You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Andrea, who is looking for a recent contemporary.
Please, please Obi-wan! You’re my only hope!
I’m looking for a shortish story I read fairly recently. Like within the last 6 months. But I cannot remember the title or the author. I think it is a part of a series, maybe about rockstars?
It is a bdsm erotica that was medium-light on the actual sexy-times, heavier on the relationship.
It is about a woman and a man who get together, I think she is his secretary or assistant. He is, of course, super rich. And famous too I think.
The twist is that she is the dominant partner. He has trouble accepting that heap big macho man likes and enjoys having his woman give him orders.
At one point she tells him that she doesn’t like letters or labels when talking about how their relationship.
He gets embarrassed when an appointment pops in while he is naked and she is dressed. But the man who walks in on them (I think he’s a rockstar?) thinks that she is super awesome and is cool with that scene.
Later on the rockstar tells rich dude that if he doesn’t want his girl, Rockstar will totally snap her up and steal her away, both professionally and relationship-wise.
Fortunately Rich Dude realizes that he would be stupid to break up with his sexy assistant.
I really liked this story because there was no bullying behaviour. It was a super gentle transition of power between the two.
Oh, wow – I can HEAR people reaching for the keyboard to find out what book this is. Anyone recognize this?
How to reprimand your rockstar – its not it but sounds similar and has good reviews on good reads. Is it lead by kylie scott, which I now must read! Thanks!
Lexxie Couper and Olivia Cunning both write rock star series’ that touch on BDSM (and Cunning for sure has a female Domme in the Sinners series but it doesn’t sound quite like your book). Maybe check out their back catalogues?
Amber Lin and Shari Slade have written rock star romances with some of the elements above. Maybe try Have Mercy or One Night with a Rock Star? It doesn’t sound like either of these but I thought I’d mention them anyway. I just read One Kiss with a Rock Star and thought the bi/subissive-ish? hero was so well done.
This is the novella “Crossing the Line” by Megan Hart, which is collected with a Lauren Dane novella in Tangled Up. I just read it a couple of weeks ago. The rock star is a reality-TV star whom Heroine and Hero are managing. It’s crazy hot, and I really deeply love Hero’s mindset of “I must be going crazy, but damn if I’m not enjoying this, and she is too, so let’s go!”
I’m fairly certain it’s not Olivia Cunning. Megan Hart sounds super likely. I thought it was her but that story hadn’t come up for me when I was looking.
Eeek! Thanks so much for the help to find it. I have been wanting to share the story with a few people who are all, “eeew kinky? That’s just mean. And people who like being bullied are damaged!”
It’s definitely not Lead, Narelle, though I have read most of that series. Overall enjoyable, but has its problems. I seem to recall that the women treat each other oddly, but it’s been a few months since I read those, so that could be me remembering wrong.
It’s Megan Hart! Yaaay! Thanks so much Lara!
And while I’m here, anyone got any recommendations for non-asshole kinkiness?
As a fan of paranormals, who doesn’t do kink personally but sometimes likes reading about it, my fave BDSM author is Joey W Hill.
A couple of notes: her contemporary stories tend to be very well written in terms of clear consent. Her vampire paranormals are darker, I still like them but everyone is different, YMMV. Sadly, many (not all) of her works are published by Ellora’s Cave.
Andrea, there are three novellas by Delphine Dryden that you might like–The Theory of Attraction, The Seduction Hypothesis, and The Principle of Desire (don’t know if they’re paper-published, I have them on my Nook). They’re connected, but don’t have to be read in order, and are about smart (sometimes geeky!) adults having some fun with kink. I especially recommend The Principle of Desire, which is female domme/male sub, and the male sub’s gobsmacked, delighted reactions to realizing what he likes are both hysterically funny and hot as hell.