Review: thoroughly enjoyable DD anthology
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2014
So upfront I want to say that I debated how to rate this book. Yes, I'm friends with all these women, but I generally look forward to reading most of the books they publish together (like the anthology "Coming to Terms" that preceded this book) and separately. However, this is a domestic discipline book and more often I prefer more BDSM-oriented books. "Terms" did a much better job overcoming some of my dislikes in DD books than this one did, hence 4 instead of 5 stars. I did enjoy each of the stories, some more than others (yes, Anastasia's "The First Submission" was by far my favorite and I blogged at length about my anger at a reviewer who complained about "the lesbian story.")"Major Changes" by Cara Bristol: I was intrigued to see how Rahm and Cadence would work out issues in their marriage after he returned from a tour of duty. Maybe times I empathized with Cadence and felt Rahm was just not listening to her and being a bully. Yup :D, he was being a good Head of the Household, but he felt like a bully to me. Not that she did a good job being honest with him. In the end, Cara lead this couple to a most satisfying place in their marriage."The Barn" by Alta Hensley: I loved the emotion that Alta showed with Paige and Connor, Paige returned "home" to find her first true love still waiting for her. I enjoyed seeing Paige refuse to give up on her dream of restoring the barn that had meant so much to her during a turbulent childhood. I adored watching the spark of the relationship kindle between them as they admitted they were still deeply in love."Unmet Desire" by Renee Rose: With Renee's story, I was thrilled to see Claire and Luis from her story in "Coming to Terms." Watching Claire struggle with fertility and how she'd rested too much control from Luis, her Head of the Household, was so sad. There were some hilarious moments- like Claire getting out of a speeding ticket. Luis taking her to their cottage was perfect. I found myself trying to do the "DD boot camp" with them, even thinking so far as to print up Luis' questions for my Master and I to answer :D. The ending was perfect."A Time to Heal" by Sue Lyndon: While my personal issue is bipolar depression, not cancer, I could so relate to Stephie in this story. As she did different things to act out, I thought of times I'd done stuff like that. This story held my attention from beginning to end. Marcus' tentativeness was so believable, given the situation. Where Sue brought these two by the end of the story was a glorious example of DD working out."Making it 'Write'" by Celeste Jones: I wanted to like this story from the beginning- a short story about a writer? But here I did struggle to enjoy the story. I still debate if it was about the story itself or my reality and how it makes me see the story. I wanted to like Jill, but the way she approached writing spanking fiction irritated me. I did enjoy reading the snippets of Jill's story that were included within the story. Owen seemed to be a very sweet husband and when he needed to stand firm about Jill's misbehaviors, I enjoyed reading it very much."The First Submission" by Anastasia Vitsky: Now I haven't read every book of Anastasia's, but I have yet to read one that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. I geeked out with the cast of characters and glossary section that kicked off the story. Whether it's platonic or romantic, I love her female/female pairings. I loved going on the journey with Soris and Karielle as they moved from meeting before their arranged marriage to an important day in their relationship. I couldn't help at smiling at the end, at what Soris learned from Karielle."October Something" by Jade Cary: I loved the tone of the story, the level of description employed by Jade, from the beginning of the story. Kate and Jack are amazing. Kate's desperate unhappiness, filing for divorce. Jack's determination to fight for Kate, for her marriage with her made me so unbelievably happy. No telling how the HEA came, but Jade definitely delivered and Jack and Kate were wonderful.