Review: Bound by Darkness by Buffy Christopher

Bound by Darkness by Buffy Christopher

Publisher: Sapphire Blue Publishing
Genre: BDSM Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

Lila Anderson’s is having visions of murdered women in the back alleys of San Francisco through the eyes of a man. She’s supposed to be a dominatrix, not a psychic! The man is Drake Bennett. Drake leads a solitary life as a vampire and when Lila invades his mind he wants her out.

Then a known murderer kidnaps Lila, and uses her life experience in bondage and domination to break her and turn her against Drake. Will the deep feelings of desire she has for Drake and their psychic link be enough to save Lila before it’s too late?



Clare C's Review

Bound by Darkness is not a romance novel. It is a horror novel with a romance in it. The majority of the sex consists of the use of BDSM for mental/physical abuse, torture, and rape. Both of the main characters are subject to these things. I quickly came to loath any scene where BDSM might be present because I knew someone was being tortured. It was not hot, erotic, or exciting. It’s like the author only saw BDSM as a way to show the abusive, dirty side of sex. It’s disheartening. As an unrepentant romantic, I don’t really want to see that kind of portrayal. No attempt was made to draw a contrast between the use of it as abuse and the use of it in a loving, consensual relationship.

As a horror story, the plot is interesting, though not original. Several times, especially in the first half of the novel, the narrative repeats details or over-explains things. It slowed down the narrative a bit, and it’s a long novel. I liked Lila and Drake, the main couple, but I didn’t love them. It seemed odd to me that, at times, Drake could sense Simon, one of the bad guys. Yet he never seemed to be able to stay on his trail when he was about to torture and murder someone, even Lila, with whom Drake has a psychic connection.

While the novel makes for a decent horror story, it’s not something you want to read if you’re looking for something erotic. There are some scenes between the principal players that are sweet and loving, but those are few and far between, and they do not include BDSM elements.

3 Tea Cups!