Mister Black by P.T. Michelle Series: In the Shadows #1
Published by Self Published on June 14, 2014
Pages: 123
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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We all have someone who crossed our path and fundamentally changed us. That one person who blew through our lives, their presence forever stamped on our psyche. They linger in our thoughts, in our hearts, and in the decisions we make. A soul crusher or a dream maker, depending on the perspective.
My person is MISTER BLACK.
I didn' t know him by that name when I first met him.
I didn' t know him at all, but the impression he left behind was just as powerful as the name I call him today.
He is Black: a deadly enforcer and masterful seducer.
I am Red: a justice bleeder and willing participant.
Together we are passion. Colors colliding through each other' s lives.
When our secrets converge in a passionate encounter,
stepping out of the shadows just might be worth the risk.
NOTE: Mister Black is part 1 of a serial and is approximately 120 print pages.
When I was a kid I had a favorite sugar cereal called Count Chocola. Now, as an adult, I have a favorite steamy serial and it’s called Mister Black.
Appearances can be deceiving but the eyes never lie.
When 19 year-old Talia attends a masquerade party in the Hamptons intent on getting the scoop on a big story for her school newspaper, she never imagined she would run into someone from her troubled and distant past. Someone that changed her life and still took up more of her thoughts than she would like to admit.
The handsome young guy with black hair and soul-stirring, mismatched eyes that helped her out of the rain and gave her his coat several years earlier, is now the hot and attractive man pursuing her at the masquerade. At first confident that “Mr.Black” won’t recognize her with a mask on and her freshly died blonde hair, Talia can’t keep the flash of recognition out of her eyes when he speaks to her. Mr. Black is intent on being Talia’s sole entertainment for the rest of the evening and he’ll have her undivided attention by the end of the night.
This fast paced, knee-buckling first installment of the In the Shadows series will whip you into submission and have you begging for more before the last page. Ladies, if you loved Christian Grey, you will COVET Mr. Black.
What if the FIFTY SHADES Trilogy gave you a rash because you loathe the implication that all submissive women are damaged dishrags who just need some Abusive Rich PoS Behaving Badly To Them to “fulfill” them? And are heartily sick of the stories of Bullying Billionaire Doms Smacking Around Subbes Lacking the Fortitude To Stand Up For Themselves?
I don’t inherently dislike Dominant Men – I have one of my own, and I love him very much. But I sure wouldn’t want him thinking he needs to turn into Christian Grey, or me into the misnamed Anastasia Steele, for us to be happy…. And I while I enjoy a story of a Good Dom Taking a Willing Subbe In Hand and Molding Her Into His Soulmate (as she molds him right back! 😉 ), I don’t get that vibe off of “In the Tradition of FIFTY SHADES….” at all.
I never read the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I was just making a play off the names Christian GREY and Mister BLACK. Get it? I do believe my closing sentence said IF you loved Christian Grey, then you would covet Mister Black. I cannot compare the female protagonist from Mister Black to Fifty Shades because I do not know much about her. You obviously did not like the Fifty Shades trilogy (even though from context clues in your comment, I’m assuming that you read all 3 books?). This book serial is probably not for you. If you are sick of reading books about damaged girls and millionaire doms, then you should probably read something else.
Don’t know if I noted in the last comment I want to get notification of any replies – so I’m doing it here. 🙂
Regina – I tried to read all three, because they were a gift from a friend who knew I’m into D/s and figured I would love them. I ended up furiously skimming, hoping I’d find something I’d like enough to justify it – but, not really.
Sorry – I didn’t meant to be hostile to you, I just Do Not Get why these books are so popular, nor do I enjoy most of the books they’ve inspired. The only good thing about 50 SHADES is that it means romance publishers are a bit more willing to consider a novel in which a the female lead likes to get tied up and spanked by her Man – and even there, it’s “a bit” only. One of Leslie Kelly’s Harlequin “Blaze” line of books features a female hero interested in bondage – who never gets tied up once in the book, even after she confesses her interest to her guy!
