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A review by mxsallybend
Silken by Isobel Starling
5.0
Silken is a book I have been sitting on for far too long. In fact, if I did not enjoy it, I would suggest that I need to be punished. Instead, all I can do is beg Isobel Starling's forgiveness as I happily make amends, sharing what a delight this was to read!
Until a knee accident ended his career, Matthew Fisher was an accomplished ballet star. Now, with his career seemingly over, he has taken a job as a real estate agent, inspecting the rental homes of rich and famous clients, and ensuring everything is in order for their return. That is his day job. While in those homes, he takes advantage of the sumptuous backdrop to take lingerie photos for his Tumblr blog (Silken), along with rather more taboo photos and videos for his online Master. That is his passion.
Where the two collide is when he just happens to be assigned the rental property belonging to the Master he has never met, a man who watches every moment of Siken's performance on high-def security cameras, and decides it is time to finally meet.
There was so much to love about this, beginning with Matthew/Silken himself. Here we have a gay man with a lingerie fetish. He is not overly effeminate, and he has no desire to wear cosmetics or do his hair - for him, it is all about the look and feel of expensive lingerie, and Starling writes in such a way that we experience the thrill through him. He is an entirely likeable young man for whom we have both appreciation and sympathy, so that when the secret is revealed and his Master arrives, we so desperately want them to find their happily ever after.
As for the BDSM aspect, it was wonderfully done, intensely erotic, and yet sincere and tasteful at the same time. It is a relationship that works on both a physical and a psychological level, allowing a simple collar to be more exquisite than the finest piece of lingerie, and the passionate bite of a lip more pleasurable than consummating their passion with penetration. Even when Silken is dressed, with only the feel of silk and satin between them, we never forget that this is the story of one man surrendering to the blissful dominance of another.
Silken is that rare erotic romance that crosses boundaries of both gender and sexuality, appealing to fans of both CD and M/M fiction, without alienating either. I absolutely adored it, and look forward to reading more of Isobel's work.
If, that is, she can forgive me for being so tardy in reviewing. :)
As reviewed by Sally at Bending the Bookshelf
Until a knee accident ended his career, Matthew Fisher was an accomplished ballet star. Now, with his career seemingly over, he has taken a job as a real estate agent, inspecting the rental homes of rich and famous clients, and ensuring everything is in order for their return. That is his day job. While in those homes, he takes advantage of the sumptuous backdrop to take lingerie photos for his Tumblr blog (Silken), along with rather more taboo photos and videos for his online Master. That is his passion.
Where the two collide is when he just happens to be assigned the rental property belonging to the Master he has never met, a man who watches every moment of Siken's performance on high-def security cameras, and decides it is time to finally meet.
There was so much to love about this, beginning with Matthew/Silken himself. Here we have a gay man with a lingerie fetish. He is not overly effeminate, and he has no desire to wear cosmetics or do his hair - for him, it is all about the look and feel of expensive lingerie, and Starling writes in such a way that we experience the thrill through him. He is an entirely likeable young man for whom we have both appreciation and sympathy, so that when the secret is revealed and his Master arrives, we so desperately want them to find their happily ever after.
As for the BDSM aspect, it was wonderfully done, intensely erotic, and yet sincere and tasteful at the same time. It is a relationship that works on both a physical and a psychological level, allowing a simple collar to be more exquisite than the finest piece of lingerie, and the passionate bite of a lip more pleasurable than consummating their passion with penetration. Even when Silken is dressed, with only the feel of silk and satin between them, we never forget that this is the story of one man surrendering to the blissful dominance of another.
Silken is that rare erotic romance that crosses boundaries of both gender and sexuality, appealing to fans of both CD and M/M fiction, without alienating either. I absolutely adored it, and look forward to reading more of Isobel's work.
If, that is, she can forgive me for being so tardy in reviewing. :)
As reviewed by Sally at Bending the Bookshelf