Dorothy Eckland was a straight-laced, self-contained professional loan officer with a routine. She kept to herself and liked it that way, until one day she happened to visit an antique store where she purchased an early turn of the century cameo. When she wore it, whether it was visible or not, she got compliments and attention, which the shopkeeper said came from the cameo's ability to reveal her inner light. The cameo sent her dreams of a tall slim man who called her his slut and made her climax in her sleep. Gradually, the cameo changed her entire life-the way people responded to her and the way she responded to them. The man in her dreams gave her more and more outrageous commands; and then a customer, Mike, came in for a loan to open a bondage club. Dorothy saw him as the man from her dream. And then, things really start happening.

First of all, this is not BDSM. There is not a trace of SM in here. There really isn't much B/d; it's more like Paranormal mind games with the threat of punishment to achieve coercion. Punishment in this case is mostly denial of pleasure. Dorothy's dream visitor plays definite Domination style mind games luring Dorothy out of her safe, staid habits toward a completely different existence, revealing the inner woman. What I find particularly sweet about this kind of story is that it gives the pent-up character, and thus the reader, permission to have pleasure. This is a short, quick read that does not waste pages developing a relationship between the characters, but really just explores Dorothy's journey from up-tight to anything-goes (thanks to the catalyst of the cameo) in a relatively tight short story format. If you like D/s fiction, you will enjoy this book.

Reviewed By: Maîtresse
(c) Sept 2004