Tag: Maddie Taylor

Maddie Taylor-Bound By Fate

I love Maddie’s Primarian Mates books. I think the whole premise of the series is great. And I’m really looking forward to this spinoff series, Terra Nova Colony, and Bound By Fate is a great way to start it.

After I read the last book, I thought that maybe the human man Beck and the Primarian female Adria were going to be the couple getting together. Or at least, I hoped really, really hard, because I  love when an alien abduction series like this turns around and has the alien woman finding her love with the human man. I like it especially when it’s someone like Adria. The series is all about human women bearing babies for their Primarian mates. As sexy as the stories are, sometimes it kinda turns the whole thing into women and their magical uterii. Which doesn’t happen in Maddie’s series, but I’ve seen it happen elsewhere. So, when you get someone like Adria who has known she’s infertile pretty much her entire life because of the Rain of Fire, and who has accepted that she’ll never mate and have children, but then, she finds love.

So, Adria is General Trask’s sister. She’s been spending the last 8 years training to be a physic. She’s finishing up on Terra Nova, and is within weeks of finishing. Then, she meets Beck. Well, to be fair, she knew who Beck was already because he was Lana’s friend. Lana, of course, being Trask’s mate who left, and spent several months on Terra Nova, but that’s a whole different book. Anyway, on the morning in question, she runs into him at the bakery, and he suggests that she get a Cinnabon, because it’s all about the icing. One thing leads to another, and they end up going to the only bar on Terra Nova and drinking beer, playing darts, and shooting pool. Beck gives Adria the screaming thigh sweats, and she really wants to lose her virginity to him.

Beck, who is supervising the building of colony on Terra Nova, just as quickly as possible so that they can save as many people of Earth as possible, is wildly attracted to Adria, but he’s soured on love. He had a bad marriage, he’s BTDT and gotten the tshirt, and isn’t willing to get a matching one. But, then there’s Adria. And there’s also the fact that her older brother is the head of the Primarian fleet, her one cousin is the Princip of Primaria, basically their king, and her other cousin is the #1 warrior of Primaria, the man so good that *everyone* calls him Master. So, he’s kinda worried that if something happens to her, namely him taking Adria’s virginity, they will all come in and smash him to bits, after tearing his favorite limb off his body. So, for all those reasons, he is going to work really hard at keeping her in the friend zone, not the friends with benefits zone, but Adria is a determined female.

All this is going on while there are mysterious happenings on the colony. Fires, accidents, mine collapses, and the mysterious death of 3 people who were found dessicated and whithered up.

Adria is a strong character, with some very strong opinions about things, including what she sees her job as, no matter what. She’s also got no problem with telling anyone what she thinks, and rather loudly, if necessary. She’s determined, loyal, and really very caring, I think. I really like her a lot.

Beck has already shown that he’s a good man who is willing to be a good friend to a person in need. After all, he was Lana’s friend when she really needed one. He didn’t try to get it on with her, he was just there to be her friend and help her when she needed it. He’s very responsible, and willing to take the blame, if necessary. I think he will be good for Terra Nova.

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Does it make me evil to be happy with who we see die first in the book? I got a little bit of happy from it.

I can’t wait to see who the next book is about. I really hope it’s Amy.

OK, that’s all for today. Go check out all the Primarian stories! Happy reading!

 

Maddie Taylor-Primarian Mates

So, Maddie has a SFR series called the Primarian Mates. It consists of 4 books, The Barbarian’s Captive, His By Command, His Rebellious Mate, and Defying the General. I reviewed Defying back when it came out. Each book follows a new couple, but the stories are all interconnected, so while they could all be read as standalones, it’s really better to read them in order.

Here’s the basic story. Earth has pretty much killed herself. Massive climate change has led to self-destruction. So, humans have sent out a ship filled with 300 women to find a new planet. The goal is to find someplace where the humans can go and resettle, or at least a lot of them. The Odyssey has been searching for 3 long years, and nada. But, then, miraculously, they found a planet. A team of scientists and military personnel went down to explore and take samples, because from space it looked good. And that’s when it all went pear shaped.

The Primarians are a patriarchal society. Even the least strong male is still all alpha and all in charge. What makes it even worse is that several years ago something called the Rain of Fire happened. Basically, a whole bunch of rocks fell out of the sky, killed many, especially females, and left the majority of females infertile. The females who can still conceive are much more likely to give birth to males more than females. The people of Primaria are slowly dying out. They’ve been looking for another species that they are compatible with so that they can start to rebuild their population.

