To Serve Is Divine ( Divine Trilogy #1 ) – R. E. Hargrave

Book Description

***Contains explicit sexual content (including multiple partners and gender pairings) and mature situations which could be trigger-inducing for some readers.***

Catherine O’Chancey is a reserved, demure, and graceful submissive. All traits she trained hard to enhance when she discovered the world of Dominance and submission in college. In an attempt to start fresh after the unexpected death of her last Dom, Catherine moves to Dallas, TX to escape the shroud of darkness he left behind in her life. She has tried to fight the need that resides deep within her to submit, but finally has to admit she can’t for it is not a choice, but part of who she truly is. After months of mental preparation, she ventures back into the lifestyle by attending a coveted open-night event at Dungeons and Dreams, an exclusive BDSM club.

Is it fate or coincidence that Catherine garners the attention of one of the club’s board members who happens to be on the hunt for the perfect sub – a partner who enjoys receiving pain and pleasure as much as he enjoys doling it out?

Jayden Masterson is many things: a firm Dom, a shrewd businessman, and a gentleman. What he isn’t, is someone who partakes in relationships outside of contractual ones with his multiple, un-collared, regular submissives. While he likes rough sex, he is not an animal, and can find pleasure only if it is consensual. What his harem is missing is a pain slut; could there be one in his future?

Upon meeting Catherine, Jayden feels an instantaneous spark inside him that has him wanting to know not just her body, but her mind. He wants to unravel her mysteries and discover her secrets. Through pain can they find the pleasure they seek? Can part-time pain lovers find full-time fulfillment when it’s not in their contract?

Divas Thoughts

 

Let´s make this short and easy. I didn´t like this book. It was everything I hoped it wouldn´t be.
A while back, an author recommended this book to me, telling me: ” Girl, this book is hotter than FUCK!”. Well, Fuck was the right word to describe this novel. But after I finished reading my only thought was ” WHAT the FUCK was that all about?”
I have no doubt the author thought this novel was going to become an enjoyable, sexy read. I can´t say I enjoyed half of it because of the emotionless characters and the strong, yet very detailed, Dom/Sub scenes. I´m not going to call those sex scenes because they rarely had sex. It was just your typical Master / Slave relationship.
OH WAIT! No no no no. Let me start on the story before I get to the steamy scenes.

Catherine ( or also Erin, which I consider 2 different names. Not a nickname ) was a broken sub standing infront of an exclusive club to gain access to the scene again. While standing outside in line, a man ( Jayden , aka: the Dom ) walks past her and makes sure she has access. Once in the club she takes a look around, searching for the hottie who let her in.

Now, I was okay with everything up until that point. Jayden found Catherine and his first words to her were:

” Follow me, slut. I want to see you come.”

Jeez, what a way to be greated. Pfft. Call me old fashion, but a good ol´ ” hey” or ” Hi ” or even a ” Good evening ” wouldn´t have hurt, right? I can see how this scene was meant to be raw, 100% sex dripping and all, but no woman should agree to go with a beautiful stranger if he calls her a slut. Am I missing something here? * confused * Has the term ” slut ” become a sensual word? * even more confused *. Just think for a second here: What would a guy say if a woman would call him ” motherfucker” as an endearment? Something to think about. Lol I know at least one guy who would yell ” What the fuck has gotten into you, woman?”

Anyways….Jayden can sense that Catherine is the perfect sub for him. Gosh, poor fellow, he´s had no luck with other subs at all before. All kind of disliked the stuff he enjoyed to do. Pain play wasn´t welcomed by others BUT Catherine had something that told him she could satisfy his needs.
So, both start to play and something is off. Although Catherine comes close to perfection with her submission, their playing doesn´t give Jayden the joy it should have. No, it gives him more.
Will Catherine be able to give Jayden access to her complete body and mind? Will she allow him to ” use ” her, crossing over her hard limits?
Okay….here´s the deal:

Some BDSM stories are sooooo good they even turn ME on. This one turned me off, left me dry, etc. Let´s do a list on what a reader gets out of this novel regarding the Dom / Sub scenes:

– dog play
– prepared pony play ( that seems to be in the works )
– M/M/F
– humiliation
– another round of HUMILIATION
– absolute slavery ( but still being decent about it, because it´s just play…uuuh huh )
– pain practice
and so much more.

