I’m so excited for this Rec League because this is my catnip. Thank you to Willamae for sending this in!
So you all might have covered this in the past (in which case, sorry for the repeat) but I was reading the Duke Who Knew Too Much after it came up in a books on sale list this week, and I was wondering, are there any historical romances (that aren’t full on erotica) that feature heroines who are the dominant one in a D/s relationship?
I just realized that I’ve NEVER read that, and I’d like to. I’d especially love it if it has the whole “virgin heroine awakening” thing, but she’s awakened to being sexually dominant.
Is this out there? You’ve recommended great books to me in the past so I figured I’d ask about this too. Thank you!
Elyse: Devil’s Submission by Nicola Davidson
Regency married couple, hero cant articulate his needs, they become estranged, etc.
Amanda: Unfortunately, all of the ones I know of are contemporary.
There was a Cherise Sinclair – Servicing the Target, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it. I felt like the heroine sacrificed her “Domme-ness.” There’s also Giving it Up by Audra North, which was disappointing as well. I’m very picky.
SIGH.
Sarah: Del Dryden’s book 3 – The Principle of Desire ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) – has switch heroine who’s a Domme in the book and if you’re interested in nonfiction
Joey Hill’s Natural Law ( A | BN | K | AB ) was the fist BDSM book I read and spoiled me terribly. The ending to the mystery is ridiculous but Violet is The Shit.
Are there any Dommes in historical romances you love? What about Dommes in general?
I was so close to send in a rec request about Domme heroines! The only one I’ve read is the contemporary, THE SIREN, by Tiffany Reisz.
Great request. This is definitely a niche that needs to be filled (pun intended).
I know of a couple, but they aren’t pure historical romances.
The Duke and the Domina by Jenn LeBlanc has a modern domme who travels back in time and meets (beats) a duke. I only gave it 2/5 stars. I found it a little slow.
The Duke and the Pirate Queen by Victoria Janssen. It’s set in an fantasy, but not magical, world. I gave it 4/5 stars for being bad, but in a highly enjoyable way. It’s not super heavy BDSM, but the heroine is definitely dominant.
I had trouble with the Tiffany Reisz books, particularly the way the mc of that series is treated in and out of the bedroom. It was perhaps too intense in the humiliation for me.
Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale
Bad Penny by Jocelyn Adler is a contemporary novella.
The Deep End and The Farthest Edge, which are the first two books in Kristen Ashley’s latest series Honey. The domme in the third book is a switch.
Roni Loren’s “Break Me Down” is a novella, part of her Loving on the Edge series. This is the only book in the series I’ve read, and it worked for me as a standalone, even though characters from the earlier books make frequent appearances here. The series revolves around The Ranch, a BDSM club, that the Domme and sub belong to. The sub is a closet sub – at The Ranch, he was known as a Dom. The story centers on both D/s healing from past traumas, and on the sub’s growing acceptance of himself as a sub. Warning: there are graphic descriptions of an assault the heroine experienced when she was a teenager. Some of the BDSM elements were a bit out there for me, but I really enjoyed the story itself, and how these two found healing in each other.
I’ll throw down my own book, if you don’t mind – Kate Dubois, of the first in the Hooded Pleasure series – Strictly Business. HP provides “in house” Doms and Dommes for those who can’t or won’t go out to a club, and the first book deals with Alex, a geek who’s not sure if he wants a Domme or not. Joey W. Hill loved it!
Well, if Joey Hill loved it, I’m in.
I can’t think of any historicals but I will of course go buy Devil’s Submission immediately.
Contemporary: Have Mercy by Shelley Ann Clark. Control and Telling Tales by Charlotte Stein – she has more I think, but these two are my favorites. All three are amazing.
@Frida Seconding the rec for The Devil’s Submission.
Despite the title, the heroine of The Duke and the Domina is actually a switch. (So you might call that a… bait and switch.) Dominant women are so rare in romance novels that I was honestly a little disappointed, but if somebody’s looking for switch heroines, that could be one to try.
(Alas, it was not for me. Because there wasn’t much in the way of external conflict, it felt as though there were a lot of forced misunderstandings keep things going. I did like the psychology of the hero’s submissive tendencies, though, and the hero is a virgin, which I know is catnip for some.)
I’ve read quite a few domme romances, and was recently thinking about putting together a listing page for them, similar to the pages for STEM heroines, athletes in romance, etc. I wasn’t sure how much interest there’d be, but maybe some people would enjoy it?
Definitely Laura Kinsale’s “Shadowheart”, with the note that Elena and Allegretto are in the Middle Ages and making up their relationship as they go along.
I really enjoyed “The Farthest Edge”. “The Deep End” was good, but the hero had so many Issues with being a sub (the text calls him an alpha-sub, which I guess means that he’s a big ol’manly man who just happens to like getting tied up by a lady) that I disliked him immensely by the end of the book.
