Steamy! If I had just one word to describe this book, steamy is definitely it.
This lesbian-centric tale of a woman nicknamed “L” is definitely one you won’t want to put down, so set yourself some time with a bubble bath and beverage and settle in for a good storyline with a wide array of characters.

I do not typically read ff books, however this one had captured my attention right from the beginning!

Honestly was not a huge fan of the writing style, I found it a bit difficult to keep up with whose mind and thoughts we were hearing about, as I felt the main concept followed Liv's pov, however we were privy to almost all characters minds.

This was a well-written story with a dom and sub relationship. I enjoyed the scenes, and I liked that it felt like a healthy version of this BDSM. I liked that this had a solid story to go along with the sexual scenes. It was a good read, and I think erotica readers will enjoy it!

*Sweats profusely*. This book was spicy! I loved that it was centering two women, as I'd never read a BDSM book with women before. As a bisexual woman myself, I found this book to be right up my alley.

Unlike a lot of the BDSM/erotica books out there, this one depicted more consent and a healthier relationship; which I was happy to see when I was reading.

Really my only complaint with the writing is that it is quite short and I wish it was longer to read.

Story of L
Debra Hyde
In the Story of L we meet Cassandra a Dominatrix and we witness the growing relationship between she and her sub, Liv. Liv feels there is something missing in her life. She wants to be humiliated, beaten and taken. She meets Cassandra at a BDSM club for women only. Cassandra offers an invitation to Liv, to live as her sub. Cassandra is not an easy Dominatrix.
Many years ago, I read The Story of O and I enjoyed it but not so much this tale. I never felt like I could connect to the characters of this book. The descriptions are very detailed. I was not comfortable with certain aspects of this tale. The two characters didn’t work well together; they didn’t connect.

I, personally loved this title. It's totally SUPER hot. That being said, I know NOTHING of the BSDM community and have no idea if what happens in this story could be construed as accurate, safe, etc. That being said, there were very few times where I felt any of the characters would be unsafe. There wasn't a lot of overt communication about the scenes and what was expected, which is something I have read elsewhere. Again, not familiar with the community. The story itself held my interest. Honestly, I hope this title makes it to audiobook. With the right narrator... Not sure I can even give a review that isn't X rated...

⭐️⭐️⭐️- 🌶🌶🌶
I felt like this book was very slow and it took way to long to heat up. L is trying to figure out how to get rid of the “void”. One day Cassandra walks in and fills the void changing Livs life into submission. This fell flat for me. I think much more could of happened. I did learn some things about trans men and I really did like Reese’s character. I fell like this could of been better.
-LGBTQIA
-Age Gap
-BDSM

I think this is a pretty dated book in terms of the vocabulary surrounding lesbians and trans men. I enjoyed that it was short, but at some parts it felt like it dragged. The erotic scenes for bdsm were quite interesting, and I enjoyed that they stray from the traditional ones that seem to plague the hetero couple dynamic. Nonetheless, as a wlw book, I felt like the older generation is dated and forgotten conversation irrelevant to the inner struggles of queer people nowadays. It was an entertaining novella, but I'm sure there's better out there.

This book is about Liv and her desires. Then we meet Cassandra, who is <i>the Cassandra</i> who is, and I quote, “A grand doyen—quite possibly the grandest doyen in this corner of S/M dykedom.” Liv who’s hunger is called the Void, ends up submitting to Cassandra who in the BDSM world is called a dominant.

What I really liked about this story was Liv and her discovering new levels of herself. I do love good smutty scenes, and this book did not disappoint. As mentioned, this is about Liv discovering new parts of herself, so this book isn’t just nonstop sex scenes, but self discovery. (And I love me so wlw! Love from my bi heart!!)

I’d recommend this book!

For context, I am trans non-binary and my pronouns are they/them.
I had so much hope for this book. Lesbian BDSM? Hell yeah. What more could I want out of a book?!
Several things, apparently. Trans-inclusive language is the major thing this book is lacking.

