top of page

My favorite BDSM romance novels, and why

As someone who is passionate about the BDSM lifestyle, it's hard to read "bad" BDSM. And by "bad" I mean a poor representation.


I want to clarify that I love non-con and dub-con. I enjoy some Mafia, and a heavy dose of bossy aliens. But the issue I have is when a character claims to be a "dom" but is really just "an abusive asshole."


So here is my list of "good" BDSM books, and why I included them on the list.


Books that specifically refer to themselves as BDSM, and include actual dynamics


The Suncoast Society by Tymber Dalton

This series should keep you busy for a while. I have honestly only read the first nine, but I loved them all. The Reluctant Dom made me cry and Domme by Default was so damn relatable I had to read it twice. They are all interconnected standalones, but so far, I've loved every single one.


This is a BDSM club series where a woman is given a fake name, and assigned a dominant. They jump straight into a scene with little to no negotiation, but her Dom is very careful about guiding her intentionally and teaching her in the moment. It is straight erotica that slowly develops a story over the course of the short stories, and concludes with a novella. If you're willing to look past the first initial demand for submission, it's a lovely, fantastic series that I wholeheartedly enjoyed.


Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre

This is a femdom, with aspects of findom (something I don't normally see in fiction!) and is done very well. Basically, it's the 50-shades we should have gotten.


This book was originally titled "Beautiful Submission," but we all know how Amazon is about banning certain key words. It was retitled and republished, but the book remains the same. It is supposedly a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, but I didn't pick up on that until I saw the goodreads page after I finished it. What I loved about this story was the male protagonist was flawed. He wasn't a perfect Dom by any means. And, their dynamic was confined to one room of the house. The Female Protagonist was a brat 99% of the time but that 1% she was in that room? She was the goodest of girls. It was a great break from the normal, and so well done.


Show Me by M. X. Alex

Sweet Goddess, I keep recommending this book knowing the second one isn't out yet, but I don't care. This book broke my heart but absolutely satisfied every urge. It's a femdom with a little bit of MM action, and some MMF action as well. I've read M. X. Alex's other series as well. They're an excellent writer and if you like MM, you'll love their stuff. (also. that cover? Holy balls, batman.)


Cruel Idols by Sorcha Black

This is one of my favorite books. This story is an MMF where the two men are already in a power exchange, but they bring the woman in for a short period of time. (Yes it's a HEA and she sticks around). One reason why I love this is they're very clear about limits and boundaries during their scene negotiation. Also, each scene has a purpose. it's not just a scene for the sake of kink. The characters are actively trying to get something specific out of it.


There is also a scene where the FMC does go into a very dark headspace and is unable to safeword. The scene continues for some time but eventually her Doms figure out she's not ok and they end the scene. Not only have I never seen this represented in fiction before, I thought it was very well done, even though it could be slightly triggering for some readers.


Sorcha Black also has several other books that feature MM power exchanges where the F is brought in. This one is the closest one to a "good power exchange" I can recommend to you. But all of her books are fantastic.


Chase Me by Natalia Lourose

This is a short novella. It's about as consensual as CNC can get... unfortunately, because of the consent factor, it falls a little flat on the CNC vibes. It's not as dark as it could be. I still gave it 5 stars because it's hot af and very well done, and I still think the tension is delicious enough that it's worth reading.


Isle of Sin by S. Firecox

This is the least satisfying rec on this list. It's a BDSM/sex club island with a very detailed world. I enjoyed it, but I had some complaints. Mainly, the male protagonist kept defending his actions to the reader, and it was unnecessary.


That being said, he was very focused on consent. He had a victim of trafficking on his island, which was a huge no-no, and he was trying to reach her. the only way he could protect or was to dominate her, and I thought he did a pretty good job. It scratches that "noncon" itch while still having a redeemable male protagonist who clearly cares about her consent and her wellbeing.


Mercy by Sara Cate

This was a fun read, and I was satisfied with the power exchange. The femdom was hot AF, and Sara Cate is a fantastic writer. I didn't find Beau to be very much of a brat, and my biggest complaint was that I wished he hadn't been labeled as one.


