Review: Safeword Mayday: A CONTEMPORARY BDSM MÉNAGE ROMANCE

 #BDSM 

Safeword Mayday: A CONTEMPORARY BDSM MÉNAGE ROMANCE by Candace Blevins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I eagerly anticipated this book because one of the book blurbs caught my attention and had me stunned in an epiphany.  Heather is our main character who is an adrenaline junkie.  What is dangerous for her is that she feels very little pain.  The explanations why make me sad.   I also have a bit of background regarding the author so this story is even more sad for me in some ways.  Getting back to the lightbulb going off in my head, Heather struggles with sex being "meh".  When she encounters Marcus, her boyfriend's best friend -  "Marcus explains she only enjoys extreme sports, so she needs to try extreme sex".  I felt stunned when I read this line.  I had to read it several times.

This makes so much sense to me and with this explanation, I am fully into this story.  As we learn more about Heather, it is clear that she has some unique ways of processing physical sensations.  Learning about what Heather's mother goes through to help support her, moves me.  This is a parent who cares and will do everything in her power to support the daughter of her heart.  How cool is this?  What I like about Heather is how self-actualized she is about herself.  She is still open to learning more which is what Marcus is trying to help her and Kyle, her boyfriend.  Marcus and Kyle's relationship is complex with years of history together.  Yet with Heather in the mix, it turns into something more.  It is as if she is the missing piece to bring their friendship even deeper.

I love how Ms. Blevins builds her characters.  They are riveting and multidimensional.  Even if they do not pull me in sometimes, as Heather did not for me in this book, I still admire her and am impressed with all she can do.  Heather's job is incredibly niche and I love it.  She is her own boss and she's smart about it too.  She makes money doing what she loves.  I also get to learn a bit about flying which always interests me.  Her rock climbing is a bit much for me.  I fear I'm more like Kyle in this one.  I cannot handle heights whatsoever.  I'm with Kyle on this one.  Whilst I understand his desire to overcome his fears and he has both Heather and Marucus helping him, I'm still thinking there is nothing in this world, including how they are trying to help him that will help me get over my fear of heights.  Of course, mine is a bit of a variation to Kyle's so maybe that's why all the things they are doing to help him mean nothing to me.  I digress.

The BDSM in this story is delicious as I expected.  Since Heather is new to this world, the kink isn't as heavy as Ms. Blevins usually brings into her stories.  Still, Heather is diving in fast and deep as expected based on her personality. I appreciate this consistency and I like Heather coming into her own from a sexual perspective.  What makes me a little bit sad is that as much as Marcus is enjoying this exploration, it still doesn't meet his needs for a slave.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Ms. Blevins handles this need.  

This is an enjoyable happy for now romance with a hook for part two of Heather's story.  Highly recommended to menage readers who would like a Gateway to BDSM story.

* An ARC was provided for my review