I realize that this book was published in 2017, and that some of the points I’m angry about are outdated language. I realize this author could not have had the resources that are on the internet now. But I also realize that this book is on Netgalley, so that implies to me that this book could be undergoing an editing process. My review contains the things I wish could be edited into this book. Primarily the use of trans inclusive language.

This book includes several trans people, however, this author does not use inclusive language. Hyde’s descriptive language of her trans characters also reads as if Hyde has never personally spoken with a trans person before. I realize that is a harsh thing to say, but I think it’s true. The first trans character we meet is Quinn, and frankly Hyde’s description doesn’t make sense. She writes that Quinn has a “transgendered identity”. The next sentence confuses me. It reads, “her bulky female bio body, despite its chromosomal baseline, only seemed to reinforce her identity.” I don’t know what to think of that sentence, so I ignored it.
The rest of the paragraph moved on to Liv’s gender identity, which is described as not quite male and not quite female, sort of being in the middle. This sentence angers me: “she didn’t feel undefined; being queer was enough, and she did not like having to fall into a strict dichotomy. It was like having her cake and eating it too.”
These sentences describes someone who doesn’t identify as male or female, which can mean genderqueer, agender, or at the very least, nonbinary. Gender nonconforming people are not “undefined”. We know who we are. We know what we are. Wanting to “not label yourself” is staying in the closet, not “having your cake and eating it too.” Not wanting to define your gender is fine, and identifying just as queer without wanting to do research about yourself and your identity are also fine. But “having your cake and eating it too” feels like transphobia. Because there are clear descriptions of genderqueer identities that you can find on the internet. Not wanting to label yourself as trans when you match a clear definition of trans is transphobia.

Then we move on to Cassandra who is frequently swings from straight circles to lesbian circles, implying that this woman enjoys male and female sex. Which, generally speaking, is bisexual. But then Hyde describes Cassandra as refusing to go for bi women. And then Liv is nervous that Cassandra won’t like her because Liv has had dick before. Guess what this is called? Biphobia.

And now we move on to the description of Reese. Reese is a trans man. Correct ways to refer to trans men include the phrase “assigned female at birth.” This phrase is trans affirming as it lets confused people know what you were born as while including what you identify as. I was assigned this at birth, but my brain does not match my body parts. Simple. Efficient. You know what’s happening. Trans non-inclusive language is this sentence: “his slender height, tall for the woman he had once been, average for the man he was now.” This is not inclusive language as it implies a “that was then, this is now.” As in, he was a woman before but now he’s decided to be a man. It feels condescending, like when someone refers to your correct pronouns as “your chosen pronouns.”

Trans people don’t choose their identities like you choose what to wear for the day. Trans people do not choose this life. It’s not a choice. It’s what we were born as. If I was born with the correct body, none of this would be a problem. But since my body came out wrong, I can fix it to match my identity.
Nobody chooses to be a gender like you choose wether or not you want chocolate syrup in your coffee or vanilla. It’s something we were born as.

Because of the transphobic and biphobic language, I chose not to finish this book.

As a longtime reader of BDSM erotica, I've read surprisingly little lesbian-centric material. Hyde's writing is a bit more florid than I was expecting, which makes sense given the female-centric nature of the story and L's hopeless romanticism when it comes to Cassandra. I think it worked really well except for in a few places where the writing got a tad too self-indulgent for my taste. The story itself is good, though, with interesting character arcs for both L and Cassandra.

All that being said, I thought it was odd that instead of the compressed time period with lots of emotion and activity that one usually encounters in romance or erotica, we're presented with an extended time period where Cassandra is making Liv jump through "hoops" that I honestly felt weren't very high or thrilling. If I were a sub looking for a Domme, I probably would have lost interest in Cassandra, and certainly wouldn't have allowed her to mark me.

