To Please Her Is a Delight with Elena Abbott
Author: Elena Abbott
Publication Date: May 13, 2025
Genres: Romance
Representation: Trans, Lesbian
I have been crushing on the idea of To Please Her since December, when Elena Abbott first mentioned it on her blog. The promise of a trans woman, love and kink, a rope class demo bunny, and a woman with reasons for avoiding relationships caught my attention, and the cover . . . well, it had all the elements to make me shiver with anticipation.
So, how does the read stand up to such lofty expectations? Much to my delight, it not only meets them, but exceeds them in every way. I absolutely adored this book. Seriously, it got into my head and my heart early on, and I had to fight myself to not read it all in one sitting, but to stretch it out and enjoy it over the course of a few days.
Sabrina Doyle is a driven young trans woman with no time for love, few friends, and no family. Shunned for her choice to be true to herself, she’s working two jobs and saving for surgery. When she stumbles into a beautiful woman on the street, spilling coffee all over the woman’s blouse, she has no idea where her promise to make it up to her will lead. That woman is Delilah Holte, a bold, confident, kinky professional with her fingers in two local businesses and her heart in domination. She needs a demo bunny for a rope class, and the cute young woman suddenly in her debt is the perfect candidate.
If there’s a more perfect meet-cute in the genre, I have yet to come across it. This is the kind of accidental encounter that dreams are made of, and the blend of awkward, adorable blend of cute and kink is immediately endearing. Sabrina finds herself caught up in this beautiful woman’s wake, powerless to resist as she discovers the surprises of her inner submissive – and for a scene that is largely clothed and chaste, the rope class is as erotic as it is empowering. What’s more, the casual way in which Delilah accepts and embraces Sabrina being trans is fabulous, and that simple acceptance carries through the whole story, with nary a hint of doubt or fetishizing. More authors can learn from how Abbott so sensitively approaches the subject.
There’s so much I loved about this, but it all starts with the dynamic between Sabrina and Delilah. Even though this is a Domme/sub relationship with very different personalities, their life experiences have a lot of parallels, slowly uncovering complementary needs and desires. Abbott explores themes of family and friendship, being true to one’s self, and finding strength in relationships. There are some dark moments in the story, including some deplorable homophobia and transphobia, but it’s not without purpose. We have to understand where these women have come from, along with what they’ve faced (and are facing) to appreciate their relationship journey.
To Please Her is a story that’s beautifully told, an easy read that welcomes you in with open arms and holds you close, right through to the end. The cast of support characters is small, but delightful, including one we don’t meet until near the very end who made me smile. The power-exchange relationship is just that – a relationship, not a scene – and the way Abbott explores submission, subspace, and protocol rings true. I expected to love this . . . I wanted to love this . . . but even I didn’t expect to love it this much.
Rating: 
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
