Dynamic Beginnings

spankingromance.com

I'm so excited to be participating my first Spanking Round Table Discussion. Thank you, Lucy Appleby for hosting this week's discussion! We have a great group of authors and bloggers today. Please feel free to take off your pants, make yourself comfortable, and see what everyone has to say. 

Today the topic is Spanking Romance; The importance of dynamic first chapters, opening paragraphs, and narrative. 

What I have to say I believe stands true for all books, delicious spanking romance very much included. I'll be coming at this from the readers stand point, since, well ...you know. I'm a reader. 

I believe books are like sex and we readers want to be wooed.

There are a lot of fish in the sea.

The cover. The blurb. That's all bait to get us readers in the door. It's just a pick up line. Once we have the sample, we need to feel the chemistry.  If a story doesn't show signs of having a pulse and a personality within the first few paragraphs, what's keeping that reader from deleting that sample and moving on? We readers will know if we feel that chemistry within the first few paragraphs. If the reader is hooked to the first few paragraphs the kissing and heavy petting begins. But only if we find something compelling enough to see what the writer has in store for us.

Is the book quirky and off beat? Am I laughing? Was it the best of times? Was it the worst of times? Is my pulse pounding in terror? My heart breaking in sorrow?

What's the pull?

Whatever it is, make sure that's the first impression I get. If the book is going to be funny, make sure it's doubly so starting off.  

Grab me, reel me in with those first few paragraphs.Get me involved, make me intrigued. Then set the pace, but keep me on the hook. Whether it's going to be fast and hard or a slow seduction, I'm now opening myself to the possibilities. Keep me on the line. This you do with the narrative.

The narrative gives us a clear picture of what's going on, where the story is coming from. Those first chapters set the pace to how things are going to play out. The narrative sets the tone and gets us, the reader, involved. We're meeting the characters. What's our first impression? I believe this is especially important in Spanking Romance because the writer must create a spanking friendly setting or a punishable heroine that is also likable. When I read, historical romance, When A Lady Misbehaves by Michelle Marcos, I 1.wished it were a spanking fiction, and 2. adored the lying, punishable heroine. She's a bad girl and I loved her from the very first page. I loved her enough to remember her seven years after reading the book!

On the other side of that, if a heroine is too affable, too sweet sunshine and roses, the hero is in danger of looking like a nit picky asshole. When reading a spanking fiction I always ask myself, is this a man I want to be spanked by? Those first meetings with the characters are important.

Through the narrative we find out if we want to know the characters better. We find out if we want to read their story.

Every book is a blind date. I sometimes have low expectations when opening a sample. Honest. Everyone has that friend that tells you there's a book you just have to check out. Online recommends are everywhere. Every e-site out there has a recommend list.

We're recommending blah because you bought blah blah. 

I'm always wondering what I'm going to find. I'm always wondering if I will like the characters. Will I be a spectator or will I find the characters relate-able? Emotions are expressed. Voices are raised. Feeling can and should be invoked through the narrative. Concern, humor, fear, arousal, longing. All the things that can trip our triggers.

And we want our triggers tripped.

Repeatedly. 

Sometimes I will find the plot contrived, but if I love the characters and the telling of the story I'm more likely to forgive the things in the story I didn't like.

We are in the age of instant gratification and constant stimuli. We need an appealingly dynamic beginning. If those first few chapters aren't persuasive enough, we readers are going to walk out the door and never look back. Those first few chapters are our foreplay. Give us a reason to take off our pants.  

Hell, make us want to rip off our pants and fling them across the room. Make us want to bend over the side of a couch and take it like a good girl. Make us want to explore things we never knew we craved.

Figuratively speaking of course. Unless the story is going to be hot and dirty. In which case the pants ripping and flinging stands. 

Once the pants are off, we're committed to seeing things through. We'll be panting for more. We wont just want to buy the book, we'll need to buy the book. We'll need to know how things play out. We'll be dying to know if all that build up meets our expectations or leaves us disappointed.

We'll be invested in the outcome of the story.

