Miranda Baker

This story gave me brief pause, a brief moment of frustration. A moment when I thought it was going to be like all the others vaguely similar set-ups. A dominant strong woman who ends up being taught to be a submissive. But that didn't happen. And a little light somewhat went off in my head, as the saying goes. A lot of BDSM stories frustrate and annoy me because of that dynamic. Plus the simple fact that there are so few dominate women out here in the fiction. Who actually work are Mistresses. I've seen a few, but they are almost always side characters.

Hmm. Exit to Eden had one, a Mistress who was more of a switch than a Mistress. The Office Trilogy by N.T. Morley had a side character who was allowed, at times, to be dominate (and another who the reader was teased with the idea she was, but most of her scenes were off-stage). Yvonne: A Courtesan's Compulsion had a rather interesting female dominate, and probably one of the main reasons I gave that one as much as 3 stars. But she very much was a side character. Only a brief moment on stage. I initially overrated Being the Submissive - Lesbian BDSM Erotica for the mere fact that it was the first time one of the main characters was a female Mistress with a female submissive. Point of view of the submissive, though. Morley's Library series flirted with the idea of a dominant female character, but mostly just teased the reader with her.

So, long and short of all these words is the simple little matter that I might again have overrated because of a female dominate with a female submissive, though I don't think so. Finally, I found a story from the point of view of a female dominate. And it made me happy, it did. I suspected that this was the reason BDSM works kept frustrating me. Nice to know my suspicions were correct. Too bad there really isn't a F/f genre in published form.

Though, now that I think about after using that 'F/f', there are stories in the past I've read in that genre. I didn't think of them while going through what I'd read since those had been free stories strewn among hidden pockets of the internet.… (meer)

OK before we begin let’s make one thing clear and give you the lowdown on this erotic little story. It has sex-toys, it has sex in pretty much every position I’ve heard of (and one I most definitely have not! Apparently, it’s possible...although I would like to see a sketch of what goes where!), it has the dreaded buttsex, some lesbian action, some very naughty language and a whole host of other kinkiness. If you like your sex as a side dish to your romance, step back, because the sex in this one is definitely the main course. If you like your erotica steamy, kinky and sex laden, then this one is a major possibility for you.

So where were we? Well we begin the book with the lovely Alisa having, what sounds like, the worst sex I’ve ever read in an erotic novel. No, thankfully, it’s not with the HEA Mark, but with her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Eric. Mr Floppy appears, and Eric decides he couldn’t keep it up because she’s frigid (I hate this term!). Alisa is understandably upset and decides that , as she has never had an orgasm, she’s going to stop dating scumbag males, and take matters into her own hands. So after finishing work at the library (I know...it’s a cliché but work with us) she goes to Come Again, the best name I’ve ever heard for a sex shop :D Here she meets shop assistant, and sexual psychic, Crystal, for whom she immediately gets the hots. Turns out Crystal likes the ladies, and is more than happy to lend Alisa a hand in her quest for the big “O”. They have a brief but satisfying affair in which Crystal helps her find her hidden sexuality, teaches her to communicate what it is she wants in bed, introduces her to a whole host of sex toys and turns Alisa into a bit of a sex junkie. Crystal ends things, because neither of them can get what they want out of their fling: a Happy Ever After. To stop sex-junkie Alisa jumping back onto the loser boyfriend train, Crystal points her in the direction of Soloplay, who are looking for new beta testers. As a beta tester, Alisa gets to test out a whole host of weird and wonderful self masturbation toys (including the Body-Vibe...which sounds amazing) in exchange for a frank review and a pay check. Reading these reviews, and getting a minor obsession with Alisa’s onscreen identity sologirl, is Mark, who owns Soloplay. They have a flirty banter going on via email, and he realises, whilst he knows everything about her sexually, he knows nothing about the woman on the other end of the email. He also recognises that Alisa can pick a winning product and, in the most bizarre cost cutting exercise, decides he only wants her, and her partner, to test the next line of products for doubleplay, sextoys to be used with a partner. She refuses him, via email, because she has no partner and wants to remain single. So, he breaches several privacy laws, and tracks her down at the library. Alisa is shocked that the tall, blonde Daniel Craig look-a-like, that turns up asking for sologirl is the Mark she has been flirting with via email. She agrees to be the double-play beta tester, but only if Mark is her partner for the duration of the assignment. He agrees, mainly because she is blatantly kinky and looks like Barbie, even if he has some niggling doubts about conflict of interests. What happens after this is lots and lots of sex with lots and lots of toys. We have vibrators, butt plugs, cock-rings, a jungle gym (another thing I would have liked a diagram for!) and a bondage harness. We also have one of the hottest scenes I’ve ever read involving a restaurant, the full body vibe and a sexy man with the remote that controls all the vibrators.....I swear I’ll read this book again purely for that scene! Question is, will there be anything between them after the sex-toys have run out?

I liked this book, I just felt the balance was a little off. What little we were told about the characters (and I didn’t expect a lot anyway), felt like it was jammed into the minute amount of paragraphs between the sex. The characters were likeable enough, so it wasn’t too much of a problem. The sex scenes were damn hot too...:D An enjoyable read.
… (meer)

A really good BDSM erotica story, I just wished it could have been longer. The characters were well-formed and likeable, they could have easily carried out a full-length novel and their backstories were interesting. If anything, I just felt the story had so much unexplored potential and deserved at least another 100 pages.

It's quite a unique take on the D/s lifestyle and challenges issues about labels, sexuality and love. I found myself caught up in the whirlwind of sexcapades and erotic romance, and I loved how the two main characters found a hidden part of themselves in each other (please excuse that phrase but that's the best way I could think to put it). I've often found that when authors try to make a romance out of erotica they fall miserably on their face and just bore the hell out of their readers, but there was no sense of that here. I wanted the characters to be together and have a happy ending just as much as I wanted them to have really kinky sex.

One of the best things about this kind of BDSM is that, in my opinion, the author took it just far enough without crossing the boundaries into stuff that just grosses me out. Leather, whips, chains and spanking is all good... blood and faeces never will be. This book stays within the realms of 'sexy' and out of 'disturbing'.

Now I'm just hoping we see a lot more from Miranda Baker as this story was very promising. Fingers crossed for the future, I'll be keeping my eyes open on the lookout.

… (meer)