Texas Surrender by Claire Thompson

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Claire Thompson is quite famous for her BDSM romance. She is probably one of the few authors specialized in the genre that I read with pleasure… yes, I know, it’s an old thing, but I always feel as to highlight it, the BDSM world is not exactly my thing, and so, I not always am able to fully enjoy a romance with that theme.

In Texas Surrender I think the author approaches the genre with in an even more unusual way. The role play between Avery and JD doesn’t follow a strict script, the borders are blurry. JD is a French cuisine chef in New York but he originally came from Texas. He is not a successful man like usually it’s for a dominant partner, he has no money, he lives in a crappy apartment, and the same day he loses his job he also loses his submissive, the man was cheating on him during the day while JD was working. So no, JD is not the stereotype dominant man, and in a way he is even a more original dominant like that: the power on his submissive is not conveyed since JD is the wealthier and more powerful, but since he is the strongest on an emotional level.

For this exact reason, he is the right dominant for Avery. Avery is younger than JD and he works as hired man on the horses ranch of JD’s uncle. When the old man dies for an heart attack, JD, who is between jobs, comes to the ranch to help Avery. JD is not exactly a horses rancher, he has very few experience on the job, and so he can’t be Avery’s boss on the field. And even if JD is older in age, he has not had the bad and troubled youth Avery had, and so JD is not even more experienced in life than Avery. With this basis, a D/s relationship between them, with JD as dominant, would be impossible. The only way for it to work, is for JD to be the strongest on an emotional level. JD is already at peace with his sexuality, with what he wants and likes; Avery instead has not had the chance to fully explore his desires, before JD’s arrival, he didn’t even know what a BDSM relationship was. So JD can be Avery’s dominant only playing on Avery’s “innocence” when it arrives to sex.

I don’t think that, in the end, JD and Avery’s relationship is a real D/s relationship. Between them it’s more a question of how they like to have sex more than how they want to live day-to-day. Outside the bedroom, JD and Avery are two different men with different lives and expectations; they meet and agreed on a common path only inside the bedroom. JD doesn’t really “conquers” Avery, for example, it’s JD who is the first to make clear his feelings, something I think I have never found in a D/s relationship, usually it’s not the dominant lover to speak first the three little words, I love you. I think that JD is more a supporting partner, the steadiness that Avery needs and misses, JD gives to Avery a family and a comforting embrace, and if the embrace is a little rough, a little forceful, well, it can be good, Avery doesn’t complain on that, but he is not yet ready to have a fully D/s relationship with JD.

Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks

The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/850354.html