Not only that, we'll see potential in the author. We'll remember that special something that drew us to that author in the first place. I once read a book, by a spanking romance writer, that was full of potential. I bought it because of that potential. The book ended up being just okay, but I gave that author another shot, because of that special something. I've now bought, and greatly enjoyed, quite a few of her books. All because of how easily I was drawn into that first book that I didn't even really like.

That is the ultimate reason right there. A dynamic beginning shows an author's special something. <-- I guess I could have summed it up with that.

Woo us, win us. Keep us coming back for more.

And remember. A lot of awkwardness in the middle can be forgiven if things start out good and finish great. Leaving your reader positive and happy in the end, goes a long way. But that's a discussion for another day.

Please join the discussion and see what everyone has to say!

My Kind Of Feel Good

Often times, when a book is labeled 'feel good' you can expect it to be wholesome at it's core. I want to share some books that gave me the warm fuzzies, that aren't entirely wholesome. Like, at all.

    Amazon
    ARe


The Hostage Bargain by Annika Martin

183pages

Small town girl Melinda has been longing to break out of her boring life. When she's taking hostage at a bank robbery she finds herself begging her captives to keep her. 

This book is a really good time. And how can anyone not love a series entitled Taken Hostage By Hunky Bank Robbers? Entertaining, humorous, filled with delightfully explicit dirty sex. Odin can tie me down and spank my ass anytime.

 It's been a while since I had this much fun reading an erotica. I quickly fell in love with all the characters. The story line is far fetched, but it's quirky enough that it completely works. You can read this book as a stand alone, but the story does continue from the ending with the next book The Wrong Turn.

Now for the fantastic, two-thumbs-enthusiastically-up warning label.

Warning: This book contains a sexy bank-robbers-and-their-captive sandwich, light bondage, spanking, teasing hints of domination, and a little play-time in a hot tub. Oh, and some all-too-delicious alpha heroes who bend the heroine to their will. 

    Amazon

    ARe

The Wrong Turn by Annika Martin

100 pages

Book 2 in Taken Hostage By Hunky Bank Robbers is just as entertaining as the first, and even more jam packed with steamy scenes. This story continues from the end of book 1, with all the same characters, so definitely not a stand alone. 

Thank You Annika Martin, 

I look forward to The Deeper Game Hunky Bank Robbers book 3. 

For more on Annika Martin please visit her @ http://annikamartinbooks.com/

New Discoveries In M/M/F

She had me at bisexual billionaire....and it's FREE. M/m/f and free? Yep, that's got downloaded, and I'm super duper glad I did!!! 

Amazon

ARe

Careless by Cleo Peitsche

After being forced out of his company Nelson returns home a billionaire with a hole in his life. When he meets Kimberly and Samuel, he decides to have them both.  

Since this story was a freebie, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had read the Office Toy, from this same author, and it was underwhelming. Not so with this story. Cleo Peitsche knocked this one out of the ball park. I was cheering on the side lines of this story. 

It's 55 pages, and just the begging of Nelson, Kimberly, and Samuel's journey. Hopeless and Fearless finish it out, but this one got me to all the places that count. Samuel and Kimberly are best friends, so their is already sexual tension and history, from the beginning. They both lust after Nelson, they get Nelson, and they finally, also, get each other. But, things don't end on a HEA. I felt the tension, the steam, and the emotional turmoil of all the characters. It's a complete, super hot, short story in itself, but things don't rap up 110% rosy. It's also really well written. It's probably the best short of this kind I've ever read.

The m/m/f sex scenes were outstanding. And that is 99% of the book, so that counts for a lot. Reading these love scenes had me cheering this story on again and again. My pom poms were getting a work out, people. The sex is great, the chemistry is wonderful between all three of them, but what stood out for me was the attentiveness to Kimberly. 

So many of the m/m/f stories I've recently read have been leaving me sad I didn't have a prostate. The unevenness of the love scenes has been staggering. There is only so many times you can read about the rasp of a man's stubble and the firmness of a man's mouth on a man's cock, while he's milking said man's prostate in glorious rapture, followed by a lack luster gratuitous pussy scene lacking heat, before you the female reader get a complex. 

