Joey Hill knows that many of those attracted to the BDSM scene are the walking wounded, coping in one way or another with damaged souls. She knows that the D/s mindset finds those whose spiritual calluses are the toughest (after all, what does a callus cover but that which was once the most tender?) or the most fragile; and being two sides of the same coin, the opposites of this spectrum are drawn together like magnets.

In this day and time, computer dating is commonplace. The Internet is something that touches most people's lives now, and in the universe of people who read eBooks and who incorporate computers in a utilitarian way into their lives, there is probably not a single soul who has not experienced some form of online romance. Virtual relationships are part of contemporary experience. Virtual relationships are strange creatures though, because everything is filtered through the conduit of words. Language, in virtual reality, is the vehicle of love. And it is clear that Joey Hill knows this. Words are her tools, her playthings, and her instruments.

Joey Hill is just plain gifted with words, and using one of the best devices I've seen a writer employ, grants her hero the gift of words too. Thus empowered, Mark, the Dominant hero of Virtual Reality talks his way into the heart of his tentative, willing and submissive Shy Kitten, Nicole. Online the two of them remain incognito. They know and love each other as intimately as two people can--a rare communication contingent on courage, understanding, passion and compassion. But they don't know each other's locations or names, or because they haven't exchanged photographs, even their basic appearances. Their whole lives revolve around their online power exchange, but in this story once the exchange becomes real, Mark pronounces that the day--and their time together in person--will end. Joey Hill takes her elemental knowledge and with it paints for us a Dom and a sub whose togetherness begins on the Internet, but whose relationship is just too much to be contained online, and seeps out into the real world when the sub--against the wishes of her Dom--seeks him out. This leads to the really big question here: Mark is truly a wounded duck with a dark history that works against him. Will he accept Nicole into his life? Or will he turn her away?

There are two elements in this story, which make it stand out. First is the intimate voice, which cuts straight through to the characters' emotions. Second is the language. Nothing else reveals as clearly that we humans are mental as well as physical animals, and our emotions can be stirred, and built, and broken with mere words. This is an intimate look at a D/s relationship. If you aren't into words as seduction, this book is not for you. The language here is powerful, moving, and sexual. A must read for the D/s crowd.

Reviewed By Maitresse
© March 2005