Review: The Velvet Chair

The Velvet Chair by C.P. Mandara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dark, depraved and intense, the spin-off series from the Pony Tales starts where the last book left off.  For those who have not read the Pony Tales, it is recommended to read those first.  

Mark is forced to marry Jennifer and he will make her pay for all that he has suffered due to her betrayal.  Is this an enemies to lovers theme?  Not exactly because whilst Mark is pissed at Jennifer and lays his humiliations and torture at her feet, he still holds a bit of feeling for her.  Their complicated and adversarial relationship is fraught with secrets, lies and miscommunication.  If there is one thing that bugs me about this series, is the inability for these two characters to communicate effectively.  Although truth be told, every book of Ms. Mandara, this is a plot device.  Sex, lies and secrets is the recurring theme.

To kick off the International month of Masturbation, this book is definitely high up there for fapping material.  The way Jennifer is "prepared" at her husband's request for the reception dinner is super nova hot.  When it comes to kinky BDSM scenes, Ms. Mandara excels in the fantasy that edges along the fine line of plausible reality.  I thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer's sexual torment and suffering.   

When it comes to hopelessness, Ms. Mandara creates scenarios that make a character wish for death.  I know reading this book, I'm thinking, if I can't take out everyone, then I might as well kill myself.  The amount of humiliation Jen experiences is pretty high.  The psychology warfare is also piercing as it tears Jen down.  There are times where I am ill at ease reading this book.  Obviously if Jen's situation occurred in real life, cops would be called and there would be jail time.  The amount of self-righteous hate Mark feels towards Jen is also disheartening.  He steps up destroying her in a public way.  How she can even still love him after this is ... unbelievable.

There comes a time when a person hits a breaking point where no choices seem to lead to anything remotely acceptable.  Jen hits this point and everything comes tumbling down.  Her choice to get away from it all kicks off a series of events that brings a new player into this world.

This book is more than just sex, non-con and dub-con sex.  There is a plot.  Why is Jennifer determined to stay married to Mark?  And what is it that Jennifer's step-father wants from her?  These are the questions we are all wondering.  This book flies by quickly as each sexual punishment increases in intensity.  The end of the book is a good hook into the next book in this series.  Without giving any spoilers, let's just say that the first week of marriage may be the death of Jennifer.

The rating for this book is more for the sex.  As followers of this blog know, I can be bribed with creative and kinky sex.  The BDSM party Mark drags Jen to is out of this world.  The "tattoo", piercing and competition are all spank bank material.  Ms. Mandara seems to have reached into some of the more deviant sexual fantasies and brought them to life.  I loved it.  This dark novel is recommended to erotic readers who go beyond SSC and perhaps a bit past RACK.

 *I voluntarily read the book and wrote a review.