When Roslyn's husband wagers her in a game of cards and loses the bet, he thinks it's just a joke. He finds out otherwise the next day, when the winner, James Martin Halstead, comes to collect his prize. James Halstead is in the business of breaking and training females, then distributing them to wealthy sadists for a steep price. As his latest acquisition, Roslyn, will be trained and eventually auctioned off.
Unfortunately, Halstead runs into a snag with one of his regular buyers, sadist Edward Lammierre. After Edward inexplicably rejects his latest submissive, Jenniver, calling her flawed merchandise, Halstead learns that Lammierre intends to train females on his own, using a potent compliance drug rather than good old-fashioned submissive training. This could be bad news in Halstead's slave trading world. While his assistants search for the missing Jenniver, Halstead pulls a down-on-her luck nineteen-year-old girl from an alley and takes her home. Unlike many of the women he trains, he takes a special interest in the innocent Sandra. He sees in her a potential submissive, and in slow, deliberate but sometimes shocking steps, he introduces the wary young girl to the pleasures and demands of sexual service. He titillates her with BDSM DVDs, bondage, sex, exacting discipline and sadistic demonstrations that leave her reeling. Regardless of her reservations, it's clear that she'll soon be his collared and obedient submissive.
But when the newly trained Sandra is suddenly snatched by kidnappers, it becomes clear that she has a special value in the trading world. Will Halstead be able to rescue her before she's sold? And what role does the cunning Lammierre play is this unfolding drama? Readers can expect the unexpected as this fast-paced, exquisitely written tale of S&M erotica, comes to its stunning conclusion.
Properly Whipped made me think of sexy sadism but instead this book is a revelation of so many kinds of sex, and so many different ways of exchanging power, that it's hard to encompass. There is plot, and sub-plot, along with very hot sex scenes, and great action scenes too. There is espionage, there are exotic locales, and the people in it seem real. You'll envy some of them and be glad never to meet others. What a mix of character, solid writing, and good storytelling this is. Recommended as a guilty pleasure without the guilt. You'll want to pass this one around, it's something special.