Review ~ Not your Damn Submissive by Amy Valenti

Finished ~ Not Your Damn Submissive (Denial 01) by Amy Valenti
Completed 7/10/14
2 of 5 stars
182 page eBook

I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Kat is the assistant of a set designer on a new TV show. Callum is the TV star Kat has had a schoolgirl crush on, and he just happens to be guest staring on the show. The meet and instantly the Dom in Callum knows that Kat is a submissive and he wants her. Kat was burned by a "dom" in a previous relationship and wants nothing to do with "that".

As with all my reviews, these are my personal opinions. I have very strong opinions about how BDSM is portrayed, but they are my personal thoughts and opinions on the matter.

That being said, where should I start with this book?! This book was not a good and positive BDSM book. Callum was the only thing that saved this book. He made some mistakes, BUT did end up doing some of the right things.

First, Kat read what sounds like a "non-consent" BDSM type book. From there, she decided the lifestyle was for her and told the wrong person about it. He abused her in the name of BDSM. Wrong wrong wrong. Perhaps there are people this stupid out there? I sure hope not!! You're going to read ONE thing about a subject and decide it's for you? So if you read a book about a guy that rode over Niagara Falls in a barrel, you'll just jump right in one and go for it too? IF she, even at this young age, read it and was curious, she would have read more, and researched it more, before even bringing it up.

Then she gets OUT of that relationship and spends the next 10 years in the dark about everything that is BDSM. She never once thought to look into it? People are into it, and not abused as she was, she didn't wonder why? No. Even after being so badly abused, a normal person would have started to wonder what got her interested in the first place and what could have went wrong. She would have found out VERY quickly that she was never in a BDSM relationship and she wouldn't have had such negative opinions about it for so long.

She knew Callum, who has a reputation as a Dom, was coming to the set and she scheduled time off to not be around him. Of course, she ends up meeting him and he likes her so much that he asks for her as his personal assistant while he is there.

This is where Callum first went wrong. Yes, she's obviously turned on but she's obviously skittish as well. He should have done what he did half way through the book, apologize and have her just be his assistant. As they got to be friendly and got to know each other, THEN he should have started gently questioning her. After he sleeps with her, vanilla style, he SHOULD have pulled her close and made her talk about all her fears, instead he lets her have her way and leaves. Wrong again! He didn't have to drag everything out of her at that point, but he should have found out the root of the problem. To walk away, and leave a sub hurting, NOT a good Dom.

Callum gets better as time goes on. He does, eventually, get her to open up about her fears, why she is the way she is and he explains, a little, real BDSM to her. It wasn't enough and it took too long to do. It should have been done right away. Of course, it's what created drama in the book and that's all that matters to authors these days. Create the drama, no matter how it looks.

I could go on and on about this book, but I won't. It irked me in so many more ways. This is not an author or series I will visit again.

Setting = B
Plot = D
Conflict = C
Characters = D-
Theme = B