More erotica and erotic romance is on sale to keep you warm over the weekend!
The Siren
RECOMMENDED BY ELYSE: Today only, The Siren by Tiffany Reisz is on sale for $1.99. Elyse loves Reisz’s writing and gave this book an A when she reviewed, saying:Â
The Siren is surprisingly light on sex, but heavy on kink, and it’s the most detailed look into S&M I’ve ever read. It’s also sharp and smart, and incredibly well-written. I normally don’t read a lot of books about S&M because generally I don’t like reading about people in pain. I like steamy contemporaries that feature some spanking or submission (like Rush by Maya Banks) but hardcore pain is typically not my thing. I really liked this book, though. It was like a potato chip book for me. I couldn’t stop at The Siren. I read The Angel ( A | BN | K | ARe ) and The Prince ( A | BN | K | ARe ) immediately after in one big bleary-eyed kink fest. I stopped reading at 3 a.m. because I loved the characters.
Notorious Nora Sutherlin is famous for her delicious works of erotica, each one more popular with readers than the last. But her latest manuscript is different—more serious, more personal—and she’s sure it’ll be her breakout book…if it ever sees the light of day.
Zachary Easton holds Nora’s fate in his well-manicured hands. The demanding British editor agrees to handle the book on one condition: he wants complete control. Nora must rewrite the entire novel to his exacting standards—in six weeks—or it’s no deal.
Nora’s grueling writing sessions with Zach are draining…and shockingly arousing. And a dangerous former lover has her wondering which is more torturous—staying away from him…or returning to his bed?
Nora thought she knew everything about being pushed to your limits. But in a world where passion is pain, nothing is ever that simple.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Bonds of Trust
Bonds of Trust by Lynda Aicher is .99 right now. This is book 1 in the Wicked Play series, and it has a 3.9-star average at GoodReads. Readers who enjoyed it particularly liked that the heroine is a divorced woman who is also over 40. Â
After ending her passionless marriage, Cali Reynolds is eager to live out her forbidden fantasies. Her first step is attending new members’ night at The Den, the most exclusive sex club in town. Perhaps here she can find a man who understands her desire to be dominated…
At first, Jake McCallister thinks Cali has come to his club for the wrong reasons. But when he discovers she is seeking fulfillment after years of denial, he’s intrigued—and takes it upon himself to initiate her into the pleasures she’s been missing.
Her first encounter with Jake is everything Cali has always craved, and more; she’s not prepared for the feelings he inspires in her. And Jake is just as surprised by his overwhelming attraction to Cali. As their play intensifies, so does their bond. Now, Jake doesn’t want anyone but Cali—but is he ready to officially claim her? And will she submit to being his forever?
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
Don't want to miss an ebook sale? Sign up for our newsletter, and you'll get the week's available deals each Friday.
I second the recommendation for The Siren (and the rest of the books in the series). They are all really good – the characters just draw you in. It is not a lifestyle I could ever see myself in, but I really enjoyed reading these books.
I didn’t like Bonds of Trust. I found it very unrealistic, and it was a DNF for me.
I third the recommendation for The Siren. I think that’s my favourite in the series because I really like Zach, but the other books are good too. I’m reading The Saint now…so far it’s my least favourite, but we’ll see…Tiffany Reisz writes very interesting characters, that’s for sure.
Fourthing The Siren. I read it after Elyse’s glowing review. It’s amazing. I’m so wary of continuing the series out of fear it won’t be as great as the first book.
I loved Bonds of Trust! I’ve read most of Lynda’s books and enjoyed them all, but I read Bonds of Trust first and it’s still my favorite. She has a really fluid and smooth writing style and wonderful characterization that ramps up the heat (and it is HOT – thousands and thousands of times better to read about a mature adult woman entering the BDSM world than a scared girl-reporter, by the way). Absolutely a great read, and 99 cents is a superb price.
Thanks for the heads up so I can recommend to others.
Phew. I tried The Siren and am apparently the only person alive to feel that it’s poorly-written. I didn’t get far enough into it to be offended by actual content or anything (I see that many reviewers note that it’s challenging, content-wise), I just couldn’t hang with the “people chat and swap allegedly witty repartee but it isn’t actually witty or organic, just punny and awkward” dialog.
(It’s always so amazing when you have one of those experiences, I find, the “Wow… art is definitely subjective!” ones. So many smart people I follow on Goodreads gave it 4 or 5 thoughtful stars.)
I’ve been trying to read The Siren, and all I can think is that I sort of wish someone would write a more grounded D/s book. Every single one I’ve ever tried, this one included, presents all D/s people as independently wealthy, shockingly beautiful, amazingly cultured, etc etc etc etc, and while I get that a lot of romances/erotic books are supposed to be idealized, when it’s in a book that’s trying to be honest and intimate about something, it comes across as more Mary Sue/Stu than genuine. (It also sort of annoys me that Nora in The Siren is supposed to be this OMG AMAAAAAAAAZING writer, someone who could “set the world on fire without a candle”, so when we read her passages and then the editors gush over them, it sort of comes across as a little self-congratulatory on the author’s part.) (Also also, am I the only one that feels like Nora is extremely predatory and ignorant towards Wes? I feel like if the genders were reversed, reading a book where a guy repeatedly pushed past and ignored the established boundaries and wishes of his young female assistant would be a LOT more upsetting. Here it just makes it sound like Nora’s a really awful person.)
