Hurt Me So Good (Connaghers) [Paperback]

When Hurt Me So Good arrived in my inbox I was thrilled to finally read Victor's story. Joely teased us for months with little snippets and I was desperate to finally read this book. I knew he would be more intense than Conn but wowza I didn't expect this. *fans herself* So I should warn everyone if you're not fond of BDSM this book isn't for you.

Victor is the CEO of VCONN, a local Dallas TV channel which specialize in the more erotic topics. He is a Master at heart and for him pain is more like sex than anything else. He doesn't only like to deliver the pain, he also uses it on himself if there's no other way to relieve the pressure building inside him. Victor is 100% sure that no woman would be willing to freely accept what he has to give. He had this one traumatic incident with his ex-fiancée- she wasn't prepared for his darker side because he hid it through their relationship and he scared her away- big time. Now he's afraid that he is just too much. So he keeps this side of himself under lock and key. It hurt me so much to see him suffer. He completely believes that he will never find someone who truly can take it all. When he meets Shiloh he is immediately attracted but he struggles with accepting her surrender and promise of submission. He's afraid of hurting her in a bad way and that she will run away and leave him behind- alone and heartbroken. This would break his heart and this time it would be broken for good. At first for me it was hard to see this strong and dominant Master with so much doubt and conflicts in himself. He should be the strong and confident one but it gave him more "realness". I never really like these perfect characters in books and Victor is just exactly right for my taste. He was demanding at some points and yes perhaps one scene was a bit too "intense" for me but it's all about pushing your limits and yes I enjoyed it a bit perhaps. *wink*

Shiloh is one kind of a woman. She's strong, intelligent and knows what she wants: Victor. She's been working at VCONN for some time now and wants to get closer to Victor without looking like a desperate underling trying to catch his attention by all means e.g. walking naked in his office. Since day one he seems to ignore her and she just has to know if he really is the Master she believes him to be. She sees her chance with a new show and when he accepts her challenge she can finally get closer to him and see him like he really is.

As you can imagine this book is full of erotic scenes. Yes most are really intense and I'm sure I wouldn't survive any of this. It's hard to explain but even though I don't share the inclination for that much pain I could always see and feel why the characters did this and that. I think it speaks highly of Joely's writing that she didn't lose my attention even when her characters did thinks I wouldn't even consider in my darkest moments. It was always really erotic and sometimes also shocking. A fascinating combination that caught me unguarded at moments. How can I find something erotic and at the same moment think it must be hurting too much.

Joely drew me in no matter where the action went. Her story-telling is compelling and fascinating. I loved her characters and I can't wait to read more about the other characters we met in Hurt Me So Good. I highly recommend this book to all erotic lovers with at least a bit of inclination towards BDSM in their books.
Extraordinaire writing with a compelling fascinating and highly erotic story- Victor just won't lose you attention. It's not his name for nothing. ;)

Warning: This review is all about me and my prejudices concerning the SM part of BDSM and how I realized I might be a little deviant too *g*. Bear with me, I am no longer prejudiced LOL. Yes even I can learn !

Hurt me So Good is one of those books that I have a hard time reviewing. Why? Because while I devoured and LOVED it, I'm a bit torn about my feelings toward Masochism (and I can't not say something about that). After being blown away by Dear Sir, I'm Yours , I couldn't wait to read Victor's book. I was not disappointed, he is so intense and dark *swoon*. I am fairly new to the BDSM world, and in comparison to Victor's book, Dear Sir, I'm Yours was pretty vanilla lol. The title, Hurt Me So Good is perfect for this book. Here we are introduced to another kind of BDSM, a tougher kind.

Victor is more than just a Dom, he is a Master and he loves inflicting pain. He is a sadist. Which is fortunate since our heroine loves pain. When I say love...I mean LOVE pain. This is why I'm torn. I shudder at the simple idea of pain, I just can't imagine taking pleasure in pain, and the whole book is based on that. The heroine is pretty much addicted to pain. It's weird but somehow the Sadist part didn't disturb me at all, only the Masochist part (Maybe you should start thinking about what this means about you Caroline...huh!). There now, you're gonna think I didn't enjoy this book, and you'd be wrong! I'm torn between giving it 4 1/2 Bookies and giving it a perfect rating. Why? Because Joely Sue Burkhart did it again. She worked her magic and made me open up my mind to a new lifestyle. She really succeeded in educating this poor reader without scaring her away. I got to understand the characters' motivations and I wanted more.

