A Rose of Any Colour - Male Dom
Canice Brown-Porter et al
Freya's Bower
ISBN: 1-934069-81-7
Fiction, BDSM, Erotic Romance
Reviewed by Jasmina Vallombrosa

In their latest collection, Freya’s Bower offers us six enticing tales of male dominance woven around the timeless and eternal symbol of the rose. Highlighting some of the new storytelling talents of the genre, the authors include Canice Brown-Porter, Miranda Heart, Kayleigh Jamison, Emily Ryan-Davis, Katrina Strauss, and Joe Wilson.

Beginning with Canice Brown-Porter, she tells us the beautiful story of Morgan and how her desire to become the one and only for her Master soon becomes her all consuming passion. Miranda Heart continues with the journey of Kaitlyn. After reading her innermost secrets and desires written in her journal, her boyfriend decides to turn her fantasies into reality. Little does she know that she has touched something central to his core and that he is a secret dom.

Kayleigh Jamison then leads us on a delicious adventure with a historic twist. Anna’s brother has wracked up huge gambling debts. As the only one in her family to possibly work them off, she finds employment the only way she knows how. When the darkly handsome Vere shows up to save her from her fate, she quickly wonders whether or not it is destiny that has led them together. Emily Ryan-Davis continues with the compassionate story of a married couple going through difficult times. Will they find the strength to do something to save their relationship by disclosing their hidden wants?

Katrina Strauss continues with her haunting tale of eternal love mixed in with breathtaking memories of an artist and his muse. Joe Wilson finishes the collection with his delightfully tantalizing story of just how much fun building up trust with another human being can be.

All in all, this is a thoroughly entertaining collection of sensual stories. I personally enjoyed the variety of themes and plots, all linked to the image of the rose. Thank you, Freya’s Bower, for giving us readers yet another exciting collection.

TCM Reviews

4 Klover rating for A Rose of Any Colour: Book 2, MaleDom

‘A Rose of Any Colour: Book 2, Maledom’ - 4 Klover rating - http://www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com/aroseofanycolour_jennifer.html
Reviewer: Jennifer

On Bended Knees was well-written, with characters that sparked interest from the beginning. I loved the premise of this story as it began and I eagerly turned each page as the story built to its conclusion.

But then Lord Evan did something I could never have imagined a responsible Dominant would do. Without giving it away, I will simply state that I strongly feel Lord Evan broke Morgan's trust in the worst way, and trust is paramount in a BDSM relationship. Without it, you have nothing. I truly cannot imagine how Morgan can ever believe in her Dom again after the way he treated her near the end of the story.

If this story had been classified in the horror genre, and had an ending that followed the horror theme, I would have accepted it. But this was a BDSM romance, and so Evan's actions instead came across as simply abusive.

Canice Brown-Porter is obviously a talented writer, with the ability to captivate with her words, effortlessly creating imagery in the reader's mind to match her story. However, that one scene ruined this entire story for me.

I just read the above review that Jennifer at Kwips & Kritiques did on my story, ON BENDED KNEES. To say the least, I was happy with the overall review. Wanting to classify it as horror kind of threw me off. The Dom did nothing wrong to warrant him as abusive nor to diminish the heroine's trust in him. She wasn't physically harmed or maimed.

However, my story is fiction about a real lifestyle. I would never dishonor the lifestyle or the individuals by writing "fluff bondage" and calling it BDSM. If I am going to write BDSM, I'm going to write BDSM. My story contains several lessons in it regarding the psychology and the trust factor that go hand-in-hand in these relationships. Lord Evan taught his submissive a valuable life-saving lesson at the end without bodily harm. The reader must realize this entire story is in the heroine's POV and fear creates a cocoon as to what an individual is focusing on at any given moment.

While Jennifer wouldn't elaborate on the ending, she certainly said enough to pique interest in my story even if on a negative note. At any rate, I'll take the 4 Klovers and smile.

Congratulations to all the authors in this anthology!

4 0ut 0f 5 from BDSM Reviews of A Rose of Any Colour: Book 2, MaleDom

Another great review for A Rose of Any Colour: Book 2, MaleDom from BDSM Reviews!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A Rose of Many Colours
Reviewed by Elise Logan
Title: A Rose of Any Colour: Book 2: Maledom
Author: Canice Brown-Porter
Publisher: Freya’s Bower
ISBN: 1-934069-81-7
Genre: Male Dom anthology
Publication Date: 2007
Rating: 4 of 5

As we’ve previously discussed here, reviewing anthologies can be a tricky business. There always seems to be some unevenness in the stories – one that shines brighter than the others, one that doesn’t seem to hold its own. In this case, I am pleased to say that I didn’t think any of the stories detracted from the anthology, which is a rare thing in any anthology and a nearly unheard of thing in an anthology about BDSM. Generally, I can’t call a single story my favorite, because I have more than one. All of the stories were worth reading, and they varied enough to have a little taste of many different types of domination.

I’m going to go through these individually, so each story gets a little mini-review.

The first story in the anthology is Canice Brown-Porter’s On Bended Knees. The vignette opens with Morgan having just completed her training with Evan. The story which follows is an exploration of the power exchange of a submission. The issues of trust, limits, and communication are all explored with honesty and a good dose of reality. The lifestyle perspective (not just a little role play) is strong and clear, and makes for a balanced examination of the situation. However, so much emphasis is put on the situation that the characters are not as fully developed as I would like to see. The dialogue is quite formal – even stilted in some places. This, combined with the surface nature of the characters, very nearly overrides the connection between the Dom and sub. Even so, the story is well-executed and it is clear that the author is well-acquainted with the lifestyle. There is an extremely hot masturbatory scene, and a lovely description of the Ceremony of Roses. Overall, I’d say this was a solid, well-done glimpse into the most important aspect of dominance – the power exchange.