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Snooping is risky business…sometimes it pays off in unexpected ways.

Jenn has been in love with her best friend since college and despite their years apart she is determined to at least find out if he has any interest in her. When the opportunity opens up in the form of a job interview in his hometown, she jumps on a plane with a plan to see what happens.

Riley walked away from Jenn after college to explore and understand the dark side of him that harbored needs he knew she was too young to understand. They kept in touch and after years of exploration into his kinks, he's decided the time for hiding the truth from the woman he loved has come to an end.

When Jenn finds a BDSM book and a flyer for a local sex club in his condo, she is both shocked and intrigued. Riley catches her red-handed snooping through his things and dares her to give him and his lifestyle a chance. Two days to explore her potential submissive side and see where it leads.

With no hesitation and barely a thought to how far he might go, she jumps at the chance to prove she’s the woman for him, even if it’s just for the weekend.

60 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2010

34 people are currently reading
961 people want to read

About the author

Eliza Gayle

133 books1,337 followers


GRAB the first book in my USA Today bestselling Southern Shifters series in Kindle Unlimited. Click
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Eliza Gayle writes dragon romance and fantasy romance with unforgettable characters, fiery passion, and magical twists. A New York Times bestselling author, she’s created series like Dragon Lords and Southern Shifters that keep readers hooked from page one. (She also writes dark contemporary romance under E.M. Gayle) She currently lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest (but was born and raised in Florida and then spent 10+ years in NC) and spends her days writing romance, wandering the beach, kayaking or defending her keyboard from her cat Salem.

Before her writing career began, she served in the Marine Corps and lived a crazy life of adventure. Then she read her first spicy romance novel and everything changed. So after years of thinking about writing she finally grabbed her laptop and wrote.

Latest Release: THE HEART OF THE DRAGON
Coming next: THE FATE OF THE DRAGON

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5 stars
262 (29%)
4 stars
285 (31%)
3 stars
247 (27%)
2 stars
82 (9%)
1 star
27 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
Profile Image for Julianna.
Author 5 books1,343 followers
January 30, 2013
Reviewed for THC Reviews
Bottoms Up is a scorching hot, erotic romance novella about two long-time, best friends who finally give in to their desire to become lovers. This is a pretty short story that takes place over the course of only one weekend, during which the hero reveals his dark, sexual side to the heroine and tries to convince her that she's the woman he has always wanted. Normally, stories that take place in such a short time frame don't work well for me, but having these two know each other for years and be good friends, as well as former college roommates, really helped with the believability. It was obvious that they had both harbored strong feelings for one another for a long time, but were just too afraid to say anything.

I'm sure it was no accident that the fictional book Jenn found on Riley's shelf was titled The Caring Dominant, because that's exactly how he came across most of the time. He's a dom to be sure, but he can have a gentler side. Rather than barking his orders, they were given in a more calm but firm way, which made me feel like he was slowly easing Jenn into it. Realizing that she was new to the scene and would require some time to get used to it, he wasn't always unbending with the “rules” either, and of course, his number one priority was giving her mind-blowing pleasure. I also liked how the author showed Riley's vulnerable side, and that his greatest weakness was Jenn. He just couldn't get enough of her, and after years apart and coming to terms with his dominant side, he's ready to settle down with her as his permanent sub.

Jenn has been crazy about Riley since their college days, but has never worked up the nerve to tell him how she feels. Ever since graduating, they've lived miles apart, but now that she has a job interview in the city when he lives, she's ready to fess up and willing to do anything to be with him. Of course, Riley puts her resolve to the test in ways she never could have imagined. Jenn had done just enough experimenting to know that she has a slightly darker side herself, and Riley's dominant behavior really turns her on. I liked that she was open-minded enough to accept every part of Riley without question and was far more responsive to his seduction than he ever dreamed she would be. Just the mere thought of being with Jenn, gets him hot and bothered, but when she gets every bit as turned on by the things he does to her, it's the ultimate rush for him.

