BDSM Backlist - Bound by Design

When you read this, I will be in the Finger Lakes, on vacation with friends. I hope to have some pictures and stories to share with you next week. For now, I'd like to share another of my backlist titles which features a BDSM theme.

I was thrilled to be one of three authors whose stories were chosen for Binding Ties, a special call Samhain put out a few years ago. My novella, Bound by Design, was released along with the two other novellas, separately as a download in September of 2009. The next year the print anthology, Binding Ties, was released.

Blurb:

Jenn spends her days crafting custom-designed slave jewelry, but wear a collar herself? No, thanks. Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. That whole Master/slave scene was too much of a roller coaster ride. Then Scott, an architect with a dominant side, enters her life. Something about him makes her body come alive with longings for another taste of the lifestyle.

Scott’s life fell apart when he tried to deny his dominant tendencies. He’s determined to convince Jenn that denying her submissive needs would be a big mistake. Her response is so strong, so sweet, he finds himself falling again and falling apart for the smart and sexy sub.

Suddenly, something he thought he’d never have seems within reach—a forever love tied up in a nice leather bow. But any mention of 24/7 sends Jenn flying away in panic. If any real healing is to take place, he’ll need to take a giant step back and design a new approach using ropes, chains…and a whole lot of trust.

Excerpt:

He covered her hand with his. “Why don’t you tell me about your experience with bondage?” He slid his hand up and shackled her wrist with his fingers again. “Was it so terrible that you resist it even when your body craves the binding?”

She looked away from him, staring into the shadows surrounding them. She did crave it. The security of the bondage. The freedom of letting go of the control she normally held onto with an iron grip. But she didn’t want to lose herself like she did before. Could she bring herself to admit her experiences with Rob?

He cupped her chin and turned her face so he could study her. “Talk to me, Jenn. What are you afraid of?”

“Losing myself,” she blurted.

“No, you should never be afraid of losing yourself. You’ll find yourself, Jenn, if you surrender to your needs.”

She shrugged and looked down at her hands clenched in her lap.

“What happened?” He stroked her hair, soothing her nerves. “Was it recent?” His voice hardened. “Did someone around here treat you badly?”

“No. It was back in college.”

He cursed. “A boy playing at being a Dom?”

“I guess. But then I guess I was playing at being a sub.” Neither one of them had really known what they were doing. But when it was right, it had been amazing.

“I’m sorry you didn’t have a good experience.” He kissed her softly. “So basically your body responded even though he didn’t treat you right?”

“He didn’t always treat me badly,” she said, but she shivered as she remembered being tied up and left for hours while he got drunk with his buddies. “I think the power trip got to him.”

“A Dom’s first consideration always should be his sub,” Scott told her. He grasped her shoulders with his strong hands. “I want to show you the way it should be. Let me show you how good it can be, Jenn. Give me the weekend.”

Reviews:
"Bound By Design is a sexy novella that will have you squirming in your seat as you furiously flip its pages while two wounded souls find BDSM bliss in each others’ arms." Two Lips Reviews

"It's a delicious story, that will have you holding your breath, smiling a knowing smile during some of the more intimate scenes, and wishing Scott were there with you right then. It was a quick story full of desire that will make you crave just a little bit of naughtiness in your life. Don't miss this book." Veiled Secrets Reviews


"What makes this story is the emotional growth of Jenn. The romance, sizzling sex, great pace and dialog make this a wonderful read. Don't miss this one!" Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Bound by Design is still available for download at the Samhain store or any e-book site. The print anthology, Binding Ties, is also available if you'd like to read all three sexy bondage stories.

Natasha
Plaything - Paolo's Playhouse #4
Silken Canvas - coming Dec 25th
www.natashamoore.com

Some thoughts on Reviews

I just received my first review for my recent Ellora's Cave release, Chains of Desire from Just Erotic Romance Reviews. It's a pretty darn good one so I thought I'd share it here.

Hanna longs to see space and experience life with a man. She gets that opportunity when she is mistaken for the princess, kidnapped, and sold as a sex slave for a king on Noria, a planet far away and more advanced than her own. The dark, dominant Jarrod is not to touch her while he guards her, but he can’t help but teach Hanna the pleasure given and received while being a sex slave. Will the Master/slave relationship end once they arrive at Noria or will Jarrod find a way to save Hanna and make her his slave?

I was hooked from the first few pages. The characters felt like real people who are likeable and yet complex. Hanna and Jarrod have more in common than one would first expect, which only deepens the connections the two have with one another. Jarrod’s attraction for Hanna begins as a tease, which in turn builds to combustible heat. I liked that Jarrod’s character, while a Dom and a guard on a slave ship, is not hard or uncaring. As readers, we get to see the softer side of a BDSM. The love scenes were intense and included chains, ropes, binding, male/female/male action, spanking, and some inventive activity with berries. I also liked the interracial element to the story. It is subtle and doesn’t define their relationship, but adds an exotic edge to the imagery of the couple. I only wish that the ending elaborated more on the resolution of Hanna and Jarrod’s relationship, but the author has left it open for a sequel and I will definitely read it if there is one. Chains of Desire is nicely written and the characters are deeper than the Master/slave roles they play.

Jessica Black
Just Erotic Romance Reviews


I'm always thrilled when a reviewer "gets it." No more thrilled than when I hear from any reader who likes one of my stories, but since the reviewer's opinion is put out there for anyone to read, I wonder how much the reviewer's opinion affects readers' opinions, and whether or not it could affect them buying my book.

I've had a few reviews that were not-so-hot (and no, I'm not going to post one of them LOL) Reviews that tell me the reviewer didn't really get the story, didn't get into the characters, or understand the story. Some reviewers even get the names wrong or plot points wrong - and those are usually the reviewers that didn't seem to like the story. As the creator of that world, I would love to e-mail the reviewer, point out everything she got wrong, explain those points she didn't get, tell her why she should love my book. But of course, I never do. I've come to learn over the course of more than ten releases, that not everyone is going to think everything I write is brilliant. Hard to believe, but there it is.

So, I wonder... Do you go to review sites and read the reviews each month? Do you happen across them, like reading this blog? Did a review ever make you decide to pick up an author or a book you hadn't heard about before? Did a review ever make you decide not to buy a book you'd planned on buying?

For me, I rarely seek out reviews (except my own, of course) but when I do read them, I'm looking more for story elements or character types than I am what the reviewer's opinion was. I've defintely found new authors by stumbling upon a review, but I don't think a review ever talked me out of buying a book I'd already wanted to buy.

How about you?

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com