BLOG TOUR REVIEW & EXCERPT: The Deep End (Honey #1)

THE DEEP END is almost here, and seriously, you do not want to miss this brand new series starter from the incredible Kristen Ashley. Check out my review and an excerpt from the book today, then buy it tomorrow!

The Deep End (Honey #1), by Kristen Ashley
Publish Date: March 7, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: e-ARC, provided by the author and Inkslinger PR
Genre: adult erotic romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Enter a decadent sensual world where gorgeous alpha males are pleasure slaves committed to fulfilling a woman's every desire. At the elite Honey club, no boundary will be left untested, and one's darkest desires will become a sensual reality.

Olivier isn’t sure what he’s gotten himself into when he joins the Honey Club, only that a dark part of him craves the lifestyle offered by this secret, exclusive club.

When Amèlie invites Olivier to surrender, she pushes him to explore his deepest desires as a submissive. As they grow closer and find themselves falling harder than either of them anticipated, the truth about Olivier’s past could threaten the budding relationship they both long for.

You know that saying, "There's a lid for every pot?" The Deep End is a perfect illustration of this concept. Kristen Ashley introduces us to The Bee's Honey, a BDSM club where you can find a little bit of everything and everyone. Along with the sexiness that one would expect from a book that centers around the goings-on in a sex club is the kind of love and romance that only Kristen Ashley can deliver. 

It wasn't about how someone looked. It was about how they played, their experience and training, their personalities. At the Honey, there were no boundaries, anything went as long as it was consensual.

Amelie is the prima Domme at the Honey. A seasoned veteran, she's had it all - except for the kind of everlasting love that she wants so desperately. She wants a man who craves her domination in the bedroom, but is his own person out of it. She wants a man who challenges her and doesn't always give in immediately to her demands. She loves the thrill of the moment when he submits and especially loves it when that submission doesn't come easily. But, she doesn't want a mindless slave. It's a tall order, and one she is beginning to think is impossible to fill. Until Olivier walks into The Honey. 

Olivier, too, thinks his wish list will be hard to get. He comes to the Honey under slightly false pretenses, having fudged his admission application a bit in order to gain entrance. He's a beast of a man - 6'6", 240 lbs. of muscle, hard earned in his job as a fire fighter. He is an alpha male in every aspect of the word - except he seriously loves being tied up. It's hard to find a woman who not only won't judge him for what he likes in the bedroom, but willingly gives it to him and doesn't question or make light of his manhood. 

Olly and Amelie are absolutely explosive together. They were each adrift in their separate worlds, and when they collide at the Honey, it is hot like you've never seen before. But, if chemistry and sexual compatibility were all they needed to work together as a couple, both in the club and out, they would be set. It's not though - Olly's got two problems. First is the fact that he lied a little on his application for The Honey. Amelie is a stickler for the rules of the club, so she definitely won't approve. And second is the fact that Amelie is filthy rich and Olly isn't. He might submit willingly in the bedroom, but out of it, he's a man through and through. And his woman having way more money than him sticks in his craw. Both of them make mistakes along the way, but that just proves that, despite their proclivities, they're just like every other couple trying to learn how to make their relationship work.

So Amelie was besotted with a beautiful, sweet man called Olly whose last name she didn't know and this thought didn't make her smile fade. No fear clutched her belly. Not that single nerve end frazzled. Because she actually was a thirty-three-year-old woman who was besotted. And for the first time in her life, she was perfectly fine with that. 

While the story centers around Olly coming to grips with his wants and desires and Amelie trying to hold on to her chance of having the kind of forever love she's always wanted, we get to meet a whole new host of side characters that I hope will some day be main characters. The Deep End is gripping and sensual and so incredible. It's got way more sex than I'm used to from Kristen Ashley, but with the way she writes, that's not a bad thing. I loved everything about The Deep End and can't wait for more stories from the Honey.

She turned back to him. “You seem to have a good deal of stamina.”

“Amélie…Mistress, I don’t think you’re getting’ that I seriously find you not hard on the eyes.”

She bent closer, as intended for this part of their session, some of her fair falling on his chest in another caress. She did this letting her amusement show, if not all of the emotion she felt at his compliment.

“I wonder, mon chou, if you think you can butter me up with compliments.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Though not sure why I’d bother since I didn’t give you one and you just made me shoot a huge-ass load the like that have never come from my cock.”

“And he gives another compliment,” she said through a smile.

“You earn it, I’ll say it, he replied, his lips twitching. “That is, if I’m physically capable of speech.”

She was still smiling when she reached out a hand and delicately traced circles around his nipple.

His eyes darkened.

Her good humor increased.

“You’re of course aware I should do something about you being so audaciously cheeky.”

Another darkness crossed his face. “What?”

“I shouldn’t allow you to be cheeky with me.”

“Cheeky?”

“Impudent,” she explained.

The look fled. “You mean, in uppity, hot-chick speak, a wise-ass.”

Amélie couldn’t help it, she laughed softly.

“She’s got a pretty laugh, too, to go with that pretty accent,” he murmured and she saw his eyes on her lips.

I could get lost in this one, she thought. Lost and never found.

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA and nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!). Her mother said they took Kristen away, put her Mom back in her room, her mother looked out the window, and Gary was on fire (Dr. King had been assassinated four days before). Kristen's Mom remembered thinking it was the end of the world. Quite the dramatic beginning.

Nothing's changed.

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana and has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus, she's blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her family was (is) loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write. They all lived together on a very small farm in a small farm town in the heartland. She grew up with Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing, it keeps getting better.

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