I´m not prude at all. But pony play isn´t my thing, so reading about it makes me question why people don´t just buy themselves a horse to train. Fetching an object while both of your holes are stuffed with balls and crawling on the floor isn´t something I even find kinky. What I also didn´t appreciate reading about was how Jayden wanted to know EVERYTHING. He wanted to know about every little secret Catherine had. He even made her write a journal and present it to him when they had their dates.He wanted full control, he got it. He even wanted Catherine to see a Dom pal of his ( who was a therapist ) so that Catherine would over-come her fears and maybe….MAYBE reconsider her hard limits. Aaah, so that´s how it works. I see.
So, if my husband wants to invite 300 people to our house and party like teenagers, and he knows that that´s my hard limit ( meaning NO ) then it would be okay if he called a therapist to convince me that my husbands idea is great? ( dear Lord )

Another part disturbed me to no end was….(Oh God…I´m even having a hard time thinking about it) comparing freshly spanked ass cheeks with fresh salmon. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Do not use fish if you want to describe the color of a whipped ass.
* screaming around the house holding my eyes shut banging my head against the wall to get rid of the visual, desperately thinking about my retirement on the Bora Bora Islands*
Do not….I repeat….DO NOT EVER use fish in a sex scene. That´s dusgusting. Now I may never be able to eat fresh salmon ever again without thinking about ass cheeks.

I might never calm down over that little fact.

What I also found odd was how Catherine always talked in the third person when she was around Jayden. For example:
” Master, this girl has to pee.” ( that was not the exact dialogue from the book, but something like that was in there ). So instead of saying: ” I need to pee” she spoke like a good little sub. How exhausting!!

The writing style from the author was way off key from the story, or even the dialogue. It just didn´t match. Catherine was an Irish girl, but other than her red hair/green eyes and the ocassional ” Aye, Sir ” …I didn´t see any irish. Jayden was a Dom. But not just any Dom. He had the power over Catherine, or Erin, and Micah ( the guy he also dominated inbetween) and Samantha ( what her role was is still a mystery to me)

The end was a total cliffhanger. And I have no desire to continue the story. So…..I´ll never find out how it will end.

This book had a great start and went downhill after 7%. I tried really hard to see any beauty of the kink world in this book and came up with nothing.
And to make things clear…I do not have any insight on the lifestyle per se, but I do know what I like and don´t like. And comparing fish to sexual body parts is a NO GO! Plus I find nothing sexy about Catherine´s submission because it was ( in my opinion ) a poor excuse of a play-slave who was horny.
Would I recommend this book?
No.

Would I re-read this book?
No

The Divas are giving To Serve Is Divine by R. E. Hargrave 1 out of 5 champagne glasses.

Underestimated – Jettie Woodruff

I purchased this book for my own enjoyment

Book Description:

Warning! This is not your everyday fall in love romance. This book contains disturbing situations, strong language, graphic, sexual content, some forced, some not. If it’s your happily ever after love story that you are looking for, you should probably move on. If you are up for the ride, stick around and it may just turn into a love story after all.

Morgan starts her life in a bad situation, she doesn’t really know what she wants out of life. She’s never had anyone to look up to, or help guide her in the right direction. She had it rough, and never dreamed that it could get worse, however she finds that it can, and does.

She learns what real hell is when she meets the husband that she doesn’t want to marry, but isn’t given a choice. Can she escape? She can, and does only to wake up and find herself right back at square one.

My Thoughts:

This book was recommended by a person on Facebook. She described it as ” disturbing, awful, partly disgusting, and over all not a good book. Now, that got my attention rgith away! I love to read those kind of books. ANYWAYS….one click, and the book was mine to read.

I´m gonna just be very blunt about this: OH MY FUCKING GOD! That person was right! Underestimated was totally disturbing and I just loved it. I loved reading every page from this 500 page book. I couldn´t put this book down even if my life had depended on it. Here are a few words to discribe this awesome piece of story:

SHOCKING, RUDE, CRUEL, DEVASTATING, ABUSIVE, UTTERLY INTENSE, CREEPY, SCREWED UP, WILD, SEXUAL, INSANE.

…but then again, this book had:

LOVE, COMMITMENT, TRUST, ANGST, DEVOTION

How does all that fit into this book? Hmm….no freaking clue. But it was all in Underestimated and I loved every minute of it. This book started out dark and as the hours passed…I started seeing rainbow colors ( the light at the end of the tunnel….etc )

This story is about a young woman, Morgan, who was bought by a man named Drew Kelley. I mean….he wanted her, so he paid her family money so he could have her. How creepy is that? Drew didn´t want Morgan in the classical way a man would want a woman. Nope. He wanted her as a slave. To use her as he pleased. And in my humble opinion…that sick son-of-a-bitch really treated her like shit. It was awful and shocking and evoked feelings in me I would rather keep to myself. My mind was constantly seeking for ways to kill the bastard. I even would have gladly gone to jail for killing him. * nodding * BUT….Drew married the scared 18 year old and saw his plan through to make her his ( again creepy and insane )

As the years ( which mainly included brutal mind-fucks and physical abuse ) went by, Morgan found herself hating Drew and decided to run away. (Haha…I was really rooting for that woman when she left.) Morgan was finally free. She found enough courage to leave that beautiful hell hole and start a life she never thought she´d live.
After her escape, Morgan found herself in Maine with a new identity. But could she live a normal life? Was Morgan able to leave her past behind?