If I want to see a girl be the third wheel I'd watch bisexual porn. (end rant)

I was just as happy with Hopeless, and Fearless, (190pages all together) but I did give Fearless a 4.5, just because I wished the ending was drawn out just a little more. Overall the stories took me exactly where I wanted to go.

If you enjoy book one, be sure to check out book two Hopeless and book three Fearless. 

    

      Amazon 

        ARe

     Amazon

       ARe

Warning: These books contain explicit sexual content and graphic language that may be objectionable to some readers. Includes m/m/f sex scenes, sexual dominance and submission, bondage, spanking, sexy humiliation (playful and private) and many other delights. For adults only. 

For more from Cleo Peitsche, you can visit her @http://cleopeitsche.wordpress.com/

Thank You Cleo Peitsche,

Those were delightful!

A Whole Different Style Of Dark Captive

A few weeks ago I shared Cari Silverwood's Make Me Yours, Evermore, and Kitty Thomas's Comfort Food. While both were dark captive books, one leaned more towards twisted seductive fantasies, and the other psychological thriller, mind fuck.

Those books epitomize the two different styles of dark captive books I've read over the years. Recently CaroleDee over at www.bittenbyromance.com recommended I try out Bianca Sommerland's Deadly Captive book. This book lands into a completely different category that falls between twisted fantasy and psychological thriller. The land of shock value. It's kind of like the difference between the movies Fatal Attraction, Seven, and Saw. They're all intriguingly messed up, but in different ways.

Deadly Captive has a jumpy flow and I had a few meh moments in the first half of the book. I waffled on whether or not I wanted to share this book until I read the second in the series.

Why? Well, I rarely ever recommend something I rate 3-3.5 stars. I'm recommending it anyways. Even though I would give the first book in the series a 3.5 star rating, it was enough to make me want to read the next book in the series. Book 2 Collateral Damage, was a solid 4 star for me. The writing and plot, in the second book, flowed a lot more smoothly and made up for the things I felt the first book lacked.

      Amazon

      ARe

Deadly Captive by Bianca Sommerland

Lydia awakes as if for the first time. Chained down and blind, she doesn't know who she is, where she is, or how she got there. A man's whispered instructions are the only thing keeping her alive.  

She and her cellmate are being held captive. They are forced to perform in front of an audience, who have a taste for the extreme. Will they be able to keep each other alive and escape the hell they are living?

From the first page, no punches are pulled. I went from intrigued to knotted stomach, to aroused, back to knotted stomach. The things they are put through are rough and like I said before, the flow is a bit jumpy. There are things in the plot that I felt may have just been added for shock value and to keep things moving. It was around these points in this story I felt 'meh', but I kept going because I really wanted to know where Bianca Sommerland was going with it all. 

Lydia and Joe are really put through some shit. And the strange thing is, they don't always see it coming. Lydia is strong one minute, falling apart the next. Joe seems ageless and all knowing one minute, young and reckless the next. Then the second half of the story he seems much older but lacking reason. I really felt for them in the first half of the story, but often wondered where their common sense had gone. 

On the other side of that, they are being held by some twisted individuals. Joe and Lydia continually have to make choices under duress, so they aren't thinking clearly. Their captors enjoy batting them around and keeping them thrown off balance. They're inner strength and perseverance is amazing. 

I still have mixed feeling about Joe and Lydia. I love them, I feel bad for them, I want to smack them, I want to cheer for them. I still look forward to seeing more from them.

Also, the book turned out to be a vampire book. I was shocked. I guess my first clue should have been that it was a recommend from someone with a blog named Bitten By Romance.

<facepalm>

I'm a little embarrassed to say, I was quite a ways into the book before I figured it out. I'm not sure if the vampire thing is supposed to be a surprise or not. It felt like a fact we the reader were suppose to already know.

This was my first Bianca Sommerland, is she a vampire writer? There is a great warning label for this book on ARe. No where in the big old warning label was their a book contains vampirism. Nothing on her site or book descriptions says anything about vampires.