Victor is one piece of work. I love how intense and imposing he is. I would be scared if I ever was alone in a room with him lol. Even more since his favorite tool is a crop! (but he's also pretty impressive without it too) *shakes in her boots* He is sexy as Hell and radiates power. He might be a bit scary but I loved that he was in control of himself. He is not crazy (<==you can see here how I was prejudiced before reading the book) and asks himself the good questions...he searches for his limits. That's what makes him 'safe' in my opinion. What make me trust him. Shiloh was harder for me to get at first. I wanted to slap her sometimes and when I talked with a friend about that she didn't agree with me. What disturbed me was that she seemed to have no limits. I just didn't get that. For me no limits means DANGER. Of course everybody has limits (or they are just psychos), I just needed to keep reading and stop bitching all the time, the answer was found later in the book. *wink*

The story was very interesting, I loved the concept of a BDSM Reality show. I learned a lot about this lifestyle and all it's different aspects. The goal of that show was to educate the audience and show BDSM in a good light. Mission accomplished...I learned a lot and it doesn't look as scary as before! I laughed a lot too, at Patrick and his pony fetish *whinny*. Shiloh and Victor together are sizzling. Shiloh loves to talk dirty, which makes for very hot smex scenes! All their scenes together made my blood boil. I loved when Victor lost control. It's very very erotic *drools*. I also never thought I could be turned on by branding, but here I was, reading about Victor marking Shiloh with his V and I found that very hot O_O. I think they are just perfect for each others.

All in all it was a very mind-opening book. I couldn't stop reading and never once did I think it was too much. Joely wrote very believable and complex characters and made me understand why they did what they did. This is a great story, I really love Victor and I found the ending perfect. It could have easily turned into too much for me but it didn't. I felt more educated and more open-minded after reading Hurt Me So Good. I keep thinking about this book, I even dreamed about it. It is one of those books that stays with you for a long time after you've finished it. I cannot wait for Vicky's book now. I'm already wondering what wickedness she could be hiding , since it seems to run in the family. *wink*

I give Hurt Me So Good 5 Bookies.

BDSM just doesn't do it for me. However, my beloved sister's Connagher books most certainly do. (Warning: might be a wee bit biased, as the author is, indeed, my beloved sister.)

This latest one is no exception. Victor is both a Master (a term that would make me snort if it didn't fit him from toes to ponytail) and a true sadist, someone who not only enjoys causing pain but actively needs to do so. To deny that urge is to deny a part of himself, like an arm or his heart.

In fact, it's exactly like denying him his heart. Which is why he's done both for so many years when we first meet him at his... ahem... interesting cable station. He let a little of that monster out the last time he let his heart run around a bit, and he's never been quite the same.

Enter Shiloh, a sassy submissive who is one of the few people I'll believe has the true power in such a lop-sided relationship. She revels in pain, revels in doing any little (or big) thing her Master wants. The problem is... said Master doesn't know he wants her yet, and she's having a spot of bother getting him to let down his guards.

See, even for Shiloh (perhaps especially for her), Victor is an intimidating man. Though he ruthlessly suppresses his sadistic side, he can't completely hide who he is, and that confidence, that charisma, that _need to dominate_ just oozes from him. Anyone with the right set of sensory equipment can feel it, and oh, does Shiloh have the right equipment.

Of course, Joely would never make it so simple. If Shiloh could just offer her pert little butt for a whipping with Victor's favored riding crop, it wouldn't be any fun. Or any emotional torment for the reader.

It just so happens that Shiloh is Victor's employee. Yeah. As if they weren't already un-PC enough, right?

But this is a review, not a plot synopsis, so I'll move on. I don't want to tell you everything, because, seriously, the ride is all the fun. Not half, not three-quarters. All of it. You have to read this book to understand how someone who wants to be hurt and someone who lives to inflict pain can truly work out a solution without someone ending up dead.

No, scratch that. You just have to read this book.

See, it's not just about the "kink". It's not even about the sex. It's about what two people need. It's about trusting their partner to provide that need. It's about two people finding their perfect match and then fighting for that perfection.

It isn't easy. And some scenes ain't even pretty. This is a raw, pain-driven world, and people who just want a little spanking are in for a rocky, even bloody surprise. These people aren't in it for the show, and if you forget that, you'll probably wince away from what you're reading.

But if you're game to open yourself up to just a little of the intensity of a man who'd rather hurt himself than the woman he loves enough to want to damage (read that a couple of times to get the irony behind it), then this is absolutely the book you want. I've read it three times myself (not counting early drafts), and I hate hate HATE the idea of Dominance/submission in my own sex life, but... oh... when he really goes to work with that riding crop....

Yeah.

If I had a rating system on my blog, this one would be off the charts. Not just because it's excellent reading with snappy (occasionally blush-worthy) dialogue, killer setting, and smokin-hot romance, but because it... I dunno... shows that you don't have to be damaged in some way to want this lifestyle.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen or read how studies show that people who lead such alternative sexual lifestyles were abused as children or molested as teens or, hell, even just walked in on their parents having sex and were scarred by it. That's the wrong kind of press. Not everyone in the kink set is damaged.

That's not to say that everyone doesn't have scars, but not the kind that "cause" a "deviant" lifestyle. Not sure I'm plainly stating what I mean, but I think you'll understand when you read.

Victor and Shiloh aren't "damaged". They're wounded from past relationships, but in the same way the stiffest, most proper Regency romance hero and heroine might be "damaged" because of ill-advised affairs or match-making mamas. They fell for the wrong people and lived through it.

And now, oh now, they have each other.

What's more happily-ever-after than that?