Friday, October 3, 2014

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?
 















October 10----Devon's Discipline by Adaline Raine Discussion by Renee Rose
October 17---- The Slave Girls and The Spy by Patricia Green Discussion by Celeste Jones
October 24--- Taming Princess Anna by Sue Lyndon Discussion by Patricia Green
October 31----The Coach's Discipline by Katherine Deane Discussion by Adaline Raine
November 7---Given To The Savage by Natasha Knight Discussion by Katherine Deane
November 14---Warrior by Cara Bristol Discussion by Sue Lyndon

6 comments:

  1. 1. Were people turned off by that first scene? That first scene was one of the hottest scenes I have read in any book... I don't know what that says about me. I don't think it bothered me at the time that Brianna was cheating on her husband because I didn't even know who her husband was. I did love that by the end of the scene you knew she didn't even really like Jake and she was actually really upset that Markus was going to find out. I think it was a really excellent opening to a book- it through you right into the thick of the plot.

    2. It bothered me that Markus left. I understand it, and I think it makes more sense for the story because Brianna isn't supposed to know at first that she is married to this man who is actually an experienced Dom, but it really bothered me the whole book. I think if he was going to leave her for Lukus to deal with then at least shouldn't have left. He could have stayed there.

    3. I think the fact that Brianna was into the pain made it more acceptable. It would have been a much darker book than it already was if she wasn't enjoying it on some level.

    4. I felt the same way. I read it really fast because I needed to know what happened next. Normally I want the HEA, I want the heroine to find true love and ride off into the sunset with her man. But about halfway through this book I realized that I didn't care if Brianna ended up back with Markus. I wanted a resolution between them, but I didn't actually care about Markus at all.

    5. I thought Lukus' attraction to Jennifer was a little quick... but it's a romance novel. I was totally fine with how quickly the interest between the two of them blossomed.

    6. I liked Brianna from the beginning and I think that is really a testament to the author because here is this chick who pretty much has an ideal life and she throws it all away for a chance at some kinky sex. You should hate her. You should not want to ever know anyone like her in real life. But I kind of loved her, she was strong and flawed and admitted her mistakes and wasn't even letting herself take all the blame by the end of the story. I loved that.
    I liked Lukus as soon as he started showing Brianna some compassion. He is actually like a completely different character midway through the book. I would venture to say the entire book turns into a different kind of book midway through.
    Markus, oh Markus. Maybe he will win me over in the sequel...

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  2. Holy moly, what an exciting day for me. To have Wanting it All a focus of Celeste's book club is itself amazing, but to have not one but TWO of my favorite authors in the genre hosting because they loved my book is truly one of those highlights of your career kind of day. I can't thank Cara and Natasha enough for not only today's focus on Wanting it All, but their support all along the way by hosting me on their blogs, getting the word out in social media and their amazing reviews. Thanks to you too, Celeste for hosting me on your review. Much appreciated.

    I'm so glad you liked the book too, Casey. I sort of feel bad for poor Markus because he does get the short end of the stick in WIA, but if you stick with me in Securing it All, I do a deep dive into what the drivers were for his actions. Honestly, he is as flawed as his wife, and hopefully I was able to make you continue to care about him too in spite of his flaws.

    ~Livia

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  3. I'll answer the question since half of them aren't mine!
    1. I think the book was harsh and the language fit that. I would not call this a romance. Erotica perhaps, but it wasn't erotic in the traditional sense. These were flawed characters doing bad things--all of them--and it made for a compelling story.
    2. I do understand Markus's reasoning totally. He felt so completely and utterly betrayed--and he was. That he wasn't there, added another layer to the story. If he had been there--he would have understood Brianna's reasons and felt her contrition and the story would have ended much sooner. :-)
    3. In all honesty, if Brianna hadn't been a pain slut, it would have just been a horrible beating--as if Markus had hired a couple of thugs to break her legs with a bat.
    4. Definitely compelling. Violent, but compelling.
    5. This was one part that really didn't work for me. I loved how devoted and concerned Jennifer was toward Tiffany. But Lukus shifting emotion after he'd been so attracted to Tiff, didn't ring true to me. This was the one "bump" in the book for me.
    6. I liked all the characters. Even Markus. When Lukus went to see Markus and he was so distraught and was so relieved that she hadn't signed divorce papers, that showed me how much he cared. I wish there had been more of Markus' POV in the story. (I know it's in the sequel!).

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  4. I bought these books because of an excerpt Livia had for Saturday Spankings. It completely drew me in and I had to find out what happened, but I have a feeling I'm going to need to read the second book before I get my HEA. Still, Livia, I applaud you for taking the risks you did by having such flawed characters. Since I've now been warned it's not a romance, I will read it as a straight story. Not sure if Securing it All qualifies as a romance or not, but I look forward to reading it as well. Great discussion, guys. Sorry I'm so late to the party, but I wanted to at least drop by.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Kathryn. I just started reading Securing it All. I'm getting more of Markus's POV now.

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  5. I'm late to the party! I want to say that one of the things I liked very much about the book was that it pushed buttons and wasn't sweet. The question on the pain slut - I think I don't really understand that term. I assume she's a masochist? Did that make a difference? Well, if she wasn't a submissive and wasn't kinky, I would have called it abuse.

    Lukus' feelings for Brianna then shifting to her best friend I can see. I had the feeling he found Brianna very attractive and if you're dealing with someone in that capacity, some sort of bond or connection does form. However, his feelings shifting, that worked for me because he knew all along that Brianna was off limits.

    I liked Lukus very much (I don't know why but I just did) and he is the one who stands out for me in this book. Markus will have to work to redeem himself and I'm just curious about Brianna and Jennifer/Tiffany (I am getting the names mixed up now!!). I'm looking forward to reading the rest in the series.

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I love getting feedback. Thank you for taking the time to comment!