Customer Reviews

Ruby's Rules

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

 

 

Ms. Sarai is a wonderful writer of erotica....I just loved Raw Silk and Incognito but Ruby's Rules falls short of expectation.

The story is centered on Ruby Chen a young sexually dominating CEO, her assistant Margaret, and corporate rival Rick Martell. We see the story unravel with all three characters points of view which was interesting except a little distracting. Although the book is called Ruby's Rules I felt like she wasn't much in control and the rules changed as often as the wind blew. Yet the book definetly explored BDSM and the roll of a novice dominatrix in Margaret, Rubies Assitant.

Although, there was lots or sex I felt the plot and characters unravel as we came to the end of the book. I say the book could have been better considering the talents of Ms. Sarai.

Ruby's Rules is a fast paced novel done in a revolving first person point of view. It revolves around five main characters (one of which is only a memory of a deceased and much loved man) Ruby and Rick, who are locked in a power struggle both professionally and personally, each used to being dominant, and each secretly wishing to surrender.

Throughout the novel, this reader was particularly captivated by the character of Margaret, who had been a seventeen year long D/s slave, and who makes a beautiful transition following her master's death from owned to owner.

The author uses the relationship between Margaret and Luna to demonstrate the loving side of BDSM and the relationship between Ruby and Rick to demonstrate the power struggle we all fight.

It is this reader's opinion that Ms. Sarai has done an amazing job of giving readers a glimpse at almost everything the BDSM lifestyle has to offer. She has shown the dedication of a lifestyle slave, and her journey of discovery in making a life after her master's death. She's given us the player and conquest mindset of Ruby and Rick throughout the beginning of the book, and taken the reader along with them as their feelings progressed naturally to something much deeper allowing us, as the reader to glimpse their internal confusion. The differing first person point of view style takes some getting used to, but it really pays off in the way the story comes together.

Ruby's Rules is a fast paced novel done in a revolving first person point of view. It revolves around five main characters (one of which is only a memory of a deceased and much loved man) Ruby and Rick, who are locked in a power struggle both professionally and personally, each used to being dominant, and each secretly wishing to surrender.

Throughout the novel, this reader was particularly captivated by the character of Margaret, who had been a seventeen year long D/s slave, and who makes a beautiful transition following her master's death from owned to owner.

The author uses the relationship between Margaret and Luna to demonstrate the loving side of BDSM and the relationship between Ruby and Rick to demonstrate the power struggle we all fight.

It is this reader's opinion that Ms. Sarai has done an amazing job of giving readers a glimpse at almost everything the BDSM lifestyle has to offer. She has shown the dedication of a lifestyle slave, and her journey of discovery in making a life after her master's death. She's given us the player and conquest mindset of Ruby and Rick throughout the beginning of the book, and taken the reader along with them as their feelings progressed naturally to something much deeper allowing us, as the reader to glimpse their internal confusion. The differing first person point of view style takes some getting used to, but it really pays off in the way the story comes together.

Lisabet Sarai is an excellent BDSM/erotica author whose first two books Raw Silk and Incognito are among my favorite books in BDSM fiction. I've come to expect very steamy, adult sexual situations with a BDSM theme to them with strong characters throughout. The same is true of this book, at least at first.

There are three main characters in this book. Ruby, Margaret and Richard. Ruby is the CEO of a company she just inherited from her father after his death. She is a very strong woman who likes to be in control of all situations, especially involving sex, which she uses to control others around her. Her assistant, Margaret, is an older woman who had been in a BDSM relationship as the submissive for many years with Ruby's father (a situation Ruby was unaware of). Along comes Richard, the third lead character in this book. Richard is described basically as a short slimy weasel who for some reason invokes a strong sexual response in both Ruby and Margaret. Ruby first meets Richard the night before her first meeting with him concerning a chip manufacturing plant in Malaysia that both Richard and Ruby want. She is unaware of who Richard is when she meets him (though he does know who she is) and they engage in some rather kinky sex in a cab after he first observes Ruby dominating another man at a sex club. When Richard walks in the next day and Ruby discovers who he is she is furious because she was attracted to Richard the night before and feels he "wronged" her with their sexual encounter and refuses to entertain the plant sharing idea Richard proposes at the meeting. Richard then invites Ruby (and her assistant Margaret) to his home in LA (Ruby is in England) for a week in an effort to persuade her to change her mind.