Motorcycle Daddy by Laylah Roberts

This is the only Laylah Roberts book I've read, and I did enjoy it. It's really hard to find DD/LG books that aren't cringe AF. This one is pretty great, and was recommended to me by another Little in the lifestyle.


It wasn't heavy on the Little headspace, but it was there. It was pretty fluffy all things considered (though the ending got pretty intense plotwise) and I found it a little slow, but I still enjoyed it. If you want good DDLG, start here.


Dirty X6 by Tara Crescent

this one is just barely inbetween this category, and the next category. The FMC has a great Dom... and five other partners for the other days of the week (and one day to herself, because a girl has to wash her underwear at some point). It's absolutely solid smut. I'm talking six back to back scenes of porn, then a quick plot twist, and then more porn. It's totally worth the three dollars, and heavy on consent.


I also enjoyed Tara Crescent's MFM books, but I wouldn't call them "good bdsm." I'd dump them in the category below.


Books that have kink and consent, but are not necessarily negotiated power exchange


So far my experience with Jade West has been fantastic, and I plan to read more of her books. Dirty Bad Wrong was a D/s dynamic, though I wouldn't call it a healthy one since there was so much miscommunication. That being said, all her books are very kinky, and heavy on consent. Bait was probably one of the best CNC books I've ever read, and Sugar Daddies was so frickin' delicious and emotionally satisfying that I have zero complaints.


Eleven series by Octavia Jensen

I really enjoy these books, although again, I wouldn't say they are "good" dynamics. But the kink is safe (as safe as kink can get) and the consent is present. I've read the first four books and enjoyed them all, though 11 hours and 11 scenes were my favorite so far.


Touch of Taboo series by Katee Robert

These books are not only incredibly filthy and very fast paced, but consent is present very quickly. Sometimes there is a safeword involved, but not always.


My books

I'm a little biased... but here are my books, and why I think they should mostly fall into the first category!


Megan doesn't have any level of negotiation with her new Dom before beginning their scenes. However, she was in a D/s dynamic, and then an M/s dynamic, with Reuben for three years. Reuben negotiates on her behalf, and has a short scene where he asks her if anything has changed for her. Megan chooses to let Reuben take the lead on guiding her into her new dynamic. It starts as play scenes only, but evolves into a relationship.


Ashes of Sin and Stardust (How to Tame a Brat)

There are some big issues with the consent in this book, mainly the informed consent that Alice does not have before she asks for hypnosis to be added into their dynamic. Alice is also very uneducated in consent before the beginning of their relationship, and regularly brats Reuben without consent. He does his best to help her, educate her, and get her under control in the only way he knows how - by making her. Which, ironically, is exactly what she wants. So the entire book is sketch on consent, despite Reuben being a kink educator.


This will be out in about two months! Consent is present, but... communication is not very good early in the book! It does have a HEA and they do get their heads out of their asses.


This is a nonerotic power exchange about Reuben's submissive/babygirl, Robin. She is a former trafficking victim and is in a headspace that demands for someone to control her. Reuben steps into that role as well as he can, and nurses her back to health physically and mentally.

Why I will never put my work in KU

Kindle Unlimited is a seemingly amazing deal; you pay about $12 a month and you have access to as many books as you can read that are in the program. Kind of like the "Netflix" for books.

In theory it's a great idea. But there are a few reasons why you'll never find my work in there.


1. The payment is not comparable to a royalty.


When your book is in KU, they pay you per page, and the rate changes depending on how many other books are in the program. It usually doesn't fluctuate too much, but the per-page rate is low enough that the rate doesn't match up with the royalty for purchase.


At the time of writing this blog post, the KU page rate is approximately $0.0047 per page. That's right, it's less than a cent a page. Now my book Ashes of Sin and Stardust is 1100 pages. (No that was not a typo). So I can assume I'll make about $5.70 if someone reads all 1100 pages. But they don't; they don't read the front matter or the back matter, so it's more like $5.10. That's not a bad royalty, right?