Nora of Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinner’s series is a professional domme who is personally a switch, and one of the books (“The Queen”) is about her early experiences as she’s trained and grows into being a domme.
None of the relationships in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series are specifically D/s, but I remember really enjoying “Shards of Hope”, which is about two Psy working their way back to feeling emotions again, and they were both very dominant, direct personalities. And there’s a short story (“Partners in Persuasion”, from the Wild Embrace collection) where a dominant female changeling is doing her best to court a submissive male whose last relationship was abusive and ended badly.
Ditto-ing the Cherise Sinclair and the first two on Kristen Ashley’s Honey series. TBH, KA has been going in a heroines-as-switches direction for a bit in some of her other series, too, IIRC. I’m thinking Deacon, perhaps, though that’s not concretely BDSM.
I just listened to Kinked (Thea Harrison Elder Races) on audible (it’s included in the Romance package) and the H/h are both dominant and yet will switch for each other. They have a whole timer/bargain system set up. And, in truth, the heroine is, to my eye, the more dominant.
Lynda Aicher’s Power Play series combines hockey with varying levels of BDSM, and it seemed to be a primarily Domme series. It’s been a little while since I read it, though.
Michelle Zurlo, one of my first faves in the BDSM world, has a Domme heroine in the second book in her Letting Go series, Hanging On. I’m not sure if she republished it since the rights reverted to her.
Charlotte Stein definitely tended to the Domme direction, as someone mentioned; I think I stopped auto-buying because I am more of a sub myself.
And dammit. There is one at the back of my brain, about a woman just coming into her Domme-self, and I’m not sure if it’s one of the ones I already mentioned.
Ooh. Bianca Sommerland features Chiclet as a Domme in a ménage relationship throughout her Cobras hockey series—she’s featured more directly in Iron Cross (the series probably reads better in order, but you might be able to do stand-alone? Regardless, I loved the whole thing for her character building and open-mindedness).
Historical is tougher. Sorry!
Thirding Shadowheart. I would say that they’re actually a sadist/masochist couple rather than a domme/sub couple? but then I haven’t read it recently.
I personally was disappointed by the Dryden book — the switchy heroine is learning about her D side, but the more intense submission scenes are scenes where she is the submissive, not the hero. So it’s a decent recommendation for people who want switches (and why aren’t there more switches represented, anyway; I know SO MANY switches), but not so much for people like, well, me.
Does anyone know of an example where the heroine knows she’s a domme/top/sadist and has experience with it, but the hero incorrectly assumes she’s a sub because she’s shy and then gets thoroughly schooled? Erotic short stories are the only place I’ve ever seen this, and I desperately want to read full-length romances like this. I’m a shy sadist and everyone always assumes I’m a sub until they see me in action.
Tied Score by Elia Winters
Although Amanda didn’t care for Audra North’s GIVING IT UP, I’d like to add a different perspective: I read it a couple of weeks ago and loved it; but I think it’s important going in to know that neither the hero nor the heroine have any prior D/s experience before they start their relationship. The hero is a cop who, in addition to a demanding job, has a lot of family responsibilities. He’s looking for a situation where he can give up control for just a while. The heroine is in the opposite situation—she’s from a strict religious background where women aren’t expected to be assertive. She’s trying to find her voice. The couple have a rather fumbling D/s dynamic, but their emotional journey is wonderfully detailed.
Katee Robert’s BETTING ON FATE is an enemies-to-lovers story about a dom and a domme who make a wager as to who will win an important business contract—the loser becoming the other’s sub. The heroine loses, but later in the book the hero briefly becomes the heroine’s sub and later the two of them share a sub. Incidentally, BETTING ON FATE is part of a bdsm-themed series (written by various authors) called SWERVE. I haven’t read all the books in the series so it’s possible there are other books with dommes.
Anne Calhoun’s TRANSCENDENT consists of two interconnected short stories, TRANSFIXED and TRANSFORMED, about a domme and her sub moving their relationship from highly-stylized bdsm scenarios to something more personal. Very hot!
Loved The Devils Submission, and the first one coincidentally although a different theme. I think I need Shadowheart from Kinsale in my life!
This is my catnip! Not as easy to find historicals, though. I’ve been reading some of this style in contemporary lately, many taken from comments on the SBTB review post of The Devil’s Submission from last year. Really liked Roping the Rancher by Sarah M. Anderson, Tied Score by Elia Winters, Unbound by Cara McKenna. Was just meh with Shelley Ann Clark’s Have Mercy. If you like this style in MM, highly recommend A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles.
Forgot to note I loved The Devil’s Submission too!
Sorry—the bdsm series I mentioned above (which includes Katee Roberts’s BETTING ON FATE) is called SERVE.
