Two-View: Sodom and The Phoenix by Ann Mayburn
on February 20, 2012 at 8:00 am
Sodom and The Phoenix
Author: Ann Mayburn
Publisher: Loose ID
Purchase: Amazon, Loose ID
It’s gang bang time again!! One book, Two readers, Two ratings and Two reviews!! I recently read how every girl should have a gang bang at least once in her life. I think it should be more than once, so… here we go!
Blurb:
Tanwen Evans has traveled to the world famous Sodom Virtual Reality Resort to find her passion. Her twenty year marriage to her high school sweetheart has recently ended, and with both of her children out of the house she finds herself alone for the first time in her adult life. Unwilling to trust her heart to another man, she believes that indulging in some racy virtual reality fantasies will help her find her long buried sexual side without the messy complications of a relationship. When she arrives at Sodom she discovers much to her shock, and fascination, she has been booked during the annual ‘Leather Kiss’ BDSM convention.
Bryan Hamilton isn’t a fan of virtual reality fantasies, he prefers real life any day of the week. As a founding member of ‘Leather Kiss’ he attends the convention at Sodom, but usually enjoys his submissives without the aid of technology. When he runs into Tanwen all of his plans change. With her gentle disposition and her ladylike manners she calls to him like no woman has since the death of his wife. He discovers that she is a natural submissive and begins a campaign to win her heart, that includes joining her in a series of mind-blowing VR adventures.
Tanwen has to fight her growing attraction to the handsome Master who is supposed to be just a vacation fling. The more they’re together, the more she finds herself yearning to have Bryan be her Master both in the virtual and the real world. She has to decide what’s more important, protecting her heart or taking a chance on the kind of love she’s always dreamed about.
Review by Sir’s Kitten:
Rating: 5 of 5 kinks!
I feel like Ann Mayburn’s theme song should be “I’m sexy and I know it” by LMFAO. Because hot damn I think each book get better and better! For the longest time I swore that nothing could get better than Breaker’s Concubine. But hold the phone it just got WAY better with Sodom and Phoenix. Holy hot damn! Ann takes us back into the world of Sodom (I haven’t read book one but now I’m totally going to!) And crash lands us in a Virtual Reality BDSM convention that not only makes dreams comes true, but made new dreams pop up in my head.
Let me just say that the scene in the Zoo. I have a whole ‘chase me fantasy’ and that one made the chase me fantasy in my head implode, and I was done. Nothing was going to get better than that for me. I’m not one for being shared. But WOW! This book made the prospect of a ménage encounter the most delectable thing on the planet.
Note to self: Find a place that caters to dirty Virtual Reality, call Anderson Cooper, telling him kink is in, and make him be my Dom, while dressed like a naughty animal. (I really hope that is not giving to much away, I think the spoiler would be detailing that whole scene). I have to say that from the first few pages I was sucked into the lead characters. I loved Bryan as a Dom. He is the type of Dom that makes my heart melt and turn to putty at their feet. I would willingly do what that man wanted to me to do at any time of the day! And Tanwen was so brilliantly executed! I loved her as a character. I got her vulnerability, I understood her standoffishness, and—sniffles, I cried TWICE in this book!
For the love of Pete, Ann NEVER stop writing! And if you get any better with these BDSM books I’ll be a gooey mess ALL THE TIME!
Great job! Amazing, sexy read, with a very well done storyline! Ann comes through again!
* * * * * *
Review by Penelope:
Rating: 5 of 5 kinks!
This is so not fair. I looked all over the internet, even called my travel agent, but I can’t find any Sodom Resort in Detroit or anywhere. Ann Mayburn does it again with a story that stretches the imagination, and inserts a story that had me losing a night’s sleep. I couldn’t put it down. Now, I need a vacation.
The concept for this story is that technology has developed to the point that a person can now live out their fantasies in a virtual reality world. On the plus side, there would be no risk of contracting STDs or sustain injury, and there’s no messy breakup situations if things don’t work out. Checking in and connecting to the computer program would make our “personal equipment” obsolete, while allowing you to experience the fantasy of your choice. You can become any avatar, experience any situation, place, or time that you can dream up. You can change your physical appearance however you want, choose the ideal partner, then play to your heart’s content. The con side would be, well, I’ll get back to you on that.
I must say I’ve never read a book like this, but that’s why I love reading books by this author. She pushes the envelope, and changes the rules, to provide a story that is erotic yet action packed. I could voice concern over the general evils that this sort of technology could pose, but this is a romantic erotica story, so I don’t have to psychoanalyze it, just enjoy it. The plot is out of this world good. The characters are in the 30/40 age range, and reflect the maturity and advantage this age group would have. The scenes are frequent and hot. The BDSM elements center more on the power exchange elements than techniques, yet there is a lot of great sex going on. The twists and turns have the advantage of incorporating computer technology so the surprises made me both laugh and, at times, groan. I also give kudos to the author for including a very memorable breast exam scene that I want to use myself.
I always seem to have a lot of difficulty reviewing any of Ann Mayburn’s books because she always has a lot going on, and I never seem to be able to encompass it all in my review. Any of her books give the ultimate value for the price and this one is no different. This series just keeps getting better and better. High praise for Sodom and the Phoenix.
