Hi there! I’m sharing a review for a new erotic romance from best-selling author Kristen Ashley. THE DEEP END is the first book in her Honey series and has all the hotness and all the sweetness and all the sexytimes.

About the book:
Enter a decadent sensual world where gorgeous alpha males are committed to fulfilling a woman’s every desire…
Olivier isn’t sure what he’s gotten himself into when he joins the Honey Club, only that a dark part of him hungers for the lifestyle offered by this exclusive club. Here, no boundary will be left untested…and one’s deepest fantasies will become an exquisite reality.

When Amélie invites Olivier to surrender, she gives the alpha submissive what he craves. Soon they both find themselves falling harder than they ever anticipated—but as their connection deepens, the truth about Olivier’s past could destroy everything…

Gripping and seductive, The Deep End is the first book in a sensational new series from bestselling author Kristen Ashley.

How about a little taste?

She turned back to him. “You seem to have a good deal of stamina.”

“Amelie…Mistress, I don’t think you’re getting’ that I seriously find you not hard on the eyes.”

She bent closer, as intended for this part of their session, some of her fair falling on his chest in another caress. She did this letting her amusement show, if not all of the emotion she felt at his compliment.

“I wonder, mon chou, if you think you can butter me up with compliments.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Though not sure why I’d bother since I didn’t give you one and you just made me shoot a huge-ass load the like that have never come from my cock.”

“And he gives another compliment,” she said through a smile.

“You earn it, I’ll say it, he replied, his lips twitching. “That is, if I’m physically capable of speech.”

She was still smiling when she reached out a hand and delicately traced circles around his nipple.

His eyes darkened.

Her good humor increased.

“You’re of course aware I should do something about you being so audaciously cheeky.”

Another darkness crossed his face. “What?”

“I shouldn’t allow you to be cheeky with me.”

“Cheeky?”

“Impudent,” she explained.

The look fled. “You mean, in uppity, hot-chick speak, a wise-ass.”

Amelie couldn’t help it, she laughed softly.

“She’s got a pretty laugh, too, to go with that pretty accent,” he murmured and she saw his eyes on her lips.

I could get lost in this one, she thought. Lost and never found.

My Review:
Amelie is a well-respected Domme searching for an alpha submissive to play with. She’s intrigued by the newest “toy” at the Honey Club, a big, brooding man called Olivier. One look and she knows she must have him–at least for one night.

So she takes him, and gives him exactly what he’s been searching for: a worthy Mistress to submit to. This book is all about finding your way, even when it’s not what you expect. Olivier has long believed his desire to be a submissive renders him weak, and he’s struggled to build any lasting relationships as a result; he just can’t articulate his needs. He got some advice from a good friend who owns a kink club, and sought out Mistress Amelie, recognizing that her reputation was absolutely deserved. Still, Olivier cut corners in order to get his membership the the Honey, and that he has minimal experience in BDSM and kink put him at risk for abuse. Amelie isn’t that kind of Domme, but she does make assumptions that Olivier can’t quite handle.

These two get on like a house on fire, when they aren’t burning themselves to ashes. Amelie wants a partner, and Olivier wants a partner, but neither can see that they need to talk it out more, because their chemistry is so in sync. It took me a while to warm to Amelie, and it wasn’t because she’s hard. She’s just a super thinker. Like, she thinks and thinks and considers and mulls, and rambles. Being in her head didn’t connect for me, at first. Not until she started to think about other people besides her own self, her desires and her needs. She seemed one-dimensional, for about the first third of the book, but then she really put her focus on Olivier, and her friends, and I could see through her veneer and recognize she’s just a self-isolating character. That she’d been hurt badly, and struggled to open herself up to further vulnerability, until she began falling for Olivier.

Olivier is conflicted throughout most of the book. He thinks he needs to conform to a hetero-normative, masculine ideal. His emotional needs are also complicated by his fear of being “less than” due to having less money than his dear Amelie. I liked how his father really set him straight. I also liked how Olivier owned his mistakes, and his hot-temper, and made amends for how he goes off at times. Their language and thought patterns are so different, which made being in their headspaces very interesting.

As for sexytimes, whoa. There are lots and they are intense. Amelie is a creative Mistress, and she know how to ring Olivier’s bell. Over and over and over again. Olivier is a fun guy to observe, as he’s so open and in your face, and so absolutely grateful to Amelie for wringing him inside out and sideways. While I felt it started slow, I was turning the pages double-time by the end. There’s some background shenanigans that cause distress later–with a rogue Domme harming her “toys”. Because Amelie steps in she becomes a target. I liked how all this played out, and how it set up a few jumping off points for new books in this series. I expect new books will feature new couples, and I’d be eager to follow their stories, too. Amelie and Olivier cement a complete HEA, and their kinky ways are sure to please fans of erotic or BDSM romance.

Interested? You can find THE DEEP END on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, GooglePlay, Kobo, IndieBound, and BAM.

About the Author:
Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA and nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorize and she hadn’t taken her first breath!). Her mother said they took Kristen away, put her Mom back in her room, her mother looked out the window, and Gary was on fire (Dr. King had been assassinated four days before). Kristen’s Mom remembered thinking it was the end of the world. Quite the dramatic beginning.

Nothing’s changed.

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana and has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus, she’s blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her family was (is) loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write. They all lived together on a very small farm in a small farm town in the heartland. She grew up with Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing, it keeps getting better. Catch up with Kristen on her website, Facebook, twitter, sign up for her newsletter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram.