Dana’s story which began in the previous novel in this series now moves on to the development of her relationship with her new lover and Dom, Zach.  It is not an easy story to read because these two highly intelligent and highly successful professionals are still dealing with issues connected to their past relationships with their now-dead spouses.  Both have been meeting with a counselor and were moving forward with their lives.  But occurrences and situations manage to remind each of them that there are still fears and feelings that need to be addressed.

For Dana, Zach has a problem with impact play (which is a fancy way of expressing painful elements of BDSM).  He has difficulties accepting that Dana needs this pain several times a year–giving in to the pain and releasing her emotions is a way of releasing deeper emotions that are connected with other aspects of her life.  But Zach has to accept this in her and himself and thus Dana returns to a club where she and her husband “played” before his death.  Here she meets up with a Dom who was one of her best friends and with whom she has not been in contact since her husband’s death.  He is gay and now has a 24/7 sub named Jacob, a bi-sexual man.  Dana’s friend recognizes that Jacob needs to be with a woman from time to time and as it turns out Dana and Jacob are greatly attracted to one another.  Oddly enough, Zach understands this and he and Dana work through this so that Jacob and his Dom become a part of the relationships in Dana and Zach’s world.  Dana has now also realized that she is deeply submissive to Zach, but she also has a Domme streak that demands satisfaction as well.  Her relationship with Jacob is helpful in meeting that need.

Zach must confront some latent issues that have to do with his wife’s death–she was killed while she was walking in a shopping area, stepped off the curb without looking, and was hit by a car and died.  When Dana is involved and badly injured in an auto accident, Zach walks away from her and their relationship is put on hold.  How they resolve this, how each manages to accept and forgive, is very much at the core of their love for one another and their willingness to give each other what they need.  Zach must also accept some latent bi-sexuality in himself that he has been reluctant to confront and accept, so this novel is about a lot of self-awareness and learning that is essential to the success of their relationship as well as their sense of self.

Ms Blevins is a fine writer.  I had not read any of her work before these two stories in this series but find that she has a compelling style of telling a very good story, of helping her characters develop their own tale, of keeping a balance between introspection and dialogue.  She doesn’t back away from the realities of the BDSM lifestyle–the elements of its “play,” the rationale and thought behind the D/s relationships, the power exchanges at various levels of relationship, and the healing that can come from letting go of oneself to another person who has one’s complete trust.  It is an engaging story and one that will stimulate the reader’s consideration of the lifestyle and quite possibly entertain as well.  It is worth exploring and well worth the time and effort to read.  Even those who have not read much BDSM just might gain some important insights from this novel.

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The Series:

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Excessica Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.