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Bound for Trouble: BDSM Erotica For Women
Bound for Trouble is the tenth bondage-themed anthology for Alison Tyler, a veteran at collecting the very best BDSM stories for her readers� pain-tinged pleasure. Bondage sends shivers (the really good kind) down spines. With Bound for Trouble, Tyler uncovered new jewels, glimmering examples of the ultimate in erotic writing. Every writer in this book focuses on a different facet of the bondage theme. Some characters use tools, some words, one uses paper chains. There are male subs, femme doms, and more. But what these stories have in common is addiction. And fascination. And obsession. Plain and simple, bound for trouble.
- GenresEroticaBDSMAnthologies
232 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2014
29 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
About the author
Alison Tyler
256Ìýbooks400ÌýfollowersAlison Tyler is an American author, editor and publisher of erotica, living in Northern California. She has authored over 20 explicit novels, hundreds of short stories and has edited more than 30 erotic anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 10, 2014
In her introduction, Alison Tyler informs us that Bound for Trouble is the tenth bondage-themed anthology she has edited for Cleis. It's hardly surprising that this collection sparkles with kinky energy and glows with heat. Ms. Tyler definitely knows what she's doing. At this point in my editing and reviewing career, I'm fairly difficult to impress, but I believe Bound for Trouble will delight anyone who finds D/s content arousing.
What's so great about this book? Diversity for one thing. Almost every story attacks the theme from a different direction. There are M/f, F/m and F/f tales in almost equal proportion and even one M/m contribution. Some authors write about long-established couples, some about casual playmates, some about just-met strangers. Meanwhile, the bondage mechanisms explored range from classic ropes to robots to symbolic chains made out of paper.
Ms. Tyler's own story, “Sitting Pretty�, keeps the reader guessing. For the first few pages, you have no idea about the identity or even the gender of the narrator. Only at the end do you begin to understand who he is and what he wants. This tale is both beautifully crafted and deliciously transgressive. Who would have imagined that allowing one's hair to be cut could be an act of submission?
“Magic Boots� by Amy Dillon offers one of the most insightful takes on fetishism that I've encountered in a long time. To arouse and entertain her foot-worshiping husband, the narrator secretly buys a pair of expensive, outrageous high-heeled boots they've both admired. As she wears the boots around the house before revealing them to her spouse, trying to break them in, she discovers her own perceptions and desires changing.
Complementary fantasies play a key role in several of the tales. In Benjamin Eliot's exquisite “Unwinding Alice�, the female of the title enjoys being tightly bound and locked in a closet for hours. Her husband confines her in order to please her; he finds the notion far scarier than she does. Meanwhile, he lives for the the sight of the rope marks her trials leave behind. Their kinks are distinctly different, but interlocking, providing satisfaction and peace to both.
She flings her arms above her head, and I see the lines on her skin flow north with the motion. She's striped and crossed and dotted with the evidence of my control and I groan. Because seeing that evidence robs me of my current control. I'm powerless against the unwound Alice. I'm humbled by her strength.
The healing potential of dominance and submission is another common theme. Annabeth Leong's “Paper Chains�, Theresa Noelle Roberts' “Ropenosis�, K.Lynn's “Business Wear�, all feature submissives wound tight by worldly responsibilities or hidden fears. Paradoxically, bondage sets them free.
Sommer Marsden's brilliant story “What She Has� struck me as one of the most realistic in the collection. The subtleties she portrays in the relationship between the submissive narrator and her Master, the ebb and flow of envy, anger, fear and love, amazed me. How can love and cruelty be so closely intertwined?
In contrast, Giselle Renarde's delicious fable “It's Not a Scrunchie� is pure play, a man's wildest fantasy made manifest in the person of a voluptuous, uninhibited gal who just happens to like tying guys up.
The mood in Bound for Trouble is lighter than in some of Ms. Tyler's anthologies (her Love at First Sting comes to mind as an example of darker, more ambiguous BDSM), but these authors don't spare the rope or the rod. Nearly all of the stories are entertaining. And a few will linger in your mind, long after you've closed the cover or turned off your e-reader.
What's so great about this book? Diversity for one thing. Almost every story attacks the theme from a different direction. There are M/f, F/m and F/f tales in almost equal proportion and even one M/m contribution. Some authors write about long-established couples, some about casual playmates, some about just-met strangers. Meanwhile, the bondage mechanisms explored range from classic ropes to robots to symbolic chains made out of paper.
