Review: What just happened?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2014
I didn't expect much from this book.  It was free, it had a dodgy cover, and most people seem to completely misunderstand 95% of the nuances of BDSM but insist on writing about it anyway.  In droves.  Thanks for nothing, Fifty Shades.At any rate, this took me by surprise, in a good way.  The writing is snappy, engaging, and occasionally hilarious.  Daisy is feisty without being over-the-top competent, like the typical almost-alpha females in most modern romances.  There are so many plot twists it could qualify as a mystery in some regards.  There's a decent whack of character development and revelation.  And -- yes -- the topic of BDSM is handled quite well, actually.It also brings up a bunch of really thorny issues that most kinky folk encounter at some point, the biggest of which is probably:  How do you handle double (or triple, etc.) lives?  What happens when your kink and vanilla worlds collide?  How truthful do you need to be with someone you're interested in, seriously attracted to, with whom you've had sex, with whom you're envisioning a future, with whom you've exchanged words of love and commitment, or who you've spanked and flogged and literally walked over in boot heels?  Who bears the greater burden of vulnerability: a Dominant or a submissive?  How do you negotiate with switches?Plus a lot of normal issues that almost everyone has:  What kind of support should you expect or ask for from your friends, lovers, and family, in your various public (and not-so-public) endeavours?  How truthful should parents and children be with each other?  What do you do when your past and present are set on a tragic collision course that breaks down all you ever thought you believed in?  How independent can you be without hurting others, or hurting your chances for love and lifelong companionship?  When is a good thing just too good to be true?  How do you forgive betrayals?All in all, it was a very enjoyable, fast-paced read.  Daisy's comedy-of-errors becomes increasingly ludicrous and distressing at the same time, dragging you along for a snort-inducing, fun ride that keeps you guessing.  I also don't recall ever really feeling like I wanted to belt her over the head for being a ninny, which is a vast improvement on the last book I reviewed.  Duran occasionally got on my nerves, but stepping back a little, he certainly wasn't as ridiculous as some people I know in real life, so as far as that goes, it's well within the bounds of believability (given all the threads in their crazy-ass tapestry, anyway).I'm only taking half a star (dangit, Amazon -- let us give half-star ratings, or change it to a ten-star thing!) off because I'm not entirely on board with the way Daisy and Duran handled their relationship at certain points.  But again, that might just be the human aspect of their characters showing through.  At the end of the day, I'd definitely recommend this book.