Spanking Stories Book Club: Wanting It All by Livia Grant

Wanting it All by Liva Grant is such a significant book that it takes two people to lead this discussion. Thanks to Natasha Knight and Cara Bristol for co-hosting the discussion of Livia Grant’s book, Wanting it All.

Wanting it All Blurb

Brianna Lambert has it all. After escaping an abusive ex-Dom, she has the good fortune to find and marry the love of her life. Markus’ gentle and devoted love has helped her put the pieces of her life back together. There’s only one problem. As the years go by, Brianna finds herself missing the excitement of the BDSM lifestyle. If only she could talk to her gentle husband about her secret desire to be dominated in the bedroom, but as a submissive, she finds she can’t make the words come. 

When her ex-Dom resurfaces in her life, the flames of lost desire are reignited, leading Brianna to make a decision with shattering consequences. 

As Brianna’s best friend, Tiffany O’Sullivan understands and even shares Brianna's hidden desire for a alpha male to protect, cherish and punish her when she's earned it. Still, Tiff is furious when Bri puts her life and marriage at risk for a fling with her abusive ex. 

When Brianna disappears, Tiff tracks her down at a local BDSM club where Markus has sent his wayward wife to atone for her infidelity at the hands of his own best friend - club owner, Master Lukus Mitchell. Tiff may go to The Punishment Pit to rescue her best friend, but quickly finds she may need rescuing herself after encountering the Master’s Master. And when Markus is again ready to confront his wayward wife he, too, must come to terms with a secret past. 

 

Intro from Natasha

After reading a sample of Livia Grant's Wanting It All, I immediately found myself drawn to the book and one clicked to buy as soon as it was released. I would categorize this book as BDSM and not a spanking romance and would love to hear how others reacted to it.

Into from Cara:

Everyone took risks in this book –Brianna, Markus, Lukus, Tiffany, and author Livia Grant herself. From the very beginning with the opening scene, Livia Grant breaks all the rules. She shows the characters’ ugliness first—and then makes you care for her characters.

Their questions:

1. The book opened with a pretty hard core sex scene between Brianna and her ex-boyfriend. The reader learns very quickly that Brianna is cheating on her husband with Jake, but it's too soon to have an investment in the characters (even as first judgments may play a role as far as the infidelity is concerned). For this question, I'd like to focus more on the actual language/sex/spanking scene that took place rather than with whom it happened although I don't know that we can separate them entirely. This scene absolutely grabbed my attention because it wasn't watered down or softened. Brianna wasn't being made love to and she wasn't taking an OTK hand spanking. There wasn't a lot of tenderness in this scene. In a way, I feel like this book pushed a little bit because of this hardness that was present throughout the story. As a reader, how did you feel about this opening? Did it turn you on or off to the book and why?

2. Lukus ended up being the one to punish Brianna. Markus, her husband, delivered her to The Punishment Pit and left her there. Granted, he knew and trusted Lukus, but for me, Markus got a little checkmark in the negative column for that because I felt he should have been more involved. How did you feel about this aspect? Did you understand Markus's reasons? Could you forgive him? Did you feel Brianna was getting what she deserved or did you want Markus to change his mind and not leave her at TPP?

3. Let’s talk about the issue of consent and Brianna’s reaction to the pain. Brianna is coerced into agreeing to the severe and painful punishments, and Lukus was willing to beat her until she signed divorce papers. Because Brianna is a “pain slut” the punishments didn’t break her. Did fact that she was a pain slut make the violence more acceptable or palatable to you? What if Brianna had just suffered horribly without experiencing that high, would that have changed your feelings toward what happened and toward the characters?

4. The punishments were extreme right from the start and never let up throughout the book. Humiliation played a large role right up until Lukus carried Brianna up to his rooms. The book is an erotic read but instead of titillating, the scenes in Wanting It All had me turning the pages to see what would come next and all along, I wasn't sure what I wanted to come next. What was your reaction to this aspect of the book? 

5. In the book Lukus becomes attracted to Brianna, and then his attentions shift to Jennifer. It's a plot device  (I felt) to show that Brianna wasn't indiscriminately cheating--she had a chance to overcome temptation. But do you think Lukus could have shifted his attentions to someone else that quickly?

6. By the end, did you like Brianna, Lukus, and Markus? Did your feelings toward them change as you read the book?

 

Wanting it All (Passion Series book 1) Buy Link

Securing it All (Passion Series book 2) Buy Link

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