Title: Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness by Senta Holland
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Mischief
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, BDSM
Length: 200 pages
Book Rating: C
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publicist
Summary:
A deeply felt and superbly written BDSM love story, Senta Holland’s Out of the Shadows explores the beautiful darkness in seven bedrooms.
Senta, a thirty something Londoner, travels around the planet looking for the man who can match her. The one she finds is her ‘Nai’, a high society American in Asia.
Senta’s story is both complicated and made more exciting by the fact that it unfolds in the dark world of BDSM, a world that can be hostile to single, independent females.
Highly erotic, deeply romantic and insightful this book shows the BDSM experience from the inside out, as reality, not just fantasy.
Links: HarperCollins Mischief * Amazon UK * Amazon US * Feature in Marie Claire Magazine * Review in CoffeeCakeandKink * Review by Netgalley/Goodreads
The Review:
Senta Holland’s Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness has to be one of the most unusual novels I have ever read. Part poetry, part stream of consciousness, it is a fascinating story about Senta and Nai’s BDSM relationship.
Senta is unapologetic about her desires and kinks, and I admire her embracing and exploring her sexuality. On her journey to find a compatible Dom, she learns from her mistakes and moves on when the relationship no longer meets her needs. With Nai, she has found her perfect match and Senta is willing to make any sacrifice to keep him in her life.
Written in diary format in first person, the narrative in Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness is quite unique and it takes some getting used to. The flow of the story is sometimes uneven as Senta’s thoughts veer from present to past without clear scene breaks. The passage of time is elusive and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Personal details such as age, previous relationships and career are glossed over.
The BDSM scenes between Senta and Nai are intense and quite graphic. Senta is very submissive and she embraces the spankings, beatings, whippings and canings she receives from Nai. There are no discussions of hard limits or safe words, and Senta submits to all of Nai’s demands. Their scenes later in the novel are not for the sexually faint of heart as Nai pushes Senta well past her boundaries.
Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness is not a typical romance but it is full of strong emotions. Senta Holland brings readers an intriguing and introspective perspective of what goes on behind the closed doors of a BDSM relationship.
Excerpt
Power exchange
I am looking at him.
No, he is looking at me. And I am taking it in, the way he looks at me.
There is promise and thrill in this exchange. And a lot of love and trust. I am strong, I am free, I am wild. Just as he, in everything.
And I am here by my own choice.
I take in his energy. I let it go down into my very core.
He can see exactly what is happening. I hold the moment. I am in control. He humbly waits for my decision.
I choose to surrender.
Slowly, the balance of power between us shifts.
I give myself to him. He takes my power from me.
This is a complex, sophisticated process.
And it is wonderfully erotic and deeply fulfilling and dizzyingly wild. And it can happen without a word, without touch. Breath by breath.
I submit. I submit to his domination.
That is what I want. That is what he wants.
I am his submissive. Maybe for a lifetime, maybe just for now.
The tension between us is generating its own charge.
Submission to him arouses me. This is my true sexuality. Not my social role, not at all, but my sexuality.
Like many sexual orientations, it needs the right match to thrive.
Looking at each other, we have found it.
I am naked.
He is fully dressed.
He reaches out towards me.
He could do so many things to me, right now.
My submission calls for them. My vagina is opening her soft red mouth.
I want to yield and I want him to meet my softness with ruthless force.
I long to be subjected. In my way.
He touches my hair. Follows the long strands down over my shoulder and to the tip of my breasts. I am still.
My hands are bound behind my back.