Coupled with the playful title of this collection, the cover of Fantasies Unleashed – a bed bedecked with chains, a dog collar and whips – piques the curiosity. But, a warning: This collection is not for the faint of heart.
Exploring the world of sexual submissiveness, author C.W. Mane draws readers into fantasies that explore spankings and whippings, as well as forced sexual acts, by a “master” whose job is to keep the “submissive” safe in his use and abuse of her. The few stories such as “Make Love to Me” that show a departure from the power play of the dominate-submissive relationship serve as a counterbalance to the hardcore sex in the other stories, implying that love can be expressed in a variety of ways – from gentle to rough.
Some stories, such as “Two Kinds of People,” feel almost instructional in their portrayal of the roles of the submissive and her master.
Humiliation through all kinds of devices, such as publicly mistreating the submissive or giving her to other men for sex, is part and parcel of this brand of erotica. Perhaps most surprising and powerful throughout the book are the internal thoughts of the submissive and the descriptions of her pain, tears, fears and pleasure. Fantasies Unleashed doesn’t simply show the fantasy playing out from the outside, as if someone were watching a movie unfold; it brings readers inside the action.
Mane effectively involves readers in the world of the submissive, making it impossible to read without identifying with the woman who trusts her master so much that her life sometimes feels at stake. Those interested in this genre should note that Fantasies Unleashed is less coy and more graphic than Fifty Shades of Grey.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