Even though Riley and Jenn have their prior friends connection which gives their budding love relationship more credibility, it might have been nice to have a little more build up to the sex play. As is, things heated up between them at warp speed and never looked back. Occasionally, things slowed down just enough for the reader to get a few tidbits of non-sex related conversation or introspection, but it never lasts long before the next hot, steamy encounter begins. I did believe that they loved one another, but it might have been nice to have more romantic moments in between the sex. The entire novella kind of felt like one long, extremely intense, virtually never-ending sex scene. This and a couple of the things Riley and Jenn did not quite being my cup of tea were the only things that kept me from giving this novella keeper status.

Otherwise, I have no complaints. I liked the characters, and I mostly enjoyed the story. I was very impressed with how the author focused on the importance of trust in the D/s relationship. I admit that I know very little about the BDSM scene, but I do know that trust is paramount to everything else. It's the main thing that makes these types of stories enjoyable to me on occasion, but not something that all authors in the genre are good at conveying, so I really appreciated this aspect. The other thing I appreciated immensely is the technically good writing. Many authors in the erotic romance genre are not necessarily the strongest writers, but that is definitely not the case with Eliza Gayle. Her writing skill puts Bottoms Up at a very solid four stars, and has left me quite interested in trying more of her work.

Note: This novella contains explicit language and sexual situations which may offend some readers, including a D/s relationship, blindfolding, spanking, exhibitionism, bondage, and anal play with a toy.
Profile Image for Holly.
441 reviews339 followers
January 13, 2011
What a Smokin' Hot little read!!! I love the friends to lovers stories and the light BDSM makes it all that much sexier!!
Profile Image for Blackravens Reviews.
571 reviews21 followers
January 8, 2011
MacKenzie’s Review:

Bottoms Up by Eliza Gayle is a very quick, fun read.

At 68 pages there isn’t too much room for in-depth personality development for our characters, but the scenes that Ms. Gayle sets up have the reader rooting for Jenn and Riley’s happily-ever-after with the turn of each page. The BDSM scenes are fun to watch with Jenn’s relatively new status to the lifestyle. Riley, while more practiced, at times doesn’t know how far to take things with Jenn which makes him endearingly tentative while forcefully dominate at the same time.

Ms. Gayle does a very good job of taking the reader on an erotic journey through one weekend in this couple’s lives. I’d love to read more about where they go next; these characters stick with you long after Bottoms Up is over.

Rated 4 Ravens by MacKenzie!
Profile Image for Leslee Anderson.
219 reviews2 followers
May 27, 2014
Purgatory novellas get better and better. Now I have a new favorite novella. I like the fact that Riley and Jenn are already serious about one another before the passion starts. Jenn doesn't know about his life but she has her own hidden knowledge and desires. Sometimes in novellas the relationship is too fast and too serious that it doesn't seem real but here with them you feel like you've watched two people love and care about each other for years. It's fun, passionate, and yes loving. Can't wait for more novellas but I'm eager to see Mason again. Read as many purgatory tales as you can. You will not be disappointed.
Profile Image for Annie .
2,506 reviews940 followers
January 20, 2011
Jenn and Riley were best friends in college. When they meet again, Riley shows Jenn a new sexual world she has never experienced before.

Bottoms Up has BDSM in it and it turned out to be a very steamy read! After all, Riley’s got a spanking fetish and Jenn learns to explore her submissive side. Let me tell you, she’s an adventurous one!

This book has want, love and lust rolled into one sexy read!

Plus, that cover is HOT.
Profile Image for Terra Oenning.
3,543 reviews
November 25, 2011
wow I so love Riley and Jenn's story in this book, they both have had feelings for each other since college and when a job opp comes around to be close to Riley again Jenn goes to for the interview and spends 2 days with Riley . she has no clue that Riley is a Dom and is into BDSM and she has never tried anything like that in her life, but She was always curious about it. Riley teaches her what it means to be a sub and Jenn is a natural at it. very good book hated for it to end..
Profile Image for Beck.
894 reviews49 followers
July 8, 2012
This story only took me an hour or so to read but it was fun while it lasted. There was minimal character development due to the word count but the author set the scene well & gave enough background so you could connect with the characters. The sex was nicely written & the BDSM wasn't too hard & heavy. I would have preferred a longer version of the story but otherwise it was enjoyable.

