Carnal Captive a.k.a. Carnal Days

Carnal Captive by Vonna Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was "iffy" for me.

The non-con genre is a dark favorite of mine and true to form the handlers, Damek and Reno, were pretty brutal. And it's not that, that turned me off at all, it was the dialog between them that drove me a little batty. I kept expecting them at any minute to end up in a little schoolgirl shoving match. It was penis waving at it's best. Their constant, "don't tell me what to do", and trying to one up each other got redundant. Hell, at one point I was wishing they try to beat the crap out of each other.



The story starts out extremely dark, which I really enjoyed. But even from the beginning the handlers were bickering with each other. I kept expecting our heroin to use that to her advantage in some way.

The time with the "handlers" was too long, almost 75% of the book. And all the "conditioning" and "training" they did that whole time, it started to feel like a yawn fest.

I felt for a while that I favored Damek of the 2 handlers, then I would surprise myself by favoring Reno. I really, after a while, felt they were both just trying to prove to the other, and themselves, that they were actually cut out for this business.

Shari Isle. I liked her. I liked that she refused to give up the last bit of herself, her mind. She stayed strong throughout. She did what she had to do to survive. I felt her fear when she was taken, the author described this quite well. And I always felt that giving half a chance that she would kill all of those in her path to freedom.

The time with her new master was too short in terms of the length of the book, and he was pretty wishy-washy. What the hell was he doing buying a slave when he couldn't even make up his mind about basic things like wanting her on the bed or on a chair. It just didn't feel real. Yes, I know he was trying to figure out in his head what the hell he was doing, but it came off very weak. And it was all so rushed. I didn't like the ending, the way it played out, at all.

While I enjoy a Stockholm Syndrome feel to my non-con at times... I was really glad this one didn't take that turn. It wouldn't have felt real, not with as strong as Shari was portrayed to be.

This book is dark and at times brutal, very non-con, and as mentioned, it's a favorite genre of mine. I would caution the casual reader who may not be used to dark reads to read at your own risk as it involves beatings, rape, degradation, and humiliation. If these are triggers for you, best leave this one alone.

2.5 - 3 Star read for me.

Carnal Days was originally published in Feb. of 2012 as Carnal Captive with a different cover. Vonna hopes readers won’t be confused by the changes Amazon is requiring based on recent developments in the epublishing world about what is considered acceptable. This book is still listed on Goodreads.com as Carnal Captive.

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Review: Tender Mercies

Tender Mercies by Kitty Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great story from Kitty Thomas, is there really much more to say about it than that?! Of course there is!

This is a story about Grace Warner, a woman that should come with a big sign that says, "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!"

She wants a 24/7 Master/slave relationship, and she is willing to give up everything to have it. And when I say "everything" I do mean *everything*! She is willing to move to a private island full of Dominant men, who live by a strict set of rules. She will become a fulltime slave to her Master. When a submissive joins a Dom on this island, she is giving up all rights of modern society to become an owned slave. Her Master can do anything he wants to her. Anything except kill her. That is the only law.

Grace meets Lucas online when she goes in search of information about this island. She talks to him via chat and webcam. He wants her to join him and be her slave. She takes a year to decide, and when Lucas has had enough of waiting he gives her one final chance to make up her mind or he's going to move on. Grace at this point is "infatuated" with Lucas and the idea of being his slave, and agrees to give up everything for this man who admits that he won't be an easy Master. Which is the understatement of the century in this story!

Grace's best friend Lainey tries every way in the world to talk Grace out of doing this. For a year, she's talked, begged, and pleaded... everything to get Grace to see that she is making a mistake. I felt for Lainey, her best friend, who had Grace's best interest at heart.

But what good would this story be if Grace didn't hop on that plane and fly off into the sunset to be with her dream Dom?

Ahh, her Dream Dom is Lucas Stone and he turns out to be so sadistic and twisted that from the moment Grace steps into his luxurious mansion, she is immediately stripped of her own humanity... and her clothing. She is kept in a dungeon cell and beaten, tormented, starved, and repeat... daily. Everything he told her and made her believe over the last year has been a lie. But she doesn't realize it until it's too late and she's give up all of her rights, all of them.

My heart just broke for Grace. Even though she did all her homework on Lucas, he wasn't what he seemed, or what the internet showed about him.

Time goes by Lucas finally tires of Grace, mainly because there is one part of her that he can't break, so he decides to sell her. And he does. Grace is bought by another Dominant on the island, Asher Collins, who recognizes that she has been severely beaten and almost completely broken. Lucas warns Grace that the Master, Asher Collins, that just bought her is more twisted and sadistic than he is, and rumor has it that he killed his last slave and the authorities just haven't been able to prove it... but everyone knows he did it. Asher Collins is the worst of the worst.

It's Grace's fate, a fate that is out of her control, she has no choice in the matter. No amount of begging or pleading will keep Lucas from selling her to an even worse Dominant.

The story ends with a big twist the just made me want to cry for Grace. It all plays out perfectly and Ms. Thomas wraps everything up nice and neat.

Be warned, the story between Grace and Lucas Stone is hard core. There were times I had to just step away and catch my breath. Lucas is a master manipulator, he was patient waiting for his prey, and he waited for a year for Grace's decision. He made all the right moves, said all the right things, to get her there without making it look like coercion in any way. But, truth be told, that's exactly what it was. The scenes and the things Lucas does to Grace to try and completely break her are descriptive and at times terrifyingly heartbreaking.

This book is dark and twisted... and it was right up my alley!

A solid 5 stars!


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Take a ride on the kinky side...

Slave World by Johnny Stone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Johnny Stone is an author with a very vivid imagination, and he knows how to use it! Best of all, he can put it on paper to share with the rest of us.

Step outside of your ordinary reading comfort zone and fasten your seatbelt for a ride through the galaxy to a planet called Slave World, where slaves are bought and sold, and no fetish is too kinky.

Margo Winters is an Independent Freighter Pilot who, on a routine slave delivery, crash lands and her "freight" is let loose onto her ship. One of the escapees recognizes Margo, and knows she has a secret; it's this secret that he uses to change Margo's destiny. To condemn her to a life of slavery. Sold then bought by one of the sadistic owners of Slave World, Margo is then altered forever in a way she never imagined. Collared by the Master, Margo is then sent for training for her new role in this very bizarre world.

Fortunately, Colonel Nathan Burke, a man from her past, is her Trainer, and it's with his assistance that she not only survives, but comes to accept, and even embrace, her new existence.

There are many twists and turns in this story, all of which will leave you turning the pages faster and faster to see what happens next, all leading up to a very climactic ending.

A cast of very convincing characters, each that you will either love or hate, makes up this kinky story. The only thing that could make it better? A sequel!

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