Book Review: Midnight Playground by Eliza Gayle

Author: Eliza Gayle

Series: Pleasure Playground #1

My Rating: 4 cups

Blurb (from Goodreads):

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?

I have a confession to make: I love menage books. I never tried two girls and a guy though in my stories. Will try it sometimes, but there's just something about a heroine having two men at her feet. Not like she's dominating them, but like they worship her.

But back to the story. I read the second book in this series, Power Play, last month and I liked it a lot, so I decided to read the first book in the series and let me tell you WOW. I loved this book too.

First of all, both Chase and Murphy are so damn sexy and dominant. They act so tough and it's actually fun to see Eve making them squirm and stay on their toes. And Eve...I loved Eve. She's amazing. She's actually one of the few characters that, in real life, could be anyone. She isn't perfect, she doesn't have a perfect figure, but those things make her real. I love characters like that, male or female, because they aren't fake.

Second, this book is so very unique and memorable. You read about private BDSM clubs, about BDSM parties, but I don't think I've ever read about a photography studio specialized in fetish photography. That's what makes this book and series amazing. It is fresh. If you haven't yet read this book, you have to.

Book Review: Power Play by Eliza Gayle

Author: Eliza Gayle

Series: Pleasure Playground #2

My Rating: 4 cups

Blurb (from Goodreads):

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. Now temporary is not enough.

Before I start talking about this great book, let me wish you again a Happy New Year. I hope you had fun last night. I know I did :)

I thought it would be a good idea to start the year with a book from the same genre as the last book I read in 2011. It's the very first book I've read by Eliza Gayle and I have this sudden urge to smack myself. I just finished this book and I have that moment (I'm sure many of you have had this moment too!) of complete confusion and I'm asking myself "Why didn't I try this author before??".

I think you all know by now that I love alpha heroes for my romances/erotic romances, heroes that though they are strong, dominant, sexy as hell, they don't need to be 100% perfect. To quote from my favorite TV drama, "Perfect is boring". So I have to say I fell in love with Daegan McKenna. He's not the perfect guy, but he's perfect for Jennifer. He's a patient, yet stubborn man, one that doesn't quit easily. He knows he wants Jennifer and he keeps trying to seduce her, make her his. He's also a scarred man, running from his past. He's trying to move on, but until he met Jennifer, he wasn't really trying that much. I think he needed Jennifer as much as she needed him.

Jennifer is a successful fetish model with a lot of secrets and fears. She doesn't trust much, she's afraid of what other people might do or think if she lets them get too close, so she keeps everyone at arm's length. She tried to do that with Daegan, but he won't have any of that. I loved how they interacted with each other, how they helped each other get over their pasts.

I also got curious about Murphy and Chase, so I had to find out more about them. I'm going to start reading their book, Midnight Playground, soon.

I definitely recommend this book, if you're a fan of erotic romance and BDSM. It was a very good book and I'm going to try more of Ms Gayle's books. In the meantime, I'm waiting for news on the next book of this series :D

My Rating: