The Dom's Dungeon by Cherise Sinclair

I absolutely love Cherise Sinclair's books. And that's saying something because, to be quite honest, I don't think the whole BDSM thing is for me.

(Oh, and FYI... BDSM is bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism. Capicé?)

I assumed, when I started with Master of the Mountain, that there was a pretty good chance I wouldn't like it. I was wrong. I totally enjoyed it. And, while even now I'm still a bit iffy on all the spankings and floggings and Yes, Sir's, I've read and loved several of her novels. (The Masters of the Shadowlands series? So very, very good.)

Maybe it's my inner control freak that finds the idea of someone taking away said control somehow intriguing. Or it could just be that I find the whole BDSM lifestyle so very fascinating. I find myself thinking does this stuff really happen? and do these people really exist? constantly. And maybe that wouldn't be enough to keep me buying her books, however Ms. Sinclair's characters are all so... well... wonderful. These men are alpha males at their finest. Strong, confident, sexy. Of course, they're also perfectly adoring. (Again: do these people really exist?)

Ex-foster care child, ex-teenaged-whore, MacKensie has turned her life around. Well, mostly. She reserves her affection for the animals she cares for as a veterinarian -- animals never judge her or look down on her like the people in her hometown in Iowa.

Ready to start a new life in Seattle where no one knows her past, she sets up a vacation exchange so she can job-hunt. The house in Seattle is lovely but one room is locked. Her years in foster care have left her with a neurosis about locked doors -- and the ability to open them. When she gets the door open, she's appalled…and intrigued. Chains and manacles, whips and paddles, odd benches with straps.

While waiting for his plane out of Seattle, Alex Fontaine intervenes in a mugging and gets knifed in the process. By the time he’s been stitched up, his plane has left, taking his luggage with it. Hoping the woman he’d swapped houses with won’t be too upset, he returns home. He finds her in his dungeon, trying on a spanking bench for size, her little round ass up in the air.

Now what’s a Dom to do?

Oh, yeah. He spanks her but good. And he spanks her butt good. So this might not be the type of book for you if you find that sort of behavior at all disagreeable. I do not. At least, not in books. If someone tries to spank me in real life, they might lose a hand. Then again, the right kinda guy might be able to pull it off. (This post is getting away from me.)

I really enjoyed the book. (Spankings and all.) Mac might just be one of my new favorite heroines. She was sweet and smart... and I like that she No, Sir'd Alex a time or two. (Does that mean I wouldn't make a good submissive? Something to ponder.)

So, how do you feel about spankings?