A more unusual “book” review from me – this time I’m reviewing an author, not just her books (mainly because I couldn’t pick just one).
I’ve been wanting to write a review for Jade’s books for quite some time but have held off due to the fear that my review wouldn’t do her extraordinary books justice. Having just read a 12th book of hers, I think I may have finally found the words.
Jade’s books aren’t for the faint-hearted or easily offended; multiple partners, sex clubs, the more extreme elements of BDSM – you name it, Jade’s gone there and gone big (sorry). She takes a perceived societal taboo and gives it a thoroughly relatable human face whilst also fully embracing raw, gritty reality; a very difficult line to walk (write) but one that Jade manages seamlessly. Nothing is included purely for shock value; the detail or theme is there because it’s essential to the story. This is not just erotica, although her books are undoubtedly scorching hot, this is spectacular storytelling with a very erotic theme.
It’s so difficult to find well-written stories with a heavy erotic element that when you do find it, it’s pure magic; the story absorbs you to the exclusion of all else. Every book is beautifully executed, heart-renderingly evocative, compelling and highly original. Every character is different from the last and all are from different walks of life. Most novels you read exclusively feature quite intellectual types – lawyers, teachers, CEOs etc. Jade has a good smattering of these but also mechanics, waitresses, cleaners etc. and all are wonderfully depicted, which only adds to the realism for me. Some of her books feature the well-off (even millionaire) but, so far, there’s not a billionaire in sight which is delightfully refreshing. Also extremely refreshing is that these are all set in Britain. All her male characters are suitably appealing to the female reader and nothing about their relationships is seedy – a remarkable achievement given the topic. These are everyday people with wild fantasies; the hook is that they get to live them out and there’s a Happy Ever After.
Jade’s bio is instantly captivating for sheer originality:
“Jade West is a contemporary erotic author, real life submissive, and former sex chat-line operator, who is plenty used to getting people all steamed up with her dirty mouth. She has a healthy interest in pornography, men in suits and taking 100 strokes with a cane ‘Mood Pictures’ style.”
I love that she’s put herself out there so honestly and applaud her courage in our highly judgemental world. Her somewhat-different-from-the-mainstream experiences are brought to bear in her writing which truly cannot be compared to any other author I’ve so far discovered.
Jade’s books enable me to check out a side of life I know very little about and I like to educate myself about lots of different things, some of which might be outside my natural comfort zone. Done in such a captivating manner, I can’t wait for the next instalment.
I’ve included blurbs from her novels below and quick, summary reviews from me.
If you like raw, powerful, erotic novels, I highly recommend checking out Jade.
Novels:
Bait – Edgy, thrilling and totally original.
“A stranger online. Dark hair and even darker eyes that knew my dirty desires before I did.
A fantasy that should never be spoken. But he pulled the confession from me.
And now he’s coming for me.
Rough. Dirty. Dangerous.
It’s supposed to be one night to get me off and make me forget.
He’ll make me his and I’ll pretend I don’t want him to.
I’ll run and he’ll chase.
Because I asked him for this.
I begged him for this.
Tonight, in the darkness, he’s the hunter.
And I’m the bait.”
Dirty Daddies – This was the first book of Jade’s I read and was initially wary due to the fact this could’ve been the age-old man in position of power taking advantage. Jade surprised me though and found a way to make this work without it being at all icky.
“Some bad girls need a firm hand to keep them in line.
I’m bad enough to need two.
Two older men who can teach me a lesson when I misbehave.
Two hot bodies to keep me warm in bed at night.
Two best friends who can learn to share a filthy-mouthed little brat like me.
After all… dirty girls need very dirty daddies.”
Buy Me Sir – This is probably my favourite Jade West novel; secret lives, extreme sexual tastes, a bad divorce, poor vs. rich – this book has it all.
“They call him the puppet master.
They say he’s dirty, dark and dangerous.
And they’re right.
He’s everything they say he is, and more.
So much more.
Alexander Henley has no idea I exist. No idea whatsoever how much I want him.
