The Story of Rachel by K.D. McLean - Review

Recently,  I was given two books to review.    Both books are erotica with the subject of BDSM .  This is not the typical genre I read, but I will also not shy away from it.  Let me clarify...reading it, not living it!  I loved the 50 shades of Grey trilogy but for the love story that developed and not the intense and crazy sexual situations.  Really, I swear!

Here is my review of the first book,  The Story of Rachel (Tales of Pandora) by K.D. McLean.    

Rachel is a 36-year-old journalist and divorcee, looking for "the one".  However, she seems to find only undesirable losers through her online dating site.  During a work assignment at an erotica art exhibit, she meets Michael, an attractive author in his 40's, who is more than happy to teach her the lifestyle of a Dom/Sub relationship.  Surprisingly, this intrigues the innocent Rachel and she wants to learn more.   

The story was a little slow in the beginning.  However, I could see the author took her time to develop the characters and their relationship.   Normally, the  books I read have high angst and a roller coaster ride of emotions from the start.  It was a nice change to not have anxiety through the entire story and it still be entertaining.  Around the 50% mark, it started to pick up and I could see the conflict and the story start to build.  At 60%, the story takes off and you start to learn about Michael's past and the reason he is holding back in the relationship.  This was the point where I couldn't put the book down until it was finished.    

I enjoyed the two main characters, Rachel and Michael, and felt they were easy to connect with and relate (with the exception of their BDSM lifestyle of course).   I liked that Rachel wasn't the cause of the problems in the relationship.   I commend her for standing up for herself and going after what she wants.  It was Michael that made me want to scream "grow up and man up"  and stop thinking so much!  Ughh...he was a little frustrating but he made up for it in the end.  

The erotic scenes were descriptive without being excessive or repetitive.   I was able to visualize what was happening without feeling too uncomfortable or blushing.  Well….most of the time.  Once Rachel and Michael went to the club, Pandora, I could feel my cheeks heat a little and had to look around to make sure no one was reading over my shoulder. 

Michael may have been a Dominate, but he wasn't over the top controlling like some other characters in other books (ahem.. Christian Grey)  He was quite normal, sweet, and caring.  And Rachel wasn't some inexperienced naive 20 something that goes from one extreme to another overnight.  This made the story a little more realistic than 50 shades of Grey.  Don't get me wrong 50 Shades is still one of my favorites, but The Story of Rachel (Tales of Pandora) was a bit more believable.

My Rating
4 Stars