I’ve debated writing this post for a while, but observing apparent patterns of purchasing behaviour when it comes to the Club Aegis books, I decided to take the plunge and put fingers to keyboard now.
First of all, let me say I am massively grateful to each and every reader who’s bought a book or chosen to read it through Kindle Unlimited – thank you so much. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Club Aegis of the series title is a fictional BDSM club, where the members are current or former members of the British armed forces, or intelligence or emergency services. And in common with probably the majority of BDSM-related stories, most of the Club Aegis stories feature male Dominants.
However, two of my stories deviate from that dynamic. In A Wanting Heart, Ryan and Fiona are second-chance lovers who are only starting to discover a different type of relationship, where she takes control in the bedroom. Their exploration is in its infancy, so the D/s is very light in this fairly short read.
However, in Passion’s Last Promise, the hero and heroine are both experienced in the lifestyle. Simon Northwood is the CEO of a high-tech company, a workaholic who needs the services of a bodyguard when he starts receiving kidnap and death threats – and an alpha male submissive. Ros – short for Rosamund – Edwards is a former Royal Military Police officer and sexual Dominant. Their paths cross when she is given the assignment as his close protection officer.
Now, I completely understand why a reader who enjoys D/s romances could be wary of trying a story where the male is the submissive – that was me a few years ago. I had no interest in reading a romance with a female Dominant. Then I found a wonderful series written by a wonderful author, and I binge-read through every book available at the time – except for the one with an alpha male submissive. I was utterly convinced I’d hate it.
But it was the only book in the series I hadn’t read, and I hate leaving things unfinished like that, so I took the plunge and bought the book, thinking that if I started it and hated it, I could just stop reading it.
The thing was, once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. That story blew me away.
Here was an amazingly alpha male, submitting to a woman he found attractive and ultimately fell in love with. He was every bit the hero, yet he was at his strongest when he was with her. There was nothing remotely weak about him. I loved – and still love – that book so much, I re-read it time and again. Writing this post makes me want to read it again now.
But from that book, I learned that a main male character who is the submissive in the relationship isn’t diminished as a hero. Simon Northwood isn’t a nerdy wimp. He’s strong enough to lead a major (if fictional) company, and strong enough to submit to the woman he’s been searching for since he first became aware of his own needs. He finds her in Ros, but their relationship is professional, and Ros takes her job very seriously.
If you want to read how Simon wins her over… you can find out in Passion’s Last Promise.
