Born Today: The Touch of Essence: Book One, Volume One of The Realm Bound Universe

by T E Janota, Ronald Mulder (Editor), Charles Swerdlow (Illustrator)

427 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2025

Reviews

[Kallyn Desmarais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine being someone for whom life is a burden, full of wrong timings and people who trick you into thinking they care and are into your fantasies, only to disappoint you at every turn. Now imagine you’ve been confronted with magic and a naked, chained up girl who wants to fulfill your every wish. What do you do? Meet Jake, still reeling from a nasty break up with a woman who had promised him things she ultimately refused to do. Jake also recently bought a small farmland, and has started to realize things are not quite right with the land when he begins having land-obsessed visitors and starts seeing wolves and pixies in the woods. He also has a basement that changes frequently in layout, to the point that Jake must make frequent maps of that location. It is in the basement that he finds Evri, naked, chained up, and willing to do anything he desires. His first problem is that he’s not sure she’s real. Essentially, she solves that problem by losing control of her bodily functions. It turns out she was basically just born, having no idea how to manage her body, but she also comes with some knowledge, including what Jake can do with a strange goo he finds oozing up out of his basement floor. He can take some goo and infuse it into an object, and make that object have magical properties of his choosing. My first impression of this book is that it is a list of fantasies woven into a story, and it is also full of innuendos and snarky comments from most characters, especially the cat, mostly implied by the cat’s meowing and thoughts and actions as to what he thinks on various occasions. There were definitely emotions evoked by the story. I felt bad for Jake, especially in the beginning, when it seems he’s had so little go his way in life that he doesn’t trust something new and promising not to be a trap. I felt for Evri, too, newly ‘born’ and having no control over herself and not knowing many things about the world, and of course Annie has her own issues that tugged at the heartstrings, such as her struggle with her body shape. Evri getting captured was sad and nerve-wracking. All three main characters are well rounded and have their own personalities. This book was full of adventure and appealing intimate scenes. It is a story that does not go stagnant in any way shape or form. The reader is kept busy leaping from adventure to adventure, Realm to Realm, and I for one can't wait for the next books to come out!

[Gion Glasford · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a story where the world of bdsm crosses other genres such as role playing, magical realism, mythical creatures, paranormal and urban, fantasy and there is even a touch of romance. The story itself also dives into one’s guilty pleasure and allowing the freedom of their sexual desires without the constraints of society or shame. The growth of the characters is very evident especially in Jake’s case. He felt so jaded that he could not trust in the opportunity that was provided to him by Evri and kept doubting her sincerity. The opportunity to satisfy his sexual fantasies. The out of the box ideas when it came to making the weapons made me go “oooh”. It made me actually want to see how those weapons would actually work in a movie. Another aspect to the story that I really liked was that Jake and Annie were not like the traditional protagonists in terms of looks or having a martial arts background etc. Despite their lack of fighting prowess, they made up for it with their ingenuity. With all of the hijinks and dangerous situations, I found that the narrative was about being true to yourself and to accept who you are.