Hi Wild Ones! I’ve got a kinky M/M, an epic fantasy with all kinds of sex in it, and some sort-of kinky films to watch (with some caveats).
Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
I love the world Carey has created in her Kushiel series. In this one we get a character from a different country than in the first two trilogies, and a hundred years in the future, but with strong ties to the first two trilogies. This is still the world of Terre d’Ange, with all the sexual freedoms that comes with it.
I loved Moirin. Carey created an interesting main character, with some lovely relationships – with both men and women. There’s not really any kink here (best I recall), unlike the first two trilogies, but there’s magic and so much more. A great read.
Caging Nick by Kris Ripper
This is a short story that was written from a reader prompt (hence the Control the Smutwriter pic – there isn’t a book cover for it). It’s a really hot, really emotional M/M story about a submissive learning to accept his cock cage.
50 Shades of Grey Movie Series
The 50 Shades books and movies are pretty controversial in kinky circles, understandably so. They aren’t the healthiest depiction of kink – which wouldn’t be such a problem, except the general public doesn’t understand the difference between kink that’s used to push buttons in the viewer/reader but not meant to be replicated IRL, and genuinely healthy kink.
It’s a misunderstanding perpetuated by the mainstream media only depicting “edgy” kinky relationships. The kind where the kink is used as the dramatic tension between the couple (as it so often is in 50 Shades, where it’s used to drive a wedge between them). Or it’s simply used to add “spice” to sex scenes, with no interest in delving into what makes kinky people tick.
I knew all that going into it, but wanted to watch them anyway. I’d watched the first one ages ago when it first came out, but hadn’t finished the series. I read the books a while before that. My thoughts on them are complicated – I keep thinking I’ll write a blog post about it one of these days but today is not that day. There are parts of the books I liked, and parts I hated.
The movies don’t delve as deeply into all the details the books do. This means there isn’t quite as much of Christian’s control issues in the movies as there are in the books – which is a plus. But you lose a bit of the character nuance in the movies from what’s in the books – a negative. In the end I enjoyed them for what they are: a slick trilogy of movies that entertained me for a few hours of yachts and helicopters and a couple of nice kinky scenes, with a wounded man who finds some healing in love.
I think it’s important to remember that the series is just one bit of media trying to get an emotional reaction from its readers/viewers. Just like every other book and movie out there. I would like for something to come along that has a much more positive portrayal of kink that the public can actually learn from. Don’t know if that will ever happen, though. I think that’s an agenda that the higher-ups aren’t interested in pushing.
Note: I don’t provide links for the books in these rec lists anymore, but you should know I get books from all over the place: Amazon (including Audible), Barnes & Noble, Chirp books, Kobo, Smashwords, the library, direct from the author, Kickstarter, and Storybundle. So if you don’t find the book at your usual store please consider looking around for it. Don’t forget the author’s website! Authors make more when you buy direct from them.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!