Originally posted on Amazon.com
Profile Image for Volk.
6 reviews
June 11, 2013
Pretty good book, all things considered, but honestly if this was reality in any way, it would've gone hoooooorrribly for the guy, I mean c'mon! (SPOILER)




Public spanking after a single day worth of experience???? Without even a warning, much less permission? Seriously, even the most submissive girl out there would've balked at that, and they've been right to do so, what kind of Dom does that? (Except a fictional one, ofc)
Profile Image for Dar.
4,538 reviews92 followers
March 9, 2014
A nice quick read that gets right to the point - what if you had a chance with the one you never made the move on? Jenn and Riley were roommates in college, and stayed friends. Years later and all mature and such, both are ready to make a move at the same time

These two find out they are moving in the same direction, just a couple of bumps to work out, to get to the HEA

Hot and sexy with just a punch of sweetness - perfect!
Profile Image for Becca.
521 reviews62 followers
June 23, 2012
Bottoms Up is a short friends to lovers contemporary romance. It is sweet, sugar-kink BDSM with a sprinkling of glitter-kink on the side. Not much to it really. No real tension or any surprises, a very nice easy read. My only complaint is that the club scene felt forced and out of place for the story. I could be wrong, but it struck me as way too much, way too soon in the relationship.
Profile Image for Lady Aeval.
107 reviews
March 23, 2012
I loved this book! The characters and their relationship were well explained and felt sincere. The sex and the kink was scorching hot! What really made me give this is a five is that after reading it, I wanted to read it again. I loved it from beginning to end. It is not hardcore BDSM, but for a casual reader like me it was perfect. I will be pulling this out to read over and over.
Profile Image for Judy Traband.
43 reviews5 followers
February 2, 2013
Great, quick read. Hard not to fall in love with Riley, such a sexy lover. Found this book to be a true love story. I loved it when Riley walks in when Jenn is looking through The Caring Dominant book and says "I'd say your curiousity just saved us about an hour's worth of awkward conversation".... and so it begins.....
Profile Image for Mary Jo.
2,374 reviews59 followers
December 30, 2013
Short, sexy, erotic ... Riley and Jenn were best friends in college but went to different cities after graduation. Jenn comes to visit Riley when she interviews for a job in his city. This provides them with the chance to push their relationship past the friend stage but can Jenn handle the real Riley in the bedroom?
Profile Image for Cyn Mistress Kitty.
1,628 reviews174 followers
December 6, 2010
This was a hot, short story about friends to lovers with some bdsm thrown in. Very nice.
Profile Image for Yna from Books and Boybands.
861 reviews403 followers
July 31, 2013
This is a short BDSM story, that us very BDSMy. There is not much to it really. Just a woman’s intorduction to that life. A past love that is now a Dom. And all that.
1 review
December 15, 2020
Рекомендуем вам подобрать угги из коллекции UGG Australia. Бренд УГГ изготавливает уйму разных вариантов сапог. Много ботинок шьются на зиму, но есть кое-какие на осень и весну. Если вы интересуетесь как приобрести сапоги из натуральных материалов, к тому жегде есть мужские и женские варианты.Sound Buttons
48 reviews
March 27, 2021
Not as good as her other works but worth a quick read

Honestly, this book was lacking in plot. The sex scenes were well written, but there was not a big connection with the characters for me.
Profile Image for Sylvie Rochon.
2,485 reviews
January 18, 2020
Jenn and Riley

This one I liked a lot. It's fast paced, very hot, and the chemistry between them is off the charts! Two people who have waited long enough!
Profile Image for Delia Binder.
252 reviews23 followers
July 10, 2014
I feel bad reviewing this, because author Eliza Gayle clearly means well - but she wants feedback, so here goes:

It didn't catch me up. It wasn't unpleasant, the characters weren't unappealing - it was just there, and for all the kink and fetish it felt kind of meh to me. I had the same reaction reading Harry Potter - there's a lot of wizardry and incident, but all of it seems...strangely ordinary, given all the extraordinary things occurring.

The writing lacks a certain vibrancy - and if you're going to tell the story of a young woman who's always had a crush on her college guy pal, as well as a secret interest in BDSM, then discovers he's been a Dom the last decade since school ended, and now agrees to try out being his subbe? I'd better feel I'm getting something more erotic than a Bollywood rom-com - you know, the ones where they almost never kiss? (Of course, they have smashing musical numbers to make up for it!)


