Welcome, glorious beings! I hope the day finds you well, because today…we have a special guest! Say hello to Raven Dark, provider of last week’s Friday Fun post, writer of erotic romance, and especially BDSM erotica!

Who is Raven Dark? As a young girl she  dreamed of being abducted by a savage alien warrior, whisked away by a brutal pirate, or rescued by a cape-bearing hero. When none of these men came to claim her, she brought them to life in her stories. Then twelve years ago she met the man of her dreams. He doesn’t wear a cape, fly a spaceship, or wield a sword, but sometimes she swears they’ve mind melded.

Currently, Raven lives with her dream man and their one cat that thinks she’s a dog in the Mundane world’s version of Ontario, Canada. When she isn’t working on her latest erotic romance novels and crafting interesting worlds in which to set them, she’s spending too much time with friends, feeding her Youtube addiction, or curled up on a couch watching favorite shows with her future husband…

But today, she’s here to share a bit about her upcoming full length debut novel, Unlawful Desire, and give us some insight into why she writes!

From The Author’s Pen…

I’m often asked why I write erotic romance and BDSM, but especially BDSM. It’s difficult to define what draws me to this genre because every story I write is different, but I can tell you what drew me to write Unlawful Desire, the book that just went live today.

Over the few years I’ve been writing and reading BDSM, researching into the lifestyle, I’ve noticed an alarming misunderstanding surrounding the genre. Specifically the view a lot of people have, that BDSM’ers enjoy abusing or hurting others, or they like being abused.

This is simply not true. There are practitioners who are into pain or humiliation, but properly done scenes come with informed consent and a safeword, safety protocols that an abusive relationship doesn’t have. Abuse is about power, whereas BDSM, when done correctly, is about fulfilling a fantasy both parties are into. Plus, humiliation, pain, those aspects of BDSM are only a small portion of a much broader world. The misconception is so prevalent it boggles the mind. I’ve lost count of how many times people have asked me why I like writing about “freaks who like abusing others.” Or why a strong, independent woman would want to “let a man abuse her.”

Yes, really.

When Unlawful Desire’s plotline came to me, I saw the perfect opportunity to incorporate the misconceptions that surround the lifestyle through the hero and heroine’s experiences.

As a professional Domme and former sub in the small town of Clayton-Moss, Annabella (or Ella, as everyone but Rock calls her) deals with this exact misconception every day. Having found out about it when Ella suffered an accident from a scene gone bad, her family disapproves of her kinky lifestyle, and they make no bones about it from the very start.

Simply because of his involvement in BDSM, they see Rock, her ex and former Dom, as an abuser, and Ella as being too blind to see what he was doing to her. Because Ella is also the daughter of one of Clayton-Moss’s founding families and the future heir to the town’s major real estate business, she’s a predominant figure. She deals with the same problem a lot of people face, knowledge that most of the people around her won’t understand her lifestyle choice, so it’s vital she keeps it under wraps. Especially with someone trying to blackmail her out of her empire.

On the surface, Unlawful Desire is an erotic romance about a couple getting a second chance at love, while teaming up to overthrow a greedy land developer who’s trying to take over Ella’s father’s empire. But there is a deeper underlying theme which I think makes this story stand out.

A lot of people become scared the first time they fantasize about their partner tying them up, thinking they’re wrong in the head. Even with how much more awareness there is toward kink these days, people fear they’ll be labeled sick or demented.

I’m hoping readers, especially ones who question their kinky side, will take away from the book an understanding of themselves. Individuals who into BDSM are not weird or sick, they don’t need curing, and they aren’t monsters. They’re normal, everyday people who come from all walks of life. A healthy fantasy life is not only beneficial, but chances are, everyone has at least one, even if it’s on the mild end.

This theme is only touched on in the first book, but each novel within the Men of Clayton-Moss series (each of which are stand-alone and deal with a different couple) is intended to delve deeper into the problems that arise from ignorance and stereotyping, as well as what happens when people prey on our fear of the unknown.

