Review: Blossom

#ThisYearTuesday #NetGalley

Blossom by Helen Hardt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

New to me author Ms. Hardt continues with the kinky Black Rose Series with a reluctant submissive and a rich dominant.  I am always on the look out for BDSM authors new to me.  This book is probably more rosy colours kink than realistic.  This is for the readers who want the spicy sexy without all the BDSM realities.  This book can be read as a standalone.  

My bet is that Ms. Hardt is not in the lifestyle or may have gone to a party or two.  The kink in this story is what many vanillas believe the kink lifestyle to be.  Can it be this way? Maybe.  Have I ever seen it this way in real life? No.  That's not to say that it cannot happen, just rather unlikely.  Still, the heart of the story is less about kink and more about two people who found they need more than just sex.  

Mary is a submissive who is experience ennui.  Or is it?  Her dissatisfaction with BDSM is coming across loud and clear.  Even meeting a new sexy Scottish dominant doesn't jump start her kink.  It may rev up her engine for other sexy shenanigans, but it doesn't quite convince her to submit. Ronan seems like the perfect dominant. He is sexy, rich, and wants to show Mary with gifts and expensive getaways.  What more could a girl want?

Well... this is where I'm saying that Ms. Hardt may be missing a bit of the BDSM experience.  What is clear to me, and maybe it's just how the author writes . . . erotic power exchange is missing.  For specifically submission, the D/s in the BDSM, there is a greater need for that power exchange.  It is missing throughout this book.  Yes, there are submissive scenes or bottoming scenes.  I get that Mary bottoms and serves Ronan.  I did not however see any power exchange.  This does take a certain amount of intimacy for it to feel great.  That is what is missing for Mary and I believe even at the end of this book.

The romance between Ronan and Mary is a whirlwind of luxury and great food.  The kink ads a bit of spice even if it feels a bit disjointed.  This does take place in an exclusive expensive club hence the glitterkink category.  This kinky tale is recommended to romance readers who like a bit of spice in their life.

*provided by https://www.netgalley.com