The Slave by Cheryl Brooks

The Slave 
by Cheryl Brooks
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
It's been a while since I read a sci-fi story, even though I like them a lot. I had a couple recommendations from friends to try this one and I have to admit it did hold my interest. The story had a lot of action. But I was left kind of ho-hum at the end. There was a lot of strange manipulative feelings that didn't sit well with me.

It seemed to be somewhat of a parody. There was quite a bit of sex and sexuality, but honestly I didn't think it was sexy enough to put into the erotica category. Maybe because it's been a couple years since it was published, but I would have expected a whole lot more sex before I'd place this one as erotica. I mean, yeah there were naked or partly dressed people, but a lot of the ideas could have worked as a slightly racy Star Trek episode, even if the TV show wouldn't have shown the male nudity described in this book.

It was silly and fun, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the zaniness and the crazy sex things, but I left feeling like there wasn't much of a point or like the characters weren't true to themselves and their adventure didn't resolve in a believable way (realizing how crazy that sounds when we're talking about aliens with addictive sperm and genital-showing clothing).

I felt like Jacinth was a little too passive for my liking. She went right along with the patriarchal manipulations in the story and by the end, I was disappointed that she had no desires outside of her man. She finished her quest, so now she could go home and pump out babies, even though that never seemed to be a part of her framework before. She had a gun, but most of the time she couldn't save herself anyway. She always needed someone big, strong, or magical, to do the saving for her.

The story was also written in first person, past tense. That made it a little jarring for me. Besides not having any idea what Cat is thinking, I just didn't feel like there was much emotional depth. It was an adventure, yes, but I didn't connect with the characters very well and by the end, the story lost a lot of steam.

Oh, and it felt really random how Jacinth came up with the conclusion of the adventure. Maybe there are more details in later books, but I felt like she just randomly had an idea and ran with it because “that's the only possible solution”.


So, I probably won't read book two in the series. At least not anytime soon. Even though the book held my interest and I never felt like giving up the story and moving on, I just couldn't get behind the characterization or the half-hearted feel to the resolution.

Rocky's Entrance to the World

For anyone that doesn't know, I received a crochet peen from the venerable Jody Wallace who writes cool sci/fi stories and awesome parodies.  In her spare time she sells earrings and things on etsy and crochets peens for her friends...at least I think getting a peen means you count as a friend.

Anyway, I named my peen Rocky. He moans and he has all kinds of adventures at my house while the kids are at school. Which means he's been cooped up for the last two weeks while the kids were home.

Yesterday, I finally made another video of one of his adventures. I hope you enjoy it. If you have good ideas for more, pass them on so I have fresh fodder for future episodes.

These episodes are not specifically filthy, but you probably don't want your boss or your children watching. I made my husband watch and let's just say he found out things about me that he never thought he'd see.

If you haven't seen episode one, you can find it here.

Make Me by Charlotte Stein

Make Me
by Charlotte Stein
Rating: 4.5 stars

Ok, so I just finished my second read of this one. I couldn't remember enough specifics to write a review before, but I knew I really enjoyed the book. So here it is. Nothing like a Charlotte Stein book to get you out of a reading slump. I read the blurb for this book ages ago, and something about it vaguely turned me off. Looking at it now, I'm pretty sure it was the “for anyone lusting after more than '50 Shades'”.

So, let's put that one on the table first. This is not anything like 50 Shades. There's no bondage, no spanking, pretty much nothing on the B, S, or M spectrum. Notice I left out the D. Yes, there is some domination, but all in Charlotte Stein's trademarked consensual style. Anyone that says “no” is immediately outed as lying and they carry on with the durty enjoyment.

Tyler and Brandon haven't seen Maisie in years, ever since they had a threesome with her and she walked out the next morning without a word. One thing to remember with Charlotte Stein novels, the relationship is loads more important than anything else going on. Meaning, I'm not 100% sure why she came back, I think the men were opening their own bar or something. I'm not sure how she knew about it, where she lived, or what made her decide after so many years to see them. But the important part is, she did. She went and gets wrapped up in them again. They have a little bit of awkward time, but they jump back into sex really quickly. Not quite coercion, completely consensual, but pushed beyond a couple of their comfort zones.

This story also contains: male/male sexuality, male/male/female sexuality (in many different positions), a little bit of exhibitionism and voyeurism, lots of durty, sexy talk, and there are two guys and a girl, so be prepared that there are butt things involved. We can leave it at that, right? Lots of durty sex things and some vulnerable, passionate, emotional characters.

It's about opening up, freedom, taking life and love with both hands even when you're nervous, and the everlastingness of love. The whole book was perfect in my eyes and I could have read more of their sexual exploits for hours.

Tyler and Brandon and Maisie are a complete package. When Maisie runs out after a sexual encounter with them five years ago, their friendship fell apart. But she hopes that seeing them will prove that at least they haven't damaged their friendship too badly. It's far more complicated when they want to pick up where they left off. Maisie finds her own power, which I love. Tyler controls a lot of their interactions – I'd compare it a bit to Lust Dazed. Maisie and Brandon seem to need someone pulling their strings and Tyler is all too happy to do it. But the twists and turns by the end, oh my gosh, I loved this one.

I felt all kinds of good things while reading the story. It definitely goes on my re-read pile, even after reading it twice already. Will I re-read this one? Yes, definitely. Does it knock Restraint and Curve Ball off my best of Charlotte Stein category? Maybe not quite, but it's a very close hair behind.

*This review is archived on my blog: The Theory of Lieto Fine