'Vanilla,' a #FemDom Erotic Romance by Megan Hart

Vanilla by Megan Hart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really could not have enjoyed this book more. Bless Megan Hart for writing Elise, a fully-formed character so realistic she practically could have walked off the page and into the nearest ice cream parlor. Yes, she's a woman who enjoys femdom (female-dominant) sex. No, she is not a caricature based on male fantasy. She's a well-rounded person with a past and a future, with a family, with a complicated Jewish mother.

I happen to like reading femdom. A lot. I have a hard time identifying with submissive female protagonists, but I can easily imagine myself slipping into the shoes of a woman who's used to giving commands and being obeyed.

Elise isn't perfect, but she is a likable protagonist. She's still grieving over the loss of her previous relationship with "George." They called each other "George" and "Lenny" in a teasing reference to Of Mice and Men. See, Ben Linus - Elise can quote Steinbeck too. And I bet she wouldn't mess up and say Ernest Hemingway fought in the Spanish Civil War.

Sadly, Supernatural does not come up again after the excerpt I quoted here. I wanted to know more about how Elise is the Sam and her boss/friend Alex is the Dean.

After her bad heartbreak with George, she's chagrined to find her heart is slipping into the hands of Niall, a "vanilla" guy who doesn't really understand femdom. He's seen too much bad porn.

But this book is NOT bad porn. It's beautifully written, demonstrating once again that good sex writing is just plain good writing, period. You may count me as a Megan Hart fan now.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review through Amazon Vine.

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Megan Hart's Vanilla Author Song List

...is what would go here if Grooveshark were still around.

Excerpt: 'Vanilla' by Megan Hart

My latest book from the Amazon Vine program is Vanilla by Megan Hart. I shall now quote a brief passage from an early chapter:

"We talked for a while about our favorite TV program. Alex had turned me on to a show about two monster-hunting brothers who drove around in a black Impala--sometimes in the office, we'd toss quotes from the show back and forth to each other, trying to stump the other. Because Alex was way more into the show and had been watching it for a lot longer, he was usually able to beat me at the game. Now, asking me which of the brothers I'd be if I could choose, he claimed he would always be Dean, the older brother, and I was stuck being the younger brother, Sam.

"'Except shorter,' he said.

"I made a face. 'And without a penis, don't forget that part. That's kind of important. Anyway, I'm totally Dean. Dean's way cooler.'

"'We can't both be Dean,' Alex pointed out.

"'You have Sam hair." I gestured at the raggedy mop of dark hair that spilled over his forehead.

"'But you're the smart one, and you do all the computer stuff,' Alex said. 'You have to be Sam.'

"We both laughed at that. He pushed the platter of spicy salmon toward me then took some for himself."