Book Review: Betrayed by Jaye Frances

It has come to our attention that the commercial book industry, particularly BDSM erotica, has become swamped with amateur, self-publishers more concerned with a quick buck than writing something unique and of high quality. It seems that the odds are high that a book will disappoint. Purchasing a book is a commitment. We are all for the commercial industry, but the content really needs to be good!

In light of the current environment, Tanager would like to post reviews of books that she reads.

Do you have a book recommendation? Have you written commercial BDSM / Lesbian erotica? Let us know and we will make Tanager read and review the book.

Betrayed by Jaye Frances

Betrayed is the first book of a trilogy by Jaye Francis. The author markets the book as "a suspense thriller with an erotic edge". And, indeed, that is exactly what she delivers with aplomb. I enjoyed the book from end to end.



Jewel is living in Sri Lanka enjoying a break from world travels, when her husband uses her as collateral in a game of poker. Jewel thinks that the game is a joke until she finds herself carried from the house in the dead of night, drugged, stripped and tied up on a ship heading out to sea. She finds herself alone with a cold, calculating captain intent to get the highest price possible for this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty, and his male crew who are enthusiastic to train her to become a willing sex slave comfortable with providing endless sexual congress with anyone and everyone. Jewel is strong and determined to do anything she can - put on the appropriate act - in order to survive and escape her apparent fate.

This is a story of survival. Jewel is not a willing participant in many of the sexual encounters - particularly, the overwhelming encounters with multiple crew members. The passages are not written to be erotic. This book is not a gang-bang fantasy novel. (Note: I despise gang-bang fantasies, so, to treat the events without glorifying them really worked for me.) On the other hand, there is one female (supposedly indentured) cook on board who does her best to coach Jewel and give her the best chance for survival. What starts out as gestures of comfort, quickly evolve into a strong romantic, physical relationship. I found these encounters to be really sexy - very erotic.

As the ship closes in on its destination and Jewel's impending auction as a sex slave, the peril sharpens to a point where the reader will find themselves flipping pages, struggling to find out what happens next. The author does an awesome job writing tense action scenes in a manner which is easy to visualize in your head. In fact, in portions of the book, the intensity was so great and maintained for such a long time that I found myself drowning in the stress, almost craving a moment to catch a breath.

There are a few niggling points that I could become anal about, but, for the most part, I loved this book and can not wait for the next book to be published, so I can figure out what happens next.