Eliza Gayle

Bottoms Up is a scorching hot, erotic romance novella about two long-time, best friends who finally give in to their desire to become lovers. This is a pretty short story that takes place over the course of only one weekend, during which the hero reveals his dark, sexual side to the heroine and tries to convince her that she's the woman he has always wanted. Normally, stories that take place in such a short time frame don't work well for me, but having these two know each other for years and show more be good friends, as well as former college roommates, really helped with the believability. It was obvious that they had both harbored strong feelings for one another for a long time, but were just too afraid to say anything.

I'm sure it was no accident that the fictional book Jenn found on Riley's shelf was titled The Caring Dominant, because that's exactly how he came across most of the time. He's a dom to be sure, but he can have a gentler side. Rather than barking his orders, they were given in a more calm but firm way, which made me feel like he was slowly easing Jenn into it. Realizing that she was new to the scene and would require some time to get used to it, he wasn't always unbending with the “rules” either, and of course, his number one priority was giving her mind-blowing pleasure. I also liked how the author showed Riley's vulnerable side, and that his greatest weakness was Jenn. He just couldn't get enough of her, and after years apart and coming to terms with his dominant side, he's ready to settle down with her as his permanent sub.

Jenn has been crazy about Riley since their college days, but has never worked up the nerve to tell him how she feels. Ever since graduating, they've lived miles apart, but now that she has a job interview in the city when he lives, she's ready to fess up and willing to do anything to be with him. Of course, Riley puts her resolve to the test in ways she never could have imagined. Jenn had done just enough experimenting to know that she has a slightly darker side herself, and Riley's dominant behavior really turns her on. I liked that she was open-minded enough to accept every part of Riley without question and was far more responsive to his seduction than he ever dreamed she would be. Just the mere thought of being with Jenn, gets him hot and bothered, but when she gets every bit as turned on by the things he does to her, it's the ultimate rush for him.

Even though Riley and Jenn have their prior friends connection which gives their budding love relationship more credibility, it might have been nice to have a little more build up to the sex play. As is, things heated up between them at warp speed and never looked back. Occasionally, things slowed down just enough for the reader to get a few tidbits of non-sex related conversation or introspection, but it never lasts long before the next hot, steamy encounter begins. I did believe that they loved one another, but it might have been nice to have more romantic moments in between the sex. The entire novella kind of felt like one long, extremely intense, virtually never-ending sex scene. This and a couple of the things Riley and Jenn did not quite being my cup of tea were the only things that kept me from giving this novella keeper status.

Otherwise, I have no complaints. I liked the characters, and I mostly enjoyed the story. I was very impressed with how the author focused on the importance of trust in the D/s relationship. I admit that I know very little about the BDSM scene, but I do know that trust is paramount to everything else. It's the main thing that makes these types of stories enjoyable to me on occasion, but not something that all authors in the genre are good at conveying, so I really appreciated this aspect. The other thing I appreciated immensely is the technically good writing. Many authors in the erotic romance genre are not necessarily the strongest writers, but that is definitely not the case with Eliza Gayle. Her writing skill puts Bottoms Up at a very solid four stars, and has left me quite interested in trying more of her work.

Note: This novella contains explicit language and sexual situations which may offend some readers, including a D/s relationship, blindfolding, spanking, exhibitionism, bondage, and anal play with a toy. show less

Jennifer is a Shibari model in high demand. A self-confessed pain slut, she uses Club Purgatory as an escape from the ghosts of the past. She refuses to submit, refuses to allow herself to yield to any man, so she lines up at the whipping post to be sent into headspace by a stranger and return home alone. There is only one man that unnerves her, one man that seems to make her want to yield and that’s the mysterious club architect Daegan.

Daegan has moved to the South to escape his own show more painful past. He doesn’t want to love again after losing his wife, but from the second he saw Jennifer in the parking lot of the club he found himself unable to look away. He suspects that she could be a true submissive, suspects that she needs something more than she allows herself to feel, but the walls around her are damn near impenetrable. When an after hour’s encounter in a darkened room at the club leads to indescribable fireworks, Jennifer finds that her body is ready to admit she wants to submit to Daegan, even if her head doesn’t agree.

