Kyahgirl

4/5; 4 stars; A-This book was a real winner for me in the Erotica/BDSM genre. I was hesitant in light of my mixed reaction to The Reluctant Dom, a book that most people raved about. However, Tymber Dalton is a good writer and I thought she did a great job of writing a fictional story that sheds a much more positive light on the BDSM lifestyle than some of the other popular books out there currently. Reading this book helped me pinpoint what really bothered me about 50 Shades of Grey. That is, in 50 Shades, the Dom struck me as mentally unstable, right from the beginning and the sub was basically a child. I had to abandon that book partway in. In The Denim Dom, Tony is portrayed as a mentally healthy person with good communication skills as well as strong ethical standards. Shayla, has a bag of issues but manages to deal with them and comes across as pretty mature as well as confident in her sexuality. Her trauma over her ex seemed a bit overdone but it served to highlight how much help she needed dealing with her unhealthy emotions. This book had a pretty strong 'educational' component which I thought was nicely balanced by the romance story line. The educational material was there but it didn't come across as preachy. I'd recommend this book to any of my friends who wants a recommendation for BDSM/erotica that is head and shoulders above the previously mentioned book! I have tried to understand the various aspects of BDSM through the books I've read in the last year or two. While I can relate to the appeal of B/D, and D/s I don't have it in me to get excited by S/M but I think the author still did a great job of showing how it works for some people.