of the fact that there’s no way he can please her. But once he sees her modeling the sex toys he’s terribly aroused and knows that she’s trying to tell him something.

    Unwrapping Amy was my favorite story in this anthology. This was a stunningly romantic story that I didn’t want to end. Mac’s love for Amy was apparent as he studied the BDSM lifestyle in an effort to give her what she wanted. With that in mind, Amy’s continued resistance and indecisiveness did wear on me after a while. And the ending of the story was a bit abrupt so that I wasn’t sure what the couple’s final decision was.

EFFLORESCENCE by Katrina Strauss                    4 Divas

    This travel back in time through Hannah’s eyes was a glorious flow of youth and exploration. The author’s voice is gentle and alluring as Hannah relives the best time of her life. Pavel, the artist had given Hannah much more than a boost in her modeling career but a taste of sexual freedom that Hannah would never find again in her living years. Although there wasn’t really a Dom/Submissive element to this story, the attraction between an artist and his model was genuine and evoked tender emotions that would apparently last the span of time.

    The bittersweet ending is what remains on my mind, along with the romantic symbolism of the blue rose. I especially enjoyed the ending. A job very well done by Ms. Strauss.

TOUCHING DOWN by Joe Wilson                        3 Divas

    Joe is a Dom. Pita is now his Submissive.
    
    This story is written in a recap sort of manner, flashing back to different times in Joe and Pita’s relationship. The author did a great job showing the connection between a Dom and his Submissive from the early stages to the later, committed and dedicated relationship. Even with Pita’s original fears and reservations, Touching Down is a clear depiction of the depth of the relationship between a Dom and Submissive.

The love between the couple is apparent and this would have been a really romantic love story, however, I found the flashbacks a little jarring, interrupting the flow too much for a short story.

 Click here to return to the review page