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klindtvedt's review against another edition
3.0
A Charmingly Unhurried Romance Marred by Typos and Lack of Detail...
"Lowdown Dirty” by Holly Trent is a gloriously unhurried stroll to love. A book built on a kaleidoscope of characters led by the core story of Valerie and Tim. Valerie being a driven architect, determined to not repeat the mistakes of her mother. A fiercely dominant woman in the workplace, one so resolute on achieving her professional goals she adopts a lifestyle devoid of anything other than work so as not to appear weak or unworthy of the professional milestones enjoyed more freely by her male counterparts. A woman who feels unable to freely express her desires for submission in her personal life as she fears it will taint and derail everything professionally she is working tirelessly for. And Tim, a lonely, forty-something man longing for a sense of being beyond his success as a well-known and respected boat builder. He is a man with a reputation for being as dominant in the bedroom as he is on the factory floor, an integral part of the well-entrenched kink community in his tiny town. A man desired by many but whom has his heart set on finding the submissive key to his particular brand of Dom lock. What follows is a refreshing tale of the realities of what it’s like to be both kinky and a high achieving female professional in a male dominated field. The realities of trying to “have it all” while also being taken seriously in a field you love and are passionate about.
I have to say, this story struck a deeply personal chord within me. I have been part of the BDSM community my entire adult life. However, I have also existed within a professional realm dominated by men who would happily use (and have used) my female-ness against me in order to discredit my work or get ahead themselves. As a result, I have often made choices, such as never getting married, in order to better succeed professionally and be able to support myself beyond the standard societal domain of “mother”, “wife”, “woman”, because I am so much more than just those things. So to encounter such a lovingly written, sleepy romance that enrobes your heart lazily like warm honey, all while dealing head on with such important issues was a joyous find for me.
And while I loved the slow and steady, southern sensibility. I wish it had been completely what it is advertised as being, an unapologetic story of kink and D/s within the reality of the everyday normative world.
This book, while remaining a wonderful story overall, sadly falls far short of its full potential. First, it is surprisingly kink free despite being positioned as a BDSM themed story world. There were no real forays into kink, merely suggestions and innuendos, something that, considering the plot framework was disappointing. Especially given that it takes away your ability to truly get to know both Valerie and Tim as they are at their cores. You never really get to see what type of Dom Tim actually is and how his flavor of Dom-ness fits with Valerie’s distinctive type of submission. You don’t actually get a full sense of how they complement and complete each other as partners, especially where Valerie's skittish tendencies and black and white thinking come into play; a huge let down for me overall.
Additionally this book, despite the kink-lite reality of it, would have still been worthy of four stars in my opinion, if it had not been for the horrendously awkward phrasing and word omission issues present. There were so many typos and places throughout where a sentence structure issue made me stop and reread a sentence or passage to discern what the author was intending, that it greatly distracted from the story within. And while the core of the story, the hearts of the characters within them, are worth the arduous, error riddled journey to the end. I would love to see this book proofread, the issues within re-written and/or corrected, edited properly, and rereleased so that it can be enjoyed thoroughly and without distraction.
"Lowdown Dirty” by Holly Trent is a gloriously unhurried stroll to love. A book built on a kaleidoscope of characters led by the core story of Valerie and Tim. Valerie being a driven architect, determined to not repeat the mistakes of her mother. A fiercely dominant woman in the workplace, one so resolute on achieving her professional goals she adopts a lifestyle devoid of anything other than work so as not to appear weak or unworthy of the professional milestones enjoyed more freely by her male counterparts. A woman who feels unable to freely express her desires for submission in her personal life as she fears it will taint and derail everything professionally she is working tirelessly for. And Tim, a lonely, forty-something man longing for a sense of being beyond his success as a well-known and respected boat builder. He is a man with a reputation for being as dominant in the bedroom as he is on the factory floor, an integral part of the well-entrenched kink community in his tiny town. A man desired by many but whom has his heart set on finding the submissive key to his particular brand of Dom lock. What follows is a refreshing tale of the realities of what it’s like to be both kinky and a high achieving female professional in a male dominated field. The realities of trying to “have it all” while also being taken seriously in a field you love and are passionate about.
I have to say, this story struck a deeply personal chord within me. I have been part of the BDSM community my entire adult life. However, I have also existed within a professional realm dominated by men who would happily use (and have used) my female-ness against me in order to discredit my work or get ahead themselves. As a result, I have often made choices, such as never getting married, in order to better succeed professionally and be able to support myself beyond the standard societal domain of “mother”, “wife”, “woman”, because I am so much more than just those things. So to encounter such a lovingly written, sleepy romance that enrobes your heart lazily like warm honey, all while dealing head on with such important issues was a joyous find for me.
And while I loved the slow and steady, southern sensibility. I wish it had been completely what it is advertised as being, an unapologetic story of kink and D/s within the reality of the everyday normative world.