The One in the Link Has Bollywood Megastar Shahrukh Khan - Not Bad For a Guy in His Forties, eh?

Anyway, enough of that: Jenn's the girl, who's spending the weekend back in North Carolina for a job interview, and bunking with her old pal Riley, who she's always been sweet on but never acted on it. He wanders off to shower, and she snoops through his library and finds a book, THE CARING DOMINANT - which is just so happens she bought for her eReader and read (because she was too embarrassed to buy the book in print!). He sees her looking at it, and essentially says "Wow - that makes things easier! I was trying to figure out how to tell you I'm into BDSM, I'm a Dominant, and I have always wanted you to be my sex slave!"



She immediately agrees, and the rest of the book is about their weekend where she's his submissive and he tries out all his Dominant fantasies on his Old School Pal. And that's about it - well, they do go to the S-M Purgatory Club for a few chapters of him showing off his new subbegirl.


"Hi, This is My Buddy Jenn - We Went To College Together...."

In the end, she - though I'm not sure why I'm bothering to put that in Spoiler Space, since it's preordained from the first page of the book!


"There's something ya don't see every day, Chauncy...."

So how are the pretty-near constant BDSM-infused sex scenes? About on a par with the rest of the writing - that is to say, they didn't light my fire. Nothing wrong with them, I suppose - I just wasn't caught up in them.

As an example, the climactic scene in the book ::RIMSHOT!:: has Riley , tying and gagging her, and slowly and completely fucking into a coma of helpless pleasure - which, um, tops the list of my submissive fantasies (as Master knows very well!). My reaction to this scene should be



rather than this



I feel bad writing a negative review of a book like this, because it's not offensive or nasty - Jenn and Riley seem like nice people, and I'm glad they finally admitted they've always loved each other, and wanted to play Master and Slavegirl. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful life together - I'm just not interested in it.
Profile Image for Andy.
208 reviews
September 4, 2016
All starts with a book

bdsm book photo: side worm 2009_0904009.jpg

͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠ ͠͠
Title: Bottoms Up
Author: Eliza Gayle
Series: Purgatory Club; #5
Published: April 30th 2011
POV: Third Person
Genres: Short story, Erotic Romance;
Rating: 2.5 Stars
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bdsm book photo: bdsm Dibujo29.jpg
Profile Image for Vanessa.
102 reviews28 followers
April 23, 2012
It was a very pleasant read. Jenn and Riley are both good characters _ though given the short length of the story, they're not as developped as they would have deserved. I have a fondness for friends turning into lovers, so I bought their love/lust story easily enough.
I was a bit skeptical though about Jenn, who admittedly has had very little experience when it comes to sex, will so fast and so deeply go into submission. I could overlook the fact that in 2 days, she comes from considering suggesting a relationship to her bestfriend to being his willing and eternal submissive _ them being best friends and all. But for someone who didn't even know about BDSM before, 2 days is quite fast to accept public spanking (and orgasm), bestfriend or not.
That bothered me a little, but all and all it was a good novella. And the cover is indeed gorgeously hot, love it!
Profile Image for Elaine.
182 reviews37 followers
June 16, 2013
This erotica has BDSM theme on it. With all the playing with the sex toys and spanking the ass to complete exhibition, the author was very successful in turning it into a very steamy love-sex story.

Though it was short, the eroticism did not disappear, instead it became more intense.

Personally, I actually did not like the idea of BDSM but MAYBE this story is an exception. For those who have soul for erotic piece of literary art, this story is good enough to kill time.
Profile Image for Betsy.
934 reviews3 followers
June 3, 2022
Scribd ebook

Not a fan of the “baby girl”, “little girl” thing. It started out promising, then quickly got icky.

Edit: AND he decides, on their second day together, to dress her up like a schoolgirl & take her to a sex club, put her on display & let someone else spank her. It’s just too much. You don’t sprint into a sex club the minute you’ve decided you’re interested in the lifestyle. Sure, she read a book, but no.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews

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