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Surviving Reviews

By Lisabet Sarai

I've been in a funk for a week. The reason? A recent review of my BDSM erotic romance The Understudy at the Forbidden Bookshelf blog.

It wasn't a bad review. The reviewer wasn't the least bit snarky – just not especially enthusiastic. She called the novella “enjoyable” and gave the book three and a half stars, with a three out of five flames heat rating. Anyone perusing the review, though, could tell that the book didn't exactly light her fire.

Am I disappointed? You bet I am. What an author craves, more than money, more than fame, is readers who fall in love with her books. When that doesn't happen – especially, when a book receives a publicly ho-hum evaluation – well, it's like a love scene without an orgasm.

Whenever a Google Alert pops up in my mailbox, informing me of a new review, I get nervous. I put off following the link until I've dealt with all my other business for the morning. Then I cross my fingers and go receive the verdict. A positive review will send me spinning into dizzy celebration. A negative review sinks me into a dark well of self-doubt that's really tough to climb out of.

Of course I know intellectually that a review offers the personal opinions of a single reader, reflecting his or her personal tastes. If the characteristics of my book don't align well with the reviewer's preferences, I can't expect raves. In this particular case, the review site focuses on BDSM fiction, much of it more hardcore than The Understudy. Compared to other work reviewed on this site, I guess, my book is pretty tame (although I've written BDSM erotica that's far more extreme).

This rationalization doesn't help improve my mood, though. By erotic romance standards,  The Understudy is moderately intense. It includes detailed descriptions of bondage, spanking, whipping, butt plugs, and anal sex. Furthermore, the D/s scenes are not play-acting. The BDSM accoutrements aren't just there to spice up a basically vanilla relationship. Geoff's mastery and Sarah's surrender are fundamental to their natures. In submission, Sarah finds a kind of fulfillment she never dreamed existed. Meanwhile, the experienced dominant is delighted, almost awed, by her devotion. The book is romance, sure, but in my opinion, it's “real” BDSM, too, with the core power exchange that the defines the genre.

I know that for the sake of my own sanity – and productivity – I've got to let go of my disappointment and self-pity. I've got other books to work on, and hopefully, other readers to enchant. I've heard other authors say that you've got to develop a thick skin to survive bad reviews, and I know they're right.

 Still, I'd like your opinion. I've included a snippet of one of the more intense scenes from The Understudy below. Based on this excerpt, how many flames would you rate this story?

I'll give a copy of the anthology Master Me, where The Understudy originally appeared, to one person who comments on this post. This fabulous collection also includes tales by Trina Lane, Elizabeth Coldwell, Justine Elyot, Charlotte Stein and Jane Davitt. Please include your email address in your comment so I can find you if you're the winner!

Excerpt from The Understudy – Rated X

I don’t remember the details of how he bound me. I was in some sort of swoon of terror. The next thing I knew I was on my belly, a pillow wedged under my pelvis, my arms stretched to the edges of the mattress. I guess he must have threaded some rope through the rings on my restraints and passed it under the bed frame.

My cheek pressed against the coverlet, I watched him bustle about the dim room. He dragged the vanity stool over to the bed and sat beside me.

“How are you, little one? Are the bonds too tight?”

I shook my head, still too embarrassed to speak.

“How do you feel?” His tone of voice made it clear that he expected a reply.

“Helpless,” I said finally. “And horny.”

“Good. That’s how you’re supposed to feel.” He trailed his fingers across my bare buttocks, tracing little spirals.

My pussy spasmed, leaking my juices onto the pillow.

“You have a lovely ass, Sarah. I really enjoyed spanking you the other night.” He gave me a sharp pinch then smoothed the pain away, stroking and kneading.

I found myself relaxing under his magical touch. I drifted, enjoying his attention. When he parted my rear cheeks, however, I jolted awake.

Geoffrey brushed a fingertip across my anus. “Are you a virgin, Sarah? Has anyone ever fucked you in the ass?” He pressed against the clenched knot.

Panic made me jerk against the bonds. I felt something warm and slippery spill along my crevice. “No! Don’t!”

 “You’d refuse me?”

I was silent with shame. I’d promised to obey him.

“This was your choice, little one. This is what you wanted.” He spread the lubricant around my hole, then worked his finger into the ring of muscle.

“I’ve changed my mind…Oh…oh!”

His wriggling set up lewd vibrations in my clit. The further he intruded, the more intense the sensations became.

“Too late.”

I felt myself stretch as he pushed a second finger in next to the first. I gasped as a miniature climax exploded deep in my cunt.

“Oh…oh…”

“I’d guess from your tightness that I’m the first to ever take you here.” More fingers, pushing deeper inside my most private place, working me open.

“Oh, sir! Please…” I was empty for a moment as he removed his fingers. Then the oiled bulk of the plug pressed against my hole.

It just wasn’t possible for that enormous thing to enter such a narrow passage. He exerted a steady pressure, though, and I felt the tip breach my sphincter. He twisted, screwing the infernal object into me. It began to hurt, my poor virgin tissues stretched to the limit. At the same time, my clit throbbed and another climax simmered in my soaked pussy.

“Relax,” Geoffrey murmured close to my ear as the unrelenting invasion proceeded. “Breathe. Let me in.”

His voice was hypnotic. I wanted to obey. I remembered the lightness and peace that followed the pain of his spanking. I wanted that again.

Geoffrey must have sensed my surrender. He gave a sharp push. The plug popped into my rectum. I moaned, mortified by the sensations coursing through me, the fullness of the plug expanding inside me, the overwhelming urge to expel it.

“Good, very good. Let go, little one. Don’t fight it.”

He stroked my buttocks, then wriggled the plug. Delicious, obscene pleasure claimed me. The flicker of pain at my stretched entrance only added to the stew of sensation. The movements of the toy made my clit sputter and ache. The pleasure sparking in my cunt made the plug feel better―or worse. I could hardly tell.

My master left for a moment while he rummaged in the suitcase. The feelings built with each breath.

“I decided to choose a favourite toy as well,” he chuckled. His well-manicured hand gripped the riding crop.

He didn’t give me time to comment. The crop whooshed through the air and landed a stinging blow on my right cheek. In some dim corner of my mind, I knew that it must hurt, but somehow the pain just turned up the heat. He slashed at me again. I clenched down on the plug and ground my swollen pussy against the pillow. The next stroke sent me over the edge, spiralling into sweet oblivion.

Geoffrey was still beating me when I recovered. “Good girl,” he breathed, as the crop whistled and my ass burned. “Take it in. Let it out.”

I felt another orgasm coiling inside. Let it out, he had said. He had given me permission.

Just as I was about to explode, though, he stopped. I felt the bed shift from his weight as he climbed on and straddled me. Even through the haze of pain and pleasure, I rejoiced at the feeling of his taut thighs gripping my hips.

“Time for the real thing,” he said, and popped the plug out of my ass. 

BIO: A dozen years ago Lisabet Sarai experienced a serendipitous fusion of her love of writing and her fascination with sex. Since then she has published three single author short story collections and six erotic novels, including the BDSM classic Raw Silk. Dozens of her shorter works have been released as ebooks and in print anthologies. She has also edited several acclaimed anthologies and is currently responsible for the altruistic erotica series COMING TOGETHER PRESENTS.

Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone needs from prestigious universities who would no doubt be embarrassed by her chosen genre. She loves to travel and currently lives in Southeast Asia with her highly tolerant husband and two cosmopolitan felines. For more information on Lisabet and her writing visit Lisabet Sarai's Fantasy Factory (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com).