This book, while remaining a wonderful story overall, sadly falls far short of its full potential. First, it is surprisingly kink free despite being positioned as a BDSM themed story world. There were no real forays into kink, merely suggestions and innuendos, something that, considering the plot framework was disappointing. Especially given that it takes away your ability to truly get to know both Valerie and Tim as they are at their cores. You never really get to see what type of Dom Tim actually is and how his flavor of Dom-ness fits with Valerie’s distinctive type of submission. You don’t actually get a full sense of how they complement and complete each other as partners, especially where Valerie's skittish tendencies and black and white thinking come into play; a huge let down for me overall.
Additionally this book, despite the kink-lite reality of it, would have still been worthy of four stars in my opinion, if it had not been for the horrendously awkward phrasing and word omission issues present. There were so many typos and places throughout where a sentence structure issue made me stop and reread a sentence or passage to discern what the author was intending, that it greatly distracted from the story within. And while the core of the story, the hearts of the characters within them, are worth the arduous, error riddled journey to the end. I would love to see this book proofread, the issues within re-written and/or corrected, edited properly, and rereleased so that it can be enjoyed thoroughly and without distraction.
emmichfrank's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
raes_reading_that's review
3.0
A book about people who enjoy bdsm with barely any bdsm in it? I finished the book but it could have been a lot better based of what it was supposed to be about.
forprd's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ela_35's review
slow-paced
2.0
This book dragged, and not much actually happens.
I was bored throughout this book. The only thing that happens is that Tim and Valerie keep going back and forth as they want to be together, but they kept talking about how Valerie is committed to her job so she’s not going to distract herself with anything else, ie Tim.
There were some side characters, but they didn’t really have any personality. Valerie is obsessed with controlling her sister as she’s apparently so wild, and yet you don’t see her do anything that could show that. Tim’s son is constantly getting in trouble and he’s not communicating with his parents at all. I thought that Valerie might help with him a bit as they end up seeing each other everyday for some time, but he’s not shown enough to understand him.
This book should have been at least fine as it sounded interesting, but instead I was so bored, and I was having to make myself continue as I thought that it would get good soon. It doesn’t. So, this book wasn’t for me.
thebookrefuge's review
4.0
This was a very pleasant read. I was expecting a super erotic, hot lunber-sexual, BDSM romance. And this was 2 out of 3.
I felt the chemistry between Tim and Valerie right away. I thought it was hilarious that her sister and her new friend talked behind her back and tricked her into gong to the kink club. I felt for her reasons about letting the scene go. How she thinks it is no longer conducive to her career goals and that she needs to put it aside. Especially since she had some poor experiences with Doms in the past.
Tim is aching for a future family. He has an ex-wife who is a lesbian and his best friend and they share an 18-year-old son who causes them nothing but trouble and is not the easiest to explain to any woman who might be willing to give him a chance.
He hasn't found a woman or a submissive who wants to be that for him or that he wants to. Then he meets Valerie and though she says she wants nothing to do with him, the connection is undeniable. He is willing to take the time to convince her.
This novel was very sexy however; it also isn't dropping you in the deep-end of BDSM. I highly recommend it if you want to ease your way into a romance involving these elements. There were obviously scenes showcasing some aspects of the lifestyle but nothing that was overly shocking or hard to stomach if you are a newby. In fact, the author does a great job of showing how negotiation works and how to discuss limitations and expectations that more hard-core novels just assume you would know.
I give this novel 4 stars, because I was expecting more of the scene to be acted out in it and it ended right as things were getting good. But I really recommend it if you want to ease your way in!
I felt the chemistry between Tim and Valerie right away. I thought it was hilarious that her sister and her new friend talked behind her back and tricked her into gong to the kink club. I felt for her reasons about letting the scene go. How she thinks it is no longer conducive to her career goals and that she needs to put it aside. Especially since she had some poor experiences with Doms in the past.
Tim is aching for a future family. He has an ex-wife who is a lesbian and his best friend and they share an 18-year-old son who causes them nothing but trouble and is not the easiest to explain to any woman who might be willing to give him a chance.
He hasn't found a woman or a submissive who wants to be that for him or that he wants to. Then he meets Valerie and though she says she wants nothing to do with him, the connection is undeniable. He is willing to take the time to convince her.
This novel was very sexy however; it also isn't dropping you in the deep-end of BDSM. I highly recommend it if you want to ease your way into a romance involving these elements. There were obviously scenes showcasing some aspects of the lifestyle but nothing that was overly shocking or hard to stomach if you are a newby. In fact, the author does a great job of showing how negotiation works and how to discuss limitations and expectations that more hard-core novels just assume you would know.
I give this novel 4 stars, because I was expecting more of the scene to be acted out in it and it ended right as things were getting good. But I really recommend it if you want to ease your way in!
theladyinreds's review
3.0
I didn’t love this one. The pacing felt off to me and there was more talk than action. I liked the ending but it felt a bit abrupt.
shalan's review
4.0
That cover!
I really like that the issues between Valerie and Tim were adult life issues. It wasn’t about poor communication and misunderstandings. It’s really refreshing.
I really like that the issues between Valerie and Tim were adult life issues. It wasn’t about poor communication and misunderstandings. It’s really refreshing.