Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Never Knew Until You
AUTHOR: L.E. Royal
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 246 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2019
BLURB:
After the dissolution of her fourteen-year marriage to her cheating ex-wife, forty-year-old college professor Parker Freeman finds herself adrift. Suddenly middle-aged with so much time wasted, she seeks solstice online where she stumbles upon The Pandora Agency—an organization claiming to help individuals find themselves through submission. Encouraged to be a little wild by her best friend, Parker speaks to the agency and sets up a meeting with a female dominant, Miss Diaz.
Greeted at the door of an impressive Miami townhouse by a young woman, Parker questions her decision as she waits for the girl’s mother. Stunned by the reveal that twenty-four-year old Kristina is in fact the Miss Diaz she has come to meet, she is dragged head first into a new world.
Despite Kristina’s commitment issues and Parker’s shattered confidence, the two enter into a tenuous agreement that sparks Parker’s rediscovery of herself. Both are surprised by their compatibility until they stumble across the line from arrangement into relationship, and Kristina calls their time together to an end. When an unexpected catastrophe throws them back together, old demons are finally brought into the light, and both women must decide if letting go of the past is worth the future they could have together.
REVIEW:
This is my first book by author L.E. Royal. It is also the author’s third book with NineStar Press and her first non-paranormal romance. It’s a solid erotic love story from start to finish with compelling, well-written main characters and gorgeous love scenes that really show how queer women actually interact with one another.
Parker Freeman is newly divorced and ready to try anything that will help her step into the single life. She decides to take the plunge and join a BDSM dating service that matches her with Kristina, a gorgeous, charming, confident, and successful domme—who is also nearly half Parker’s age. Parker doesn’t think they will work out, but sparks fly almost immediately, with Kristina’s experience and patience working well with Parker’s apprehension. The two can’t keep away from each other, but Kristina has a firm rule against dating, wanting to keep things strictly between the sheets. It’s new territory for Parker, and even as she enjoys a new world of sexual submission, she can’t help falling in love with her Mistress. And Kristina, who never used to have issues with jealousy or possessiveness over subs, is finding it hard to set Parker free.
While the story of a detached mistress resisting love from a tempting sub isn’t a new storyline, there’s a real sweetness and reality to this book that makes everything feel fresh. First of all, Parker isn’t the blushing sub laying herself bare to her domme’s will—she’s a strong, confident older woman who knows her preferences and boundaries while still wanting to submit. And Kristina’s love of domination comes from a place of worship and desire, not of cruelty. There’s so much affection and chemistry between them, whether they are meeting each other’s gaze across a club or settling into a scene. In the end, it isn’t about control or power—it is about compatibility and discovery, and about how sometimes you end up getting exactly what you need in the least likely of places.
The love scenes are really a highlight in this book. Parker and Kristina are so deeply connected and in sync with one another that you feel each woman’s pleasure as if they are one being, not two separate people simply seeking release. Kristina’s lust for Parker’s submission feels so genuine that even those readers who don’t see themselves as very dominant can definitely understand the appeal. And the way the sex is described feels so innately female, so in tune with lesbian women and their wants and needs. It’s rare to find good erotica like this that is also wrapped in a good story.
This is a great book, and I am eager to read more of Royal’s works. This romance doesn’t rewrite the rules, it only reminds us why BDSM and age-gap romance tropes are so delicious.
RATING: 
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