Natural Law

Homicide cop MacKenzie Nighthorse goes undercover in a BDSM club to try to suss out a Mistress who is gaining male subs' trust and then killing them off-site. As serial killer premises go, that's pretty terrifying, but for the most part it's just there to set the romance plot in motion, provide the impetus behind some scenes with Mac's colleagues (Mac is part of the BDSM scene before he goes undercover, but they don't know that), and sets up a danger!climax. All that is fine--it's a romance, not a murder mystery--but the book did feel a bit uneven, with a lot of police-y stuff in the beginning, a loooong interlude in which Mac seems to pretty much forget that he is a cop with a case, and then a return to the Plotty McPlotplot of the show more serial killer in the end. The resolution of the murder plot is also almost entirely a function of the murderer overplaying her hand rather than of any real detective work, but, again, not a mystery novel. (This, aside from the fact I tend not to like violence in my romance novels, is another reason I, personally, don't usually care for romantic suspense. I do like mystery novels, so these "and then a miracle happens" resolutions to mystery plots annoy me.)

All that being said, the stuff that happens between characters *because* they get thrown together by that plot is pretty awesome. Mac and Violet, the heroine (and a Mistress at the club who becomes kind of his contact within it--among other things), are both interesting characters and their relationship is fun to watch. Mac's interactions with his sergeant, Darla, are also some of the best scenes in the book. Doesn't quite pack the emotional punch as the other Joey W. Hill I recently read (Holding the Cards) (nor did I love it as much), but still a good read. show less

Look, Violet is a pretty shitty top. Any dom/me who reacts to someone without a safeword and boundaries with "I will just have to break them" needs a restraining order and not the honorific of a mistress. Taking her new play-partner to that TPE party after 3(!) days because she (!) felt insta-love seemed like THE fuck-up in the history of fuck-ups of a dominant. I liked Mac, who needs much better communication and self-preservation skills - seriously, boy, you need to learn to talk about shit. The mystery could have been more fleshed out, the cops felt incompetent and the motive a bit....melodramatic. There are better books in this series which I enjoyed more.

In book two in the Nature of Desire series, Violet Siemanski has been training for months in order to be a Dom. On her first night at the club without her mentor there to advice her, she meets Mac, a stubborn sub who doesn’t listen and does his best to charm her into doing his bidding.
Detective Mackenzie Nighthorse is an older, beefy submissive with an attitude problem, and he’s working undercover at the exclusive BDSM club to find a serial killer. Though he automatically marks Violet off his list of suspects, she’s unlike any Dom he’s ever played with.
Mac and Violet are perfect together. There’s an eleven-year age gap between them, but their maturity levels matched. She was no shrieking violet, no pun intended. She was show more definitely an alpha Dom to his alpha sub, ready to break him into a thousand pieces, help him surrender his desperate need for control, and piece him back together through strength and love.
The sexy scenes were scorching, as they should be in erotic romance. Every time Violet bound, gagged, flogged, and used plugs on poor Mac, it was so freakin’ hot.
Ms. Hill does a wonderful job creating real, flawed characters that you can’t help to hate or root for. I’m curious to learn more about Violet’s club friends, in particularly her mentor Tyler. I was surprised by who the villain was, which is always nice because I can usually guess correctly in a book’s beginning chapters.
I enjoyed this story, but sometimes I had to reread passages because of stray POV shifts and full-on head-hopping. There were a few punctuation errors, but nothing serious. Even though this erotic romance book could also be labeled romantic suspense, the narrative focused more on the H/h’s sexual relationship and emotional bonding than the serial killer angle, which served as a good subplot.
There are a few unanswered questions: what happened to Jonathon after the final climax (again, no pun intended); and after what happened with the villain, what will it be like for Mac and Violet when they finally go back to the club?
Anyway, the main characters, their D/s relationship, and BDSM culture makes this story a great read, but it’s not for the faint of heart (some of the incredibly hot torture/play scenes could be difficult for newbie readers of this genre). If you like female Doms taking charge of sexy male subs with a wide variety of toys at her disposal, then pick up a copy of this book.
4 Stars show less

Somebody recommended this to me--I wish I could remember who, so I could thank them.

Mac Nighthorse is a cop, investigating a series of murders connected by a BDSM club. He's also a sexual submissive. When he goes undercover at the club, he meets Violet, who's new to the scene, but a natural dominatrix.

Fem-dom is not my kink. However, Natural Law sucked me in, and I had a terrible time trying to put it down, even for a moment. The characters were just so vivid and the emotions so realistic that it didn't even matter that their kink wasn't mine.