@Anonymous if you like m/m I recommend For Real by Alexis Hall – very hot with a younger smaller Dom and an older bigger sub. I also like all the KJ Charles Magpie Lord series and the political series including A Seditious Affair.
Mina Vaughn has a series called DommeNation. I’ve only read the second book, How to Reprimand Your Rockstar, and I enjoyed it. Definitely BDSM-lite, no heavy or intense scenes.
It’s more erotica than romance but Bound to be a Groom by Megan Mulry is set in 1808 and the hero, Sebastian is definitely submissive. It involves poly, if that’s not your thing (or if it is!), but I haven’t read the rest of the series yet.
I love Domme stories but they’re hard to find, and historical non-erotica BDSM stories are a special kind of unicorn. Having said that, here’s some books from my list that I particularly can recommend. Most are modern though.
Charlotte Stein, Control and Telling Tales (Tales is not BDSM but has a dominant heroine)
Their Vampire Queen Series by Joely Sue Burkhardt (may fall more under reverse harem fantasy)
Yours to Take and Never Let You Down, 3 and 4 in the Connaghers series by Joely Sue Burkhardt (I have not read 1 and 2)
Nature of Desire Series by Joey W. Hill. Best read in order and very YMMV, but the Domme focused books are: Natural Law 2, Ice Queen 3 (more of a switch), Mirror of my Soul 4 (ditto), Mistress of Redemption 5, Branded Sanctuary 7, Divine Solace 8, and Truly Helpless 10
Sheryl Nantus Hooded Pleasures series, Strictly Business, Strictly Pleasure and Strictly Yours
Break Me Down, Roni Loren
Bound to be a Groom, Megan Mulry
Vampire Queen series, Joey W. Hill (some are female dominant, some are not but reading the descriptions on Amazon should help — some are even historical)
There Will Be Phlogiston, Alexis Hall — sort of poly, sort of historical, a lot of fun tho. It’s the 3rd in a series but I have not read the others
Viridis and Devil on a Sparrow’s Wing by Calista Taylor — steampunk fantasy with a very dominant heroine, not exactly BDSM but fun
One Kiss with a Rock Star by Amber Lin and Shari Slade has a heroine who’s dominant without it being all-out BDSM. I quite enjoyed this book, both for the competence porn with both main characters being musicians (he’s rock, she’s pop and a dancer as well as a singer) and for the characters. It did suffer a bit from repetitiveness, and I was disappointed that although the heroine has a reputation for a very wild sex life, that turns out to be an act she’s putting on in an attempt to get her record company to drop her from the abusive contract she signed. Why shouldn’t a woman have lots of casual sex and actually enjoy it? The same thing disappointed me about Molly O’Keefe’s Wild Child. Now there’s another uncommon trope: heroines who are or have been rakes, did it just for fun, and didn’t regret it.
The only historical I know is the Nicola Davidson mentioned above. On contemporaries, no one compares to Joey W. Hill for me, but I really liked Katie Porter’s 3rd Vegas Top Gun book Hold ‘Em. It has a dominant (and generally amazingly badass heroine) and both MC’s are fighter pilots. They dated briefly when young and didn’t know what they wanted sexually and it was…fine, but not that interesting. Meet up again later, older, wiser. The heroine graduating from “never dominated anyone before” to full on caning in no time at all is a little eyebrow raising (like, um, don’t try this at home people) but there are some consequences to her jumping in so fast, and the idea is that she’s a natural I guess? Besides Hill’s Natural Law, this is the one I’m most likely to re-read, the hero is pretty delicious.
I’m reissuing my not-quite-erotic-but-yes-BDSM historical with a Domme heroine in September! It’s one of the strangest books I’ve ever written (family drama, secret babies, infertility, and pegging) but I love it and wish it had had a better first chance. Hence, reissue! It’s called At His Countess’ Pleasure.
I believe that That Potent Alchemy by Tess Bowery may have some femdomme stuff in it. (I haven’t read it, so I’m not sure.)
Dominating Mr Darling by Victoria Vale historical with domme female
Hi, I’m really late to this party, sorry.
I’m going to put in a couple of plugs for femdomish historical romances, that aren’t actually Dommes but have some of that feel to the heroine/hero dynamic:
A lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant (the heroine is very controlled, the hero is quite beta and there’s a delicious scene where he pretends she is a queen).
All through the Night by Connie Brockway (the heroine is so awesome and there’s a great scene where she teases him with a sword, even if it’s all basically vanilla).
Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner (has a scene where the hero gets tied up and likes it a lot. It’s hot.)
I have a goodreads shelf for this topic, romance-with-a-hint-of-femdom books. Do tweet me with more suggestions!
Also, I have a free short story that is historical (victorian) and is romantic and has a domme. It’s called On His Knees, and you can get it from my website.
It was previously published in Best Women’s Erotica of the year vol 2.