Home › Review › Screwing the System

Screwing the System

Review 44
, , , ,

ScrewingTheSystem72lgTitle: Screwing the System
Author: Josephine Myles
Cover artist: Lou Harper
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Amazon: n/a
Genre: contemporary BDSM romance
Length: novel
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

A guest review by Sirius

Summary: One of the most enjoyable BDSM lite romances I have ever read with memorable characters.

Blurb:

He’s nobody’s bitch. Until he gets a ride on the bitch seat.

Forced to apply for a job he doesn’t want, Cosmo Rawlins has only one aim in mind: fail the interview and get back to making music. Except his attempt to shock the older, sharp-suited Alasdair Grant doesn’t have the desired effect.

Instead of getting thrown out of the office by flaunting an interest in BDSM, Cosmo finds himself on his knees, apologizing to the sexy, good-looking Top.

Alasdair has more important things on his mind than training a novice sub, especially a rebellious bad boy like Cosmo. But there’s something beneath the younger man’s defiant attitude that’s too intriguing to ignore.

As Alasdair takes Cosmo in hand—and for a wild ride on his Harley—he becomes obsessed with bending the young rocker to his will, both in and out of bed. Until he goes one demand too far, and Cosmo is gone in a cloud of dust. Forcing Alasdair to admit that earning Cosmo’s loyalty—and love—will involve the toughest challenge he’s ever faced.

Product Warnings: This title contains an overbearing Top with a less-than-glamorous job, a rebellious brat who refuses to call him sir, and a total lack of high-end BDSM clubs or playrooms. Expect floggings over the kitchen table instead.

Review:

This writer’s style really works for me and I really enjoy BDSM romances (although I have my limitations), so this was a very easy choice to pick for review. I have an interesting relationship with BDSM themed stories – I tend to enjoy sex in them more than I enjoy stories with vanilla sex, but I have not found that many of  them to enjoy due to my limitations.

I,for example, really hate the Psychic!Dom characterisation. I am sure those readers who like BDSM stories know that character – he meets the other guy usually in the club and knows usually within the first few minutes that not only is the other guy  into BDSM, but that other guy is a sub. Moreover, he proceeds to initiate the other guy into BDSM regardless of how ready he is. And of course he is always always right. I cannot stand that trope. I also really like to be shown that both guys are into BDSM, that the game brings them joy and fun and satisfaction; in other words I like to be in both their heads, not just in the Dom’s head.

This story just pleased me on so many levels.  While I never find the sex in Josephine Myles’ works to be gratuitous, I remember thinking while reading some of her past works that even though I learned a lot about the guys building a relationship, I would not have minded knowing more about them as well rounded people, not just people in the relationship.  When I finished this story  I was sad to say good bye to Cosmo and Alasdair, but I thought I knew all about them that I needed and wanted to know.

I was really amused by how supposedly the Psychic!Dom in this book turned out to not to be one. I am sure this is not the only story where Dom actually makes mistakes and realises that he does and works to correct them, but I actually only remember reading very few of those (and more recommendations would be welcome by the way). I really liked Alasdair pretty much right away and his attraction to Cosmo I thought was well done. Yes, it was very fast, but I interpreted it as Insta!Lust, not Love at all and I really enjoyed reading how Ali slowly realized that he is in fact falling in love (it may not have been that slow in the story time, but it felt like it to me). I really loved Cosmo’s rebellious spirit, him refusing to compromise on some things and at the same time realizing that he may have gotten something very special with Alasdair.

More importantly I really really loved how Cosmo and Alasdair were shown to be two people falling in love, stumbling along the way, both of them making mistakes and learning from them, not just people who grow to realize that they can have awesome sex together. I thought the BDSM was not hardcore at all, which again made sense because Cosmo was a novice pretty much. I was also really amused how Alasdair did not have a dungeon and was perfectly capable to work a scene at home and because he was actually skilled in the art. I do not have a personal experience with BDSM, but surely a lot of people do it at home and do not necessarily in the dungeon or go to the clubs?

The story was definitely an erotic romance, and when I think about it it did have a lot of sex, but surprisingly I did not feel that it was too much. I already reread it three times and without skipping a single sex scene, which is not something I do with too many books.

I also thought that besides doing a very good job in portraying two people making their relationship work, the author included some interesting commentary on class distinctions in Britain. It is not that I do not see the distinctions between the poor folks and rich folks while living in US, of course I do,  but I also think that this story portrayed something different than what I observe living in the US, something I find hard to put it in words.

I also think that the humor in the story was wonderful and the scene closer to the end of the story between Alasdair and his friend Roger was a great example of that humor.

Highly recommended.

The book is available from Samhain Publishing on February 12 and could be pre-ordered on Amazon now.

