Review: The 18th Floor

The 18th Floor by Margie Church

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars



Fantasy becomes reality when Alexa screws Sebastian Law in a conference room at work. Alexa is a workaholic who lusts after Sebastian. She is no different than any other woman at the office who would want to bang Sebastian on a desk, against the wall or out in the open to claim her territory. She is different than others since Sebastian returns her desire.

Sexy Sebastian wants Alexa and makes his move. The naughty duo copulates with illicit delight – they may be caught but they don’t care. Both seem to flaunt their exhibitionist flag. This is demonstrated quite clearly as Sebastian woos Alexa on a boat in front of his swinging BDSM friends. They give a glorious show with nudity, sweat and rutting.

The characters in this book are okay. Neither one of them is complex. They are easily understandable with the typical baggage consisting of clingy ex-girlfriend and stalker ex-boyfriend. The sex the two experience is kinky and one step up from vanilla. The alluring BDSM scene is actually stolen by the m/m lovers on a neighboring boat. The BDSM tone to this book is a bit off. It’s not that it is wrong; it’s just not too believable. The introduction of BDSM for Alexa from Sebastian feels stilted and abrupt. Based on the BDSM scenes and how the characters related to each other, it seems Ms. Church completed a bit of research into the BDSM lifestyle and then uses creative license. Sebastian doesn’t come across as a Dom. He is a man who appears to know what he wants, but that isn’t want makes a Dom. He’s a sweet man, there is no doubt. He cares for Alexa, this is clear. This book would have been better without the incorporation of BDSM elements. If it focused more on the erotica and the character development, it would have been hotter and more engaging.

The writing of the story was okay. There were a couple of times where the shifts in points of view without a clear delineation which causes the reader to be pulled out of the story. The introduction of Sebastian’s ex-lover is odd. She is introduced as Angelique Bartowe. In the following sentence and for the rest of the story she is Evangelique. Little things such as using the word “sub” in title case and then all lowercase is an unexpected faux pas. While not everyone in the lifestyle follows strict protocols, it is very rare anyone would ever write out the word sub in title case. This is one of the telltale signs of a new to BDSM person – they know the lingo but the application of it is slightly off. This short story is recommended to kinky readers who enjoy an office romance.



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