Kit's Recommended Reads Part 4

In my continuing saga of awesomeness you can find out there that I recommend you to read, I’m going to tell you about a gem that I again saw touted on Twitter and took a chance on.

Now, just to recap: I’ve recommended Johanna Lindsey’s WARRIOR’S WOMAN, anything by Judith McNaught (but I talked about my first McNaught, ALMOST HEAVEN, in the blog) and the brilliant (each and every one of them) anthology of novellas and short stories, THE DEVIL’S DOORBELL.

Now, I’ll share about the incredibly talented Joey W. Hill’s NATURAL LAW.

When going into Joey’s NATURAL LAW, I wasn’t an erotica or BDSM erotica virgin. Though I can say I only dabbled (I think that I’d only read two and a half novellas, and that was years ago).

I didn’t avoid erotica. Far from it. But back in the day when I was reading romance, it wasn’t easily accessible. And when I’d found a place to access good erotica, I was writing like crazy so I wasn’t reading as much.

So although I wasn’t an erotica virgin, Joey certainly deflowered a variety of aspects of the reader that is me.

And fate can hold great fortunes.

In other words, finding Joey and finding her through NATURAL LAW was sheer bounty.

I get tongue-tied (or more aptly for this blog post, finger-tied) trying to figure out how best to explain all that Joey gave to me through this story without babbling in my gushing compliments.

I’ll start by saying she’s an exceptional writer. A wordsmith of the highest caliber. So talented, it’s a little scary and fills me with the good kind of envy. I’ve gone on to read the next two in Joey’s Nature of Desire series, ICE QUEEN and MIRROR OF MY SOUL, and discovered that NATURAL LAW was no fluke. Both, too, are outstandingly good.

That said, however, what I’ll concentrate on is just how very safe I felt in Joey’s writing embrace.

Now, this book is a BDSM with an alpha-sub and Joey doesn’t pull any punches. She gives it to us. And even things that might have made me turn the page hesitantly, I didn’t. I was in her care. I was safe in the cocoon of her talent.

Sex is an intimate thing, personal, emotional, physical. Even if you’re just reading about it, you (should) feel all those experiences. And it’s my opinion that every writer needs to handle that with care.

However, Joey takes it one step further, not only sweeping you along in the beautiful narrative of her stories, but also holding you close and nurturing you along the path as she tells them.

I had thought, as a novice erotica reader, I noted this as special for me due to my inexperience with the genre. But I have shouted out about Joey’s talent and no one who has read her disagrees. They were all as equally enthralled by her gifts as me. So it wasn’t my inexperience. It was Joey’s storytelling.

Now, I’ve told this story before but I’ll tell it again.

Way back in the day when I was writing WILDEST DREAMS, I had a very sexy scene in that book between Valentine and her boy toy. I deleted it because I feared my readers would be shocked at something that was not what was expected of me.

But that scene, and Valentine, held on. Therefore, when I wrote BROKEN DOVE, I actually wrote a companion piece that I’d intended to release alongside BROKEN DOVE. This I intended to do so for those who wanted an erotic, BDSM, alpha-sub love story to read alongside Apollo and Maddie’s story, they could have it. Those who had no interest in that could stick with BD.

It was taking too long to finish both books so I scrapped Valentine but always wished I hadn’t. She, and that genre of story, kept calling out to me.

After reading Joey’s NATURAL LAW, a book I fell into and couldn’t put down, I spent an entire day, an…entire…day, doing nothing but sitting around my house, staring into space and concocting what would be my upcoming THE DEEP END, the start of The Honey Series, an erotic BDSM series about alpha-submissives.

I’ll say here that I also hope one day to spruce up Valentine’s story and give it to my readers as a long novella.

And I’ll say that the two stories I’ve already written in the Honey series, THE DEEP END and THE FARTHEST EDGE are amazing. I adore them. I am very aware that some of my readers will shy away and I totally understand that. But I loved, loved, loved FINALLY allowing myself the freedom to tell the stories I’ve been wanting to tell for years. To put my voice into telling this kind of tale. To dip my toe in a new pool. To expand my horizons. To dig deeper into souls. To share new and exciting worlds.

And truthfully, I believe I would never have had the courage to write those books if it weren’t for Joey.

So not only do I have her amazing writing to enjoy (and I will continue to do so), I also have her to thank for that. And it’s heartfelt thanks indeed.

To end, I wholeheartedly recommend NATURAL LAW (as well as ICE QUEEN and MIRROR OF MY SOUL).

And I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.