Author: Alison Tyler
Reviewed By: Jenne
I was surprised when this book turned up on my doorstep, but for some reason I was drawn to it from the moment I saw it, and I still have no idea why, but I’m so glad I was!
Nowadays it’s a rare thing when a book grabs me from the get go, especially when it’s to the point where I have a hard time putting it down. Dark Secret Love was one such book and it took me, less than 48 hours to read it from cover to cover. It would have taken me a lot less time to read if the truth be told, but family, work, and all those not so fun things kept getting in the way. From the first sentence to the last I was entranced by the world I found myself in, one that was in places, as dark as the author prefers her coffee. This is a beautifully written book and the pace is perfect, pulling me along as the reader, allowing me to glimpse into the world of kink, but strangely never allowing me to be fully immersed.
Dark Secret Love according to the publisher Cleis Press is the real Fifty Shades of Grey and I have to say I agree with them. Like throngs of other women I read 50 shades, but as an erotic writer it left me wanting. Dark Secret Love hits all the right notes, the ones that had been left out of 50 shades and even though I have yet to delve into what seems to many to be the strange and delirious world of kink, I could identify with the main character as she detailed her love life from high school to the present day. Alison Tyler skillfully uses her words to take you on an utterly believable journey, and as I said before the pacing of this story, is what makes it so wonderful. As a reader you are allowed to breath in the right places, but are then hurried along when the need arises.
This for me was one of those books that crept under my skin and parts of it have simply stayed there. Maybe it’s because of the way the author describes the pedestrian lifestyle that is forced on her for 3 years, all the time knowing that she wants, and needs more, but feels guilt for wanting what she craves. I think that is the essence of the story that has stayed with me. There is a scene where the main character describes the first time she gets what she craves, and for some reason this scene struck a nerve, and made me think of the first time I received what I didn’t even know I needed at the time sexually. That moment when you are so in tune with a person, that they simply know before you do, what you need.
I love the fact that the main character has flaws, and does things that she really shouldn’t have. You can feel her uncertainty as she questions what she is about to do or in many cases is told to do. On the surface this is a story about a girl who discovers that she likes her men dark and her sex kinky, yet it’s more than that. It’s about true unwritten contracts, sexual wants and needs. Even if kinky sex is not your thing, I’m pretty sure that many will identify with this honest and compelling story as I did. I have no desire to be whipped by my lovers, but because of the way this story is written I can still identify with the main character.
I have to applaud the author, Alison Tyler, on her am