In Captive, The Princip, or ruler, of Primaria is named Kerr. He and a bunch of his buddies are out on a hunting trip to their hunting planet, which just happens to be the same one the Odyessy found, and they all just happen to be there at the same time. The guys, who are all ginormous with ass-length hair and just happen to be dressed as barbarians, start chasing the women. They end up capturing 8 of them,  including a botanist named Eva, who just happens to catch Kerr’s eye, and actually turns out to be compatible with him.

Command is the story of Magda and Rothke. She’s the captain of the Odyssey and he’s the head of the Primarian Space Fleet. Since they have found out that the human women are compatible and 8 women aren’t about to rebuild their population, the Primarians have decided that they are going to go after the Odyessy and get the other 292 women and mate them as well. Because if 8 are good, then 300 is like 40 times better, right? Still not enough to help repopulate the world, but if all the women get highly compatible matches, then it’s at least a pretty good start.

Rebellious is all about Eryn and Ram. She was one of the original 8 and Ram was the warrior that she was mated to. The problem is that they didn’t get along all that well. They had some serious issues. Now, she’s dissolved their mate-ship, and she’s gone back to earth to help set up the arrangements and treaties between Primaria and Earth. But all is not peaceful on Earth. Even though things have gotten worse since the Odyssey left, there are a lot of humans who don’t want to work with the Primarians and don’t want to go to the new planet. Because of course there are. They cause a lot of problems and Eryn and Ram get caught in it.

Defying is the story of Lana and Trask. Lana was one of the original 8 too. Trask is the high muckety muck in the military and Kerr’s cousin. They are also my favorite couple in the series, and this is my favorite book. Their book takes place over many months and deals with their mating and their separation. It’s terribly heartbreaking at times, and I just bawled my fucking eyes out while I was reading it.

The books, especially the first two, really deal with the cultural differences in between the Primarians and the humans. It shows up a lot in between Maggie and Roth, because she’s the captain and used to being in charge, and all of a sudden isn’t anymore.

On top of dealing with those cultural differences, there are also the personal challenges that each person and each couple has to go through. None of them have an easy journey. Even the easiest one, which I think Eva and Kerr’s story is, doesn’t go all that easily. Which, you know, I like because just because you have a high compatibility match doesn’t mean that you fall 100% in love immediately, and just because you are 100% in love doesn’t mean that everything is going to be nice and smooth.

Anyway, the books are all filled with love, passion, conspiracy, mistrust, suspicion, adventured, and misunderstandings. They are compelling to read and whenever I reread them, I get drawn back into them.

So, that’s all for today. You have choices when it comes to checking them out. There’s a boxset you can look at or you can get whatever ones you need to read. Happy reading!

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The 3 Ms-Deliciously Decadent

Maddie, Morganna, and Meredith are back with some Deliciously Decadent stories. I love anything that any of them write on their own, Maddie has shown up here a lot, so you probably know that. None of the stories are co-written, but you are getting a bunch of stories gathered together by the 3 ladies, so it’s all good.

Most of these stories are pretty quick to read, like 10-15 minutes, or at least 10-15 minutes for me. There are a few, like Doctor’s Orders, by Maddie, and Creed’s Joy, by Morganna, that took me a little longer to read them. Not a whole lot longer, but some.

There are some that I would probably more consider a slice of life kind of story, because they are just quick peeks at the lives that the couples in them are living. I would Clarissa’s Stern Daddy and Lucy’s Little Weekend, both by Meredith in this category. We just get a little snippet of a larger story. It’s like someone took an hour or a day of your life and put it on a page. Both of these stories are really sweet and loving, and each shows a happy DD/lg relationship, even if Daddy isn’t necessarily all that happy right that second. There is no drama, no angst, just life.

There is one story that made me bawl my fucking eyes out, and it’s hard to do that in a really short story, and this one is. It’s another Meredith O’Reilly story, and she just wanted to kill me, I think. It’s called A Soldier’s Homecoming. On my Kindle, it runs from 58% to 62%, and took about 7 minutes for me to read. Yes, I went back and checked the percentage and the timing on it. I would tell you the page amount, but I don’t get that on most ARCs. I’m pointing out all those stats so that I can emphasize just how much emotion Meredith packed into this story.

