*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Nathan Burke is an Overseer on Slave World. A combat veteran with years of experience in making people toe the line means he’s an ideal candidate for running the lives of the sexual slaves in his keeping. However, he hates Slave World, hates his job and most especially hates his brother-in-law who runs the place. But he has his reasons for staying.
Margo Winters was one of the best pilots in the Fleet, but those years are long behind her. With a bounty on her head she’s barely scraping out a living running illegal cargo. When a cargo run goes bad she loses everything including her freedom and ends up on Slave World where her path crosses Nathan’s once again.
This book is one crazy well-written ride. I have to say I never really thought to combine Sci-Fi with BDSM, but this story really works well. The characters are so lifelike I feel as if they should walk up and knock on my door so I can invite them in and hand them a cold beer. Margo is flawed, but gutsy. She’s a survivor and now she’s learning something new about herself that makes her life on Slave World more tolerable. Nathan is…ahhhhh, Nathan. *sighs dreamily* I’m half in love with him. Hard as nails, tough yet fair and a moral code as deep as the far reaches of space. Plus, he’s a Marine. How could you not love him? He’s not perfect either which makes him even more likeable as a main character. He does the best he can in a shitty situation and when Margo comes along he has even more motivation to do something about his circumstances.
I read Stone’s Steam & Spurs and enjoyed it, but the writing was just a tad rough. In Slave World the rough edges are smoothed out and his writing really shines. The plot is great and the BDSM isn’t too extreme except for the body modifications and even those aren’t as bad as I thought they would be. Maybe because I’m in the mindset that this is Sci-Fi. Of course, without it being Sci-Fi I don’t see how the many of the modifications would work. Anyway…in other words, while I enjoy BDSM and consider myself Dominant, I’m not much of a sadist and don’t particularly enjoy the really dark BDSM stories with what I consider extreme torture, pain and body modifications. This story is not too much nor too little, but just right. Well, at least for me. Some may not like any of it, but I know I’m really looking forward to reading Slave World 2: The Ties That Bind.
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