Except my e-book is $8.99 and I make a $6.13 royalty off it. So I'm losing about a dollar per book.

Now I get that money isn't everything. But I poured my life into this book, and I do all my own advertising, marketing, book covers, newsletter releases... everything. I have to pay for my formatting. I have to pay for my cover images. I have to pay my editor and proofreader. So I want to make the highest royalty I can.


But Lindsay, more people will read your book if you put it in KU, so you'll actually get paid more!


Yeah, hypothetically. But I don't make business decisions on the hypothetical. Plus, many authors say KU will throw new readers at your book for the first month, and then after that, they stop, because they want you to run ads. It's just another way to use you to make more money for them.


2. You are limited to selling your e-book on Amazon exclusively. That's dangerous.


a) If someone pirates your book, or puts it on another ebook retailer (which happens all the time!) Amazon will shut down your account, or ban you. Now this doesn't happen right away, usually they'll take the book down and send you a warning first, but more and more authors are having issues with their books getting pirated and then losing their accounts with no warning.


Unfortunately, once your account gets shut down, you cannot just start another, because it's tied to your tax ID. So if you lose your account, you've lost all your reviews, all your income, and all your readers. That's a huge problem!


b) Many countries don't offer KU, or a book may be in KU in one country but not another. It makes no sense to sell your book to only select, especially because there are so many readers in other countries who would love to read your work!


c) Not everyone wants to support Amazon. In choosing to only sell on one platform, you're choosing not to sell to Apple readers, B&N readers, Kobo readers, Smashwords readers, and more. Apple is my second biggest stream of income. I made over $900 one month from Apple user downloads! Why would I actively choose to not sell my work to an entire group of people who are clearly happy to purchase?


3. KU readers don't buy books.


Now that is a black-and-white, blanket statement, and I avoid making those. But generally speaking, KU readers don't buy books. So even if you're growing a huge audience of people who love your work, you're growing a group of readers who wants to read your work, but actively does not want to buy your work. That breeds entitlement.


I've heard so many authors tell me stories about the absurd behavior of their KU readers; readers warning them not to take their books out of KU, readers losing their mind if they release a book outside of the program, and readers begging them to use the program. One author actually had her reviews tanked when she released a list-aiming book (btw did you know you can only hit USAT and NYT lists from book purchases, not KU reads?), because all her KU readers were furious that book wasn't in the program.


I've had many such comments myself of people telling me "Well I'd love to read it, but it's not in KU." This kind of entitled attitude irritates the hell out of me, and I know many of my author friends feel the same way. You are not entitled to my work. If you want to read my book, you can pay me for it! If you don't want to pay for it, you can borrow it from your library. I will literally send your library a copy for cost of printing and shipping. But you are not entitled to any book for free. Especially when you spend eight bucks on your latte without batting an eye. But God forbid you buy an e-book.


But Lindsay, not all KU readers--


I know. I know! Many do buy books. Good on you guys. I love you guys. Keep it up.


But most don't.


4. People who don't buy your book are less likely to read your book.


When I want to read a book, I buy it. I also find that when I buy a book, I read it. I don't buy e-books that just sit on my phone. If I spend money on a book, I'm more likely to read it.


By that reasoning, people who buy your books are more likely to actually read your books, which hopefully convert them to regular readers or fans, who will then purchase and read your backlist. But readers who "check out" a book on KU because it sounds good, but never get to it because they have sixteen other books checked out, and something else comes up that they want to read more, so they have to pick something to return. At one point, they wanted to read your book, but they changed their mind because they ran out of space. In a way, you've just lost that sale. Yeah, some people record what books they send back and recheck them out and eventually read them... but that's just some.


So what's the takeaway here?


Look, I'm not telling you to take your books out of KU, or to cancel your subscription.


But I would caution each and every writer to think very hard about what kinds of readers they want falling in love with their work. Do you want people who want to read your book for free? Or people who want to buy your entire backlist because they love your work?


And I would caution readers to understand that writers don't owe you anything. They actually don't even owe you more books! But if you want them to keep writing, I suggest you actually purchase their work.

