Note! For Those Interested in Fifty Shades of Grey, see my post here:
Navigating The Finite, April 17, 2012: Fifty Shades of Grey--Metaphor or a Lot Bang For The Buck?
Staking His Claim by J.M. Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I ran into this author in some of the commentary for Fifty Shades of Grey over at Goodreads. I liked her comments and decided to give her book a try.
To me this book is the Anti-Fifty Shades of Grey...there are no rich guys, no helicopters, no naive virgins, no BDSM, no humiliation, no pain, and no ass beatings. It is a nice, realistic story with some nice ordinary pleasurable albeit hot sex.
It is a romance, and romance is not my normal cup of tea, but I think after reading Fifty Shades I needed to read about some normal people engaging in a normal relationship with normal sexual desires. Stewart has a simple plot that she develops nicely, some mystery, and she does an excellent job with character development. Her love scenes are that, loves scenes. The same kind of thing, we ordinary folks do in bed. No whips or red rooms of pain. Her scenes wonderfully describe what is going on, there is no doubt in your mind, yet she does so avoiding usage of obscenity or vulgarisms found in erotica, but also avoids the gauzy vagueness so often found in novels where the author seems to be embarrassed by sex. Her scenes are vanilla sex but hot, I did not find myself bored like I was with yet another raunchy sex scene that was in Fifty Shades. Yes it is a romance and there is some "molten heat flowing through their veins", yet it is not excessive or so God awful syrupy that it wants to make you gag with the phony saccharine so often found in the genre. Extra points for no Holy Craps! or clenching belly muscles. Big plus that she told her story in one volume. There are no second and third books that you must read in order to understand the first. Nice down to earth story with some nice romantic love making. I am looking forward to her next novel.
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Amazon.com, Staking His Claim-ebook
I keep hearing about this book everywhere. I am too cheap to actually purchase the book, but I do have a Library card ...... I prefer to listen to books while doing other things, like cooking and sewing. That being said, I have to be careful asbout the contenet when I am in my sewing room. It is right off my office/check-in desk and sometimes I don't hear customers until they are standing there hitting the bell on the counter. Not a good first impression if I am listening to some steamy, desciptive sex scene.
ReplyDeleteIt has happened ......
Kathy
DeleteI think the book you are talking about is in the previous post, Fifty Shades of Grey. This book I read to bring me back to sanity, and has nothing to do with 50 Shades and was written before it. This book just has wholesome good old love making, but you probably wouldn't want to have this one playing either.
Yes an audio book of 50 Shades would be interesting to have playing instead of Musak, especially in the ass whacking BDSM parts. Who knows, your customers may be better behaved.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I am so glad you appreciate normal and respectful. I would be very disappointed if you thought 50 Shades was a great how-to volume for every couple. I don't usually read romances, either, but I might have to give this one a try. On another subject: how many books do you read at a time? I try to stick to one, but have been known to have as many as three going at once. I don't like that, though. It slows me down on all three of them.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started! Fifty Shades was a either a horrible book or a silly one, or both. BDSM is just plain weird. That dominance and submission crap really pissed me off. But the thing that really pissed me off more than anything else was the guy got sexual arousal from inflicting pain and humiliation on a woman. I received some comments over at Goodreads that I do not understand BDSM. Damn tootin I don't. Nor do I want to. You do not hit a woman under any circumstance and you certainly don't do it to get aroused. What the hell is wrong with warm cuddly sex between equals, engaged in love, understanding, and mutual respect. I don't understand the thrill of inflicting or receiving pain. Awfully damned weird to me. But the book didn't mean crap to me, what I am flabbergasted with is the response that woman have had for this book. Like hoola hoops in 1958.
DeleteI usually only read one at time but on occasion I will read several, usually one novel and the other non-fiction. I have four going at the time, but thats too many. I am absolutely terrible for getting half way through a book, get a little bogged down and read something else with the intent of coming back when I am done. Seldom happens. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Sorry no quilts.
My sister was telling me about this book the other day and I knew that I had read something about it somewhere. I think it was here on your blog, or maybe on goodreads, you probably did a review there.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to read your previous post and this one in more detail tomorrow. I just briefly skimmed this one as it is almost 11pm and although tomorrow is Friday, I still have to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed! Oh darn, now I'm going to have to go google that saying. That's one of my O.C.D. traits, always knowing those little sayings but not knowing what they mean and then not being able to get on with my life until I google it and find out the story behing it.
I've missed reading yours posts. I read backwards today, so read the margarita/derby/robin shit story first, then your retirement anniversary blip and now I'm exhausted...working for a living sucks!
Alicia,
DeleteBoth this review and the one on Fifty Shades of Grey are copy and pastes from Goodreads, but the the 50 Shades has some additional edits. I still confess to being floored as to the popularity of 50 Shades. BTW, I don't think you will find 50 Shades at the Goodwill just yet. Wait for about 3 to 6 months and the place will be flooded with copies.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
It seems you need to educate yourself on what BDSM really is... If your reference point is (only) 50 Shades of Grey, then yes, you'll have a negative depiction of it.
ReplyDeleteFine, it's not for everyone, but show some tolerance to those who embrace it.
Ironically we are probably more in agreement than you realize. I understand that there is a devoted subculture that is into BDSM. And that is fine, I have nothing against people who know what they are doing practicing BDSM. That doesn't mean that I like BDSM or that I need to educate myself on BDSM. As you say BDSM is not for everyone and it certainly is not for me. How is that being intolerant to those who embrace it?
DeleteI do not particularly like the idea of BDSM being mainstreamed by books like FSoG or 50 Ways To Play, which is an 112 page introduction to the concepts of BDSM that I think the authors rushed out to capture a cash wave from FSoG.
http://navfin.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-50-ways-to-play-bdsm-for-nice.html
I don't believe these books adequately cover the safety and the psychological issues involved with BDSM. Most loving couples can dabble in a little kink and it will be a positive experience. But not everyone is in a loving relationship, not everyone is sober, and not everyone respects the safety that the BDSM subculture has worked hard to protect those who seriously embrace it.
There are enough battered women in the world to suggest that male aggression is a problem. I don't think I am being intolerant of those who practice BDSM by expressing a concern about BDSM being mainstreamed and practiced by people who do not know what the hell they are doing. There is no shortage of people who will happily embrace domination for all the wrong reasons. It is those people you need to be concerned about, not me.