Most of the stories are pretty contemporary, but there are a couple of scifi stories tossed in there, just for fun. You also get a nice pirate story in there as well.

All in all, this book is packed full of stories that you can read when you need a lift, or when you only have a couple of minutes, or you just want to read 3 great authors.

I wanted a picture of something that was delicious and decadent, and I think I succeeded.

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Maddie Taylor-Tough Love 3: Disappointing Her Daddies

Today we have the last of Maddie’s Tough Love series, Disappointing Her Daddies. If, when you are reading this story, you look at it and think, hmmmmm, this seems familiar, you would be right. A shorter version of this appeared in the anthology, Daddy’s Demands. The anthology is no longer available and the rights have reverted back to the authors, so we’re starting to see some of the stories coming out as standalones.

Like with the first book in the series, I don’t necessarily think that Tough Love is quite the right word for this particular book, but I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong either. I’ll leave it up to you for your interpretation of it. I think it’s one of those subjective things.

At nearly 20, Erica is looking for a job. She needs one for the money, and also as part of her internship. Her professor suggested D&G Construction, and called them to smooth her way along. As she’s standing outside psyching herself up to go in and fill in the application and get an interview, two steamy hot guys, one shirtless, walk up. Turns out that they are the D&G of the company, Daniel and Grayson. After they meet her, they both agree with each other that she would be dangerous to hire. So, of course, their office manager hires her.

Fast forward 5 years, and Erica is about to graduate with her MBA. She’s still working as the assistant to the office manager, and crushing desperately on Daniel and Grayson. Then, one night, she discovers that the guys like to play with the same woman at the same time, and they like to be called Daddy. How does she find this out? Well, she’s sitting under the desk trying to plug in a cord that she fell over, when the guys walk out the woman. After an epic meltdown, there’s some discussion about what’s going on, but first, Erica’s bitchy mom has to show up.

This is really a pretty mellow story. There is a little drama, especially when it comes to Erica’s mom. I’m not kidding about her being bitchy. There are a couple of other bits of drama that show up in the story, but really, overall, it’s a sweet read, filled with love, friendship, family, and fucking. I almost changed love for fondness, just for the pattern of it, but fondness isn’t a big enough word for the emotion shared between Erica, Daniel, and Grayson.

I like the guys. I think that they are very dedicated to their job and building their company. I also think that they are very dedicated to Erica and taking care of her. We don’t really learn much about them, since it’s all Erica’s POV, but that works for the story.

Erica is definitely a little girl inside of a competent woman. She is definitely both people, not necessarily at the same time, and D&G are really good at nurturing both sides of her. There are a couple of times where I think that she is both at the same time, but she might actually switch back and forth really quickly. Again, this is a point I’m going to let you figure out on your own. Anyway, her Daddy and her Papa are definitely good for her, in all the ways.

I will say that this one felt kind of like home to me. I grew up in Indianapolis, and my family went up to Chicago a couple of times a year for the museums and the aquarium. We would also go wading the lake, when we had a chance. I’d also like to think that everyone stopped at the great pizza place in Merrillville on their way. Of course, it may only be great in my memory, and since it’s been around 30 years since I’ve been there, it probably isn’t there anymore. But I felt like I really knew Erica, Daniel, and Grayson, since they were from my old stomping grounds.

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Oh, Mona, no Mona. I was so upset about what happened with Mona.

And the dragon lady definitely got what she deserved!

That’s all for this one. Go check out all the Tough Love books! Happy reading!

 

Maddie Taylor-Tough Love 2: Daddy’s Golden Rules

OK, remember how I said that in the last Tough Love book I didn’t think that it was all that tough on the love part? Well, Maddie hauled out the tough in Daddy’s Golden Rules. There’s a lot of tough love going on here, as well as some not so tough love, because, well he is a Daddy.

So, Krista is a waitress. She’s also going to school to be a nurse. On top of that, she has a junkie mother who stole her tuition money from her, and now she’s not sure how she’s going to pay for anything. Luckily, a friend of hers from school gives her a card of a place to go waitress on the weekends. The one thing she has to know about it is that it is a kinky place, and she has to keep everything secret. Turns out that she’s going to a very exclusive island that is basically a BDSM/Kink community. The night that she is there, she’s serving drinks and hauling coats up to a bedroom to place them there. It’s on one of those trips that something life-changing happens. A money clip filled with loads of money falls on the floor out of a pocket of a coat. She sees that money clip filled with money and thinks that no one would miss just a little bit. Then she gets caught.