The sex scenes are very graphic, but they're also utterly integral to the plot. Each scene marks a change in the relationship between Violet and Mac and shows emotion as well as mechanics.

I think show more the main reason why Natural Law resonated so strongly with me was that at its core, it wasn't about fem-dom or BDSM, or even sex. It was about emotional surrender, about a relationship of complete trust. On both sides. At that level, it was easy to relate to the story regardless of the inclinations of the characters.

One thing that I found refreshing and a bit surprising was that both Violet and Mac are portrayed as strong, competent individuals. Mac's struggles with sexual submission--he fought it even as he wanted it--echoed the more usual romantic conflict of emotional submission, and didn't make him seem wimpy or damaged.

The murder investigation did take a back seat to the erotica/romance plot, but it didn't get forgotten, and its resolution was satisfying, surprising, and logical.

I'll definitely be looking for more of Joey W. Hill's books. show less

Not quite sure why I picked this one to read. I've read books with BDSM elements but always figured a full-on BDSM book would be too much for me to read. Boy was I wrong! I think why this one worked for me is due to the fact that that the Master, the dom, was a woman. And I'm thinking, you don't come across that often. But it totally switches everything up and I liked it.

Mac Nighthorse is a detective and a submissive, which makes him perfect for his latest case - discovering who is going around murdering other subs. Male subs. His search takes him to a pricey club that hasn't been to before. He meets Violet, a Dom who has just taken the training wheels off, so to speak. Mac is going to be her first solo experience without a mentor show more present. Mac really tests Violet - he's likened to a horse that can be handled from time to time, but never really tamed. And Mac is really drawn to Violet, although he doesn't really want to let go of control. It's a real battle of wills between these two.

And that's what I liked! Mac, even though he's a sub, is super alpha and manly and yummy. LOL And I love Violet. She's a woman who knows herself - and she's a pretty strong character. She needs to be to handle Mac. He's used to controlling the situation and she won't let him get away with that anymore.

Also, Violet is the perfect person to help him with the case, but I'll leave that to you to figure out why. hehe

As for the mystery - I wasn't too interested in it at first and who I thought was the killer? Totally wrong.

This was my first Joey Hill book and it won't be my last. She writes the kind of heroines I can root for - strong, independent. And she writes the kind of heroes I like as well. I was so impressed with this book - I highly recommend it.

(And this is why I don't do mystery or suspense, I hate being wrong!) There was the perfect balance between the mystery and the romance. Meaning it leaned heavily on the romance side for me. Yay. show less

Not quite sure why I picked this one to read. I've read books with BDSM elements but always figured a full-on BDSM book would be too much for me to read. Boy was I wrong! I think why this one worked for me is due to the fact that that the Master, the dom, was a woman. And I'm thinking, you don't come across that often. But it totally switches everything up and I liked it.

Mac Nighthorse is a detective and a submissive, which makes him perfect for his latest case - discovering who is going around murdering other subs. Male subs. His search takes him to a pricey club that hasn't been to before. He meets Violet, a Dom who has just taken the training wheels off, so to speak. Mac is going to be her first solo experience without a mentor show more present. Mac really tests Violet - he's likened to a horse that can be handled from time to time, but never really tamed. And Mac is really drawn to Violet, although he doesn't really want to let go of control. It's a real battle of wills between these two.

And that's what I liked! Mac, even though he's a sub, is super alpha and manly and yummy. LOL And I love Violet. She's a woman who knows herself - and she's a pretty strong character. She needs to be to handle Mac. He's used to controlling the situation and she won't let him get away with that anymore.

Also, Violet is the perfect person to help him with the case, but I'll leave that to you to figure out why. hehe

As for the mystery - I wasn't too interested in it at first and who I thought was the killer? Totally wrong.

This was my first Joey Hill book and it won't be my last. She writes the kind of heroines I can root for - strong, independent. And she writes the kind of heroes I like as well. I was so impressed with this book - I highly recommend it.

(And this is why I don't do mystery or suspense, I hate being wrong!) There was the perfect balance between the mystery and the romance. Meaning it leaned heavily on the romance side for me. Yay. show less

Finished Reading October 20, 2013

3.75 Stars

I don't know how I ended up reading this out of order. This is #2 of the series and I didn't read #1. But Hot Damn I loved it. So much so that I started collecting every book I could that is written by this author.
It's PNR Erotica with Suspense/Mystery and Crime.
I actually have to say, I highly recommend it to those who love those elements in their books.
Oh, it's Definitely BDSM and the only one I've read where the male is the submissive that I thoroughly enjoyed. Most times when the male is the submissive it just doesn't Feel Real. This one did NOT have that problem.

Prch Amz October 9, 2013