Nature of Desire – Mistress of Redemption By Joey W. Hill

The white-collar life Jonathan Powell created for himself is gone. Standing outside Wentworth prison after serving his five-year sentence, he knows he has to start over. No more hooking up with Dominant women so he can enjoy the challenge of screwing up their minds. But who knew his last target would be a psychopathic killer who tried to off two cops? No, it wasn’t the game that was the problem. He just made some key mistakes. Mistakes he won’t make again.

Then Mistress Dona shows up to give him a ride from the prison into his new life, and his resolve goes out the window. She’s everything he can’t resist. Dona knows she has to help Jonathan make the right choice this time, because Hell doesn’t offer options. He has to understand and accept what surrender truly means. His only hope is a Mistress of Redemption. The problem is she may lose her own soul in the attempt to save his.

Reader Advisory: This book contains a very gritty and frank journey to Hell and contains many BDSM elements. Some of the situations and scenes may be disturbing to some readers. It is not for the faint of heart. Features Jonathan from Natural Law.

Devon can be found at her blog, Is that a stake in your pocket?

Devon’s Ebuzz

Mistress of Redemption by Joey Hill, is the author’s most recent installment in her “Nature of Desire” series, in which she explores BDSM and what draws people to it.

The hero of this book (and I use that term loosely), is Jonathan Powell, who previously appeared in Natural Law, and was mentioned in Holding All the Cards. Jonathan is an all-around bastard, and a sub who tops from the bottom. He manipulates his lovers into thinking that he cares about them, then destroys them emotionally.

He ends up in prison for his role in the attempted murder of Mac Nighthorse (the hero of Natural Law.) MoR picks up with his release after five years in prison. He is picked up by the mysterious Mistress Dona, who takes him to Hell and back.

Literally.

This is Jonathan’s journey through Hell, as Dona forces him to face his crimes, and hopefully cleanse his soul. Mistress Dona is not only Lucifer’s minion and Jonthan’s torturer, but also his soulmate. And she hopes that she can actually help him. But she’s going to have to make him suffer at first, but that’s cool, she’s into that too.

This was a fascinating read. Ellora’s Cave gave it the X-treme rating, and it is that. Not for the faint of heart. There was some rough stuff here. I winced a couple of times, and I’m pretty hardened. But it never came off as exploitative or unnecessary. It was more like a bizarre form of therapy to help Jonathan to face his crimes and understand his true self. But therein also lay the problem for me. There was some heavy psychological stuff here, and I found the exploration of what motivated both Jonathan and Dona to be very interesting, but not particularly erotic.

I was much more caught up in the psychological elements than the romantic ones. I was much more curious to read why Jonathan was so fucked up than in the HEA. I think the difficult subject matter required a certain amount of readerly distance, to make it more palatable. I was happy that they did find some happiness, though.

So, in short, this was a very compelling read, but not so much a romance for me. But one thing is undeniable, I think that Hill is one of the strongest, most intelligent writers of romantica that I have read. She has a great grasp of what makes her characters tick and of the strange hold of BDSM on some people. If you’re curious, try Natural Law. One’s got to build up to this one.

You can buy this here and find her other titles here. Thanks Devon!