5.0 out of 5 stars
"Hot, Hot, Hot Sex and Compelling Romance!!!"
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2010
The Plot: This second book in Maya Banks's Sweet series is about Serena, a friend of Faith's who fulfills fantasies for a living. Serena is the owner/founder of a company in Houston that provides clients an opportunity to live out their non-sexual fantasies for a day -- a day as a high roller, a princess cruise, etc. When one day Serena decides that she'd like to live out her own fantasy (albeit a sexual one), she turns to her friends for advice on where to start. At Faith's commendation, she calls Damon, who owns a local fetish sex club to provide her a way to temporarily live out her own fantasy of being someone's sexual slave. Upon meeting, Damon is instantly attracted to Serena and commits to personally helping her with her fantasy. What ensues is a whirlwind exploration of the intimate relationship of dominance, submission, bondage and sadomasochism that moves both Damon and Serena beyond even their own wildest dreams.
Zelda's Take: Oh. my. god. After reading the first title in this series, I almost discounted it entirely. Boy, am I glad I didn't. Unlike Sweet Surrender, which attempted to inject mystery and suspense into the plotline to make the book's erotic nature easier to swallow, Sweet Persuasion makes no bones about it -- it is an erotic romance. And pretty hard-core erotica at that.
First, for the faint of heart, readers beware; Sweet Persuasion reveals some of the very core underpinnings of BDSM culture -- from vanilla bondage and slave-subservience to emotion-rending lashings and public humiliation.
Second, this book is HOT, HOT, HOT!!! Damon is at once domineering, stern, loving, tender, good-looking and rolling in money (um, perfection?). Serena is confident, outgoing and independent. She's a business-woman who doesn't need to rely on anyone. Until she meets Damon, that is. What begins as a game and an experiment in sexuality turns quickly into a major lesson in self-actualization for them both.
The book proceeds as one long, rolling, heated sex scene as Damon and Serena learn about each other, play (oh, and do they PLAY!), uncover their desires and explore their limits. I love that Serena is confident enough to step outside of her comfort zone and try on a different persona. She embraces her fantasy and commits to it, but still doubts her decisions and motives just like any normal human being. I adore Damon's tenderness with Serena as she attempts to discover her own desires. While he commits himself to Serena's fantasies right away, he understands that it is only a temporary fling and never expects her to embrace his world in the end. He doesn't venture to hope that the scenario could produce a lasting relationship for them, but as he finds himself smitten with her, he figures it is, in the words of Tennyson, better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all...
As a relative newcomer to BDSM culture myself, I really enjoyed the bird's eye view into the various methods and exchanges Damon employs in his scenes with Serena. The insight into dom/slave eroticism and the kinky parties that go with it was fascinating. There is one punishment scene in particular that was so dramatic and climactic, the tension tore at my heart and had me nearly in tears!
In the end, I think that my enjoyment of Maya Banks's Sweet series is likely driven by my own personal connection to the characters in play. In the case of Sweet Persuasion, Banks was spot on. I look forward to reading more!
29 people found this helpful