The man who caught her is none other than the sheriff on the island. Of course, she doesn’t know that, yet. Then there’s the judge and the lawyer who follow her in, and she’s utterly fucked. Sam, Sam, the Sheriffman tells her she’s seriously busted and that she can either go to jail or… da da duuuuuummm spend 30 days under the island’s rules. The judge agrees that it’s a good consequence, and that she’s going to need a Dom to take care of her, because her sentence is that she will be serving 30 days under a Dom who will have total control over her, and punish her as necessary. But first, a public spanking and apology.

I liked Sam, but I also didn’t like him at the same time. I mean, I totally get why he didn’t want to have a permanent sub anymore, or a babygirl, anymore. I totally understand that. And he made that pretty obvious to her right upfront, and this was nothing more than a 30 day sentence so that she won’t steal anymore, and so that she can pay her debt to society. But, for all that he told her that this wasn’t permanent, I think he forgot to tell himself. I like how he takes care of Krista and helps her out and teaches her how to work on his ranch, but I think that he doesn’t always care for her emotional state as well as he should, because he’s lying to himself.

I like Krista a lot. I also feel really sorry for her, because I’ve been in a similar situation and trying to figure out how to pay for your bills after someone has gone through and stolen all your money from you can be so overwhelming. I also totally get the temptation to do the easy thing and steal the money. It’s right there, it would be so easy to take. Krista has had a rough life, and she’s done everything she can to make it better, and I really respect her for that. She really turned herself around, right up until this point, but this is more of a blip than anything else.

And the judge? He’s sneaky and funny and did I say sneaky? I laughed my ass off at him.

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I didn’t trust that damn lawyer from the very second we met him. He was slimy and skeevy.

OK, that’s all I have to say about this one! Happy reading!

 

Maddie Taylor-Tough Love: Mandy’s Take Charge Daddy

Maddie Taylor writes some great stories. I have read and reread her Primaran Mates series, several times, and I think I like it more every time I read it. Today though, we aren’t out in space, we are right here on Earth with Mandy’s Take Charge Daddy. I didn’t forget the Tough Love part, because that’s really the series name. There are a couple of other books in this set too. And while I can’t speak for the other books, I can say, for this one at least, I don’t necessarily think that the love in this one is all that tough. But, I’m not going contradict Maddie. 🙂

Amanda and her husband Aiden are still newlyweds. They’ve been married for just about a year. He’s her Dom, and she’s his sub. They are not quite weekend players, but not quite lifestylers either. But, Amanda thought that it was working well for them. Right up until Aiden set up a special night in a theme room at their club, and all she could say about the sex and the scene was that it was nice. Whoops. No man wants to hear that his woman thinks that their sex was nice. No Dom wants to hear that their sub thought a great scene was just nice.

Aiden loves his wife so much, and he thought that maybe there was something wrong, but when Amanda says that their scene was nice, it’s confirmed. He knows that there is something wrong, and he tells Amanda that they need to talk, which of course, freaks her out. But, what he wants to tell her is that he thinks that they should try something new. It’s something that he thinks she needs and something that he thinks will help their relationship and help her find a submission that’s right for her. So, he’s going to be her Daddy.

I love how Amanda and Aiden interact and how Daddy and Mandy interact. There really is a whole different vibe in between the two of them, but not in a bad way or anything. It’s not that they are two different couples, it’s more that they are different sides of a coin, maybe. You need to have both faces to make up the coin, and it’s one whole thing. I dunno, maybe I’m stretching and trying to make some kind of metaphor where there isn’t one, but that’s how I saw it.

And here’s the reason that I don’t think tough love fits this one. I tend to think of tough love as a, well, tougher thing. Like tough love being when you take away all your child’s privileges when they are messing up and need to get their heads right.  Aiden didn’t give Mandy any ultimatums, didn’t force her to do anything, and went out of his way to make sure that she understood his thinking and why he thought this would work for them. He also made sure that he had her consent for their trial period and reminded her that she could end things if she needed to. See, for me, that’s not tough love, but like I said, I’m not going to contradict Maddie. At least, I’m not trying to or anything. It’s my perception of everything, I guess. Does that make sense?

