Unrequited love leaves room for another in Leigh’s heart... and bed.
Leigh McCabe has had a taste of the dark side and there is no return to normality: as a master of Shibari and a connoisseur of Dominance and submission, Mikey Marais has shown her pleasure in restraint and pain.
But the student turns teacher as Dominance beckons to the sub.
The beautiful and innocent Giulia Hoffmann is ready to spread her wings and escape from her mother’s rusty cage. She convinces Leigh to take nude photos of her to prove to her controlling mother that she’s her own woman now.
Leigh cannot deny the stirring of desire the extraordinary Giulia causes. Leigh uses her as a photographic model; excited to share her seductive new world and explore a taboo relationship with an eager, submissive woman.
Love knows no bounds, and no gender. Leigh finds herself caught between her submissive instinct and the thrill of the Domme. Between a man’s control and a woman’s delicate touch. Her body and soul. Heart and mind. Darkness and light. While helping Giulia discover the pleasures of deviant desires; Leigh becomes addicted to what it feels like to be loved by a woman’s touch, and the rush of dominating someone so eager to submit.
However, Mikey saved her life physically and emotionally, and Leigh can’t bear to lose him. But she knows she can never love him completely, and Giulia may need her too much.
How will Leigh choose? Can Giulia reconcile? And What will Mikey make of all of this?
Gerry Pelser is a photographer, writer, and Reluctant Widower living in the suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has two super-cool Hungarian Puli puppies, and a stuffed baby petite hippo named Felicity (Don’t ask).
He is passionate about story-telling, teaching, and absolutely infatuated with photographic lighting. He spends way too much time on social media, and has an unhealthy obsession with beer, chicken wings, and cricket. He plays chess with his father twice a week, where loses hard and often. He worships at the church of Charles Schulz, and sees Charlie Brown as his spirit animal.
Defining Giulia, what can I say... I love Gerry Pelser's writing. A story of the discovery of self. Travel along with Leigh, Mickey and Giulia as Giulia explores the darker side of her nature, you will be carried along regardless of whether you want to or not. I could not put it down, I tried really hard to prolong the journey through this novel, to no avail. Laughing, crying, ranting and then when I could no longer see straight, tried to sleep only to have these characters invade my dreams. There is a warning on the back cover of this novel that states that it is not for conservative readers. To be read by anyone that is Open minded and willing to learn. There is a lot to learn in this novel as there was in Gerry's previous Novel Discovering Leigh. To say that this novel is a sequel is not strictly true, yes the characters from Leigh are here too, but this novel is so much more than a mere sequel, it can stand on it's own. It intertwines one right into the storyline. I don't want to add spoilers. Read this novel for yourself with a WIDE OPEN Mind, you will be surprised. Gerry I for one cannot wait for your next Novel... I need to add to my collection!
We already knew and loved Mikey and Leigh in the first book of this series but now we are introduced to Guilia, a beautiful 18 year old who captures Leigh's heart. This book follows Leigh learning how to embrace her dominant side and Guilia finding her submissive side.
I really enjoyed this one but not quite as much as I enjoyed the first book. The writing was great and the story was exciting and unexpected but that is exactly what I expected from this author having already read one of his books. The plot line was really captivating and having all of the different POVs was fun. I loved reading about these characters evolving and discovering new things about themselves and the people that they loved.
One of the criticisms I would have is Hannelore. I think she was written really weirdly and unrealistically and it took me out of the story every time her character was in a scene. I found her constant use of "my demon child" to be really off-putting. I understand that her character wasn't meant to be liked by the reader but her 'villainess' was almost comical.
4/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this copy to review.
A beautiful written story that made for easy reading with its real, authentic and descriptive narrative.
A book that makes you think, self-reflect, laugh and cry. A wonderful continuation from Discovering Leigh. The journey and lives of the characters intertwined in a vividly descriptive way that not only makes for entertainment but also educates the reader.
An absolute must for anyone who is a thinker, open to new ways and discovering life, love and acceptance.
Defining Guilia is a courageous tale of becoming. A visually enchanting story of the gift of what life entails; heart-breaking challenges of discovering young identity, the steely realm of superficial materialism, depth (and shallowness) of character and the lengths they brave, cancerous throes of rotten, stinking revenge, alluring and inflaming passion of attraction, sensual indulgences of discipline in fetish, read by vanilla eyes and a curious heart all enclosed in a couple hundred pages of intrigue that shatter any boundaries of the norm. Yet what stood out for me in neon flashing lights throughout this account of fiction is that this story is the most beautiful depiction of unconditional love, widening my eyes on how real love, broken down through all the bullshit to its purest, most unselfish form, does not in the least discriminate.
This is a story that will widen your horizons if you are valiant enough to confront the darkness of your own demons by adventuring to parts of yourself as well as others that lie beneath the surface of concealed inhibition, that you will unearth when you grab that shovel of interest and just start digging.
Gerry writes with pictorial genius; taking you with him and his characters through a journey that will penetrate your soul, having you question your moral fibre and judgement, toying masterfully with all spectrum of your fragile human emotion, taking you from licentious desire, tender and tumultuous love, deep grief to infuriating madness, leaving you with fragments of your psyche that will never be the same once you turn that final page.
Stunning, far more than ‘just’ the genre, one with which I was pretty unfamiliar with admittedly. This is a heartfelt and epic tale of the struggles of life. Coming of age and being vulnerable and unsure which path to take, overcoming great personal trauma, families, relationships and so much more. The writer is an artist of words to epic proportions and truly draws you in and connects you to the characters. I think I gasped, cried, laughed and so much more in raw emotion. Truly beautiful, thank you.
I first read about Leigh and Mickey in the book Discovering Leigh. I cried, I shouted, I gasped and I lived for these two characters. It felt like being on a rollercoaster on raw human emotion. I saw a little of myself in Leigh. Then Gerry released Defining Guilia. I was not fond of the character Guila finding her immature and lackluster. She took my breath away in the end, she made me ache and made me cry for her the way you would for someone you loved and cared for. I did not see the end coming and I feel like I got sucker-punched from the left when expecting it to come from the right. This book is about the darker side of life, it shows our vulnerability but also the true beauty of true love. This book like Discovering Leigh leaves this ache in my body for the characters in the book. The writing is of such a quality that it took me through the story as my mind crafted beautiful painful scenes. Gerry, I do not think the world possesses words to describe how your books make me feel. I wish I could give it more stars
After having a taste of the forbidden, Leigh has no plans to go back to her old life. Now she wants more, she meets Giulia and helps to guide her through the unknown as she also learns about a different side of her own. Must she choose between her submissive side and her dominant side? Fast paced read with loads of drama, suspense and steam. Great characters and lots of emotion. I really liked it.
The previous book was absorbing. This one had me so invested in the characters that my heart is heavy now, particularly knowing that the beautiful girl captured so brilliantly in Gerry's photos was real, was loved by the author, and died before she could finally live.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.