Secretly, I am a sucker for a good erotica and even more so, a good erotica with BDSM in it. The BDSM underworld is interesting to me, especially with all the hype over the Fifty Shades trilogy. I will admit much to my chagrin; I didn’t hate Fifty Shades as much as I thought I should. I can say, however, that Dangerously Bound was worse for me than Fifty Shades, in fact, I had to force my way through portions of the novel.

Allie LeClair is returning to her hometown of New Orleans where she moves into a cottage her aunt used to own and reconnects with old friends. Her main goal in moving back home is to ensnare her high school love, Mick. After a tumultuous and sexy affair in high school where Mick refused her love, Allie moved away, studying the culinary arts. In college she came back and she and Mick finally consummated their burning affair with some light BDSM, whetting Allie’s appetite for Mick and for the kink. In San Francisco and Europe she began to pursue the art of being a sub, being let into some of the most prestigious BDSM clubs around the world. Allie at some point (which I don’t think was actually stated in the novel) finds out Mick is actively involved with kink and elects mutual friend Jamie to convince Mick to be Allie’s dominant at their BDSM club.

Mick had no idea Allie was a sub but begrudgingly agrees to play with her. When their first session together goes poorly Allie leaves heartbroken. After a second more successful try, Allie and Mick begin to try and heal their wounded relationship. When Mick finally succumbs to Allie’s neurotic pleas for sex, they have a heartfelt talk and agree to try and heal their relationship. They still have a lot of work to do in exploring their own path and how to interact together after being apart for ten years. This is a bulk of the novel as they have sex a lot (a lot, a lot) and continue to get to know each other as adults.

Allie is obsessed with Mick, it’s actually bordering on unhealthy. Mick is a brooding jerk who is purposefully aloof to “protect” Allie when really he is just being an asshole. The character sexual tension is built completely on the past and their relationship then which I feel like leaves readers a little bit on the outside of what had happened in their relationship. Mick is haunted by his love of control and kink as well as a motorcycle accident which left him wounded and unable to do what he wants to do. This has dramatically affected his life and leaves his character moody and sullen.

Surrounding the BDSM kink that infiltrates the novel, there is a certain amount that Bradley is assuming readers know. Some terminology used in the story assume a beginner’s knowledge of the BDSM world (here I sit, blushing that I didn’t notice that till a friend pointed out to me that he didn’t know what half the stuff meant). Even in sex scenes that aren’t necessarily BDSM related, there are BDSM undertones in the character interaction throughout the novel, even in the prevalent self-love scenes (if you know what I mean).

Honestly I was kind of bored during the book; the lack of solid plot was exacerbated by the fact that the reader was trying to connect with characters who had too much history before the start of the novel. The past history wasn’t explained well enough for me to feel really invested. Allie is neurotic and obsessed with Mick who is a moody jerk for a majority of the book. The sex scenes are hot, especially for the BDSM lover, so it might be a good book to read with your pants off (because there is a sex scene almost every twenty pages), but if you’re looking for substance, you won’t really find it here.