Overall, I love writing erotic romances because they tap into something so many women want, and don’t see enough of in real life. Happy endings and falling in that forever kind of love. But when it comes to the BDSM, at least with Unlawful Desire and my Men of Clayton-Moss series, I wanted to offer up something more than the standard fair. I wanted to open people’s eyes and tell those who might need to hear it, they are normal. They are worthy of love, and there is someone out there for them who will understand.

Thank you Belinda for having me, and for giving me this chance to talk about my baby!

From the back cover: Their deepest secret could be their destruction…or their salvation. 

Curvy ex-submissive Annabella Clayton has no problem taking charge in the boardroom, or the bedroom. But as the future head of a major real estate empire in the small town of Clayton-Moss, she has to keep her life as a Domme under wraps. When greedy land developer Jake Scalder threatens to ruin her father’s business any way he can, she knows her BDSM lifestyle would cause just the kind of scandal he needs. Her only chance to save all that she and her father have built is to team up with gorgeous, relentless lawyer Rock McCarthy. Trouble is, Rock’s also her former Dom, and the man she let walk out of her life six years ago. 

While scrambling to expose Scalder’s corruption, their passions reignite, burning hotter than ever. Rock reawakens the hunger for his dominance Annabella’s buried for so long. But while he drives her deeper into his addictive world of rough fantasy, their enemy draws closer to discovering their forbidden secret. Can they take Scalder down before his plans succeed? Or will he destroy Annabella’s reputation and tear her and Rock apart forever? 

Warning! This book contains a BBW heroine who likes filthy talk and being called names in bed, plus a broody lawyer who’s happy to oblige. There are a few mild, brief ravishment scenes that are clearly role-play, but if you have triggers, please do not buy this book!

Excerpt:  “Funny, I heard mention of a Mistress E. from one or two of the men at the club, but I never dreamed it would be you. How long have you been switching?”

“I don’t, not really.” She looked away. “I don’t sub anymore.”

“Never?”

“Nope.” A leaden sensation settled in Rock’s stomach as she got up from the couch and walked across the room to the window. She worked her hands over her lower back. From pain, or just a nervous habit?

He stood and followed her. His hands itched to work free the tension in her shoulders “Why did you stop subbing?”

“That’s a long story. I don’t want to talk about it.” She bowed her head and he could hear the pain in her voice.

Who hurt you? Protectiveness for her rode him hard but he forced himself not to press. “All right…” He bit back the urge to call her “girl,” the way he had when she was his. He had no claim to her now. If what she said was true, he never would again.

She turned to him. “I’ve asked you twice, more than I ever ask a man anything Rock. Why are you here?”

A smirk pulled at his mouth, heat spreading through his cock. “Nice dominance, Annabella. Too bad I don’t submit.”

“Ever?”

“Nope.” He wasn’t turned on by having a woman take control of him, but the possibility of fighting her for dominance made him hard as steel.

“Too bad you aren’t mine anymore. If you were, I’d tan your hide exactly like I used to when you stepped out of line.”

Her teeth flashed in a stunning grin. Despite what she’d said about not subbing anymore, he couldn’t mistake the heat in her eyes at his words, or the way she lowered them a fraction from his before her chin jerked back up.

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“And now I’m not going to. This is too much fun, watching you deal with a man you can’t command.”

“Ugh.” She spun to the window and he thought he heard her wince, her back tensing. “You’re as much of a jackass as you were six years ago.”

This time he couldn’t resist setting his hands on her shoulders and massaging them gently. His chest hitched when he felt the thick layers of tension there and the quivering breath she let out.

He put his mouth close to her ear. “You all right?”

“Why did you come back?”

“Disappointed?”

“No, but…”

The tightness in his chest loosened. He turned her around and cupped her face. “I’ve missed you, Annabella.”

Something flickered in her eyes, but he couldn’t define it. She didn’t speak, but lay her hand on his cheek. Did that mean she missed him, too? God, he couldn’t let her leave now, never knowing where things could have gone.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

She drew a shaky breath. “I can’t.”

“Why the hell not?”

“You know it can’t go anywhere. You are a Dom all the way and I can’t give you what you want. Not anymore.”

Want more? You can grab your copy of Unlawful Desire here, and follow Raven Dark on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, her newsletter, at her blog, or even join her street team!