As soon as the story gets to Richard's house in LA things start to fall apart. All the characters start to engage in sex with several different partners (Richard with Margaret (after which Margaret develops a strange hard hatred for Richard), Ruby with the chaffeur, Margaret with the maid, etc., etc.). Unfortunately since the characters then become very two-dimensional and shallow you stop having any real interest in who is doing what with whom. While Richard pursues Ruby (more or less writing off the plant after Ruby does some dealing and gets the lead in the contest) and you get the feeling that he is genuinely in love with Ruby in his own shallow way, you never understand why Ruby is really attracted to Richard and supposedly is in love by the end of the book. Margaret suddenly changes from a submissive to a supposed dom during a trip to San Francisco with the maid, a change in roles that is just not convincing. The big BDSM scene that occupies that latter quarter of the book doesn't work for me since you don't get so much a picture of a true dom/sub scenario (or a dom temporarily topping another dom) but more just a sexually sadistic encounter that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I was truly disappointed with this book but will continue to read Ms. Sarai's future works. As I mentioned above, her first two books, Raw Silk and Incognito are excellent BDSM books and very satisfying; hopefully her future works will also prove to be as good.

The authors' dedication of this book to a master erotica writer, Portia Da Costa, (Gothic Blue, Hotbed ....) certainly portends a yummie tale of high strung, liberated and sexually voracios young women .....

We don't get much past page 5 when we see Ruby Chen, a 24 year old half Chinese and Brit CEO of a large corporation, satisfying her munchies on a young exec trying to convince her that her company needs his proposal. The plot thickens when we meet Margaret the submissive secretary/slave lover of Ruby's recently deceased father, and of course Rick Martell, the handsome, dashing Malaisian peer of Ruby's in his own corporation. Both Ruby and Rick are competitors in a proffer to purchase a large Malaisian computer chip foundry.

The book actually was super hot and erotic until we get to the middle of the book when all the main players end up in Rick's California mansion for a week of trying to convince the owner of the Malasian plant that their deal is the best. We get a kind of disconnect at that point, and the loss of one star, as the characters undergo a complete transformation with slaves turning into dommes overnight. It don't happen in real life.... I guess ..... LOL

The authors ability to paint these women as very very tough and tight only to turn into M&M's when you touch them is fabulous and well worth the price of the book ......

...The story of Corporate Dominatrix Ruby Chen, her assistant Margaret and Ruby's nemesis and object of attraction/lust, Richard Martell, Ruby's Rules chronicles from three very different points of view where we see Sarai's excellent use of often difficult to write first person POV.

Accustomed to seducing men into doing what is beneficial for her company, Ruby Chen is coerced into meeting with Rick Martell, in order to discuss a power play of a move in corporate strategy, only Chen is not so able to use her normal methods of dominating seduction to overcome Martell.

Through the different POVs, we watch each character change. Ruby from her hard nosed dominatrix to a woman who submits to her body's desires. Rick is very much like Ruby, only he learns to appreciate his true nature, a yearning for submission while Margaret discovers an entirely new persona within her, courtesy of Rick's lovely servant, Luna.

Filled with conspiracy, rich character history that we see throughout the novel, and a compelling storyline, Ruby's Rules is a fast paced, erotic novel with a different focus on BDSM than most literature I've read. Each character comes alive with a conundrum of emotions that war inside, from Rick's powerful conquest mindset to his ultimate submission after losing a game of Go to Margaret coming around and realizing her former lover's (And Ruby's father) true nature.

I have to be honest, I had to put the book down due to my own author deadlines, but the story is written so well that even after a week, I was able to pick up from where I left off and jump back into the excitement and arousal that awaited me.

Lisabet Sarai is a skilled writer who leaves us hungry for her next work. Her sex scenes put me inside each character's head and did more than just show us what went on. I know others are sure to enjoy this book as much as I did.

Already a fan of Lisabet Sarai's "Incognito," I wasn't sure if I should expect disappointment or an even better story than her last. I was pleased to find the latter -- "Ruby's Rules" is an excellent, exciting piece of work from one of today's best erotica writers.

Though explicit enough to arouse the reader, the sex scenes are tastefully done. Even better, the surrounding story truly influences the characters' sexual interaction. Erotica is often written with just enough story to fill the pages around the sex. This isn't the case with "Ruby's Rules" -- the erotica is truly part of the story. The business relationships and characters' histories built tension which carries over (and intesifies) their sexual games. And the sexual games themselves? Truly hot!

My one criticism is so minor it hardly detracts from the story: at 24, it's a bit difficult to really accept Ruby as the head of an international megacorporation. Still, her position isn't completely implausible, and when she takes on Rick in a parallel business/sexual battle, her youth is easily forgotten as the reader finds out what a sophisticated and fun character she is.

The story's greatest strength is certainly the characters. Sarai is adept at creating living, breathing, three-dimensional men and women. Even the secondary characters are fleshed out -- everyone has conflicts with other characters, emotional baggage, personal quirks, and an interesting history. Since it's easy to picture the characters as real people, being a voyeur to their sexual antics is a true pleasure.

In summary, "Ruby's Rules" is a wonderful work from an impressive author. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience the best in erotica.