"Power Play" by Eliza Gayle

Title: Power Play
Author: Eliza Gayle
Publisher: Loose ID
Sub-Genre: BDSM Contemporary Romance
Length: 144 pages
Heat Rating: Erotic
Rating: 5 Cups

Available at:
Amazon | B&N | PUBLISHER NAME | All Romance eBooks

Blurb:
She wants the escape. He wants control. They both need love.

Jennifer Croft is at the peak of her career. As a bondage model at Altered Ego she’s become the crème de la crème of the fetish world, ensuring herself a top spot in her profession. The world is her oyster. Her personal life, on the other hand... It’s not pretty. Only her fascination with pain play keeps the ghosts of her past at bay.

After tragedy sends Daegan McKenna to the South for a much needed change of pace, the last thing he expects to find is a closet submissive hiding in plain sight. She’s hot-tempered and in denial -- a heady combination that brings out the dominant looking for a challenge. He’s already loved and lost more than one man should, but the haunted look in her eyes prompts him to make her an offer: he’ll indulge her darkest fantasies, if she’ll agree to give up control. Then he’ll let her go.

Unfortunately the past never stays in the past and old insecurities cause complications neither of them wanted. Soon temporary power play is not enough.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable:anal play/intercourse, BDSM theme and elements (including/not limited to bondage, exhibitionism, flogging, spanking, voyeurism).



Sam's Review:
I found Power Play an emotional and enthralling read. I didn't want it to end.

Jennifer Croft is a bondage model who is at the peak of her career. She appears cold to many but their are a select few who see past her hard exterior to the woman beneath. Daegan McKenna is a Dom and one of the men who see the submissive and caring woman in Jennifer. However, due to a really horrible child hood, Jennifer doesn't know how to love and is afraid to put all of her control into a man.

Eliza Gayle portrayed Jennifer perfectly. I like the battle she had not only with Daegan but also with herself. She had to fight the battles of her past to see what her Dom could offer her. There was a scene where her step-mother called and I had those moments when I have to remember my kindle can break otherwise a book would have been across the room. I think this is a pivotal scene though and really shows the growing relationship between these two people.

A fantastic read and one I would highly recommend. Loved it.





--

**Disclaimer: This book has been provided to Coffee Beans & Love Scenes (“CBLS”) Reviews free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review of this title. No money has been exchanged for this review. This review reflects the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any other CBLS reviewer or this blog’s owner, editor or administrator.

Midnight Playground by Eliza Gayle

Title: Midnight Playground

Author: Eilza Gayle

Sub-Genre(s): BDSM, Contemporary, Menage

Publisher: Loose ID

Publication Date: December 7, 2010

ISBN #: B004LZ539I

Format: eBook from Author

Reviewer: tsteinerid

Rating: 3 Cups

Blurb:*

Eve's desperate denial only means one thing...she has a lot to learn.

Eve Blake has been working at Altered Ego, a studio specializing in fetish photography, for three months when a custom order comes in for a plus-sized redhead. Ready for an adventure, she volunteers for the job. Chase, her boss, reluctantly accepts. Maybe pretending to be a sexual slave for Chase's camera will get her one step closer to the two men she thinks can satisfy even her darkest needs.

Chase can't believe he's agreed to this deal. The cardinal rule in any business is not to get involved with your employees and that includes your sexy receptionist. He and his partner Murphy learned that lesson the hard way. Now Chase has a hunch the first time they touch their rope to Eve's creamy flesh, there will be no turning back. They'll have to have her.

One shoot leads to another and Eve finds herself at a playground at midnight. When the scene takes a dark turn, Eve sinks deeper into sensation at the hands of two masters who push for her ultimate surrender. Will she reach the limit of how far she can go, or will the ties that bind form bonds of love?

Review:
What can I say about a sexy, hot BDSM story?  There is something about a strong man, but when you have two...WHEW things are going to get really HOT!
 
I was intrigued by the promise of a plus-sized woman being the center of a love triangle.  What I found was somewhat intense scenes that I couldn’t connect with.  The story as a whole is rough yet tame, dark but light.  I liked it but I didn’t.  Isn’t that confusing?
 
Chase seemed like the easy going of the two men.  He ended up being rude and sometimes just cruel.  He is a tortured soul, but there is only so much a woman should have to take.
 
Now Murphy….he’s a true sadist at heart.  I never for one second thought I would like a sadist.  Just the idea of someone inflicting real pain on someone for the pleasure of it,   ahhh *shudders*.  I really liked him, well him as a man and companion.  Now him as a lover, nope still kind of scares me.
 
Eve, Eve, Eve.  Let’s see, she wants to live again and she has feelings for two amazingly sexy men.  What woman wouldn’t be attracted to the virility and dominance of Chase and Murphy?  She really did bite off more then she could chew, but handled it with her head held high.  Was her story believable…I’m not sure.  You will have to read Midnight Playground to make your own determination.
 
Midnight Playground was still a good story.  The BDSM scenes were well written, with some new and surprising elements.  They are definitely not the tender loving but tough, give and take exchanges that you find in other erotica books.  There was pleasure/pain with a whole lot of bite.  Be warned they are a bit rough with her, both physically and emotionally, but since I have no experience in the lifestyle, I really can’t gauge the truthfulness of scenes.  Don’t get me wrong.  The scenes are not out of this world, scary and brutal, just a bit rougher then the norm.  I have read some forceful scenes, but I think these scenes tap more into the emotional elements.  I will also say there were basic reasons for the scene elements too.  Though they could be very rough on Eve, there were moments of complete and utter tenderness.
 
So, I would have to say if you like your BDSM books with a bit more GRRRR, read Midnight Playgrounds.  Even though I had mixed feelings about the characters, I am still glad I did!


Available at:
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Barnes & Noble (Nook book)


--

*Blurb Courtesy of Amazon

**Disclaimer: This book has been provided to Coffee Beans & Love Scenes Reviews free of charge by the author. No money has been exchanged for the review of this eBook. This review reflects the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the other C&R reviewers or this blog’s administrator/editor.