Either way, I think that this a beautiful story about vulnerability, love, trust, and finding the person who understands you and your needs most in the world. And about finding the person who gives you want you need, which isn’t always what you want, and may not even be something that you consciously know or understand.

On a side note, Mandy gave me that fuck I’m old feeling. I grew up listening to heavy metal. Motley Crue, Kiss, Metallica, Poison, you know, heavy metal. So, when Amanda says that she listened to heavy metal as a teenager, and she mentions Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold, I was just like fuuuuuuuck my life. That’s the music that my 23 year old son listens to. Of course, Mandy is 29, so she’s not that much older than my son.

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I love that no matter what age Mandy is when they are doing their weekend, when she pushes Aiden, he doesn’t push back. He just enforces her boundaries. He’s patient with her, even when he knows that she’s pushing on purpose. She’s being vulnerable, and that’s hard, and she doesn’t even realize she’s testing him. Finding out that he’s not going to leave her or get angry with her helped her settle into her self.

OK, that’s all I have to say today! Go check it out! Happy reading!

Maddie Taylor-Claimed by the Warlord

Maddie Taylor writes some really great scifi romance, and in Claimed by the Warlord, she has done just that. It’s a fated mates kind of story and sort of an enemies to lovers story. Not that I would really ever call Aurelia and Darios enemies, but they sure as hell are lovers.

Aurelia is the High Princess of Aeldor. Her planet is cold and icy, and the people of her world are able to feel emotions and can manipulate ice to some extent or another. Because they can sense emotions by touch, the people of Aeldor have earned the reputation of being cool and aloof. Aurelia could almost be called an ice princess. She can only touch her twin brother without pain, and she has no suitors. She’s beloved by her people, but she’s never been moved by any man.

One cold day, she’s on the way to her Aunt Akira’s house, in the cold and frozen north when she gets captured by mercenaries. They have technology to counteract her freezing abilities. She gets knocked out and when she comes to, she finds herself naked in a cage, where she’s now waiting to be sold. She was supposed to be killed, as ordered by the person who hired the mercenaries, but they decided to get more money out of it by selling her as a slave. Along the way, the mercenaries decide to grab three women off the neighboring planet of Voltarre to make up their quota. They have new stolen tech which will let them do that without even having to set down on the planet.

Darios is the Overlord of Voltarre. One of the women taken was his very pregnant sister-in-law. He and his brother are in pursuit of the stolen women, especially as they have heard they might be sold as slaves. When they get to the ship where the slave auction is being held, they find their three stolen women, as well as many others. In a locked hold, which is on fire, they find one big surprise, High Princess Aurelia of Aeldor. The Voltarrens have powers too, they control fire and can sense the truth, which is good when Darios has to rush in and rescue Aurelia from the fire.

Aurelia and Darios sense a connection from the very beginning, not the least of which happens because they can both touch each other without bothering either one of them, which is incredibly rare.

I like Aurelia. She’s strong, stubborn, loving, caring, and loyal. She’s willing to stand up toe-to-toe with Darios about what she believes in. Of course, being stubborn isn’t always the best thing for her. She’ll learn. Darios is definitely all alpha male. He’s also strong, stubborn, and loyal, with a huge helping of protective as well. I love the connection between the two of them. They are very great together, even when they have misunderstandings between their cultures. I really hope that we get to see more of their world.

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I totally didn’t see the bad guy coming at all. I agreed with Darios as to who the bad guy probably was. But then, things changed, and boom. Different bad guy altogether.

OK, that’s all I have to say about this one! Go check it out! Happy reading!

Maddie Taylor-Dare to Love Again

Once again, we’re back at Club Decadence LA. Today, we’re going to be playing with Master K/Master Finn/St. Kieran the Patient and Esme in Dare to Love Again. I’ve enjoyed the LA books, and I’ve found that they all have one thing in common. They are all about second chances. Not necessarily second chances with the same partner years later, but second chances at life and love. All three heroines have had some kind of trauma of one sort or another, some more traumatic than others, and they are waking up again and getting their lives back.

Before we get too far into the blog, I have to remark on Esme’s name. Her whole name is Samantha Esmerelda Spade. Now, I know I’ve talked about Maddie and the way that she plays with words before, and she’s done it again with this one. If you like film noire, you may want to shorten Esme’s first name and see what you get. If you are like me and grew up in the ’70s, then you might recognize the names Samantha and Esmerelda from a more magical setting.