You know, I hope I didn’t misrepresent P.T. Michelle’s story by throwing in that line about Christian Grey. I got the impression that Talia, the female MC in Mister Black, was smart, strong and completely compliant with everything going on in her relationship with Mr. Black. I take back what I said before- maybe you should read this novella. From what you told me, I think you might have a much better experience with it than you did with The Fifty Shades books. Thanks for commenting and reading my post. 🙂
Regina, did you read Kitty French’s Lucien Knight Trilogy (KNIGHT & PLAY, KNIGHT & STAY, KNIGHT & DAY)? Lucien Knight is my idea of a firm Dom man I could see falling in love with, and the woman he comes to love, Sophie Black, grows as a person under his control.
So are most of Sindra van Yssel’s Doms, actually. Even the heavier, more controlling ones make sure they have a good read of their potential subbe’s limits before they start to push them, and that the subbe in question knows just what she’s getting into with him. Better, none of her submissives are dishrags – they’re generally accomplished women of one kind or another (librarian, botanist, auto mechanic, filmmaker, police detective, park ranger, a few writers 😉 ) who find that sexual submission fills an itch that regular sex doesn’t scratch.
Well, it’s only 99 cents on Amazon for the Kindle edition – so I went ahead and bought it, Regina! 🙂
I’ve spent more for worse – and my tastes are not everyone’s, either. For instance, I liked Kristin Proby’s TIED WITH ME better than a lot of people into The Scene did, largely b/c it was the first romance with consensual D/s treated positively that I’d read – no matter how mild and haphazard it was! I also didn’t know jack about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which the female lead, Nicole, has) – but your fellow reviewer Erin does, and the inaccurate description of symptoms really burned her bacon! I still thought it was okay, though having read more erotic romance with D/s themes since then has made me more aware of how lightweight that book was….
Nope. I’ve never read any of those. To be honest, I don’t usually read New Adult/Sub/Dom stuff. Thanks for the suggestions! 🙂
Kitty French’s books are only incidentally D/s – the Lucien Knight trilogy has Lucien behaving like a Dom towards his unsatisfied in her marriage to a cheating asshole Sophie Black, partly to get her past her guilt over cheating on her cheating husband…and partly because they both discover they really enjoy it when he ties her up and has sex with her! As the series progresses and her asshole husband becomes a distant, unpleasant memory, Sophie still enjoys it when her Lover/Boss breaks out the handcuffs for a little workday fun…. 😉
If you have issues with spouses cheating on each other, you might not like this series like I did. Normally that would bother me more, but here the entire series take the air of a fairytale with sex – a modern urban version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, basically.
For just D/s romance (and for someone who normally doesn’t like it), Sindra van Yssel’s BONDAGE RANCH series and the novella RECIPE FOR SUBMISSION are great starting points. I’ve reviewed both on my GoodReads reviews – and the worst I can say about any of her books was (in one case) the characters felt generic, and the story felt like she wrote it on a dare. Everything else, even the weaker books, have strong, engaging characters and an accurate positive portrayal of consensual BDSM. I’d start with either ROPED IN (the first of the BONDAGE RANCH series, with a librarian/martial artist who kind of lets her good-natured Dom rescuer top her, and finds out she really loves it – and him!), MOVING ON (third in the BONDAGE RANCH series, which introduces a detective thriller element with a Dom cop and the female Park Ranger who becomes his submissive/fiancee), and RECIPE FOR SUBMISSION (a great primer into the D/s lifestyle, featuring a writer who tries to write a “sadist” villain – and has her consciousness raised by a Dom restauranteur!).
Okay, read MR. BLACK – and yes, I enjoyed it a lot more than I did 50 SHADES! Sebastian seems like a pretty decent guy overall, with a Protective Dom streak – I don’t get WTF Talia didn’t just tell him right off who she was and why they felt such an immediate connection. I think we all know the gift she gave Sebastian is a replacement for the expensive watch he gave her – the one he mentions his stepmother was sure he hocked, and the reason he ended up living with his uncle. When he sees that, he’d have to be an idiot not to realize she’s the “Red” he ended up helping as a seventeen-year old….
The story hints at Deep Dark Secrets – I’m placing money right now that hers is she fled the sexually abusive scumbag character before he raped her, and that’s how her baby sister got killed that she blames herself for. I’m not sure if The Big Bad will be scumbag operating his drug-running operation from prison, or if her aunt always knew and was in charge of the drug-running operation herself!
Anyway, more than good enough to stick with these characters – even if Talia could avoid a lot of heartache by just being open with Sebastian, you were right that she’s not a dishrag, and while he’s clearly a Dom he’s not an abusive one.
Yay! So glad you read it and enjoyed it!