The Forbidden Bookshelf: Review: GOLDEN by Joely Sue Burkhart

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Review: GOLDEN by Joely Sue Burkhart

Golden
By Joely Sue Burkhart
Genre: Contemporary Erotic, BDSM
Topics: S&M, very light blood play
Publisher: Carina Press
Length: 22, 000
Release Date: 8/29/2011
Source: From Author

Bred for him...and for his bed.

Golden-eyed Jin has spent her life preparing to be the Emperor's consort. She knows her destiny is to serve the Emperor by indulging the dark desire that he has buried deep inside his heart—the desire to give pain.

Only she can take the pain he yearns to give, and transform it into the most unimaginable pleasure. But to enjoy all the Emperor can give her, she must survive assassination attempts from those who would keep them apart.

Seducing the Emperor is risky...but it's the only way to fulfill her destiny.

Listed as an erotic novella, this is geared more towards the BDSM crowd, more specifically S & M fans, who enjoy a great emotional exploration of one woman's desire to feel the sweet pleasure of pain that only one man -- or Emperor -- can provide.

Lady Jin has been trained to become a masochist for the shear reason to please one -- and only one -- other: The Emperor. She loved him before she met him, but he had forsaken his deepest desires to be the Emperor, The Sun of Heaven, not the man who derived pleasure from inflicting pain. However, the golden-eyed beauty has tempted him like no other. And soon everyone in the palace knows it.

Jin finds herself in quite the position. She has become the target of assassination due to her new position in the eyes of the beloved Emperor. But what the assassins don't know is that Jin's beauty is only rivaled by that of her intelligence and her knowledge of defense. And Jin is determined to see her own plot unfold.

Seduction, passion, pain/pleasure, and machinations bring Golden to life! The uniqueness of characters and setting bring an air of freshness and unconventionality to the story of one woman who will give her entire being to the one man who can painfully fulfill her sexual desires and aspiration for her future. The Emperor alone can make Jin soar, and Jin alone can free the repressed desires of an Emperor who craves to be the man he is with the one person who can accept for who he is: Jin.

As a reader who normally shies away from stories written in the first person, I appreciated Joely writing the story from Jin's perspective. She was bred for him. The trials she endures are for him. She is meant to free the man within the Emperor. It only seems natural that we see the majority of insight through her eyes. But, that's not to mean that I didn't get a true sense of the Emperor's feelings -- wrote in third person.

I honestly couldn't find one thing I disliked about the characters or the storyline!! Full of unique passion, with each crack of a cane, two souls found acceptance and understanding between one another when everyone else saw horror and abuse.

In many novellas, I can be left wanting more; however, this was not the case with Golden. The ending nicely concluded the plot and establishment of the future of the characters. Never was there a dull or slow moment. There's enough action to propel the plot at a nice pace, and enough passion that it becomes palpable.

For anyone who has not read a Joely Sue Burkhart book, I highly recommend that you do! She knows how to create sensual and heartfelt moments that truly captivate.

Golden is a Top Forbidden Favorite for me! Thank you Joely, for creating stories that are unforgettable! :)