Sunday, January 08, 2006
Review - Helene Blackmailed by Elliot Mabeuse
Ellora's Cave eBook (www.ellorascave.com) - January 2006
http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=1-4199-0493-0
This ebook is the story of Helene Blanchard, a rising executive, and her transformation both sexually and nonsexually through her blackmail, domaination and sexual servitude at the hands of Daniel.
Helene has devoted the last 8 years of her life to climbing the ladder at work, leaving little time for anything more than the most perfunctory of encounters with men who are far too polite for her deepest desires.
When Helene receives an email containing photos of herself taken while she was reading an erotic story and masturbating on the roof of her building when she was sure she had been alone, she goes along with the blackmailer's request and meets him at a rather seedy hotel to hear his demands and discovers that she will never be able to go back to the old Helene.
===============================================
I liked certain parts of this book quite a bit but found that it didn't suit my taste in some of the language being used. I found myself almost flinching at the repeated verbal degradation, even in the contexts it was presented in.
Forced / coerced sexual encounters are difficult to portray at best and Elliott did a pretty good job of not stepping over the comfort line there but the language just didn't work for me.
The sensuality and descriptions were, however, very nice and I liked the introspection into Helene's changing feelings. I do wish I had more insight into the hero, Daniel. I was not at all able to get inside his head - which is probably why part of the language bothered me.
All in all, this was a real middle of the road read for me. The first thing I thought when I finished the book was that I just didn't understand the people. I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it. I'd be willing to give this author another try to see if this was an abberration.
Ellora's Cave eBook (www.ellorascave.com) - January 2006
http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=1-4199-0493-0
This ebook is the story of Helene Blanchard, a rising executive, and her transformation both sexually and nonsexually through her blackmail, domaination and sexual servitude at the hands of Daniel.
Helene has devoted the last 8 years of her life to climbing the ladder at work, leaving little time for anything more than the most perfunctory of encounters with men who are far too polite for her deepest desires.
When Helene receives an email containing photos of herself taken while she was reading an erotic story and masturbating on the roof of her building when she was sure she had been alone, she goes along with the blackmailer's request and meets him at a rather seedy hotel to hear his demands and discovers that she will never be able to go back to the old Helene.
===============================================
I liked certain parts of this book quite a bit but found that it didn't suit my taste in some of the language being used. I found myself almost flinching at the repeated verbal degradation, even in the contexts it was presented in.
Forced / coerced sexual encounters are difficult to portray at best and Elliott did a pretty good job of not stepping over the comfort line there but the language just didn't work for me.
The sensuality and descriptions were, however, very nice and I liked the introspection into Helene's changing feelings. I do wish I had more insight into the hero, Daniel. I was not at all able to get inside his head - which is probably why part of the language bothered me.
All in all, this was a real middle of the road read for me. The first thing I thought when I finished the book was that I just didn't understand the people. I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it. I'd be willing to give this author another try to see if this was an abberration.
posted by Maura Anderson at 11:58 PM
