Sleight of Hand (e-novella) by Katrina Strauss

Sleight of Hand is a short erotic paranormal m/m romance story. Both All Romance and Samhain Publishing include it in their steampunk categories as well, which is a decision I'm not entirely sure I agree with.

On my Nook, Sleight of Hand is under 50 pages, if you don't count the excerpt from Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain's Lost Souls that is included at the end. According to All Romance, it is 17,403 words. Considering the page/word count, the $2.50 price tag is kind of high (I wish Samhain charged less for short works). For me, it turned out to be money well spent.

Synopsis:

Edwin, his sister Alma, and their mother are journeying by train to Alma's fiance, a man who is much older than her but makes up for it by having quite a bit of money. Since Edwin has always been fragile, Alma realizes that this is probably the best option for her and her family's future, but Edwin doesn't like it. Still, he has to admit that he's not quite well. For one thing, he has dreams of some kind of fiery disaster, dreams that keep him from ever getting a good night's sleep. For another, as much as he tries to squelch his feelings, Edwin has always found himself more attracted to other men than to women.

While on the train, Edwin meets a man who may be able to help him: Marco Satori, a handsome and mysterious magician.

Review:

I was browsing a review blog when I came across Sleight of Hand's cover art, which caused my “ooh, pretty” reaction to kick in. I read the review and was intrigued. I was a little concerned by the bit in Samhain Publishing's “warning” that mentioned “dubious consent,” but I decided to take my chances. I'm glad I did.

Some Kind of Stranger (e-book) by Katrina Strauss

As far as I can tell, it's not currently possible to buy this as a physical book.

Loose Id's website calls this a novel, but it's really short - just over 100 pages on my Nook and, according to All Romance's website, only 35,656 words. This book features enough of my personal red flags that I wouldn't have touched it if I hadn't already read and enjoyed some of Strauss's other works.

Synopsis:

Derek Graves likes the darker side of sex. In the past, his partners have been short-term, briefly held "prisoner" in his apartment. None of them have ever wanted or been able to go as far as he has wanted to go.

Derek gained a new perspective on the impact his tastes could have on his partners when an impulsive decision to try a partner who didn't fit his usual tastes went horribly wrong. He was drugged and raped, and the experience left him with a desire to get revenge on the man, as well as a desire never to do anything like what was done to him to another person.

Derek spots his captor and rapist at Blue Ruin, a gay bar. Unfortunately, the young waiter who caught Derek's eye also catches the attention of that man. Derek manages to save the waiter, whose goes by the name Blue, and takes him to his home to recover from the drugs he was given. Blue wakes up handcuffed and blindfolded - although Derek wanted to make sure he was okay, he also wanted to make sure word didn't get out that he was the one who beat Blue's would-be rapist into a coma. However, Derek's efforts are useless, because Blue remembers what Derek looks like. Blue works out a deal with him - if he gets to stay with him, Blue won't tell anyone what he's seen, particularly not his father, the city's corrupt and strongly anti-gay DA.

Derek seems to have found the perfect partner in Blue. Blue wants to stay with him and submits to Derek's darker desires, but he trusts Derek not to ever cross the line into true cruelty. The two gradually get to know each other, and Blue is encouraged by signs that Derek might actually love him and want a long-term relationship with him. Derek feels protective of Blue, but isn't quite sure whether he wants to make himself vulnerable to him by admitting he loves him, or telling him what happened between him and the man who tried to abduct Blue. Unfortunately, Blue and Derek may not have as much time to work things out as they think.

Commentary:

In case the synopsis and cover haven't made it clear, this book features m/m BDSM. As for genre, I'd probably call it erotic romance.

The few BDSM books and stories I've tried in the past tended to go in directions I really didn't like, and they didn't manage to overcome my difficulty understanding the appeal of BDSM. When some of them tried to explain the appeal and how things worked in a more realistic way, the results tended to feel a bit clinical and not terribly sexy. Plus, there was still the issue of things going in directions I couldn't stand.

Katrina Strauss has managed to make it onto my short list of authors who I feel I can trust to write about things that are potential red flags for me, in such a way that I know I'm not going to find myself wishing for brain bleach. Some Kind of Stranger is heavy on sex scenes, and, while BDSM is still not really my thing, I thought the sex scenes still came across as sexy.

What really made this book work for me is that it isn't just about the sex. The storyline involving Derek's former captor/rapist added a bit of suspense at the end, but the suspense was less of a draw than the way this storyline developed Derek's character. In the other BDSM books and stories I've read, I never felt quite sure that the dominants wouldn't end up going too far. I was also bothered by the feeling that, if they did end up going too far, they might not feel a lot of remorse and would probably even end up liking it. I didn't feel like they had actual relationships with their submissives. Derek's experience of being drugged and forced to be a submissive gave him an intense desire never to go too far. As dark as his desires might be, he honestly didn't want to be like the man who had hurt him.