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Switching Off
Switching Off by Amy ValentiWith his collar around her throat and her pulse pounding through her body, can she switch off enough to submit to his every whim?Nina loves her job in middle management-her dominant personality and organisational skills make her indispensable to her employers. But, when her boss puts too many demands on her department, she finds it impossible to leave her job at her desk and enjoy her weekend with her sexy best friend, Jon.When Jon takes away her phone and tells her she’s not allowed to check her emails until Monday morning, Nina challenges his right to order her around. His response is to kiss her into silence, then to order her to her knees. What’s even more startling is that Nina finds herself obeying-though not without a fight.Can Jon succeed in getting Nina to switch off her managerial self as well as her phone? Or will she safeword before she can reach the sublime subspace he’s promised to guide her into?Amy ValentiAbout the Amy Valenti is a tarnished tease, and her mind has lived in the gutter since the day she realised what sex was. She hails from England, which she doesn’t find quite as exotic and sexy as the average US citizen seems to, but if people want to compliment her on her accent, that’s all fine with her! Her muses are many, fickle and very demanding.
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 19, 2012
About the author
Amy Valenti
35 books118 followersAmy Valenti is a tarnished tease, and her mind has lived in the gutter since the day she realised what sex was. She hails from England, which she doesn’t find quite as exotic and sexy as the average US citizen seems to, but if people want to compliment her on her accent, that’s all fine with her! Her muses are many, fickle and very demanding.
She has a degree in creative writing and currently works as a proofreader/editor. In her free time, she reads, writes and plays videogames. On the rare occasions she doesn’t have a laptop on her knee, she loves to curl up with friends and pets – and chocolate – for TV show and movie marathons.
Want to get in touch? Email Amy at axvalenti (at) yahoo (dot) com or check out her Facebook or Twitter pages.
She has a degree in creative writing and currently works as a proofreader/editor. In her free time, she reads, writes and plays videogames. On the rare occasions she doesn’t have a laptop on her knee, she loves to curl up with friends and pets – and chocolate – for TV show and movie marathons.
Want to get in touch? Email Amy at axvalenti (at) yahoo (dot) com or check out her Facebook or Twitter pages.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 27, 2015
Amy Valenti’s story Switching Off was originally published in the Totally Bound Switch anthology, along with my own story Mastering Maya, but it’s also available as a standalone short. The tale takes a somewhat different approach to the anthology theme.
In D/s parlance, a “switch” is a person who can assume either a dominant or a submissive role in a BDSM scene, depending on circumstances and the other people involved. In “Switching Off”, however, Ms. Valenti’s heroine Nina is not a Domme in the sexual sense. Instead, she’s a high-powered career woman, used to giving orders and getting her way—and that role is destroying her. She’s tense, irritable, driven and seriously unhappy.
Her good friend Jon is determined to help—by giving Nina the chance to surrender herself to his skilled and caring power. He begins by cutting her loose from her mobile, but soon he has severed the strands of worry and frustration that bind her to her work. He leads her into a new space where she can connect with her body, her needs, and with him, the man who has quietly loved her and sadly watched her work herself to near-collapse.
Nina is rebellious at first, then astonished at how she responds to Jon’s dominance. As he strips away the power she thought defined her identity, she finds much deeper satisfaction in following his orders and focusing on his pleasure. Not that Jon neglects her pleasure, but the essence of submission is service to the Dom, and Ms. Valenti captures this beautifully.
I loved this story. I’ve rarely encountered a BDSM romance that so describes so accurately and effectively the paradoxical experience of submission—the simultaneous fear and need, the wonder at what you’re allowing even as you crave more, the mingled pride and shame. With all the erotica and romance I read and review, I’ve come across many portrayals of so-called “subspace”. I will tell you from personal experience that unlike many authors, Ms. Valenti gets it right.
Of course given my own submissive leanings, I found the entire story hugely arousing. Jon is exactly what I’d seek in a dominant. He’s strict with his sub-for-a-weekend, but ultimately focused more on her pleasure and well-being than on his own. He has a sense of humor plus an understanding of Nina’s shock at discovering she likes being topped. And of course (like all romance heroes...) he’s lusciously handsome and physically fit, with awesome sexual stamina.
Hey, we can dream, right?
All in all, this is wonderful introduction to the BDSM romance genre. There’s no abuse here, only respect and caring. The pain is so mingled with pleasure that you will not be able to separate them any more than Nina can.
Highly recommended.
In D/s parlance, a “switch” is a person who can assume either a dominant or a submissive role in a BDSM scene, depending on circumstances and the other people involved. In “Switching Off”, however, Ms. Valenti’s heroine Nina is not a Domme in the sexual sense. Instead, she’s a high-powered career woman, used to giving orders and getting her way—and that role is destroying her. She’s tense, irritable, driven and seriously unhappy.
Her good friend Jon is determined to help—by giving Nina the chance to surrender herself to his skilled and caring power. He begins by cutting her loose from her mobile, but soon he has severed the strands of worry and frustration that bind her to her work. He leads her into a new space where she can connect with her body, her needs, and with him, the man who has quietly loved her and sadly watched her work herself to near-collapse.
Nina is rebellious at first, then astonished at how she responds to Jon’s dominance. As he strips away the power she thought defined her identity, she finds much deeper satisfaction in following his orders and focusing on his pleasure. Not that Jon neglects her pleasure, but the essence of submission is service to the Dom, and Ms. Valenti captures this beautifully.
I loved this story. I’ve rarely encountered a BDSM romance that so describes so accurately and effectively the paradoxical experience of submission—the simultaneous fear and need, the wonder at what you’re allowing even as you crave more, the mingled pride and shame. With all the erotica and romance I read and review, I’ve come across many portrayals of so-called “subspace”. I will tell you from personal experience that unlike many authors, Ms. Valenti gets it right.
Of course given my own submissive leanings, I found the entire story hugely arousing. Jon is exactly what I’d seek in a dominant. He’s strict with his sub-for-a-weekend, but ultimately focused more on her pleasure and well-being than on his own. He has a sense of humor plus an understanding of Nina’s shock at discovering she likes being topped. And of course (like all romance heroes...) he’s lusciously handsome and physically fit, with awesome sexual stamina.
Hey, we can dream, right?
All in all, this is wonderful introduction to the BDSM romance genre. There’s no abuse here, only respect and caring. The pain is so mingled with pleasure that you will not be able to separate them any more than Nina can.
Highly recommended.
November 14, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Switching Off. I believed Nina’s personality and attitude, most likely caused by her demanding workload, one that would be easy for other women in similar positions to relate to. Jon, I fell in love with from the onset, if only we could all have a calm and confident friend like him. The BDSM scenes, and there was a fair amount of spanking going on, did not detract from my enjoyment of the story, like other books I’ve read have, because Nina’s thoughts and her reasons for becoming a submissive were so skilfully relayed to me by the author. For me there were no “as if” moments but plenty of “Mmmm! that could work” thoughts. I loved it.
July 18, 2021
In my opinion, I didn't like this one. I felt the author could have done a better job, but didn't. Putting a collar on her, and calling her a slut at the beginning of their journey, was the wrong way to go.
I had other issues too.
This might be fine for other readers, but not for me.
I had other issues too.
This might be fine for other readers, but not for me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews