Review: Handcuffed by Her Hero

Handcuffed by Her Hero by Angel Payne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Sadistic dominant male falling in love with a vanilla female is never recommended. Why? Because one or both are going to be sexually unsatisfied.

Zeke Hayes is a sexual sadist who loves impact play. When he gets into his Top zone, he is also known as "Psycho Zsycho". When he falls for Rayna, a woman he helped rescue from sexual slavery, he's all out of sorts. He believes she can't handle his brand of spicy heat.

The suspense in this story is a good energetic pace. The story continues from the previous book. There is another little twist with the reappearance of a secondary character. The secondary character, Luna, is absolutely bonkers. This is a person who is probably leaning towards sociopathic because she doesn't really understand the difference between right and wrong. Or it just seems she doesn't care. She is focused on only the goal, and her goal is to keep Zeke all for herself. She's an extreme masochist who wants Zeke to be her dominant.

The BDSM in this story does make me go a bit more WTF. Ms. Payne keeps hinting at D/s subtext when these female "bottoms" or "submissives" immediately change their mannerisms and start answering with "Yes, Sir". She also tells the reader these BDSM interactions are intense and high on the sadistic side. For some, it may be. From my personal experience, what I've read here is considered standard and a bit mild.

Now, remember dear readers, this is all based on a person's experience. I'm not sure what is going on with the crowd I'm in, but I'm the mild one because I only do knifeplay, fireplay, electricity and breathplay for my edge plays. I do not enjoy blood play, but I will submit to it if the dominant really gets off on it. The majority of the group I'm in is heavy into bloodplay, micro-branding and needleplay. When I say heavy, I mean it looks like Dexter's splatter room after they are done with a scene. There are special protocols to sanitize the equipment, walls, ceiling and floor after a scene. To me, this is a bit more sadistic and a hard limit. First, I don't like the taste of blood. Second, I don't like the sight of blood. Third, I don't want any chance of catching some blood pathogen.

Now, can a whip cause the same kind of blood splatter? Not usually as much as the above, but it can cause a breakage in the skin and blood to flow. In this story, there is a scene between Luna and Zeke where another top called out the safeword. It is of interest because nothing I read as it is presented would cause for alarm. Sure there would be bruising. It's not uncommon for some bruising to take three weeks to fade away, especially from a whip, cane or paddle. Overall, the BDSM scenes in here are a little bit more than mild but not dark and intense. It's an excellent next step for those who are now past the Gateway to BDSM stories.

Switching to the character development, this story is better than the first. There is more richness to Zeke's background which helps makes him more understandable. He is a desirable dominant and it shows through his command and his aftercare. Rayna is a good balance for him and the chemistry between the two is good. This romantic suspense is recommended to kinky readers who love a happily ever after.


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