If you're the kind of guy who lusts after the unobtainable superbabes who strut about on the world's catwalks or pose seductively on the pages of glossy magazines, then you absolutely must read this novel. As it says on the cover, Enthralled is a story of total male submission and author, Lance Porter, gives an uncompromising account of the outrageous things a man will do and endure in the hope of getting it on with a sex goddess. In the words of the hapless male protagonist, Matthew Crawley: "It was my misfortune to worship the flesh of a woman who held me in utter contempt." And hold him in contempt she does, making him drool, grovel and suffer, mentally and physically, just because she can. The woman in question is lingerie model Jasmine Del Ray and she must rank as the most heartless female in fiction since the Snow Queen or Cruella de Vil. But I for one could not help being completely seduced by her, and the meaner she was to our sucker hero the more I loved her. Imagine one of those sultry Victoria's Secret models suddenly endowed with the slutty vanity and menacing haughtiness of Naomi Campbell and you've come some way to picturing Lance Porter's tantalizing creation. If you're a male with even a single submissive bone in your body you'll fall instantly under her spell. I often found myself wishing that Matthew Crawley would be a man and stand up to this spoilt superbitch instead of letting her walk all over him; yet I knew deep down that if I were in his place I'd be crawling behind her immaculate Gucci heels begging for crumbs just like him. It was this conflict the narrative stirred between and my rational liberal self and my dark sexual longings (Portnoy's complaint, I believe its called) which made Enthralled such an enthralling read for me. I felt that my own terrifying potential was being played out before my eyes in the character of Matthew Crawley, who gives up everything, even his liberty, to win the woman of his dreams only to suffer the worst imaginable rejection.
Enthralled is witty, insightful and excellently written and could easily pass as literary fiction. But don't let this put you off! It is a downright dirty read and jam packed with titillating adult content. If you're partial to sexy female feet and footwear, the torment of tease and denial and bossy bitchy beauties, then you need to get hold of this book right now. It could turn out to be the Venus in Furs for the new millennium