If you're looking for a nice, middle-of-the-road lesbian BDSM story, this one is worth the read and I will probably check out more of Hyde's work. But if you're a hardcore BDSM fan, you might be underwhelmed by the D/s relationship depicted.

PLEASE NOTE I write Erotica/Erotic Romance reviews under a second profile rather than my primary one for SFF works. The link to this one is below

I fell submissive to every moment of this book and never wanted it to end. Hyde is either in the Life or has done such a thorough job in her research it was like listening to my buddy talk about her scene experiences. I was a moth to the flame by the first chapter as the Void was chased and tamed. Remarkable and truly beautiful how these two women molded to one another and it was easy to see each moment in your mind as it was written. In BDSM books you forget that it is not jus the sub that commits their self to another, but the dominant has just as much work sewing and weaving themselves into their submissive. It was marvelous to read their blending.

I loved Quinn and Reese with their trans air of feeling comfortable in their role- getting lost in their story, finding their place with the women they've surrounded themselves with. There is a lot of scening so if you aren't a BDSM fan from knife scenes, to tattoos, to humiliation, to impact play and more- then this book is not for you. If you are a smut demon that loves a slap and a tussle- read this immediately.

Lesbian BDSM erotica. Not a subject I’ve read before now (I’m a boring middle-aged cisgender heterosexual woman) but I got a request for review through NetGalley so I decided to give it a shot!

This is the story of L(iv), a single woman who frequents BDSM clubs that cater to females only. She has what she calls “The Void” - something missing that makes her feel like being beaten and humiliated (then loved). One night, while trying to get that void filled, she captures the interest of Cassandra, who is kind of the lesbian bondage OG. After the evening is over, Cassandra invites Liv to become L, and her submissive partner. L says yes, and the rest is history...

That’s about the crux of it; it’s not a long novel. There are plenty of sex scenes and a few other decent characters we meet along the way (I wouldn’t mind learning more about them, or about Cassandra and L, but character development doesn’t seem to be the objective here). It’s “Fifty Shades of Grey”, except not awful and cheesy.

This received an award the year it was released, and I’m sure the good writing had a lot to do with that. If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ or BDSM communities, this may hit you emotionally more than it did me, but I did still enjoy it. 3/5 stars.

(Thank you to Riverdale Avenue Books, Debra Hyde, and NetGalley for the complimentary copy in exchange for my review.)

I had trouble connecting with this book but that was mostly down to the plot and nit the writing. but I’d be interested in reading more from this author

Great book if you’re into BDSM. The author has a way to captivate you and pull you in, even if you don’t have that much interest in BDSM. A lot of the scenes were extremely visual so make sure you are prepared for that. Overall, a quick read that was entertaining to say the least.

The Story of L by Debra Hyde was not my usual read but was definitely different and interesting. I just reviewed Story of L by Debra Hyde. #NetGalley

Thank you for providing me a copy of this book.
I run out of time so sorry I wasn't able to finish this.

Ooo this was a little cringy for me. I did not like the dom/sub relationship. I personally just don't like any relationships like that so I wasn't really into reading it. I do like that it has LGBTQ+ rep in it.

While a very interesting read that I was interested to see where it lead, I felt like the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out; I didn't quite feel captivated by any character in particular. I feel like L led an incredibly isolated life, with very little mention or friends/colleagues/family outside of this life, but perhaps that was an intentional emphasis to describe how committed and dedicated and enmeshed she had become in this life and with Cassandra? I am unsure. Regardless, I think it may have been interesting to have had more conversations between L and others in her life outside of those in her club circle (besides Reese and Quinn) who may have provided different perspectives, as I found L's inner thoughts and descriptions to sometimes circle around and in on themselves.

I went into this wanting a steamy, erotic WLW smut piece. Which, don’t get me wrong, it definitely is. It is also so much more. The spice was way more than I expected, and the steamy scenes left little to imagine. The overall story/plot is what really brought this book together.