Safeword: Rainbow

Hold on tight - from the very start, Candace Blevins writes some intense BDSM! Tyler and Vivian have an incredibly hot fling that kicks off the book with an intense scene immediately. WARNING: Readers interested only in light BDSM will likely think it gets too dark all too quickly. It’s simple, really: Tyler likes to inflict pain and Vivian likes to absorb pain. They are perfectly matched but even I, a seasoned BDSM reader, was a tad bit uncomfortable at first. Readers’ limits will definitely be tested – definitely one of the things I most enjoyed about Safeword: Rainbow. 

Tyler, a CIA agent (love the Dom/ agent combo), has to leave on assignment after their quick hook up in a BDSM club. It is three long years before he meets up with Vivian again. And aren’t they both surprised to find out who the other is! Tyler, now retired from the CIA, is staying with his best friend Mac. Mac's sister Vivian is home to care for their ailing father. Once Tyler and Vivian recognize each other, there is no denying the chemistry. They believe they are perfect for each other (I think so too!) and try to make a relationship work. It’s only then they realize that Tyler wants a total power exchange (TPE) relationship and Vivian, an accomplished professional, has no desire to be a 24/7 submissive.

Blevins deals with their issues head-on rather than going for the crazy sweet/ totally unbelievable romance. Her two decisive, candid characters work through realistic relationship issues while the reader observes during the course of the book. And, of course, this is all sprinkled with some sexy scenes.  As they work towards compromise and come to a middle ground, Vivian faces what living a TPE means (even if only part time) and Tyler has to decide if he can live with just a part-time TPE.

As a reader, I enjoyed the scenes when Tyler and Vivian were working out their lifestyle. As a reviewer, I could see that most of the BDSM scenes moved the characters along but… as a reader, the sex scenes were rough. There were moments that left me wincing because it seemed so much more painful than sexual – though it is explained well enough that both characters enjoyed this type of play. If you like hard-core BDSM reads, I would whole-heartedly recommend Safeword: Rainbow. If you like your BDSM a little softer, be warned. Though given what I know now, I’d still read it… hey, I enjoyed the storyline and learned something new in those most intense scenes. 

RATING: 4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
This book was given to us by the author. Many thanks.

EXCERPT:

Viv pulled her hair up and fastened it to her head in preparation for the wig. As a professor at the University, it wouldn’t do for anyone to recognize her naked and getting flogged in a BDSM club. So she hid her long blond hair with a short dark brown wig. It was a professional wig designed to stay on and survive even a Broadway performance or a circus act. Next she covered her electric blue eyes with green contacts. And finally came the makeup, with her eyes done in a way that made her look feline. Tonight she left off the mascara on the lower parts of her eyes though, as she had a feeling there might be tears. Waterproof mascara didn’t always live up to the claims. She didn’t skimp on the blush, putting on more of it than she’d ever wear as Professor MacNeill. The look was finished off with dark burgundy lip dye that only came off with a special kind of remover. When she was done she looked more exotic than slutty, which was good, since she wasn’t going for slutty. She’d come face to face with a few of her college students and none had recognized her as their professor, so it was a good disguise. One person at the club knew who she was, but he was her good friend’s husband and he worked security there at night to help pay off their student loans.
Tonight she was meeting Master James again, and this would make three nights in a row. She’d met him night before last and he had quite literally turned her world upside down. Normally she wouldn’t go to the club on a Sunday night, but he had arranged to have food brought into one of the private rooms so they could have dinner together and talk some before having another intense scene. Viv had let him know she would need to leave the club by 10:30 since she had an early morning on Monday and he said that was perfect. He asked her to be there at 4:30 and she wondered what they were going to do for six hours. She thought about getting herself off before she got dressed but then decided not to. There was no telling what he had in store for her later, but if tonight were like the other nights with him she would be having at least a couple of dozen orgasms before returning home tonight.
Viv reached for a pair of soft brown leather pants and then debated between a corset shirt and a feminine silk blouse. Normally it would be the corset shirt, as that fit her Katrina disguise. But as Viv she wore more feminine clothes, and for some reason she wanted to show that side of herself to Master James. She knew she was heading into dangerous territory with her heart, but she also realized that she’d already fallen for him and that denying it to herself was kind of silly.
The cab gave its little beep-beep to let her know it had arrived just as she headed downstairs. She always took a cab to the club because she drove an electric car that was pretty recognizable, and it wouldn’t do for someone to see her getting out of her car as Katrina. After a fifteen minute drive the cab pulled to the members’ entrance to the club, but because she was there so early in the day there was no doorman waiting to open the door and usher her inside. After paying the driver and using her member’s card to unlock the door, Viv waved to the camera in the outer lobby before using her card to gain entry into the changing room. She put her purse and long coat into a locker before spinning the combination lock.
She stepped out of the locker room as Katrina, and headed up the stairs to the private room that Master James had reserved for them. The rooms in the club had various themes: there was a stable, a few doctor’s offices, a medieval dungeon, a couple of bedrooms, a school classroom, and a formal dining room with a table that doubled as a bondage table. Tonight they were in the formal dining room. Viv walked in and immediately saw a huge candelabra in the center of the table that must have held more than thirty candles, all of them lit. She noted one of the padded sawhorses back in a dark corner of the room, and she saw a number of items on a side table, but she couldn’t really see what was there. The room had false stained glass windows that were softly backlit to give the effect of real windows at dusk. And it smelled wonderful. He had asked what foods she liked and didn’t like and then told her that what they were having for dinner would be a surprise. She didn’t see Master James at first, and when he stepped out of the shadows she jumped.
“You startled me.”
“I apologize. You look lovely tonight, Kitten.”
“Thank you, Sir. You look quite handsome yourself.”

Last month, I also reviewed Blevins' book SAFEWORD: MATTE. 
You can see that review by clicking here:
http://guiltyindulgencebookclub.blogspot.com/2012/03/safeword-matte.html