Review: Tribute

hints of decadence and debauchery @BlushingBooks #Bookreview #BDSM

Tribute by Carolyn Faulkner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Lovers of the original Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice, there is a new dominatrix in town!  In Tribute, the Princess Fleur D'Eylly will spend two years as a tribute.  She knows not of what to expect as it is a forbidden subject for the highborn.  For the lowborn, they know well what will happen and many dread it.  This sexually exploitive world is under the Empress' sadistic whim.  What she wants, she will get.  Catching the Empress' eye does not bode well.  Fortunately for Fleur, she skates by and falls into Raiz Arndt's arms.  Or, shall we say, Raiz captures Fleur through competition and gets to keep her.

The storyline is dark and erotic. The characters are fun and decently developed.  One can't help but root for Fleur.  She's a tomboy who finds out she enjoys a disciplining hand.  As any person with a sharp mind, boredom will be the death of her.  The relationship between Raiz and Fleur is fun to watch because it takes one step forward and many steps back.  The back and forth keeps it entertaining.  The middle section of the story does drag a bit as Raiz starts to take Fleur for granted.  Just as the story picks up, it ends.  Readers will rail in frustration and eagerly search for the next book in the series.  It doesn't look to exist yet so readers may be stuck in limbo for a while.

The BDSM fantasy in this story hints of decadence and debauchery.  There are a couple of graphic scenes but never anything too taboo or dark.  Still, the undertone of cruelty and sexual violation is quite delicious.  Ms. Faulkner keeps a reader on the edge hopping for a bit more twisted guilty pleasure.  Reading about young females and males sexually submitting against their will is ambrosia.  Ms. Faulkner does a good job of providing teasing nibbles here and there.  A reader can only hope the next book is more intense, sadistic and graphic.  Ms. Faulkner is known for going delectable darkness.  Recommended for kinky readers who enjoy the non-con BDSM fantasy.

*ARC provided by Blushing Books


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