Thoughts on writing reviews

Writing reviews sounds intimidating to a lot of readers. Some of the things I've heard from them is, "I don't know how to write a review!" or "I haven't done that since college!"


And then they proceed to email me an incredible review that I wish they would post on Amazon (or at least Goodreads). I have received some of the kindest emails from readers that totally make my day. My God, the email I received last week from a TikTokker made me almost cry it was such a kind, sweet, encouraging review. So yes, you do know how to write a review.


Reviewing has changed over the years. When I first entered the book world about fifteen years ago, I came in as a blogger. I ran a highly successful book and lifestyle blog all through High School and college, (not "the lifestyle," just life as a creative young person) and had thousands of hits on my book reviews until I shut the blog down for my own personal reasons. I participated in blog tours, ARC-trains (which are apparently a thing of the past!) and read around one book a day, posting an average of five reviews a week, sometimes more. I reviewed indie books, and mainstream, and was on the ARC list for all the major publishing houses.


Now, it's completely different. Book blogs are still out there, but people don't read blogs nearly as much as they used to. TikTok is the big player right now, and so is Instagram. Blogs are almost moot. Promoting books has changed, and Amazon has drastically changed their policies on who can write reviews and what you can include (which is annoying AF).


But reviews themselves have not changed that much. There are, I find, three categories of reviews:


#1 - Here is a full, detailed, exposition on the book and all the themes, components, and insights I can offer. These reviews tend to be long, insightful, and honestly incredible to read. I love seeing how other people relate to and interpret my work. However, I find that even though authors love these reviews, most readers don't. Who wants to read a book report on a book before you buy it? Now I would never ask someone not to write this kind of review, because I love them. What I am saying is, don't feel pressured to write this kind of review and think it's the only option out there. They're a lot of work. I almost never write them myself.


#2 - One-sentence anecdotes that increase the number of reviews, but not the quality. I won't say these aren't valuable, because they absolutely are, and I honestly appreciate anything, even if it's just "I liked it, it was good." Seriously. If this is all you do, do it. If that is all you're willing to do, do it. If you're on my ARC team and every single ARC you get you leave this review, it's going to irritate me... but I'm not going to tell you to stop.


#3 - Here is the plot in my own words. This isn't a review. It's a blurb. I have no problem with you posting this on social media, but it's not a review. It irritates me when I send someone a free copy of my book and they end up leaving a 3-star rating with nothing in the text except a summary of the book. And I don't think it's very helpful to potential readers either.


#4 - I liked it/didn't like it, and here's why. These are the most valuable. 3-10 sentences about what you liked, what you didn't, and how you felt while you read it is what makes people decide on their purchase. You don't need any catchy one-liners, or fancy phrases (unless you're hoping to get quoted, in which case, fancy it up, babe.)


The fourth one is honestly the most valuable kind of review, in my opinion. As a reader, they're the ones I tend to read myself because they're short, consumable, and to the point. As a writer, I find they sum up the pros and cons pretty well. Not only that, if you ask yourself the right questions, they're not hard to write, and anyone can write them.


That being said, here is a list of questions that, if you answer them, you will have a review you can post about any book. Feel free to use any/all of these questions when formulating your review!



  • Did you like it? (I know, kind of obvious, but I like to start with this)

  • Was there something about it that could have made it better?

  • Was there something about it that irritated you and took away from the book?

  • Was reading this book a good use of your time?

  • How did you feel during reading it/after reading? What were the emotional side effects?

  • Did you enjoy the writing style? Did it add to, or take away from the story and overall experience?

  • Did you like the characters? Were they relatable?

  • Did you think the characters made decisions that made sense? Were the choices they made realistic?

  • Was the plot realistic within the world/genre?

  • Were the plot twists believable?

  • Did the story keep you reading, or did it drag?

  • Were there any surprises at the end that you enjoyed? Was there supposed to be a surprise at the end that wasn't as exciting as it could have been?


There are many more questions you can ask, but this is a good list to start with. If you have any others, leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!


Are you interested in joining my review/street team? Check out the form here.


With love and spankings,

~Lindsay





bottom of page