Blog Tour Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway: The Big Book of Domination by D.L. King!

Title: The Big Book of Domination: Erotic Fantasies
Author: D.L. King
Format: Paperback, 346 pages
Pub. Date: December 9th 2014
Source: Cleis Press


Book Description via Goodreads:

Not every woman likes to submit. An increasing number like to be on top. And their partners love it! D. L. King, editor of 2013's award-winning Under Her Thumb, curates a scintillating collection with The Big Book of Domination. Filled with surprises and unexpected twists (yes, that kind, too!), this book proves that when lust and desire take control, all bets are off.

Dominants and submissives are not so very different — they both crave that frisson of power. The Big Book of Domination brings you erotic stories to get your heart pumping, like the story of a reporter who likes to experience everything first hand. It’s been said that clothes make the man — can putting on the right clothes transform an ordinary man into a charismatic dom? When Glenn finds the leathers in his friend’s closet, his trip to the bars nets him the perfect boy . . .

Dominance and submission is a dance D. L. King knows well, and The Big Book of Domination rocks your world with stories of sensuous games with male dominants, training and discipline by female dominants, and all manner of sensuous games and pairings.

Guest Post with DL King:

During a discussion with Laura Antoniou about people who co-edit anthologies, I once said I would never be able to do that because I don’t like to be dependent on others or have to compromise in my books. I went on to say that I was a little controlling and she said, “Ya think so?”

Yes, I am controlling. I like to be in charge and as a dominant woman, I’ve been practicing kinky sex for more than fifteen years, unlike another author who shall remain nameless, so I guess I know a little about the subject of BDSM and domination. Truly, though, I was super-excited when Cleis Press asked if I’d like to edit The Big Book of Domination. It’s an area of personal interest and I hoped I could do it justice.

Most people think of femdom when they think of me. I wanted this book to be more of an omnibus of domination, though, not just femdom, and I hope I’ve succeeded. But before I talk about the various dominants you’ll meet the pages of this new book, I wanted to talk a little about how dominance and submission are so closely related as to be two sides of the same coin. By rights, every story of submission has a dominant, front and center, and every story about domination has a submissive. And because that’s true, I didn’t just look for stories from the dominant’s point of view; some of the stories in The Big Book of Domination are written from the submissive’s point of view. But make no mistake, all these stories are about domination in all sorts of permutations. You’ll find male/female couples, sometimes with the man on top, sometimes the woman. You’ll find lesbian stories and gay stories. There are loving dominants in long-term relationships and submissives giving themselves to a dom for the first time; there are budding relationships and relationships coming to an end. None of these stories are simple, but all are easy to fall into so I hope you’ll do just that. I’d like to leave you with a quote from Laura Antoniou’s foreword to the book.

“Here be dominants. Because not only do they inspire submission – and yes, some by beauty and style – but they also inspire jealousy. Or, they feel it! Deliciously, they feel it and let it wash over them because they have the power to do something about that pesky little feeling. And having the power is only step one. Figuring out how to use it and to what end is the real trick.

And also here you will find familiar tropes like birthdays and role playing, a kidnapping and some public teasing. But while you think you might recognize a standard after-hours office scene, you might be surprised at who winds up where and how flirting can be very fun or very dangerous or both. Parties and music cross paths, but in unexpected ways. Not every party has guests who will appreciate whipping out the chef's naughty bits for some fun, and not all music is played in the background when you can command the musician.

And while some tops in this collection revel in their RKO evil menace persona, (complete with costuming), there are also cozy moments of affection and love, crossing over an assortment of orientation and taste variations. A suitable mélange to tempt the palate for more complex flavors of seduction and coercion and the fine line between the two.

Some of these stories start in texts and via phones and computers. The reality of those stories mingles with the surrealism of an almost noir flavor, hard-edged and defiant and sexy in a way that makes you hesitate before turning the page.

But you'll want to see what happens next. And enjoy the journey as these writers skirt the lazy tops and unimaginative overlords of lesser tales to show you just how deliciously complicated we can be. In our stories and our fantasies. And I'll bet a few of these tales will inspire some real life adventures as well.”

You can find the book everywhere, including the following places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Review:

★★★

The Big Book of Domination is a book that has something for everyone, from Dominants to submissives and everyone in between. If you are a lover of BDSM or sex, then this is an anthology that you will definitely want for your collection.

The short erotic stories contained in this master collection (no pun intended) are widely diverse, including all pairings of straight/LGBT couples, femdom, and stories from both the Dom and sub point of view. Different though they may be, they all focus on a central theme in one form or another: Domination. Because each story is distinct in its voice and story, you can read as many or as few stories from this book in one sitting as you'd like.

I'm not going to break down all twenty-something stories down in full detail, but I will highlight my top three favorite stories included in this book, in no particular order. The first story that stood out to me was "Faking It" by Tilly Hunter, which involves a pair of female play partners and a search for a male submissive to join in on the fun. It's well written and manages to pack a lot of actual story (don't worry- there's sex too) into not that many pages. It could easily have been an excerpt from a longer erotic work, and I really enjoyed the detailed writing. The second story on my list is "Prison Bitch" by David Wraith. This story narrates a male submissive who asks for a very special kind of birthday present and gets even more than he bargained for. This story is LGBT inclusive as well and I'll just be blunt about it: the scene was hot. That's all the reason I need to remember this story in the future. The final story on my top spots is "A Hole" by Lillian Douglas, which involves sensory deprivation, a fantasy fulfilled, and more hands than one can keep track of. This story is a personal fantasy of mine, so it hit the spot all the sweeter for me. It'll definitely be revisited in the future.

The stories that I didn't enjoy so much weren't badly written, they just personally weren't my kink or something that I enjoy. Everyone has the things that make them tick the loudest, and no doubt other readers of this will appreciate different stories for different reasons.

This is a solid collection that I'm proud to display on my kink shelf. This is obviously recommended for adults over legal age, and if BDSM isn't your thing this is NOT the book for you. But fans of it, as well as erotica in general, will find something to appreciate in this book.

Thanks so much to Cleis Press for my Copy in exchange for my honest review!

Giveaway:

-This giveaway will run from February 20th to February 27th, 2015
-This giveaway is US & CAN ONLY
-This giveaway is open to those 18+

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