Beg by CD Reiss

Beg by CD Reiss
eXcessica Publishing
Book One in the Songs of Submission
Erotica, Romance
Published April 13, 2013

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Blurb:

My name is Monica. I'm a singer born and raised in Los Angeles. 
I've stopped dating. When I cut a record, or win a Grammy, maybe then I'll be with someone, but every man in my past has done everything he could to make me submit myself to him, and it's gotten in the way of my career. I won't do it again.

But there's Jonathan. He owns the high-rise hotel where I work, and he is gorgeous and charming. I refuse to fall in love with him, even though when he asks me to submit to him, I want nothing more.


My thoughts:

My feelings about this episode of the longer e-serial Songs of Submission are so mixed I can't separate pros from cons without discussing them back and forth.

So, Beg introduces a struggling musician - Monica - working as a waitress to make ends meet. She and her friend (also her ex) are shuffling his sister back and forth between them to protect her from herself and the crippling depression she falls into when her meds aren't working. We also meet Jonathan, a wealthy fella who takes a liking to our heroine, and winds up having her under his control for a night of sexy games. 

Problem? He's still hung up on his ex-wife, who broke his heart. So no commitment for Monica. And she's got some relationship issues too. Plenty of tension to go around.

Now, I'm reaching my limit for these hyper-controlling alpha men. Jonathan walks the line for me, and I think if I read more in the series, he'd probably drive me nuts. But this isn't a failing of the book, necessarily. He's got issues, he's sexy, and he's entirely appropriate for the sub-genre, so I can't *really* complain here. 

Monica is a sassy heroine, easy to root for, except for the part where she plays a little loose with her responsibilities to hook up with Jonathan. Still, I liked her, and I'm interested in *her* story.

The whole piece has a certain rawness in tone - everyone's wounds still feel fresh and open despite how long they've been carrying them, there's angry words, jealous words, and plenty of attitude to try to mask how close to the surface a lot of the emotion and baggage everyone's carrying around is. Reiss' ability to manage that rawness alongside a slowly rising sensuality is a real credit. This entry into the series is pretty striking.

The thing that  doesn't work for me is the format for publication. This portion is only about fifty pages long in the e-format I read, and while it works as a short story with many loose ends, knowing that there's at seven more parts to Monica and Jonathan's story is frustrating. I guess because I like my erotica with a side of happy for now or happily ever after, I'd rather read the entire story in one go (with crossed fingers because neither HFN or HEA is requirement for erotica!).

Fortunately, Beg was originally published in April of this year, and it is now available with the two other "Songs of Submission" stories in a three-pack on Amazon and from other retailers. The other parts are also available now, so you can purchase the entire story.

Bottom Line:

Beg was intriguing with lots of different elements to latch onto - I just don't know if I'm in for the rest of the story. It feels like a commitment to follow them to the end and I've been burned on these multi-book erotica stories before - I need the series to end in a happy place!

Still, if you like your erotica with BDSM and alpha males and the like, then this looks like a solid bet, and certainly Beg is a well-rounded start!

The best part? If you don't want to commit to picking up the trilogy - Beg is available right now for *free* in the Kindle format from amazon.com . Check it out and then come back and tell me what *you* thought about it!

4 stars
For fans of BDSM erotica, the e-serial format, erotica with plot