After I read the book, I read the book reviews. THEN I saw the 2 star review from the girl that was shitty pissed she got sucked into reading a vampire book. LOL

I imagine her reaction kind of went like this

I didn't mind it, nor hold it against the book. I thought it added to the story. Especially in Book 2 Collateral Damage. So, I can't speak for Bianca Sommerland's other series, but his one contains some vampires.

Now for the great warning via ARe...

Warning: This book contains material not suitable for readers under 18. (understatement) While there are aspects of BDSM, in several scenes, most are dubious/non consensual. This book contains situations that some may find disturbing, including torture and rape which is part of the story not meant for titillation. (trust me, it's not sexy and it is disturbing) This book contains violence, sex, and blood, among other things. Reader discretion is advised. 

      Amazon

      ARe

Collateral Damage by Bianca Sommerland

When Nicole is kidnapped things go from bad to worse. Her will to survive and escape stems from her need to free the child she is in charge of teaching. If she were only left to teaching and caring for him things would be easier. She's constantly tormented and tested.  

With her captors always one step a head, who can she trust, how will she survive, and save the child? 

Collateral Damage made up for all the issues I had with the first book. I still ran the gambit of emotions, but it didn't have the same chaotic edge. The flow felt organic, and all the characters had a more two dimensional feel to them. There was a consistency in this story I appreciated. 

You get a lot more connecting points from the characters in this story. Back stories of pain and survival let us the reader see who these characters were, and what shaped them. We also get a lot more from Cyrus, our villain, in this story. In Deadly Captives, he's very one dimensional. In book one he seemed more like the head gamemaker from Hunger Games. In this second book, he's front and center. He's not just a sadistic villain, he's smart and deadly in a way that shouldn't be underestimated. 

Although Nicole and Vince are put through a lot, they don't suffer even half as badly as Lydia and Joe in book one. Although there is much of the same rough stuff, that makes this book truly dark, it's not nearly as shocking as the things that happen in the first book. I believe I'd feel that way even if I read this book first. Vince knows Cyrus in a way Joe didn't, and he's also in Nicole's head from the get-go. They were able to get to a place of absolute trust more quickly because of this. 

I loved, loved Nicole and Vince. Really enjoyed their story. This book ties everything together, and gives us more insight into the captor's world we only got a glimpse of in Deadly Captive. I have lots of questions I hope get answered about first and second and third tier, and how everything like that works. I'm looking forward to more from all the characters and seeing where the story is taken.

The End, the last installment of this trilogy, is due in Early 2014. It's early 2014 now. I'm ready!! Bianca Sommerland hasn't updated her site, so I've got my fingers crossed she's in her writing chair putting the finishing touches on this bad boy. 

Okay, there isn't a warning for this book, which is silly. There should be. So, I'm going to do a made to order for this one. 

Warning: This book contains material not suitable for readers under 18.  This book contains situations that some may find disturbing, including rape, seriously rapey rape not meant for titillation. Also quite a bit of the dubious consent. BDSM, that is consensual but doesn't really start out that way. This book contains violence, sex, and blood, among other things. (the fact that there is an 'among other things' you should find disturbing) Reader discretion is advised. 

Thank You Bianca Sommerland!

For more from Bianca Sommerland please visit her @http://www.im-no-angel.com/

Real Simple, Sex Life

One of my favorite magazines is Real Simple. They have great recipes, meal plans, and articles that make me reevaluate myself, my finances, and how I organize my pantry. They also have these fabulous statistics, matching the theme of the month's issue, in the first few pages. I love these. I read them aloud to my husband every month. He reads me the funnies from Playboy and I read him statistics.

It's our thing.

January's issue was all about the work/life balance. I was, excitedly, in the middle of reading the first statistic when Real Simple threw me a curve ball.

"3.9 About how many times a month a married couple have sex when both partners help with everyday chores, like cooking and cleaning, as calculated in a 2013 American Sociological Review study. You might think that the number would go up the more dishes men wash, but the opposite is true. When women do all the housework and husbands stick to traditionally male tasks (lawn mowing, auto care), couples get busier in the bedroom-4.8 time a month on average. Apparently sticking to gender roles is sexy. (Psst, guys-that means you take out the garbage)"

Wow, geez, thanks Real Simple. Like it wasn't hard enough to get my husband to help around the house. Now you're basically telling me I need to make the choice between gratuitous amounts of sex or getting some help around the house. 