But that’s all about to change.
Because if there’s one thing I know about the puppet master, it’s that he pays well to pull women’s strings.
And I’m going to be his next purchase.”
Call Me Daddy – This book embraces the age gap and indulges in Daddy play. Like a warm, comfy blanket.
“I want him to be my first.
I want him to be the one.
I want him to be my everything.
I didn’t expect to spend my eighteenth birthday stranded in the pouring rain with no way to make it home.
I didn’t expect to be rescued from the worst night of my life by the most amazing man I’d ever seen.
His name is Nick, and he says he wants to take care of me, says he’ll look after me, says I don’t need to be alone anymore.
He treats me like a princess, like the fragile little girl he saved from the cold.
But I like him… I like him like that.
I’ve never liked anyone like that before…
And it’s weird, this thing we have…
It’s like I can’t decide how we’re supposed to be… what we are…
Until he says the words…”
Sugar Daddies – Polygamy’s getting more press these days and this was a brilliant rendition. Who wouldn’t want more than one guy serving your every need? 😉
“A sugar daddy website doesn’t seem a sound basis for an A1 life plan, but I’m a small town girl with big dreams, and there’s this one advert, this one crazy advert I can’t stop thinking about…
Two hot guys seeking their Little Miss Right.
Someone who can entertain them, amuse them, fit in with their corporate schedule.
And sex. They want sex. Lots of sex.
Bonus, right? One major dose of epic win.
Of course, guys like Carl and Rick have their conditions. One being that they come together, or not at all.
Hell, I can live with that.
And there are no skeletons in their designer closet, none that I can find.
Just two hot sugar daddies, with particular tastes, nothing to worry about.
Until Carl and Rick spill the big one, the one that sends the girls running. A whole string of them before me, running to the hills without so much as a backward glance.
Maybe I should run, too. Thanks but no thanks, see you around, guys, nice knowing you.
But I’m already in way too deep for that.”
Bang Gang – This book attempted so many different, tangled threads of real life relationships and utterly succeeded at them all. Such relatable characters and a wonderful rendition of small town life.
“It’s one thing knowing your ex-boyfriend is a bit of a player, but it’s another thing altogether to find out he’s offering his services to anyone who’ll pay good money for them.
Not just himself, either. That would be far too regular for Darren Trent.
Darren Trent – my teenage sweetheart and father to my two young girls – is not just putting himself up for sale.. Oh no. Darren Trent offers his escort services alongside four of his mechanic friends – all of them at the same time.
Five hot, sweaty mechanics at your service. They call themselves the Bang Gang… you can imagine.
In a village our size I should keep my head down and hope the scandal blows over before the girls or my poor old Nanna catch wind of it.
Only it’s not blowing over. Far from it. It seems every woman in the village wants themselves some mechanic action. They make no qualms about it, either. Just rock on up to my café counter and ask how they can book themselves in for a Bang Gang special. Like I would know.
I definitely wouldn’t know. I hardly even know Darren Trent anymore. We split up a lifetime ago.
I definitely don’t think about him late at night. Don’t think about five mechanics and me as much as every other woman in this village.
And even if I did, I wouldn’t act on it. I wouldn’t draw the money from my savings account and have a go for myself.
And even if I did that, I definitely, definitely wouldn’t fall for him. Not again. Not after everything we went through. Not after splitting up the first time nearly brought me to my knees.
Not after settling into a decent routine, the girls and me, with no drama, no heartbreak, no crazy passions to rock the calm little boat we’re sailing on.
I mean, who would be stupid enough to risk all that over a hot, sweaty, oily bit of rough like Darren Trent?”
Dirty Bad Wrong – Loved the fact this dealt with how wider society as a whole can be so judgemental of certain life-choices that are actually none of their business in a consensual relationship. Wonderful secondary characters who make appearances in subsequent Dirty Bad books.
“They call him Masque.
I call him God.
The man I want to consume me, own me, break me and corrupt me.
