One foot in front, that’s a step, perhaps being the bigger man, and even now I feel like I’m walking on eggshells because I was in no hurry to finish this story. However, don’t let that suggest my “great” endorsement of “Under His Heel” By Adara Wolf, I was more to the point of running away from it. For the record, I’m male, straight, and a dominant and while I have been reading the erotica genre for years, my review may be slanted and more critical, but if I can, I will focus more on the book itself but no promises, so here we go.
Other than being maybe the first “space” adventure I’ve read with a BDSM theme the plot isn’t anything new, to be honest, some guy gets into trouble, needs fast cash, and ends up in the service of a Captain Johannes Tracht, but of course, you can get that from the blurb. I didn’t find that the environment though served much for a change a pace, more like instead of keeping someone in a dungeon or some area, you keep them in dead space and what is it they say, no one can hear you scream. One of Captain Tracht’s fetishes, sensory deprivation, should that have come with a spoiler alert, in BDSM everyone has their thing, and it was somewhat refreshing to learn about his, it’s enough to give someone ideas, regardless of their sexual preference, tools of the trade.
The whole feet thing along with the clothing was not my cup of tea, but that’s the tip of the iceberg with this title, there’s a mountain of negatives, but that’s me being me, but you should know there is a reason for this title Under His Heel. One more would be that of Total Power Exchange, only in this world, it is entirely enforceable by the law, and Captain Tracht utilizes it with no mercy when it comes to his bondservant, Alex. It became a bit repetitive and annoying. I’m all for submission, but I suppose the idea of having someone with apparently no will of there own is one more thing that doesn’t sit well with me but to each his own which was my way of thinking as I trudged my way through this title, for days.
It was a feat to get through it all, but at least I wasn’t surprised “again” not my first time reading about a “man cave” is that even a thing… anyway, I don’t run from a challenge and while I read mostly for enjoyment and to better my writing this was something else. I can’t even begin how to imagine how women would take this title though if it’s how most men look at two women, then I’m sure this will get them going honestly.
The book’s saving grace, but I’ll get to that; out of Captain Johannes Tracht and Alex Stone (immediately made me think of a porno), I’ll choose Captain Tracht merely because it’s always better to be the hungry than the food. Minus the guy chasing and the obsession with feet he is somewhat a man that I can relate to but by no means was he my favorite character, I leave that honor to Jeremy Parsons and thank heavens for Nadia Sinclair; give me a book about her and I’m interested.
Captain Tracht is, stop me if you’ve heard this one, confident, somewhat wealthy, and a long list of expletives I shouldn’t say if I want this posted anywhere so basically he’s the man all the bad girls want. From Ms. Espinosa who desired his body wantonly, the fetishes that he and Dr. Singh shared, and even his sister that wanted him to be a bit nicer when it came to his own family; probably another reason I liked Parsons so much. Also like any dominant, he is quite protective of Alex, but again it’s one thing to have a submissive under contract but with how he treated him, either the moments were a bit hateful, humiliating, or horny, just saying.
Alex was an idiot, most times when I read about a female submissive, she’s naïve, new, but never stupid but Alex, as Captain Tracht will bring up, again and again, is moronic or easily manipulated but of course he has a contract to back him up. Mr. Stone comes off as the muscle, perhaps another selling point for women because he treats women poorly unlike Captain Tracht who is quite respectful; unless a woman messes up professionally, but he loves to torture Alex because of his treatment of women. The only time I even think anything of Alex is when he has his friendship with Parsons or Nadia, probably the only two people that don’t treat him like garbage or a hole they should fill.
Titles such as this are never known truthfully for traditional or “family values” but I liked Parsons because despite what he did, he only wanted to provide a future for his loved ones and when it came to him and Captain Tracht *sigh*, I didn’t like it but Alex signed up, and the Captain does what he does. I would have liked to see something spring up between Alex and Nadia and if men don’t do it for me, neither do tattooed girls with shaved heads, though I could tell you some stories, probably not better than this, not yet.
Three Stars out of Five and I would probably go two, but that would be me, being mean and bored, not to mention not turned on except for a sex scene with women and those were far too few and short. I should also warn you there might be a few more spoiler alerts, but if you like dominant men and it doesn’t matter who’s catching then this is a good book, but sci-fi fans shouldn’t get their hopes up if you’re looking for technical intrigue in the space realm.
I am in no way inspired to read the sequel to this, here’s hoping my erotica reading group doesn’t get any ideas for the time being; this isn’t a bad book by Adara Wolf; it’s not for me, point blank period but I took a somewhat leap. There is a decent note here or there; I remember looking up the name of one of the space stations and having a fascinating read about the Greeks which served as a nice break… how long did it take me to read this? The author gave me that glimmer of hope that this wouldn’t be what I was expecting, I did a review of “Shiver” By Ella Frank, and I said I didn’t read carefully enough to know what I was getting into, and it was… never mind.
Probably my favorite part of the story was “Tracht Made Alex (sleep with) Nadia at one point.” And that was during a somewhat orgy chapter, nothing wrong with that and I was probably dragging at some point. Parsons did break my heart which is probably where that third star comes into play, and I don’t mean what he did but what happens to him. If Alex did what he did on the grounds of, Captain Tracht being his benefactor, I could understand, but this seems more like Stockholm Syndrome than any real love or affection. Besides the punishments, I liked Tracht’s sister who has a stronger role in the next book, but even wanting to see Tracht be put down is not enough to warrant that reading, to be honest.
Three Stars for a book I would rather avoid, but I read what I read, and as always I appreciate being open to a new point of view, what friends I have in the LGBT community don’t talk about their love lives, and I don’t ask, and I’ve never thought to broach the subject of BDSM. Some books are meant to challenge the mind, to teach new things, to even give you a sense of accomplishment and so this has, A Feat Under His Heel.
An Undiscovered Me 