When Daegan asks Jennifer to be his submissive for the duration of his project at Purgatory, she balks at the thought of ceding all control. When he starts to implement rules, which include giving up modelling for the length of the contract, she retreats rapidly. After her body physically rebels against the idea of leaving him, she returns and tries to agree to his many demands. But will their tenuous relationship survive the strains put onto it by the resurfacing of some faces from the past? And if it does, will they ever become more than a “contract” whilst the pair of them have so many padlocks on their hearts?

When I read the first chapter of this book, I got really excited. The main character is a Shibari model and I blooming love Shibari. Then Daegan made her give it up and I wanted to slap him in the head. I understood his reasoning; he was alpha dog and he didn’t want any other man getting her off (the “I control your orgasms” chauvinistic comment may have appeared and I *may* have called him an arse…) but I still was disappointed. However, the sex that was in the book more than made up for the lack of rope.

I knew from meeting Jennifer she wasn’t my usual type of heroine. I usually like the broken but tough type, but she was very much damaged and fragile. Reading her fight to supress her true nature was quite painful and I wanted her to find a man to love. Yes, I know that the whole “she shouldn’t need a man to fix her” movement may hate me for that comment, but this girl wasn’t getting fixed until she accepted her needs and it needed one hell of a Dom to do that. Enter Daegan, the mysterious Irish Dom with flowing locks and a bossy side. He wants to take care of her, wants to introduce her to true submission. My problem was that he wanted to do this and then leave her and I didn’t want her hurt. This is a big thing for me; usually I have no issues in wanting a HEA set up but with these two I was completely unsure as to whether or not it was a good match.

My mind was changed when I started to read the explosive chemistry between the two of them. The initial submission scene in the darkened room is now up there with my all-time favourite sex scenes. Yes, it was that good. It’s dark so neither of them can see but she finds it easier to submit to him when she can’t see his face and immediately experiences pleasures like she’s never known. It is at this point that they realise how truly wonderful they could be together and I, as a reader, began to see the merits of their relationship. Yes, they are both broken people; she has some truly horrible memories and he has the death of his wife in his recent past. Both of them have commitment phobias and fear of attachment, but they also both possess the thing the other is missing; both of them can help the other to break down some walls. When obstacles started to appear, I wanted them to magically disappear so a HEA could take place, but I knew that it was going to be that easy.

Overall, this was a very sexy read. With a very bossy, broken Dom and a fragile sub-in-denial, there is enough emotional angst to grip your teeth into whilst enjoying the smattering of incredibly hot smexing times. The dark room scene is un-fricking-believable… show less

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, show more "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 show less

“Tucker’s Fall” is first in a series titled ‘Purgatory Masters’ by Eliza Gayle. Purgatory is a BDSM club (so if that makes you squeamish, this isn’t the book/series for you!) that is the setting for several novellas in the Purgatory Club Series (ROPED (Purgatory Club BDSM Erotica), Whipped (Purgatory), Displayed (Purgatory Club: BDSM Erotica) & Burned (Purgatory Club BDSM Erotic) — I’ve only read “Roped” so far & it is H.O.T.!!!). The Purgatory Masters series are show more full-length novels – Tucker’s Fall is a fair price of $4.99 for around 250 pages.

Tucker & Maggie had a kiss in high school… then she went off to college, got married & became a professor with an emphasis on sexuality studies. Well, Maggie got herself caught up in a FBI sting in a BDSM club and was arrested… so then she got jail time, a divorce, and her pink slip from the college. She goes back to her hometown to lick her wounds and try to compile all her years of research on BDSM into a book – and runs into Tucker. Tucker offers to teach her about submission and their relationship begins. However, Maggie is trying to avoid publicity from her very public arrest / downfall… and Tucker is trying to avoid publicity due to a big secret in his past… and this causes them to be hurtful to each other which may cause the end of their relationship.

Overall, a great read. While there are some HEAVY BDSM “scenes” between the two, they typically take place at Tucker’s home so don’t be put off if you don’t want to read about the club stuff. It’s not really there. However, there is bondage, anal toys/sex and use of a crop. (That was your warning.) It’s a really great set-up for the series, too – you get into the “mystery” and get involved in the relationship between the ‘Masters’ and how it has shaped them as men and as Doms. There are things that could have been developed more, but I think that the hesitance to do so might be more about not wanting to reveal the whole backstory. show less