Synopsis from Goodreads:
Liv called her hunger The Void. She thought she knew it - and herself. Until a night with Cassandra silenced it. And brought out something in Liv she didn't think possible: submission. One taste of that, and Liv wanted more. But Cassandra isn't an easy dominant. She expects Liv to earn her way into her good graces. And her demands aren't simple. How many hurdles will Liv need to jump before she can kneel before Cassandra? Before Cassandra chooses to claim her? Just what will it take to become Cassandra's "L?" And will the outcome be all she hopes for - and needs? Find out in a timeless tale, retold. Find out in Story of L.
Review:
Before I get into the meat of my review, let me tell you some basics. Liv is a lesbian who is into the whole BDSM scene. When "The Void" rears its ugly head, it's hard for Liv to find any satisfaction, any deep fulfillment from the other lesbians at Hippolyte's (a BDSM club). One night, coincidentally on the night "The Void" appeared, a rarely seen legend in the BDSM scene arrives at Hippolyte's: Cassandra. She is drawn to Liv's hunger and chooses to participate in satisfying Liv's ramped up sexual appetite. Liv finds fulfillment with Cassandra's methods and never experiences "The Void" again. When Cassandra decides to make Liv her darling, Liv's wishes all seem to be coming true. Will she be able to please Cassandra enough for them to be together?
Taking away all of the BDSM scenes, at the heart of this story we have two people, one who doesn't know what she wants and the other growing old and lonely, both searching for love and an emotional connection to one true individual. Sounds like it has potential, right?
Now, let me get into the meat of my review. Oh, and fair warning ...
**** THIS COULD GET EXPLICIT AND VERY X-RATED ****
For a straight, never-experimented, heterosexual female, this book was quite the education. Not about lesbianism but about a peek into the whole BDSM scene. First off, if some mofo tries to cane, flog, or whip me into an orgasm someone's going to get an ass-whooping. I don't understand how people get off on this amount of pain. I feel myself wanting to get on a soapbox about this so I'm going to move on before I do.
I don't know if this is a pre-requisite for writing a lesbian novel but it seems like there's the same formula for every one I read:
- Young, inexperienced girl, emotionally immature, not sure what she needs but knows she's not finding it with anybody she comes across
- More experienced, sometimes older, lady just happens to show up at the right time, in the right spot, knowing exactly what to do satisfy the person in need
- More mature person finds younger, inexperienced person "exquisite" (UGH! I am SO SICK of that word!!!)
- Younger person is willing to jump over these, so-called, difficult hurdles in order to obtain mature person's affections
- The younger person flies over the hurdles with a quickness and determination that the mature person finds astonishing and is "pleasantly surprised" and "impressed"
- The two people inevitably figure out they have what the other person has been looking for their entire lives and fall in love and blah, blah, blah
Can I just say that, most of the time, the supposed hurdles are not actually hurdles. A female dressing more feminine is not a damn hurdle. Yes, it can be annoying, but a hurdle?! Also, removing piercings, to me, is not a hurdle. Yes, there is a sense of vulnerability in removing piercings, especially if you got them to hide who you really are, but I still don't see it as such a MAJOR hurdle. I want to go on but I feel like I'm starting to be a bitch so I'm going to end it here.
To all of you who have actually read this novel and enjoyed it, I'm sorry but I just found the writing extremely predictable and uninteresting. If this is your type of novel, have at it homey but I won't be recommending this to anyone.