OK, now for the book. Five years ago, Esme’s husband and Dom, Andrew, was murdered. Not just murdered, but shot in front of her and bled out in her arms. For all that time, subbie Esme has been alone and stuck. She has nightmares, she can’t really cope with a whole lot, and she’s still living in the same town she did when her husband died. Her friend Pax finally gets her to move out with him to LA, where he can help her. Part of helping her involves getting her a membership to Decadence, where she can hopefully find a new Dom. Pax plans on helping her, but has to go undercover, so Esme ends up going to the club a couple of times a week on her own, but never plays.

One night, she goes to the club and doesn’t realize that it’s Edge Night. This doesn’t mean that all the subs are being edged with orgasm denial. No, this means that there is a lot of play that is more extreme, right on the edge, so to speak. Things like needle play, for example. That’s when Carlos shows up. He grabs her, calls her names, doesn’t listen to when she says no, and tells her he’s going to whip her bloody. She has to call red to get him to leave her alone. That’s when Master Finn first notices her, as he comes to her rescue.

Master Eric, being the Domly Dom that he is, pulls Esme aside and tells her that she has to stop just watching and she needs to find a Dom. Then he pulls in his friend Kieran Finnegan and tells him that he wants for Finn to be Esme’s Dom so that he can help her. Who knew that Doms could be matchmakers?

I felt so bad for Esme. I can’t imagine being stuck with that kind of tragedy in your head. I know what it’s like to spend years and years without the kind of intimacy being in a relationship gives you, and that’s really hard and lonely, and that’s without dealing with the whole not getting her subbie side met. Finn really is a very patient person, which pretty much makes him perfect for Esme. Did I mention that Esme and I have very similar tastes in music? Yeah, some of those songs got me through some bad times too.

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Yeah, I know, the whole corset piercing scene was just one small little scene in the book, but I love the way that they look, and that carried on in my head, so here, have a pretty picture.

I knew I didn’t trust Esme’s boss, but I have to say, I didn’t expect it to go the way that it did. I expected something completely different there.

OK, That’s all I have to say today. Go and read all of Maddie’s Club Decadence books, you’ll thank me. Happy reading!

Maddie Taylor-Under His Command

We’re moving from outer space and alien militaries to Coronado in California and the SEALs with Maddie Taylor. Today, we’re going back to Club Decadance and we’re going to be Under His Command.

Cassie is a 30-year-old woman who still looks like she’s 18. She’s on Coronado so that she can start her new job. On the night before she starts her job, she’s out walking the beach. She grew up in California and loves the ocean. While Cassie is out walking the beach, she runs into some other young people who are playing beach volleyball. When they notice that she’s watching them, they invite her to play with them and hang out afterward and have a beer. After spending time with these folks, she decides to commune with the ocean by standing in it, but only up to her ankles. She just stands there and enjoys the feel of the ocean and the sand. But then, the ocean does what the ocean does. Since the tide is coming in, some large waves start coming in and knock her over. Then there was a hand helping her up and out of the water. If you are a petite person, it probably doesn’t take a lot of wave to knock you down. I’m not a petite person, and I’ve been knocked over by waves when I’m out at the beach.

Anyway, her rescuer starts to lecture her, especially when he realizes that she’s been drinking and that she smells of marijuana smoke. Not that she partook, but there were people smoking around her. Then, he threatens to spank her. Now, Cassie is a sub. She likes being spanked. Not necessarily by pushy men who drag her out of the ocean though. When she stands up to him, he apologizes and introduces himself as Flint and his lovely dog, Roscoe.

On the morning of her first day of her new job, on the Navy base at Coronado, guess who should show up? Of course it’s Flint, a Commander in the SEALs and head of training for the seals.

For his part, no matter how attracted he is to Cassie, and he really is, Flint knows that he has to stay away from her. She’s a kid, he’s pretty sure, just out of college, and too young for him, by far. Plus, she looks so innocent, and he wants to do a lot of dirty and not-innocent things to her. So, he develops a friendship with her where they go out to lunch and do things, but strictly as friends. What he doesn’t know is that he gives Cassie a case of screaming thigh sweats, and she’s working just as hard to not be attracted to him, because she’s sure that he thinks of her as just a little sister, for as many times as he calls her kid.