Author

Sirius

Related Posts

44 comments

  • I really hate you right now :smile:. I’ve been waiting for this book for what seems like forever and waiting one more week is even harder now that I know it’s really good. Not that I’ve ever been disappointed by Jo Myles’ writing.

  • Hi Kaija please do not hate me even more – but the book is available February 12 not 2. That is why I almost posted review last week – thought it was 2 and forgot to change it . You can preorder it now though.

    • Oh no, that means I won’t be able to get it untii later in the week as I’m travelling. I hate preordering because I’m now used to the instant gratification of ebooks – no more waiting for books to arrive by post.

      • I hear you about the instant gratification Kaija. Believe me I am the same way, but at least when you get back the book will be there for you on your device 🙂

  • I just pre-ordered! Thanks so much for the birthday present Jo!

    I just have to say that I also love Jo Myles writing style. I have been waiting for this one as well and I am thrilled that is an enjoyable read. I loved her short and I am glad she decided to make the story longer.

    Thanks so much for the review Sirius. I can’t wait for 2/12.

  • What did I ever do to you that makes you inflict these must buy books on me? I think I might have just promised Feb’s book fund away as well……and it is down to you 👿 Sirius.

    • Hmmm,nothing less than you do to me heeee :). I hope you will like it. Trust me I loved it as I rarely love the book full of sex, but they were just such fun characters for me, truly jumping off the page. At the same time when I feel so exstatic and enthusiastic about the book, I am always more worried that somebody will hate it, you know? Not in a sense that I care if somebody hates it, but in a sense that I would wonder maybe I should have toned down my enthusiasm, just a bit, like maybe I missed something wrong with the book.

  • Great review. I am really looking forward to this one and have it wishlisted on Samhain. Now I want it even more…

    I also have my limits in BDSM, but this story sounds perfect.

    • Hi Susinok. When I just started reading BDSM romances, I was unused to reading anything more hardcore, now I still cannot read some BDSM elements (I probably mentioned it before – like bloodplay for example), but my limitations are now mostly about the mindset of the characters. It is just for me it is way too easy to portray perfectly safe, sane and consensual BDSM as abuse, and when I do not see what is in the characters’ head, especially when they are engaged in more hardcore play, I usually tend to bolt out :). I hope you will enjoy this book.

      • Josephine Miles has not disappointed me yet, I’m sure I will like it. I have liked everything else by her I have read.

        • I liked all her stories too Susinok – but this one I really love. I hope it works for you, please let me know what you thought?

  • You post a review about a book not out yet that sounds like something I now absolutely have to get???? :grumble: You had me with the summary… Good thing that I still have all of my book budget for February… although there are always more books on my wishlist than money in my budget – in part thanks to the reviews/free books here – which means that I don’t really have the money to spare but will buy anyways. sigh. Oh well, there are worse things to spend more money on than you should than books 😀

    • Hi Andrea yes book budget could be tricky :). But this book just madee sooo happy I hope it will be the same for you.

  • Hi Sirius! Thank you so much for the review–I’m thrilled you enjoyed it so much because I know you’re not always keen on stories with lots of sex 🙂

    Regarding the class issue–this is a very British preoccupation and I’m never sure how much the rest of the world understands the crazy traditions we still seem to be stuck with over here. Basically, Alasdair is a self-made man and his success has put him into the company of the upper (or upper-middle) classes, some of whom can be terribly snobbish about those with working class roots. He will never be one of them no matter how hard he tries, because he doesn’t have the right surname and can’t trace his family back to the Doomsday Book. It’s one of the things that drives me mad about this country!

    Anyway, I hope I didn’t rant anywhere or act like an author with a chip on her shoulder. I’ve had good friends from all walks of life and across the social classes, from the homeless, junkie underclass right up to those with titles. Ultimately, we’re all just equal as human beings and it behoves us to remember that.

    Okay, rant over 😉

    Thanks again for the review 😀

    • Hi Josephine thank you so much for agreeing to come and comment especially on the class issue :). As I mentioned to you I was not sure as to what I was seeing in the book (re : the possible social commentary) and was really curious to hear what you intended to do with it if anything. So discomfort I thought Alastair was feeling in the company of his friends/ acquaintances was not something I imagined right? And if snobs look down on people who originally came from lower classes but achieved success because they worked hard, I hope it does not stop those people from working hard? I mean if you manage to make a lot of money because you work hard and do something you enjoy , it is still a good thing even if some people think that to be worthy of their attention you need to have a long family line or something like that?

      Thanks 🙂

      • No worries! I don’t normally comment on reviews because I know it isn’t always welcomed, but it was good to be invited to do so 😀

        Alasdair’s discomfort was not imagined, and yes, you’ve got my intentions spot on. There is a certain attitude among some of the upper classes (by no means all), that working for a living is somehow vulgar, and that it’s somehow superior to live off your family’s money. Utter twaddle, clearly, but that antiquated attitude still hangs on in certain circles.

