Review: Excellent
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 22, 2013
This goes far beyond what was discussed in “Fifty Shades of Grey”, and I think that is what made it so much better.  It is a peek into the lifestyle without looking through the virginal eyes of Anastasia Steele.Bryn had a previous BDSM relationship, she knows what to expect, and she actually likes it and craves it.  Not because she is a twisted individual, not because she is trying to please someone, but because this is actually her sexual preference.One thing I have learned through reading books like this, and especially as a nurse, is that sexual behavior varies along a pretty wide spectrum.  BDSM is just one of stops on the spectrum.The book also discusses the “why” behind the preference.  That is something you really don’t get in Fifty, outside of Christian Grey’s outward explanations of his desires to Anastasia.BDSM is not deviant or dangerous when practiced safely between two consenting adults.  And this book shows that.The author even goes as far as illustrating how this type of activity can be very dangerous when it is unwanted and practiced by the uninitiated.Even without all the kink, this book would be seriously hot.  The author is adeptly skilled at creating sexual tension throughout the story.  In most books that are somewhat similar, it is just graphic sex scenes broke up by a few bits of non-sexual story.  Fifty is somewhat like that.Not so with this book.  Several times where I thought I knew where the action was headed, I was pleasantly (sometimes annoyingly) surprised that the interaction didn’t end up with wild sex.The only complaint I have is with some of the language used in descriptions of sexual acts.  The word “squishy” comes to mind.  I understand that there are only so many ways to describe a certain activity, but for some reason, that really stood out.