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Double
Whammy!
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An ENE Review of the novels
Sarah's Awakening & The Stalker by Claire Thompson
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| The world of the erotic power exchange is one of deep paradox and contradiction.
As a friend of mine once said about dominance and submission, "nothing is
as it seems." In an environment filled with so much inherent tension, so
much psychological intrigue -- you would think the contemporary literature
would be rich and descriptive. Incredibly enough, this is one place where
eroticism, at times, gets in the way. |
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| That's how I felt in reading Claire Thompson's two novels, Sarah's
Awakening (her first book) and The
Stalker (her third). Both were originally published by Masquerade
and now available in several electronic formats through Renaissance E-Books.
Both are stories about submissive women "tamed" by dominant men, an often-used
plot made so famous by The Story of O. Alas, while both of these books are
quite erotic, Ms. Thompson is no Pauline Reage. |
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| Sarah's
Awakening takes the route found in many stories: innocent young
woman has the strong desire to meet and be trained by a "master". After
a couple false starts, she meets Lawrence, who offers to take her under
his wing at his upstate New York house and train her to be the submissive
that any master would want. He puts her through a number of experiences
and tests meant to break her will. The
Stalker follows another common plot: Emily, an aspiring young starlet,
is kidnapped by Mark, who is obsessed with her to the point where he cannot
live without her. Unlike the heroine of Sarah's
Awakening, Emily does not go willingly. However, as the story progresses,
she changes her mind -- does she even dare to enjoy herself? Her captor
certainly hopes so! |
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| Both these books sound like hot thrills from beginning to end, but
actually, they suffer from what I might call the Too-Much-of-a-Good-Thing
syndrome. So many erotic novels are just one hot scene right after another,
and while this sounds good, it can get monotonous. It becomes especially
dull when the characters lack depth, and I'm sorry to say that all the main
characters in these books seem as two-dimensional as the paper they're printed
on -- or, in the case of these E-Books, the bits and bytes of the screen
where they're portrayed. Ms. Thompson's writing does improve from her first
book to her third, but I couldn't help being tempted to rewrite these books
myself. So much promise, so little delivery. |
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| Still, if it's good, hot scenes of dominance and submission you crave,
you won't be disappointed. Many chapters would qualify as one-handed reads.
Just don't expect either Sarah's Awakening or The Stalker to deliver any
great insights into the world of BDSM -- but when you're busily racing to
orgasm, who needs insight, right? |
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Sarah's
Awakening by Claire Thompson
Previously published as Sarah's Surrender by Masquerade, this
outstanding bestseller is now available as an eBook from Renaissance
E Books. Sarah is a sexy, confident young woman who always thought
she knew what she wanted, but a friendÕs confidences about her
BDSM lifestyle set off a revolution of sexual adventure and discovery.
After her introduction into the bizarre world of the BDSM club
scene, Sarah begins to explore on her own. She becomes more and
more involved in the world of sadomasochism until she stumbles
across the man of her dreams Ð a "slave trainer" who promises
to break her down and remold her into a proper submissive fit
for the most discerning Master. Sarah is led into a complex world
of submission and slavery beyond her wildest dreams.
Note
Bene: When ordering REB e-books, select 'ENE' from the resellers'
drop down menu.
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The
Stalker by Claire Thompson
Claire Thompson, author of Sarah's Awakening, is back with an
original tale of love and servitude. This is the story of a
man obsessed by a woman, and by the idea of possessing her completely.
His obsession has gone beyond mere infatuation, as he plans
an elaborate scheme to abduct her and make her his sex slave.
The story opens just before he successfully kidnaps her and
takes her to his county farmhouse where he holds her hostage.
Mark is a romantic sadist who hopes to convince his prisoner
of his ardent passion and ultimately win her heart and soul.
In the meantime, he tortures her in any number of ways Ð whipping
her, using her for his sexual pleasure, forcing her to sleep
in a cage or on the floor, leaving her bound and helpless for
hours on end as he tortures her until he drops from exhaustion.
(Cover art provided by Hidden
Pleasures.)
Note
Bene: When ordering REB e-books, select 'ENE' from the resellers'
drop down menu.
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All Text, Codes, Graphics © 2001 ENE. All
Rights Reserved.
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