You could almost laugh at all the misunderstandings and false assumptions that go into this book, except it’s not all that nice to laugh when people are so upset, and they really get that way. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a book without that kind of stuff, since that conflict is what makes a story. But, you know what I mean. I love how the relationship builds in between Flint and Cassie. The book takes place over a period of months, which means you really aren’t getting instalove, but a much more organic kind of love, when everyone just builds to it. I’m not blasting instalove, because it has a good place, and hell, I knew my husband about 3 months before we got married and I was 6 weeks pregnant, so I must have some kind of love for instalove. It’s nice to see instalove and it’s nice to see love that builds and blooms. They both have their place and time.

 

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Yup, that’s really what part of Navy SEALs training looks like. The Military channel ran a show that followed a class of SEALs as they started the training and all the way through. I’m pretty sure they don’t call parts of it hell for no reason. But, they are supposed to be the elite of the elite, so you have to weed them out so that you can find the elite. You only want the ones that can stand up to it.

OMG, Charles. How did that scumbag get into Decadence at all? I’m glad that Flint beat him up the second time around. What kind of Dom doesn’t listen to a sub that he’s never scened with before and who didn’t agree to go with him now when she tells him to leave her alone? And seriously, she owed him absolutely nothing at all, period.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check out this book, and all of Maddie’s other books. I promise you don’t be disappointed.

Maddie Taylor-Master My Love

I love clever wordplay, especially when it comes to book titles. One of the things I like about Maddie Taylor’s Master My Love is that you can leave it as is and have the sentence mean one thing, or add a comma, Master, My Love, and have the sentence mean an entirely different thing, and both of those things work really well for this book. I think it’s pretty awesome. There are a lot of things I like about this book, and I’ll get to the rest of them.

Valerie is a 40something woman who has always known that she wanted to have more when it came to sex. She’s always felt kind of submissive, but her late husband, who she adored, didn’t have a dominant bone in his body, so she figured that she would never be able to find out. But now her kids are in college, she’s single, and she got an invite to the new sub night at the local BDSM club. She doesn’t know who sent the invite, but she knows that she really wants to go. The problem is, when she gets there, she’s kind of scared. It takes a lot of energy to talk herself into it, and just as she’s about to talk herself out of going altogether, along comes Master T, who helps her settle and tells her that he will stay with her and introduce her to some of the fluffier Doms. As a sidenote, are there fluffy Doms?

But, problems arise when she and Master T get into the club. Since she doesn’t know who sent her the invite, she doesn’t have anyone to sponsor her. T says that he will, but then Master Eric, the man in charge of Decadence LA walks up and isn’t all that happy. He and T snipe at each other in that way that men do, and Eric finally walks off, saying that she will need to be collared and leashed and stuck like glue to T. But when T mysteriously gets called away, Eric steps in to show her around, and eventually invites her to the sub classes that are starting up soon.

So, I promised that I would talk about things I liked about this book, other than the title. Well, the biggest thing that I like about this book is that Valerie isn’t a perfect 20something. She’s an older woman who has born two children, and her body is the body of a 40 year old who has had 2 kids. Even if you are in the best shape of the world, aging and having kids will make things sag and move. So there’s that. Another thing I love is that Master T is younger than her and is all trying to move on her, which is so awesome. It’s so much more common to see an older man trying to get on the PYT. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love reading that. But, as a 40something woman with an imperfect body, seeing a heroine who could be me in a romance book is always awesome. Then there is the fact that in her 40s, Valerie is starting to explore her full sexuality and to see if she likes the reality of the things that she’s been fantasizing about all her life. (We all know that fantasy=/=reality) That just shows that it’s never too late to figure out who you are and that we never stop being sexual beings. So, all that, on top of Maddie’s excellent writing, a great love story, and steamy sex, and it’s no wonder I love this book so much and it drilled its way into my heart.

Now, before you wonder if I’ve lost my mind (spoiler: I never had it in the first place) and wonder what a gardening scene has to do with a BDSM book, you really need to read the book and find out.

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I’m never, ever going to look at a carousel the same way again, but I’m pretty sure that this is one I’d really like to try. I think. I’d have to screw my courage to the sticking place, sure, but I think it would probably be worth it.

And, watching out for bratty switches who want attention is always a good warning. LOL.

That’s all I have to say about this one today. Go check it out and fall in love with Valerie and Eric, and see why I think that the title, however you punctuate it, is perfect. Happy reading!

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