Nope…..and nope.
Even living in Maine…Morgan ( now Riley ) couldn´t shake off the feeling that Drew might find her and kill her for leaving him. She made friends and even fell for Dawson ( a cop ) who was the exact opposite of Morgan´s husband. All Dawson wanted was to love Riley the way she deserved. What more could a woman (who was constantly beaten and sexually humiliated to no end ) want more? Morgan wanted all Dawson was willing to give but she wasn´t sure how to handle the love Dawson offered. He wanted her, but she wanted him to run away from her. After almost 2 years, their relationship became somewhat normal until one fine day….Morgan / Riley was on a trip and had an accident….and….and….well, that´s where the awful feelings end and the better ones flow into the story.

I refuse to continue to tell you more about this story because I DO NOT want to give anything else away! Up until the accident, Morgan´s life was a dirty bitch. She fought to keep Drew ( her abusive asshole husband ) as far away as possible and fought even harder to love Dawson( the nice guy ) the way she was supposed too. One small accident changed everything.

Would you like a shorter version of my thoughts on the events that happened in this book Enjoy the list:

– ” WHAT THE FUCK? “
– ” You have got to be fucking kidding me?! “
– ” Jesus H…….You stupid motherf****r!”
– ” Die, bastard, DIE! “
– ” What? You did not do that! Stupid son-of-a-bitch! BURN in HELL!”
– ” Dumb ass woman….What the hell?”

I found myself shouting alot and earning myself some dirty looks from my better half.  THATS how intense this story was for me. I hated and loved it.

Now…to the characters:

I really enjoyed Morgan´s character. She was this poor broken / beaten young woman who didn´t have much of a saying in any matter when it came to her life. From the moment she was sold off to Satan himself, she had the ” poor bastard ” card and had to make the best of her situation. I also enjoyed to see the development ragarding her role. It was a joy to see how she went from scared / brave slave to bold & beautiful with a good head on her shoulders. There were a few scenes where I  couldn´t stand her….but I guess that her character couldn´t be 100% perfect, right? At least she wasn´t your typical heroine who did nothing but bitch.

Drew….oh dear God, I have no idea what I should say about his character. That guy was on my shit-list until he had Morgan once again in his dirty claws. I hated him so much….and then all of the sudden..POOOOF! .I saw the beauty in his character. Just like THAT…he was the perfect guy. That sick stupid ass was so damn lovable. I loved him and alone that feeling screwed with my head badly because I had every right to hate him. * confused *

Dawson was a different story. His character was great….but I didn´t see Morgan with Dawson at all. Their relationship was sweet and kind….and sweet…and normal….it just didn´t fit. Dawson was the perfect guy who had the looks and always the right things to say. And when all three characters ( Drew, Dawson, Morgan/Riley) were caught in one scene….Dawson still wasn´t the man he should have been ( that´s how I felt ) He was still sweet, even when he had his little fits. That made me think he really was too normal for someone like Morgan.

The sub characters were also wonderfully displayed. I really enjoyed the Maine gang, but my heart was stuck with the characters from Nevada. 

Let´s move on to the sex. It was fantastic! I loved how the author didn´t over do those scenes but at the same time….gave a reader enough input on what was going on. Most scenes were smoking hot ( !!! ) but a few didn´t do anything for me. Let´s just say I was positively surprised and thought about sticking my head in the freezer a couple of times ( Not kidding, people!! ) And not to forget the sad sex scenes. No wait….not sad, AWFUL sex scenes.

I wouldn´t say that this book was enjoyable because having thoughts of killing someone isn´t something I enjoy. Lol. What I did enjoy was the angst in this book. It was exciting to think about Drew and how he´d react next. He was one crazy ass dude with a twisted mind.
The author did a fabulous job in creating a story that was dark, edgy, painful, and yet loving, caring, and sensual.
Underestimated was well written and I had no troubles at all while reading this book.

It´s true that this book isn´t your typical love story. And you should definitely take a deep breath before you read Underestimated, because you sure as hell will be keeping the air in your lungs alot while reading this book. I´m pretty sure anyone who loved Consequences by Aleatha Romig will adore this book. I know I did.

Would I recommend this book?
– FUCK YES! This book will blow your mind and twist your panties til they turn red!

Would I re-read this book?
– Yes. This book was so wonderfully screwed up….I have no other choice than to read it once again.

The Divas are giving Underestimated by Jettie Woodruff  5 out of 5 spanktastic champagne glasses!.

Purchase Link:

Amazon US -http://www.amazon.com/Underestimated-Jettie-Woodruff-ebook/dp/B00DOH9WR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393202268&sr=8-1&keywords=underestimated

Goodread Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17913288-underestimated