Reviewed by Amber

 

TITLE: Rules to Live By

AUTHORS: Heidi Belleau, Anah Crow, Dianne Fox, Lisa Henry, Anna Zabo, Cari Z

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 248 pages

BLURB:

Four intimate tales of power exchange, discipline, risks taken, and pleasures earned.

A list of rules to live by.
In Cari Z’s House Rules, jealousy leads Jonathan to break the rules his lover has established. He can’t decide which he enjoys more: his punishment, or the reward afterward. Good thing he gets both.

A lesson in humility.
In The Harder They Fall by Heidi Belleau and Lisa Henry, spoiled college boy Tad hires a prostitute, but “Daddy” couldn’t care less about what Tad wants. Instead, he’s going to give his spoiled little boy exactly what he deserves.

A cage that means freedom.
In Master Key by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox, Marquis offers Navin the key to the most intimate of locks, hoping it will help them to prioritize their relationship. And it does—until work and insecurities threaten to drive them apart again.

A spool of rope and a desire to be bound.
In CTRL Me by Anna Zabo, a night out between friends turns hot and tempting when Gabe deliberately pushes Tom’s submissive buttons. Then Tom discovers rope in Gabe’s glove box—and not the type for securing luggage.

REVIEW:

Master Key by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

I honestly thought my head was going to blow right off my body while reading this story. HOT DAMN!!! This story was an inferno of passion, love, kink, lust, and fulfillment. Marquis and Navin were made for each other. There’s no doubt about it. The way they both so openly accepted the changes in the relationship just made my heart melt….well that and the fiery sex!!

Navin spends the majority of his existence feeling invisible. His family, although supportive and loving, often times overlook his feelings or opinions. His solace and peace are when he’s alone with his boyfriend, Marquis.

Marquis is a perfectionist. It’s a hang-up, but being a very successful architect he feels it comes with the job. He loves what he does but lately he’s been getting so wrapped up in his work that he’s been late to several dates he had set up with Navin.

Navin is starting to get fed up. He wants to be Marquis’s number 1 priority but Marquis is always putting work first. But Marquis has a secret; he’s always been drawn to the D/s lifestyle and wants to explore it with Navin. Still upset with always being an afterthought, Navin is intrigued and interesting in playing out these feelings with Marquis.

I loved how these two men fell so naturally in the aforementioned roles. Nothing was forced or awkward. It was effortless and so right. I loved how they were able to work out the problems and not draw the drama out too long. This book was written so well. I couldn’t put it down. I could have easily read several hundred more pages. My only complaint is I wished it was longer. I also wasn’t a fan of the sons calling their mother, “Mummy” it was weird for me but I chalked it up to a cultural thing.

Overall, great story!

RATING: 

House Rules by Cari Z

This story was just ok for me and I’m having a difficult time trying to pinpoint what it lacked. I can appreciate that Jon needs a strict regiment to maintain his physical and mental health. I respect how he tries his hardest to abide by the rules and his eagerness to please Alistair. The short time Alistair was on page was nice. His care and concern for Jon was very apparent. What I missed, I think, was that amazing spark and chemistry between the two main characters. There was no real combustible, fiery passion which I’ve come to expect any D/s or BDSM relationship.

The “punishment” scene also left me incredibly unsatisfied. It was more pain then pleasure, in my opinion and that sort of turned me off. I don’t think Alistair is malicious or anything like that and I truly thing Jon needed and wanted the punishment but I couldn’t feel the passion behind it which disappointed me.

I am interested in checking out other books by this author because I did enjoy the overall writing style. This story just wasn’t my cup of tea.

RATING: 

The Harder They Fall by Heidi Belleau and Lisa Henry

After finishing this story I actually had sit and think on it for a bit. Not because I didn’t like because this story had me at, “I’ll take this one.” I never thought I’d be into the whole “Daddy” BDSM scene but holy hell this book was damn good.

Throughout the whole beginning I really hated Tad, which I’m sure was the point considering what “Daddy” put him through. A part of me wanted to see Tad suffer for what a terrible person he seemed to be and suffer he did. The way “Daddy” was able to draw out those really rotten and dead parts of Tad personality essentially exorcising him with raw emotion was beautiful.

I loved how Tad had to atone for his past horrific behavior to one of “Daddy’s” employees. I felt his punishment was perfect.

My fear was that once it was all over there would be nothing. Just a sort of “get out” but that’s not what this was at all. At first this story was one man’s mission of self destruction while wanting to take as many as he could with him. Watching “Daddy” lance the boil in Tad’s heart was mesmerizing. Tad’s realization of how things were, of what he was, and what he could be made me really love this hurt little boy the full circle awakening was awesome. But, damn I want more. I want to see “Daddy” do all the things he told Tad he would do. And, you know, I really want to know what “Daddy’s” real name is too!!

Friggin fantastic story which I’m hoping is just the foundation of a full novel. Absolutely recommend!!!

RATING: 

CTRL Me by Anna Zabo

YES!! I find it so much more appealing when subs are so confident in their submission. I love when they embrace their submissive side and not be ashamed of it. The same is true about a good Dominant. Gabe and Tom fit into their rolls so well it’s almost as if they were made for each other. This BDSM story hit so many of my hot buttons.

Tom just moved to Pittsburgh after fleeing from his abusive Dom. Luckily he finds a job and quickly becomes close friends with his co-worker, Gabe. After an unsuccessful attempt at dating he finds himself dumped and alone and then he starts noticing things about Gabe that are making him stand up and take notice.

Tom is a natural submissive so when Gabe starts dominating him the pull between these two just become stronger. I loved that they were close friends before they started on this path together. I don’t think Tom would have been able to fully trust Gabe otherwise especially considering his past.

Another thing that I found so adorable is the way Gabe started drawing out Tom’s submissive side. And Tom’s reaction to the little hints Gabe was dropping was priceless. I felt his need through the pages it was so strong and delicious.

This was a greed story and another one I’d like to read more of.

RATING: 

OVERALL REVIEW:

If you love a little bit of everything with your BDSM kink then this anthology is for you. For just being 4 stories it has a vast variety of flavors and levels of intenseness that just added to the depth of the story. The range was awesome and it was nice that the four stories were totally different. I was scared because I felt they’d all be really similar which would make for a really redundant boring anthology. Well never fear because each of these stories are told so different you can’t help but be caught up in it. Highly recommend!

OVERALL RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Riptide

Amazon

ARe