Ms. Tyler's own story, “Sitting Pretty�, keeps the reader guessing. For the first few pages, you have no idea about the identity or even the gender of the narrator. Only at the end do you begin to understand who he is and what he wants. This tale is both beautifully crafted and deliciously transgressive. Who would have imagined that allowing one's hair to be cut could be an act of submission?
“Magic Boots� by Amy Dillon offers one of the most insightful takes on fetishism that I've encountered in a long time. To arouse and entertain her foot-worshiping husband, the narrator secretly buys a pair of expensive, outrageous high-heeled boots they've both admired. As she wears the boots around the house before revealing them to her spouse, trying to break them in, she discovers her own perceptions and desires changing.
Complementary fantasies play a key role in several of the tales. In Benjamin Eliot's exquisite “Unwinding Alice�, the female of the title enjoys being tightly bound and locked in a closet for hours. Her husband confines her in order to please her; he finds the notion far scarier than she does. Meanwhile, he lives for the the sight of the rope marks her trials leave behind. Their kinks are distinctly different, but interlocking, providing satisfaction and peace to both.
She flings her arms above her head, and I see the lines on her skin flow north with the motion. She's striped and crossed and dotted with the evidence of my control and I groan. Because seeing that evidence robs me of my current control. I'm powerless against the unwound Alice. I'm humbled by her strength.
The healing potential of dominance and submission is another common theme. Annabeth Leong's “Paper Chains�, Theresa Noelle Roberts' “Ropenosis�, K.Lynn's “Business Wear�, all feature submissives wound tight by worldly responsibilities or hidden fears. Paradoxically, bondage sets them free.
Sommer Marsden's brilliant story “What She Has� struck me as one of the most realistic in the collection. The subtleties she portrays in the relationship between the submissive narrator and her Master, the ebb and flow of envy, anger, fear and love, amazed me. How can love and cruelty be so closely intertwined?
In contrast, Giselle Renarde's delicious fable “It's Not a Scrunchie� is pure play, a man's wildest fantasy made manifest in the person of a voluptuous, uninhibited gal who just happens to like tying guys up.
The mood in Bound for Trouble is lighter than in some of Ms. Tyler's anthologies (her Love at First Sting comes to mind as an example of darker, more ambiguous BDSM), but these authors don't spare the rope or the rod. Nearly all of the stories are entertaining. And a few will linger in your mind, long after you've closed the cover or turned off your e-reader.
May 23, 2018
What a fantastic sexy, steamy read. It can be hit and miss with some anthologies but this collection did not have one story I did not enjoy. Perfect for a quick hot read for yourself or to read to your special someone. Would definitely recommend. Loved.
October 12, 2019
I didn't finish before my e-loan returned, but in the first half I found uneven appeal. Some stories were great, many I didn't connect with, and one was written from the perspective of a rope being used for rather graphic things (and loving it)-- I could not get through that one.
September 18, 2022
A delightful collection of 23 short stories featuring various aspects of BDSM. I listened to this in an audio format. Each story was about 15 minutes long and was performed very well. I found several of the stories humorous and interesting.
October 30, 2014
So I wasn't expecting to like this anthology. I wasn't expecting it to be hot, but I was wrong. The reason why it was hot is that the authors manage to communicate why the characters like the play/scene that's playing out. So while I can think, "I'm not into being whipped." I can also understand why they are hot for it because it is communicated in the majority of the stories. It was a quick read and I love that most of the stories were women focused. It crossed a range of experiences for a mainstream erotica anthology. There were are few same-gender stories and a menage story. I took me a while to finish because I was reading multiple books at the same time. I would highly recommend this anthology for a people interested in a female focus snapshot peek into some BDSM play that doesn't feel gross.
May 11, 2020
Bound for Trouble is a welcoming book, and it's sort of like a sampler platter with something for everyone. I thought some of these pieces were terrific, some weren't my cup of tea but I understood them, and there was only one I actually disliked. (I admire the experimental ambition of Graydancer's "One Rope," told from the perspective of a rope... but it was too much of a stretch for me.)
July 7, 2016
This is what I imagine the professor of a freshman Creative Writing 101 class has to muddle through. The composition is adequate but the narrative structure and dialog is eye-rollingly boring. Probably a totally reasonable read for Missionary-Only housewives.
November 8, 2014
Read for FreshFiction.Com for review on their site.
I can say that Alison Tyler is the go to gal for anything on the kinky side!
July 19, 2015
This a fun sexy read.
February 1, 2020
I really liked this collection of stories. Some of them I thought would weird me out, but surprisingly they were good.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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