        I don’t think this attitude puts anyone ambitious off working hard, though. We are moving closer towards a more genuine meritocracry like you have in the States. I don’t see the same fawning respect for titled landowners that I used to. Inheriting wealth doesn’t make you any better than anyone else. Respect has to be earned by actions, not money.

        *Vaguely leftist rant over, before I start betraying the anarchic leanings of my youth* ^^

        • Fascinating. Thank you. I have to ask about scene with Roger at the end, which was hysterical if you ask me – can just imagine the expression on Alasdair’s face lol. Besides humor, was it also a suggestion that we as human beings may discover unexpected similarities and common interests no matter what stations in life we are coming from? But it was just so funny.

          • Oh yes, absolutely! And you have my editor to thank for that scene. It originally had a much more downbeat ending which she didn’t like, and I’m so glad I changed it.

            The fact is, we all have far more in common than that which divides us. That’s why I love writing “opposites attract” – it’s such fun to find that common ground in the most unlikely pairs of characters.

          • OOOOO, you did not plan on killing them off, right? Right? 👿

            Seriously though, I still felt the downbeat note in the ending, what with people loosing jobs, so I really appreciated both guys being adults and figuring out what matters to them. And I definitely thank your editor for humorous note injection :-).

          • I would never kill off a character! Well, maybe if I was writing a thriller or something, but not in a romance. And only a minor character. All these years later, I’m still scarred from when my favourite character was killed off in Torchwood 🙁

          • Good :-). I wont have to check the endings of your books first. Oh wait, I will do it anyway, because I do it with the most romances I read lol 🙂

  • Oh Josephine I have another question – was the absence of the Bdsm clubs deliberate in the story? I know I groan by now every time I am seeing clubs and dungeons in bdsm themed book? I am not keen on public sex in the first place, but I have read some really good ones, does it need to be in every single story though? It is as if people who like bdsm just can’t have it at home?

    • Oh yes, that was a very deliberate absence. I have absolutely nothing against the concept of fetish/kink clubs and public sex, but like you I have become increasingly frustrated by the way they seem to be included in almost all BDSM novels.

      The vast majority of kinksters out there don’t live anywhere near a club like this, and most are exceedingly happy to get their rocks off at home. There’s also no need to have an expensively kitted out playroom. I wanted Alasdair to go against the cliche in that respect: yes, he could easily afford to make a home dungeon, but he doesn’t feel the need.

      Besides, I think that having kinky sex in the kitchen/bedroom can be just as exciting as in a specially designated room. Perhaps more so, because it feels more transgressive. Fortunately Alasdair agreed with me in that respect. I like it when my characters behave the way I want them to (they very rarely do!)

      • Loved sex in the kitchen :). To me, dominance/submission is more about psychology than toys anyway and that is why I so appreciate – less toys more skill set up and toys as a secondary tools 🙂

  • Thank you Sirius! I really love this author’s writing style (and the fact that the books are set in the UK, where I lived for 5 years) and I was caught at the summary and after reading your review I’m totally snared 🙂

    • Hi Orania, so the setting will probably be very familiar to you, I only visited London for a week in 2000 and would love to visit Britain again one day. I hope you like the book.

  • Oh my! You made me even more curious to read this book! It sounds awesome! Can’t wait!

    Thanks for the lovely review!

    • Thanks Larissa. Have you read other works by this writer? I think if you enjoyed them, it is a pretty good bet that you will like this one. If it is going to be your first book by her, then it is harder to assess 🙂

  • Thanks for a very thoughtful review Sirius. I’ll be reading this book this week because your review touched on many areas that have put me off BDSM for a couple years. It’s become predictable – the clubs, the psychic doms, the slave relationship between Dom/sub etc.

    I’m looking forward to this book after reading a few with horrible plots and characters. Good to know that Jo’s writing is improving by leaps and bounds.

    • And lets not forget that Sub always have to cook for Dom and if he cannot cook, well in a couple lessons he becomes a really good one. I giggled when Cosmo let Alastair know that he is a very bad cook. But while this book IMO went on destroying several annoying cliches that you mentioned, it is still the book about two people who enjoy kink in bed very much and who enjoy each other very much. I hope you enjoy this book Wave. Please let me know either way.

  • Not usually a fan of BDSM, but willing to give it a go for a really good story line…sounds like I’ll have to check this one out in a couple weeks. 😛

    And regarding the classes and inherited wealth? On the West Coast (US) we just consider those people tedious non-producers. The term ‘trust fund babies’ is not a compliment.

    • Hi Denni, I just want you to be clear that BDSM is a very integral part of the story, so I am not sure how much of it you are willing to tolerate. Granted this is IMO story of two people falling in love first and foremost, but it is also a story of two people in love who love having BDSM sex – a lot of it.

Comments are closed.