{Guest Post+Giveaway} The Assignment by Jade A. Waters

Item: The Assignment
Author: Michelle @ Book Briefs

December 16, 2016 Michelle @ Book Briefs Adult, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Guest Post 1

The Assignment by Jade A. Waters
Published by Carina Press on December 12th 2016
Genres: adult, Romance

What would you do if someone offered to fulfill your wildest fantasies?
Seductive.
Charming.
Dominant.

Dean Sova is everything Maya Clery craves. From the first touch, their connection is intense. After leaving her troubled past behind, Maya thought she was happy—she is happy—but meeting Dean forces her to acknowledge dark needs she longs to explore yet has never had the courage to face.

Her perfect match, Dean encourages Maya to set loose the submissive urges inside her in a series of assignments intended to open her mind and test the limits of pleasure…but Maya isn’t sure she can fully let go of her inhibitions.

What would you do if someone offered to fulfill your wildest fantasies?
The answer seems obvious. You take the offer and hope the price isn’t too high.

Book one of Lessons in Control
This book is approximately 81,000 words

Note: This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Today I am excited to have Author Jade A. Waters here on the blog to share a guest post with us about her new book, The Assignment. Welcome Jade! 🙂

Why BDSM?

A bounty of sexy stories in one’s head with a million directions to take when writing them…which is probably why I’ve heard the question a few times—what’s up with the BDSM fascination in erotica these days?

Many like to point fingers at a certain book that came out a few years back, but the truth is that BDSM has always been around in erotic fiction, just as it has in real life. Perhaps now the literary world is more attuned to it, or even more open-minded, and though I’m not sure exactly what it is, today I’m here to tell you why I opted to venture into the world of BDSM for the first book in my Lessons in Control series, The Assignment.

I’ve been writing erotica off and on my whole life, and only in the last four years did I officially dub myself an erotica writer. My first serious erotica story after making this declaration was about an alien and human foursome in space. (No, really. It was serious. Eh-hm.) Like the story that came right after it—a threesome tale that I never felt had enough heart—I shelved it. Randomly after that, I came across a submission call from Rachel Kramer Bussel for The Big Book of Submission, and I decided to write her two stories. “Others” focused on a D/s couple inviting a stranger into their public sex scene, and it eventually appeared in the anthology in 2014. The other story was about a fairly vanilla couple playing with a flogger the heroine had long ago experimented with, but in turn had buried in her closet. This latter one, “The Flogger,” ended up being my first publication in 2013, in a delightfully popular book titled The Big Book of Orgasms.

What’s significant about this story is not just that it launched my erotica career, but it also happened to be one sparked by a kernel of truth. Which is to say that, until shortly after the story was published, I actually had a long-ago-played-with, dusty-ass flogger I’d buried in my closet.

Now, I’m not a regular BDSM practitioner, and in fact, overall, I don’t think I can say I prefer it or that I’ve at all explored its full range. My personal kinks have forever been “trying things” and “playing,” which can range from completely over-the-top extravaganzas to ho-hum for an average couple, and which are entirely dependent on the person I’m with. (One boyfriend of mine once said he imagined me surprising him by appearing strung up on wires and flying across the room because I was so into trying things… I told him I wouldn’t put it past me.) Nonetheless, on the occasions I have dabbled in the BDSM world, the appeal has not been lost on me. There’s something sensational about playing the parts, be it being bound and disciplined, or giving instruction to someone you’re caring for. I’ve been on all sides of the spectrum in my dabbling moments (both the domme and the sub, the bound and the binder, the struck and the striker), and it’s evident each piece can rattle and rev in many different ways.

While I do believe there are far more people practicing BDSM than the average person may believe, the taboo nature of it remains, and tends to keep the general public a bit in awe of the whole shebang. I think that’s why it appeals as much as it does in erotica and erotic romance—it’s a safe space to explore fantasies and kinks one may not otherwise be willing or able to try in real life.

For Maya Clery and Dean Sova, the heroine and her romantic interest in The Assignment, BDSM—in particular, D/s—is a dynamic they’ve both had some exposure to but never fully explored in the past. I wanted to delve into two characters who’d dabbled in it like I have, but whose experimentation leads them to discover it actually really revs their engines. I also wanted to dose it with the challenge of Maya’s troubled past and Dean’s recent relationship avoidance to see how it might bloom between them. They are not BDSM pros, and were never meant to be…but they are intrigued by the way it feels, physically, emotionally, and mentally, and want to push the limits of pleasure to see how much better it can get. They are an audacious pair—yes, I might have given them each an open-minded, try-it streak like mine—but their intrigue goes beyond the taboo and show of it all. For them, it’s about a feeling, a spark, a bond that only furthers as they try more things together, and in turn, build even more trust.

There are a hefty number of erotica novels out there now with a seasoned Dom and his virginal sub—but that wasn’t the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to explore the world and all its potential through these two sexually experienced and yet not hugely BDSM-versed characters, so that the reader could in turn experiment and play with new fantasies as Maya and Dean speak them aloud and ultimately share them together. While the Lessons in Control series follows the growth of their relationship in love as much as in the BDSM world, writing the series, for me, was about experimentation, exploration, and play.

So, I guess if you ask me why I opted to go the route of BDSM for my series, I’d have to give you my standard answer:

You’ve got to try everything at least once. 🙂

For more info about The Assignment you can visit the Tour Page

To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win

Thanks to the team at Harlequin and Carina Press, one lucky winner will receive the following:

$25 Amazon gift card
eBook of THE ASSIGNMENT.

Note: Book Briefs Contest Policy applies. All of the prizes, terms and conditions of the giveaway should be contained in the rafflecopter below. No Purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.

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About Jade A. Waters

Jade A. Waters is an erotica author in Northern California. Author of the Lessons in Control series, releasing from Carina Press beginning December 2016.

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Michelle @ Book Briefs