Loose Id, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-59632-427-5
Contemporary Erotica, 2007

I am not a BDSM expert. That my friends would take far more years of service than I have ever given a Top. I was simply lucky you might say. I was introduced to and fell madly in love with a full time, old school, gay BDSM, Leatherman Top, by the name of John Noble. This of course meant that even with as little knowledge and or interest I actually had in BDSM and Leather I had better get busy learning the ropes so to speak.

John was, and will always be in my heart, the best teacher I ever served, the only man who’s collar I have proudly worn, and our time together was far too short. Master Noble is gone but what he taught me I hold very dear. Maybe someday I might be so lucky again but I am not holding my breath on that point. Sometimes lightening will only strike once but the change it brings is enough.

Oh Bridget, I feel bad. No no no guys, I feel a little guilty here. I am not gonna knock this review out of the park with my usual caustic grip of “who gives a shit” humor today because I will try and analyze and explain my opinion as best I can.

Now Bridget Midway why why why the hell The Bachelor? Why use a reality TV show that sucked so hard for the main premise of this book?

Anyway back to the book, Our “hero” Eagan Morton that we get to meet right off the bat comes across to me as some Simon Cowell clone from American Idol. Ugh! Well I am sorry but the buzzer just sounded again, being an insulting and demanding egoist asshole from hell makes him about as much a Top as I am.

Now our love interest Ananda Zelder, whom I liked. She seemed smart and personable, talented and committed to her dance. I could see her going on the show to fuck with Master Ego. It made perfect sense to me really. I might be evil and do the same thing.

So you see the problem here already? I am looking at the books “hero” as a big old fucking jerk who from now on I will call… Master Ego.

Now back to our The Bachelor rip off… 12 contestants vie to become Master Ego’s submissive. Woohoo! Let’s insult every bottom worth their salt out there, shall we?

Prizes! That is fucking insulting! I have never got on my hands and knees and licked a Tops boot for the chance to win what is behind door number one. I do it to “serve the man” and I am proud of my “service” and the giving of it. As a slave that is my only possession, the only gift I can give.

The whole 12 women thing was too Barbie Goes to a Beauty Pageant for me. BDSM if taken down to its core, if you strip away the traditions and the actions is about focus, intense focus, between a Top and a bottom. What are 12 women competing in a game show gonna be focused on? Yeah, I thought so too.

That is not all my friends. Master Ego goes for my last nerves about midway through the damn book. Pansy got canned for eating the strawberry sauce… Why did Master Ego not ask beforehand each submissive about possible allergies and yes, that is his role not his assistant’s. Freesia got canned for using the Gel Candle on Meadow… Why did Master Ego not see the Gel Candle and order it to be taken out of the room immediately, that is his role? BUZZZZZZZZZZ! Master Ego, you are the weakest link!

I used to watch John test every rope, every chain, every structure he was planning to hang me from, every needle, every flogger, every whip. John would scan every dungeon we went in and if there was any chance of an accident possibly occurring outside of his control he would not do the scene. Trust is something a Master earns by showing the bottom how important, how special, and how precious they are. We are not toys that are there to be played with and then left lying around for someone else to pick up and put away. This is the feeling given over and over again in this book.

Master Ego is not in control of the scenes he performs, he is not in control of the people he allows in his life, he is not in control of those who even just work for him. What kind of a Top is he? Where is the formality, the calm, the commanding experience that I expect from a Top?

“So, that whole whipping thing, you okay with that now, or is your hand a bit off like last time?” Ophelia asked as he took each step hard and militant-like.

With her cutting words though, he stopped his march. Ananda stayed about two steps behind him and didn’t move a muscle. Eagan glared back down to the front door area.

Ophelia grabbed her left shoulder and pushed over her camisole top strap. “The mark you left is almost gone. See?” She glanced at Ananda and smiled. “It didn’t hurt that much anyway.”

WTF? Love My Way presents many concepts about BDSM one being safe, sane, and consensual. This is all well and good but BDSM is mostly about personal responsibility and taking risks. Where the hell is the personal responsibility here? “Safe, sane, and consensual” is a silly fucking catch phrase not an absolute. Everything in BDSM has a level of risk involved and by submitting to a Top YOU, as the bottom, accept personal responsibility for the level of risk YOU are taking. The Top is there to provide risk management, that is his role.

So Ophelia using this boo boo as some indication of abuse is fucked up and all sorts of wrong. Honey, if that is all you have to show for your much remarked over “experience” then you have not been doing BDSM right at all. I have marks on me going back years. These people do not in any way represent those who are really practicing and experienced, real as in a lifestyle not a weekend fling, BDSM. This is more Peyton Place than I would ever accept or put up with or be a part of. Yes folks, you can always take off the collar hand it back and walk away.

I will point to the next issue I had:

“And you and everyone else around here be respectful of my home and business.” Eagan pointed to stickers that lined his front door. “I run a business out of my home that’s approved by the city. I have the proper permits to film here. I keep my crews in my home, so there has been nothing going on outside. What you and the other neighbors are reacting to are the TV shows that you must be watching.”

No no no no Master Ego! One of the first rules of Basic Leather Protocol is DO NOT scare the little old ladies. DO NOT wear full Leather in inappropriate situations and ALWAYS show respect towards others even when they do not respect you. If you fail to do this you are WRONG! It is not that he is doing this show in his house that bothers me, it is his lack of respect for those who show understandable concern and the holier than thou soapbox he places himself on to prove their worries foolish.

Again, Master Ego does not expect to earn trust. He fails as a Master of anything. I think I have said enough here.