Cecilia Tan (1) (1967–)

4.5 stars, rounded up

I was giddy with excitement to accept an ARC from the author when I heard that (after a long process) she was finally publishing this urban fantasy romantic suspense with femdom! Something I can never get enough of. (Consider this the disclaimer that I received a copy in exchange for this honest review.)

The plot, without spoilers:

Mira, the heroine, meets Clive, the hero, who it turns out is involved in a sex cult. Don’t worry, they’re friendly. But there’s also an show more evil sex cult who is trying to kill them all (or perhaps enslave some of them). Because of the metaphysics of magic in this universe, direct violence damages one’s power—so instead, the Partisans of Fire like to let their namesake do the killing for them.

And the ritual sex both groups practice generally involves kink - flogging, knifeplay, group sex, and pegging all play significant roles (though readers won't just be attentive for their plot relevance).

The protagonist and POV character, Mira, is fully dominant, though she bottoms in a scene or two as part of rituals. She also talks about submitting in her younger days before figuring out it wasn’t her thing. I found the representation of a 100% domme character refreshing - nothing against switches, I'm just not one myself, and sometimes it's nice to see my own tastes reflected. Mira's desire for Clive is relatable and vividly written.

And Clive is handsome, engaging, neither a doormat nor exhausting to handle, has a mysterious backstory, and a powerful character arc.

I found the writing got a little weighed down by explanations of BDSM and occasional interjections from Mira to give not-immediately-relevant opinions (this reminds me of a lot of urban fantasy and romance protagonists in books written in the early 2010s, which early drafts of this were).

But that's not fatal. My other 'complaint' about this book is that the ritual magic led to some fascinating power dynamics that left me thinking “I really hope this doesn’t awaken too much in me, because if it does, I have no idea where else I’ll find this kind of thing.”

I've written a longer review, including some of my favorite quotes and some content warnings, on my site: https://tc-mill.com/book-review-bound-by-the-blood-by-cecilia-tan/ show less

This is yet another first for me--my first collection of erotica, both to read and to own. Cecilia Tan has brought together one poem and fourteen short stories in this eclectic compilation. After reading the first entry, a poem by John Haldeman (who also wrote the final story), I knew I had made a wise decision in picking out this book.

Like most anthologies, some stories are much stronger than others, but overall these were pretty good; I enjoyed most of them quite a bit, and I found a few show more of them to be exceptional. "More Than the Sum of His Parts," for example, was a great choice to end the book with. This was a great collection with great selections, and I enjoyed it very much as a whole.

While all of the stories were sensual, they were not all explicit (although a few were). But these tales are about much more than sex. They are about people, technology, and the resulting culture and interactions. Some are hard science fiction while others are more fantastical. And even though they were extraordinarily diverse, all of the stories had depth to them. One of the things that I really liked about this collection is the wide variety of couplings that were portrayed; it wasn't just straight and it wasn't all queer. There was a little something for everyone which amounts to a lot of something for me.

Works included: The Future of Sex by Joe Haldeman; The Proof by Shariann Lewitt; The Book Collector by Sarah Micklem; Love Will Tear Us Apart Again by John Bowker; Poppet by Elspeth Potter; Remembrance by Beth Bernobich; The Program by G. Bonhomme; Caught By Skin by Steve Berman; That Which Does Not Kill Us by Scott Westerfeld; Value for O by Jennifer Stevenson; Softly, with a Big Stick by Gavin J. Grant; Pinocchia by Paul Di Filippo; Hot, Like Water by Lynne Jameneck; The Show by M. Christian; More Than the Sum of His Parts by Joe Haldeman.

Experiments in Reading show less

This was delightful, and I would happily read more adventures (especially heists!) in this world with these characters. I especially liked the relationships portrayed here: the eccentric mentor and the receptive friend-to-lover. This made the whole story especially cozy and comforting. If only we all had such people in our lives as we figured ourselves out. Bonus: historically visible queer characters!

Make Folktake Heists a whole genre...I'm here for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Neon show more Hemlock Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. show less

With a combination of intelligent writing and realistic portrayal of varying levels of desire for, and acceptance of that desire, for a power exchange relationship, Cecilia Tan's "Taking the Lead" provides a welcome boost to the quality of erotica available to the BDSM community. Ricki and Axel are relatable protagonists, and if you think "billionaire heiress and dangerous rock star" seems like thin ground for character development, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the care Tan takes to show more make this more than a series of kinky romps (though those are definitely present, and hot). People who are more familiar with BDSM erotica than with actual BDSM lifestyles will probably find flaws with the narrative, but I found the complexities of Ricki's feelings to be completely believable given her family history and her public persona.
Definitely recommend, especially for folks in the kink world who are looking for something with a bit more tooth than short stories on online forums, and more dimension than vanilla erotica. show less