Hmm, let me think

We all know what it's going to be if hubs has been shooting off like a roman candle, leaving you flapping in the unorgasmic breeze. I would think this would be a selling point to up Mr.Man's game. Sharing house cleaning responsibilities is going to be top priority at the next family meeting if the Missus's tingly bits want nothing to do with Mr.Man. 

You know that's right

Now, what about the other side of that spectrum? I've been with my husband for twelve years, and in the early (training) years, I was a control freak. I never let him do the cleaning, even when I worked seven days a week. This was a HUGE error on my part.

Ever since I've had my son (seven long years) I've been trying to spread the wealth. I am not super woman. He's taken over lawn maintenance, (yeah, seriously I did everything) and he's often done his own laundry since the folding war of 03'. (he told me I was doing it wrong, I didn't clean his clothes for two years)

He doesn't help with dishes, after dinner cleanup, sweeping, dusting, bathroom cleaning, making meals, budget, groceries, etc. None of that, unless it's Mother's Day, my birthday, or I'm terribly sick. But we have sex eight or more times a month and he cares about my orgasm....

in theory

I'm sure if you tally in the weeks of year I'm sick, have the extra long menstrual cycle, or get taken down by vagina numbing allergy meds, we'd fall in the 4.8 category. 

At least I don't usually work outside the house these days. When I was working full time, after my son came along, I started delegating household chores out and my husband gave it a half hearted attempt before begging me to cut back at work. We tightened the budget, moved things around and I cut back at work. As much as my feminist friends are horrified by this, it was actually a huge relief, for many reasons. The world righted it self and peace was brought back to my husband and I's relationship. 

BUT, we're in a situation where I can be home, and enjoy staying home, more often than not.

Honestly, I'd feel guilty if I didn't do all that I do when my husband works 60hrs a week outside the home. This is our dynamic sweet spot, and in a way, always has been. Whenever we've veered from this, it has caused discord in our relationship. Big time. 

We had a long time of resentment and anger sweating the small stuff. And if you've ever been married you know the small stuff snow balls into a giant ice ball of animosity, rolling down the mountain side of life, crushing everyone trying to climb up. 

This couple pulled over to argue, 

when their shit caught up to them

I remember the crap that built our giant angry ice ball. He thought, since he made more money, I needed to do more around the house even though we both worked full time. I constantly felt over whelmed and he felt like he was stretching himself too thin. We both were constantly pissed off at each other. We still had sex a lot, but it was angry sex. 

All of this got me pondering. What about the households where the wife works full time? I want to hear about the lady bread winner's sex life. How's the stay-at-home dad situation?  And what about the average American that has two full time working spouses. Do they fair better when they share the chore load?

 Also, what about the LGBT families? Does it serve these couple's sex life better if they have specifically separate household roles? 

Are any of these people getting laid?

I'm sure you hear it all the time, from comedians to sitcoms, marriage ends your sex life. That surely isn't right. I have single friends that have gone much longer without sex than me. Am I part of the exception not the rule? Should couples not having sex be pitied or should married couples having sex be commended for their sexual prowess when life has made everyone else numb bellow the belt?

Where's that article Real Simple?!

I feel the data is incomplete. Were the couples having an average of 3.9 a month carrying resentment and anger over a misplaced balance? How many of the couples rocking the 4.8 average are part of the housewife/working spouse households?

I need the variables. 

I'll tell you one thing, it's going to be a while before I can go to a Cub Scout or PTA meeting without wanting to quiz people about their sex/chore life. 

So, Bill, Marge, who did the dishes last night and 

was their sex after?

I need to find a university that will let a curious blogger set up a Sex Habits Of Married Folk study. 

So tell me, do you do dishes and are you having quality sex? 

Seriously, I want to know!!! 

1.How is your work/house chore balance and has it caused resentment in your relationship? 

2.How has you and your spouse's home/work dynamic changed over the years?

3.If you could change one thing about your work/home dynamic, what would it be?

Please, feel free to share!