Jaci Burton writes paranormal action, romance and erotic novels. I stumbled upon her Chains of Love series, which is basically SciFi BDSM porn. Bound to Trust is the first book in the series.
[The following contents are not suitable for minors or people who think BDSM is disgusting. And it contains SPOILERS.]
First, let me clarify: I don’t think that every erotic novel is porn. [I also don’t think that romance novels is girly porn, but that’s a different story.] What makes me say that Bound to Trust is porn, is that a) the plot [little of which actually exists] is used as a flimsy excuse for the people in the novel to fuck. b) characters show up, fuck and disappear again. c) character development is heard of, but not really included in the novel. And d) there’s more fucking than anything else.
The book is not exactly PWP, so let me tell you about it: Marina is a police officer on earth. Her superior wants to put her on the case of some missing women, who were most likely shipped to the planet Xanta to serve as sex slaves. On Xanta, every male is a dominant and every woman is a submissive. While taking this assignment would mean the longed for promotion, it would also mean going undercover as sexy Xantanian Kaden’s submissive slave herself. Marina is an independent woman and really not into BDSM. But she takes on the assignment and discovers new sides of herself.
Well, you can guess the rest. Basically, she lets herself be abducted, then gets bought by Kaden and as there’s surveillance everywhere, she has to pretend to be his sub. Then there’s a lot of fucking/ swinging/ bondage/ spanking/ voyeurism before Burton remembers that there was a story she should probably finish. They find the responsible people, say their goodbyes [It was just a job after all], then finally make up their minds, get together and will be happy forever.
Well, leaving aside the plot, which doesn’t really work and is secondary at best, this novel was weird.
First, Kaden is an Alien but looks exactly like a human (what are the chances?) except for his dick, which has a kind of green tattoo on it, which moves. Almost all the aliens looked completely human. One had yellow skin, though. I always think that that’s lost chances… if you have aliens, let them look different. Or have an explanation why they all look like us.
In the beginning, Marina thinks that Dom/sub is a horrible, disgusting concept and she wouldn’t want to do it ever. One orgasm later, she’s already getting used to the idea that this actually is a great lifestyle. I think that that transition was a little quick. Also, I don’t think that anybody is that clueless about their wishes. Maybe you don’t want to know about what you kink for, but you kind of do know. And to accept that takes time. But going from completely “no, not for me, doesn’t excite me at all” to “yeah, give me more, hit me harder” in about a week wouldn’t work in any way.
But Kaden, too, doesn’t know what he wants in the beginning. The normal Xantanian subs are boring for him and it takes him ages to come to the conclusion that he wants the Dom/sub relationship in the bedroom only. The rest of the time, his partner should be as independent as him. I just can’t believe that people don’t know themselves to such an extent. I mean, you can ask anyone on the street about which type of person they fall for and they will tell you.
I don’t really kink for BDSM stuff [though a little bondage never hurt anyone], so the sex scenes didn’t do much for me. Especially, since Burton’s writing style is mediocre at best. But it was a blast to read about the sex toys Burton thought of – stone’s that tingle when your partner thinks about them, connected with piercings to your nipples and pussy; dildos that expand to exactly the right size, are hot and move on their own accord etc. Now, if they actually existed… *sigh*
Oh, and another thing that should definitely exist was this (kind of) laser, which just goes over your body and removes all the unnecessary hair. Painless, quick, long effect.
I couldn’t count the times Burton told us that being in a Dom/sub partnership isn’t bad, you’re equal partners, it’s great, you’re equal partners, the woman stays independent, oh, and did I mention? You’re equal partners!
Look, I don’t think that they’re equal. But (in this case) equality is overrated. If both partners agree on the rules and the way they’re unequal – screw equality! The consent is what’s important.
Anyhow, it’s a short read and I did enjoy myself [mostly in the laughing category], but I don’t think I will read more of Ms. Burton’s. Except maybe her paranormal stuff. :)
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