ARC Review: Hurt Me So Good by Joely Sue Burkhart + Giveaway

Description:
One sub to please the Master…in any way he wishes.

Victor Connagher is no stranger to the Dallas BDSM scene. As CEO of a risqué cable channel that caters to adventurous adults, he ensures the lifestyle is portrayed in a positive light. He even supports a local bondage club. Yet behind the cool, confident mask, Victor lives in fear.

Once, and only once, he lost control of his inner Dom—and it cost him his fiancée. Now, no one knows how hard he works to keep his darker appetite for pain buried. No matter how much his saucy, confident associate producer makes his fingers itch to once again take up his riding crop.

Shiloh Holmes is a sub, but she’s no doormat. She’s always suspected Victor has the skills to feed her insatiable need for pain, and now she’s found the perfect way to crack his formidable control. Develop a new reality show, America’s Next Top sub…and dare him to compete.

Week after week, as Shiloh fearlessly challenges the real Victor to come out of hiding, he realizes his past mistake was only a blow to his pride. If he loses Shiloh, he could lose his heart.

Warning: Explicit sex, BDSM, reality television, a very reluctant Dom, an audacious sub willing to do anything to win for him, and one very wicked riding crop.

Review:
When Hurt Me So Good arrived in my inbox I was thrilled to finally read Victor's story. Joely teased us for months with little snippets and I was desperate to finally read this book. I knew he would be more intense than Conn but wowza I didn't expect this. *fans herself* So I should warn everyone if you're not fond of BDSM this book isn't for you.

Victor is the CEO of VCONN, a local Dallas TV channel which specialize in the more erotic topics. He is a Master at heart and for him pain is more like sex than anything else. He doesn't only like to deliver the pain, he also uses it on himself if there's no other way to relieve the pressure building inside him. Victor is 100% sure that no woman would be willing to freely accept what he has to give. He had this one traumatic incident with his ex-fiancée- she wasn't prepared for his darker side because he hid it through their relationship and he scared her away- big time. Now he's afraid that he is just too much. So he keeps this side of himself under lock and key. It hurt me so much to see him suffer. He completely believes that he will never find someone who truly can take it all. When he meets Shiloh he is immediately attracted but he struggles with accepting her surrender and promise of submission. He's afraid of hurting her in a bad way and that she will run away and leave him behind- alone and heartbroken. This would break his heart and this time it would be broken for good. At first for me it was hard to see this strong and dominant Master with so much doubt and conflicts in himself. He should be the strong and confident one but it gave him more "realness". I never really like these perfect characters in books and Victor is just exactly right for my taste. He was demanding at some points and yes perhaps one scene was a bit too "intense" for me but it's all about pushing your limits and yes I enjoyed it a bit perhaps. *wink*

Shiloh is one kind of a woman. She's strong, intelligent and knows what she wants: Victor. She's been working at VCONN  for some time now and wants to get closer to Victor without looking like a desperate underling trying to catch his attention by all means e.g. walking naked in his office. Since day one he seems to ignore her and she just has to know if he really is the Master she believes him to be. She sees her chance with a new show and when he accepts her challenge she can finally get closer to him and see him like he really is.

As you can imagine this book is full of erotic scenes. Yes most are really intense and I'm sure I wouldn't survive any of this. It's hard to explain but even though I don't share the inclination for that much pain I could always see and feel why the characters did this and that. I think it speaks highly of Joely's writing that she didn't lose my attention even when her characters did thinks I wouldn't even consider in my darkest moments. It was always really erotic and sometimes also shocking. A fascinating combination that caught me unguarded at moments. How can I find something erotic and at the same moment think it must be hurting too much.

Joely drew me in no matter where the action went. Her story-telling is compelling and fascinating. I loved her characters and I can't wait to read more about the other characters we met in Hurt Me So Good. I highly recommend this book to all erotic lovers with at least a bit of inclination towards BDSM in their books.
Extraordinaire writing with a compelling fascinating and highly erotic story- Victor just won't lose you attention. It's not his name for nothing. ;)

To learn more about Joely and her books please visit her website here. You can also read the free prequel Lie To You here.

- Read other reviews @goodreads 
- pattepoilues aka The HEA Lover's review @ Book Lovers Inc. 
- soleil noir' review @Black Sun Reviews 
Buy Hurt Me So Good @MBaM

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~*~*~Giveaway~*~*~

Thanks to Joely one lucky commenter will win an ebook copy of Hurt Me So Good.