I kind of want to read a D/s book about average people. I don’t want candelabras and mansions and French and something that doesn’t accurately represent anyone. I want the sort of characters you’d encounter in another romance novel. The reporter and the baker. The cowboy and the waitress. The librarian and the accountant. Whatever. Just average character types learning to navigate this sort of thing. I just think if I had a D/s book with characters who were less like they were all developed by a committee of “what’s the hottest S&M stereotypes you can think of”, I’d be a lot more likely to embrace it as honest and genuine and real. Just my personal taste, anyway.
Leah, have you tried Delphine Dryden’s geek series? The characters are more down to earth and definitely not typical.
Leah, I 100% agree with everything you said. I too found the “Nora is the most-amazing writer in the world” sort of uncomfortable, as neither The Siren itself nor the passages of Nora’s work really made me feel anything close to that.
And I am also baffled by the many, many BDSM-themed novels that are set in and around the “top local BDSM club”, and everyone involved is very heavily into BDSM as a fashion choice and general lifestyle, and they’re so extremely comfortable with their lifestyle and how awesome it is.
I did not particularly care for the first book in the Delphine Dryden series (“Theory of Attraction”, I think?) It was well-written, and the characters were definitely unusual, so I really wanted to like it. But I think what I would actually like to read is, as Leah says, some ordinary people who, preferably, are not heavily into BDSM as a lifestyle, and are maybe exploring it in a new romantic relationship together, for the first time…? I basically think I’d like to see a dominant and a submissive person being very drawn to each other in a BDSMy way, but also maybe sort of shy and awkward about it. (There is a novella by Victoria Dahl, The Wicked West, that’s the closest thing to this I’ve ever read. The (submissive) heroine is the one with the experience, and the (dominant) hero is the one with no experience in this dynamic, and he’s very perturbed and flustered by his response to her. I normally like-but-don’t-adore Victoria Dahl’s books, but this one was excellent, IMO. I wish there were more things like it!)
Instead of what you always get instead, which is Top Local Doms striding around dominantly and being millionaires, etc., and the lady is either a blushing college student or a divorced woman rediscovering her sexuality at the Local BDSM Club.
I mean – can’t anything ever just develop organically? Can’t the divorced woman meet the local baker and then he bosses her around a little bit and they both freeze, startled, because they both liked it? Can’t it be more like that?
(Man, I have so many complaints about this subgenre, apparently! And yet I keep trying it.)
Oh, also: Cara McKenna writes a lot of dynamics that are basically D/s, without anyone in the book really labeling them as that. (Plus, she’s a really, really good writer, I think.) And she writes almost exclusively about blue-collar characters, which I find so great and refreshing.
You might like “After Hours”, which is about a psychiatric nurse and an orderly, and the orderly is sexually bossy, but they don’t necessarily engage in anything fancy or stylized. It’s a really good book!
@leah @cordy – I was going to recommend Wicked West! I love that story.
Other books that are sort of in that vein, IMO:
Delphine Dryden’s When in Rio – hot and sweet friends/coworkers to lovers story that takes place during an environmental conference in Rio. I liked it much better than the first book in her science series. They’re both already into D/s, but figuring out that they’re both into it and each other takes awhile. There are no club scenes or billionaire Doms.
All my other suggestions are mm, still with no billionaires or BDSM clubs. In my experience at least, it’s slightly easier to find stories about normal kinky people in mm romance.
Collision Course by KA Mitchell – there’s a strong D/s undercurrent to their sexual relationship, but it don’t think it’s ever labeled. And Diving in Deep has a similar D/s vibe.
Hard Fall by James Buchanan (closeted, Mormon deputy falls for an ex con and discovers his dominant streak)
Nowhere Ranch (or Special Delivery) by Heidi Cullinan
Screwing the System by Josephine Myles (also How to Train Your Dom in Five Easy Steps, but I thought the romance was less believable in it)
@cordy
You could try Sabrina York’s Adam’s Obsession and Tristan’s Temptation, set around an office (not a BDSM club!). Normal people. With normal houses and offices. Might work for you. Not very BDSM, but if I recall it skirts around it and that sounds like what you’re thinking of.
Sorry, it’s an Ellora’s Cave book. But you can at least read an excerpt at Sabrina’s website …
I love this site! Can’t tell you the number of times I laugh out loud reading the reviews and the comments. I know this thread is about BDSM novels, but I was hoping to get some recs for erotica that doesn’t include BDSM. I prefer “plain” (for lack of a better word) erotica, without all the D/s, spanking, bondage, etc. Thanks to Fifty Shades those types of stories seem to have fallen off the radar! And if this type of recommendation thread already exists, please feel free to tell me to get myself over there 🙂 Thanks bitches!
@Karen – that sound like a great question for the GS v STA feature. I honestly don’t remember a similar thread – there’ve been some that cover both bdsm and vanilla erotica but not just vanilla.
Megan Hart comes to mind. Also Emma Holly, who writes in a huge range, from bdsm to non.
A lot of the early Black Lace books (erotica by women, for women) have been rereleased. They were all written well before 50 Shades – there’s a big range, but iirc, they have non bdsm erotica, especially if you don’t mind multiple partners. These are erotica not erotic romance, so there’s not always an hea or central love story.
Thanks Cleo! I will check out those authors, and hope for a GS v STA thread on this topic.