Review: Safeword: Matte

Safeword: Matte by Candace Blevins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars





Have you ever read a story and have a specific song run through your head while reading it? In the latest installment from the talented Ms. Blevins, I had one song running through my head. How does that song by the Judybats go? Here are the lyrics in the song, which summarize this story for me so very well.

"Pain makes you beautiful
I give you what you want, the pain and the pleasure
No sorrow tied
Tied to my hurting you
We delight in every torture I put you through
How did we find this place
This state where we satiate, where pain makes you beautiful"

Ms. Blevins is back with an awesome story, SAFEWORD: MATTE. This is the book I was expecting to follow up SAFEWORD: RAINBOW. In this story, Sam is a hard-assed divorce attorney with several martial arts championship awards under her belt. She's good at analyzing fights to figure out the weakness of her opponent. Basically, she can kick butt verbally and physically. I love Sam. She's a strong, independent woman who knows how to take care of herself. She's also pretty kinky. Too kinky that she's not able to find a man who can handle her kink.

Tired of dating from the Vanilla pool, she's made the hard decision to only date within the lifestyle group. The problem – she's afraid that if she starts attending BDSM socials locally, she may run into another attorney and she'd loose respect and credibility. How is she to find a man if she doesn't date locally? Did I mention Sam's a submissive?

I understand Sam. As a strong professional woman who gives off uber Domme vibes, I command respect and sometimes fear. I can sympathize with Sam's fear with her professional life mixing with her personal life. In her cutthroat world of lawyers, showing no weaknesses is top priority. While one of the cardinal rules of the BDSM lifestyle is to keep it separate from the Vanilla world, people are human. Not to rip on lawyers, they do use every little advantage they can get to win their case. After all, they make more money if they win their case, no?

Fortunately, we never run across this scenario in the book. Instead, we are treated to a very fine Dom specimen – Ethan. Oh, how I drool over Ethan. He is everything Sam needs and wants in a partner. Their dynamic is out of this world for me. Ethan is literally perfect for Sam. He is strong enough to overpower her, which is what she desperately wants. Personally, while I drool over Ethan, Sam can have him. He intimidates me. As I read and play more with impact play, I've learned I'm not into pain. I do enjoy it to a degree, but definitely not to Ethan's sadistic style. I would not be able to satisfy his needs to dole out pain. Fortunately, Sam's threshold for pain is very high and suits Ethan.

There are so many things in this book I liked. The fight for physical dominance is a total turn on for me. The willing submission from Sam with the rule of no speaking was just that little added extra which gave me a happy reading high. Ethan's manner of 24/7 D/s caused me to nearly overload in sexual desire. Speaking of sexual desire, Ms. Blevin delivered blow by blow of the sex. I read the scenes over and over again. They were blazing hot. So hot that just thinking about them again makes me want to re-read the sections and search for my spouse to jump. Make no mistakes; the sex in this book is rough and hard. It's the kind where the woman will walk like a duck afterwards, that is, if she can actually stand up and walk.

I love Ms. Blevin's brand of BDSM. She mixes just the right D/s and SM for me. I need the D/s as that is my preference in a BDSM relationship. The way she writes, it makes me yearn to be able to handle SM from a masochistic side. I just can't handle that much pain and turn it into pleasure. While I would be able to survive the brutal beatings given by Ethan, I wouldn't enjoy it. My endorphins wouldn't be able to start firing into pleasure. I'd just be in a howling mess. Still, the way Ms. Blevin's describes how Sam feels, I can understand and wish it would work for me the same way. Sometimes, living vicariously is better.

Lastly, I have one comment on Ethan's endowment. NO BLOODY WAY. I'm intrigued and honestly wish I could try it out. I do wish Ms. Blevins will write a little one off story about the preparation for the honeymoon and the detailed honeymoon sex because my immediate reaction is – NO BLOODY WAY.

I loved this short story. There is not a single stray scene or a wasted word. I do wish this story was longer or that we receive another "episode" in Ethan and Sam's life. I highly recommend this story to BDSM lovers who want to read a well-developed D/s SM story that includes hot rough sadistic sex. This is a must read.

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