Just leave a meaningful comment on this review or ask Joely a question. She will visit through the day and try to answer all the things you want to know. ;)

Please leave me a way to contact you (email in blogger profile or twitter name works for me).

Giveaway ends on Tuesday October 12th and I will announce the winner on Wednesday.

Good Luck!

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Review: Dear Sir, I'm Yours by Joely Sue Burkhart

Description:

This professor’s final exam includes a spanking.
There’s no house restoration too challenging for Rae Jackson, a.k.a. “The Fix-It Lady”. There’s no fixing the past, though. Like the day she left college. A semester of flirting with her English professor ended when he spanked her to the best orgasm of her life. Afraid of her own eager willingness to comply with the sexy dom’s commands—no matter what—she fled.
Yet not even five years can dim her memory of his masterful touch.
Conn never forgot the one student who gave him a big fat “F” on the greatest test of his life. After all these years, he’s still haunted by his uncharacteristic loss of control. When he finds the very object of his shame—and desire—crawling around under his grandmother’s house, he swears to do anything to win Rae’s trust.
Rae finds herself helpless against Conn’s slow seduction. Exactly the way she likes it. Instead of poetry, this time she learns the erotic pleasure to be found in bondage…and submission to the sexiest professor alive.
Warning: Explicit sex, spanking, light bondage, a crazy old lady who talks to ghosts, and one lethal pink parasol.

Review:
As always I'm totally biased all thing concerning Joely so be prepared for my rave.
I read DSIY for the first time last summer after reading a fabulous review by Pearl. I started with the free prequel Letters (you can find that one here) and I was hooked from the start. What makes this book so special to me is all the emotion Joely put into this book.  How did she do that? I think I have to explain that in detail.

Rae is a strong woman afraid to lose herself in a man, especially Conn. She lived through a really bad marriage and still fights the consequences this left behind. She didn't see Conn for 5 years but she always thought of him. She wrote him many letters, explaining how she feels and what happened in her life. She never send one of them and I can so understand why. It's hard to bare your soul to someone else and Rae doesn't want to be that vulnerable. I adored every single one of her letters. Reading them feels like grabbing Rae's diary and taking a long deep look into her soul. The letters are so raw and heartfelt that I sometimes felt like intruding into her personal space. But nosy me doesn't mind that. *wink*


Conn on the other hand has a goal the moment he lays his eyes on Rae again: making it work this time. He is such a wonderful character: caring, loving and dominant with capital D. Conn knows what he wants. But even more than that he knows what he doesn't want: to hurt Rae or to make her run again. He is determinant to do everything what needs to be done to make Rae understand what he, his attraction to her and his sexual preferences are about. He takes his time to make her see the difference between submission and losing herself is. He shows her what kind of power a submissive holds over her Dom. I think this books describes this relationship in such a loving way that you just can't close your eyes against it.

The relationship buildup was lovely and spiked with a joke here and there and even some pop quizzes to lighten the mood. I loved how they both acted around each other when the first insecurities where diminished. I could see the adoration in Rae's eyes and I could feel the temperature rising when Conn saw his love.


The scenes between the sheets came after a rather long really hawt wait but they totally made up for that. And OMG the poetry was gorgeous. I would have never thought that something like that could be that sizzling.

I also enjoyed reading about the wonderful side-characters. Ms. Belle the more or less crazy lady who talks to her dead husband and solves murder cases in her free time or the math professor with love for swordplay.

All in all Dear Sir, I'm Yours is one of the best books I read in 2009 and it's already on my all time favorites pile. The love story is sweet, thoughtful and heartbreaking in the right mix with witty conversations, laugh-out-loud moments and scorching hot one-on-one encounters. You could never understand what's the gist of BDSM is? Read this book and you will get at least a fundamental understanding of it. Highly recommended read!

To learn more about Joely and her books please visit her website here.


We also have an interview with Joely @Book Lovers, INC today. You also get a chance to win a signed copy of Dear Sir, I'm Yours there.
And Joely will come over for a little surprise visit to The Geeky Bookworm this week too.

The Connagher Series:
1. Dear Sir, I'm Yours: reviews @goodreads, dual review with pattepoilue & me @BookLoversINC, buy ebook @BooksOnBoard, buy paperback @amazon (release tomorrow)

2. Hurt Me So Good(Victor's book): TBD 2010

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