Sasha White

The “BDSM club genre” of books is a market flooded by authors all wanting to be part of this acceptable, trendy erotica movement. The problem is unless you have an exceptional story to go along with the over used clichés, leather cuffs, implements, pieces of equipment, alpha Doms, and submissive females (almost all new to the lifestyle) the book becomes just another re-hash of the same old stuff.

There are several authors who have been in this genre for quite some time now and have some fantastic books, authors that I would call my go to favorites. The main reason is their books have substance, good story lines, character development, connection & chemistry between the H/h, and well written situations that do not develop instantly.

Because this arena of BDSM books is so vast I have developed some ideas for what I expect out of a book, as well as prejudices for books that seem like quick, thin plot/no plot, nonexistent character development books held together with sex scenes. I really want a good story line to go along with my sex scenes. I think that connection between the characters should feel real and believable (for the most part), I don’t want instant soup – add water, microwave for 30 seconds and a love connection comes out when the door is opened. If I have to have a naive female following the lead of the alpha male into the club scene, then I want her to know why she’s there, what’s in it for her, and how her life will be improved by participation in this lifestyle.

For me reading Primal (Overwatch #1) by Sasha White fell into the category of: short book (novella length), with little or no character development, some chemistry between the H/h which could have been developed further, and a book with little more than a cliché plot.

We had a cameo appearance of Ian and his new submissive Ronnie, who we meet in Unfettered (Overwatch #.5) having their first club scene together. I can see that the author is trying to build the club family and comfortable atmosphere for both books character’s and the reader. As the story progressed, I never felt a real connection between Adam and Olivia. I think that both characters had the potential to be better. I felt like the whole book was rushed. I really didn't get a BDSM feel from the book, it felt like vanilla sex with alpha male who liked to give commands (at times an animal trainer came to mind).

Overall the book didn't hold my attention, I felt like I’d been down this road before, and there just wasn't enough substance in the story line.

If you’re looking for a quick read, with an alpha male, and a “go along with the program female”, that takes place in a BDSM club then this might be the book for you.

For me it fell short and was a 2 star read

This copy of Primal was provided by NetGalley on behalf of Victory Editing; White Hot Books with an expected publication of Oct 24 2014
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