Customer Reviews

The Darker Side of Pleasure

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Bonds of Love

Jillian and Cameron have been married for years. For months, however, they have been sleeping in separate rooms and their sex life is non existent. In a last ditch effort to save their marriage, they agree to explore the lifestyle of D/s. Displaying a complete show of trust, Jillian turns herself over to Cameron and finds a lifetime of control falling away. When their curiosity for this lifestyle takes them away from their home, Jillian and Cameron realize that more is at stake than just participating in a scene.

The Lair

Answering Master Robert's ad for a sexual submissive to train, Cassandra Lowell finds herself in ecstasy for the first time in her entire life. Being trained by Master Robert is a great privilege that Cassandra doesn't want to take lightly. However, with one glance at Marcus di Sante, Robert's nephew and fellow Dominant, Cassandra realizes that she will do anything to be with him - even break the unspoken contract with Master Robert that can have Marcus thrown out of the BDSM community and ostracized forever.

Love and Discipline

Maggie London is a columnist for a New York sex magazine. In San Francisco on assignment to interview Damien Knight, a sexual Dominant who is well versed in the BDSM lifestyle, Maggie finds herself mesmerized by Damien's aura and personality. From the moment their eyes meet, Maggie's innermost self begins to yearn for things that she has never thought about in her entire life. Things that a woman in control should not want or need. Things that only Damien can give to her to experience and explore. When the smoke clears and Maggie's time in San Francisco comes to an end, will she be able to walk away or will the powerful presence that is Damien make her want to stay?

Having read and loved The Dark Garden, I knew without a doubt that I would become immersed in THE DARKER SIDE OF PLEASURE, Eden Bradley's follow up release. My instincts proved true and I found myself unable to put this book down.

In Bonds of Love, I watched Cameron take Jillian back under his wing and slowly but surely he makes her remember why they married in the first place. Jillian's guilt over circumstances beyond her control had to be explored and the concluding scene between these two characters is just beautiful. A perfect love scene for a great ending.

The Lair is a bit more hardcore in its intensity. More than once I am sure my eyes opened wide at Cassandra's willingness to truly submit to a Master. Even though The Lair is intense, the love found between Cassandra and Marcus is as old as time; it is pure and knows no boundaries.

If I had to pick a favorite novella in THE DARKER SIDE OF PLEASURE, it would be Love and Discipline. This tale made me tear up more than once and I have even had to go back and reread it just to see if it would affect me the same way again. It did. Maggie's supreme control ends when she agrees to Damien's plan. I couldn't help but cheer him on from the sidelines only to be dismayed at how he planned to end things at the conclusion of Maggie's assignment. Above all, Damien is human and in his secret heart of hearts, he is afraid of commitment having been burned before. But, his complete capitulation to the fact that he adores and loves Maggie had me breathing a sigh of relief. He was completely redeemed in my eyes.

Eden Bradley is one talented lady and I can't wait to read future releases. Because of novels like The Dark Garden and THE DARKER SIDE OF PLEASURE, she is now an author I will automatically watch for and purchase new releases when they are offered. Her ability to make me react and feel and become enthralled in her work is truly amazing.

If you're in the mood for seductive stories with an edge, this book has it all: silky-smooth prose, well-crafted suspense and very hot sex scenes in abundance. But it offers even more to readers like me who are new to this genre. I was always a bit mystified by the allure of BDSM, but Eden Bradley's intelligent and insightful portrayals of both male and female characters helped me "get" why strong women would be drawn to this sort of experience and how power play can be a delightfully slippery--and profoundly romantic--game. I found "Love and Discipline" especially riveting; I just couldn't put it down until I was done! Bradley is a wonderful storyteller and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I purchased this book after reading The Dark Garden by the same author, while I really enjoyed it, The Darker side of pleasure was even better, very deep into the world of BDSM, erotic yet dark, I couldn't put this down...3 short stories that hook you and leave you breathless--literally!

~~Minx

A fun read in 3 short stories(about 100 pages each). Erotic fiction that delves well into the psychologic background of BDSM with understanding. Titillating stories but I felt they lacked character development found in novel length writings, so not as riveting for me as other titles of this genre that I have read.

just love all the differnt dominant and subs its used differently in every story but its hot and the stories have meaning 2 them

HAWT.

These three quick read short stories explore BDSM D/s with details that leave me longing for more. Predictable yes, but I love the way Eden describes feelings and things.

Same template for each of the three shorts, but it works.

So,we have three stories about BDSM lifestyle.The author's writing is quite good and rather erotic but what bothered me about this book is that the author always repeats herself.In every story we meet a female character with a bad childhood and that's the reason they wanna try the whole master-slave thing.(too much Freud,don't you agree?)And in every story they end up falling in love with their "masters".
The author could have been more creative and given her characters more dept than glamour and physical attraction.
Another thing is,it's always the women who choose to submit and men are the dominants.Did I miss anything,isn't that the eternal rule since the dawn of humanity?I think it would be more interesting if she could create a male chaacter who submits to a woman and not because of his childhood.
This book is a mediocre read and don't keep your expectations high.

This is a collection of three short stories supposedly exploring our darker sexual needs. Perhaps I have read to much erotica lately, because I found these stories dull and not quite dark enough for me. These are quick reads of about 100 pages or so each. While not a rave review, if you are new to reading erotica, this may me just up your alley.

"The Bonds of Love". In Seattle with their six-year marriage in trouble, Jillian and Cameron decide to try bonding through sexual healing.

"The Lair". In the Malibu Hills Cassandra studies sensual submissiveness only to fall in love with her dominating instructor Master Robert.

"Love and Discipline". In San Francisco journalist Maggie assumes she would do anything for a story, but will she go all the way to interview Damien a sensual hunk?

These three entertaining ultra heated erotic romances focus on power relationships in which the females emotionally grow from doubters to believers while the males grow only in their lower head. Sub-genre fans will appreciate as much as the lead couples the DARKER SIDE OF PLEASURE.

Harriet Klausner

This is a collection of three short stories, supposedly-erotic. Unfortunately I couldn't get past the first one. A couple, dealing with a miscarriage, rejects marital therapy and instead rediscover their marriage through S&M. Obviously these are fictional characters, but two points took me out of the fantasy. First, who is ever going to think it's a really good idea to substitute kinky sex for therapy? Second, you know what's the least erotic idea ever? A miscarriage! Every time I almost got immersed in the plot, I thought again about a miscarriage, and BAM, I was back outside the fantasy again.

Future authors of erotica, please take note: Nothing is less sexy than a dead baby.