Yet I’ve never seen his face.
His body ripples like an Adonis, sculpted in steel and dripping in sin. His flesh is inked with the mark of the chimera – one body, two very different halves.
He plays hard.
He plays rough.
He has no limits.
He’s so fucking dirty bad wrong.
But I love him for it.”
Dirty Bad Savage – A refreshing power-play reversal with her in the professional position of power and she introduces him to the BDSM lifestyle.
“They say Callum Jackson’s a savage.
No home. No prospects. No self-restraint.
He’s red-flagged on my system, a grade-1 aggression risk, totally off limits for a woman like me.
But the rules don’t allow for my dangerous games; they don’t bend for my twisted desires.
Callum Jackson is the most beautiful beast.
A beast I can’t stop thinking about, can’t stop wanting, can’t stop hunting…
…I just pray to God this beast bites.”
Dirty Bad Secrets – When it’s easier to have kinky sex rather than actually talk truthfully with someone about your feelings.
“It’s been three years since I set foot in Club Explicit, and three long years since I set eyes on Andy Morgan.
He doesn’t want me here, doesn’t want to know me, doesn’t want to even hear my name.
But I’m back on his doorstep, in his office, in his life… with a suitcase full of dirty bad secrets.
Faye Devere is out to claim her old life back. Three years in Italy have come at a heavy price, and she’s running back to the only anchor she has left: her fifty-fifty share of Club Explicit, and the man she left to pick up her pieces.
But Andy Morgan’s long over it. Long over her.
Club Explicit is his baby now. His club, his rules, his way.
Andy’s not a man who shares easily. And certainly not with the woman who upped and left without so much as a goodbye.
When your battlefield is London’s horniest playground, and sex is the sole weapon left in your arsenal, it’s only a matter of time before the fight gets dirty… and the secrets get dirty bad.”
Dirty Bad Strangers – I loved this book and not just for its thinly concealed digs at a certain awful former columnist. This book explores non-conformism from sexual desires to appearances. And I adored Gemma in all her full-figured glory.
“He calls me his dirty girl.
He’s just a caller, a sex line client, an anonymous pervert like all the others.
Except he isn’t.
He’s under my skin… his voice, his laugh, his twisted fantasies.
He wants to watch me with other men. Lots of other men.
He wants me blindfolded and bound and taken by strangers until I’m a used-up mess.
Then he wants to take me himself.
I should hang up, report him to my supervisor.
But I won’t. I can’t…
… because I want him, too.”
Teach Me Dirty – I was initially wary of this novel’s theme due to male abuse in position of power concerns but again, Jade won me over in a few chapters and this is the first book of hers to actually make me sob.
“They tell me it’s unhealthy, just a stupid crush. They tell me it’s infatuation, and will never come to anything. Never mean anything.
Because what would I know, right?
I haven’t even finished school. I’m just a silly little girl.
And no little girl should want the things I want from him.
No little girl should have the thoughts I have…
But they’re wrong.
I really do love Mr Roberts.
I love Mr Roberts because he’s the most amazing man, the most amazing artist, the most amazing teacher that could ever have existed.
And what if… just what if Mr Roberts wants me, too?
What if Mr Roberts really does want to Teach Me Dirty?”
Play Thing (with Jason Luke) – The most overtly submissive-themed book but also deals with trafficking and prostitution. True submission isn’t forced, it’s a choice.
“I’ve been sold. That’s what he tells me. Sold as a rich man’s plaything to the highest bidder. I’m to be shipped to the other side of the world, where I’ll disappear without a trace. I’ve nobody coming after me, nobody who’ll even know I’ve gone.
But I’m no plaything.
I’ve already been rejected for sale once. Not fit for purpose. Too fiery, too uncouth.
Two choices remain. Submit or perish.
They’ve sent in the big guns, him. The dark sheep of the family, and the only man left who stands a chance of taming me.
We’ve both got everything on the line – his business empire, and my very existence.
And time’s ticking…”
©Eleanor Small
