Welcome to Day 1 of the Perfect Blog Tour, with Kallypso
Masters and friends.
Thank you, RomFan Reviews, for hosting me!
This six-day Perfect Blog Tour celebrates the release of
Nobody's
Perfect (Rescue Me #4), by
Kallypso Masters, which released this week—FINALLY!
Perfect continues the long-awaited Happily Ever After for probably
the two most wounded characters in the series, Damian Orlando and Savannah
Gentry (now Savi Baker). Their heartbreaking story began in
Masters at Arms (a free read—see links
below) and the couple reunited in
Nobody's
Hero after eight years apart.
Those who follow me on Facebook know that, as an incest and
child sexual abuse survivor myself, this book was akin to opening a vein and
pouring my lifeblood onto the page. I usually take 2-3 months to write and edit
a book in this series (tops). This one took nearly eight months! The result is
not an autobiographical story, but my fellow survivors will come face to face
with a lot of the same triggers and aftermath we all suffer as a result of our
abuse.
Many of the people who helped me get the BDSM, psychology,
and other aspects of this story right also are survivors of abuse, or live the
lifestyle and work with survivors using BDSM for healing. This Perfect Blog
Tour kicks off with the personal reflections of Ekatarina "Saya" Sayanova,
who served first as a subject expert (BDSM and medical expertise), then a beta
reader, and finally an editor. While reading the whipping by catharsis scene
you'll be reading over the course of Days 2-6 in this tour, she was drawn into
the scene almost as if she were a participant—at one point, Damián, and then
Patti, the bottom he is working with in the scene.
In this Excerpt blog tour, you will be reading from a single
scene, Chapters 10-11 of the book. In this scene, Damián (sometimes called Damo)
is called upon to be a Service Top to Patti, a slave/masochist at the Masters
at Arms Club whose Master (Victor) isn't a sadist and is unable to give her the
level of catharsis through whipping she needs to work through a severe trigger
that shut her down emotionally earlier that day. This happens to be the first
time in months that Damian has been in the club—and is the first time ever for
Savi, who was invited here by Adam, who plays a role in helping Savi to
understand the purpose of a cathartic whipping—and why Damian is the one to
provide that.
Rescue Me #4: Nobody's
Perfect
A Ride I'll Never Forget
By
Ekatarina Sayanova
It started out
innocently enough. I contacted Kallypso Masters in June to find out when Nobody's Perfect (Rescue Me #4) was going to be released. June 26 had come and gone,
and no book.
I admit it. I'm a rabid
fan of Kallypso Masters' Rescue Me
series. Like all of her readers, I was anxiously awaiting Damián and Savannah's
story. The epilogue in Hero made me
want to throw my Nook down and have a full-blown tantrum. How dare Kally leave
me sitting on the edge of my seat like that? Well, I was just going to have to
find out when the next book was going to be released. Imagine my surprise when
I found out the book was not complete! Gaaaaaaaah! Nothing left but to be
patient.
The emails started
going back and forth when I asked her questions about information in her
Author's Notes. She was surprised that anyone read them. I made it a point with
her books because I was blown away by the realism of her characters. She was
either in the lifestyle, had very close friends in the lifestyle, or managed to
gather a team of experts in the lifestyle, in the Marines, in Search and
Rescue, just to name a few. At the time, Sir Sayanov and I were relatively new
to the public BDSM scene, but not to BDSM in general. I had been doing a great
deal of research on my own in preparation for our "coming out". I was
finally getting over my case of terminal shyness and beginning to make friends
within the BDSM community. Kally was very helpful with pointing me in a couple
of new directions and commenting on some of the research I had already done.
One thing led to
another and Kally asked my opinion on some medical points in the story. I was
happy to help since what she needed to know was right up my alley. Questions
led to answers, leading to more questions and more answers, and I volunteered
to be a beta reader, advisor, and editor on Nobody's
Perfect. After all, if I could help her in any small way to get the book
out and on my Nook that much faster, then it was all good.
I've never made any
secret of the fact that I am a survivor of child abuse and domestic abuse. Pedophilia
has touched two of those nearest and dearest to me within my closest family
circle. Kally and I shared our stories and found out we had an enormous amount
in common. I was about to find out it went a lot deeper than that. How could
someone I had just met and, yes, became friends with (even if it was through
email and Facebook) crawl into my head and write something that was so close to
my life that it was almost eerie in the extreme?
But I'm getting a
little ahead of myself here.
I heard about
Kallypso Masters through friends in the BDSM community. I was looking for
authentically written BDSM fiction. Kally's name was one of the first mentioned
along with the likes of Cherise Sinclair, Joey W. Hill, Tymber Dalton, and Shayla
Black, just to name a very select few. These individuals' works are held in
high esteem in the community. Authentically-written BDSM genre stories about
people in the community as real as those in your own circle of friends and
acquaintances. I had read all of these authors and thoroughly enjoyed their
work. I was looking for new authors of BDSM-themed fiction, asked around and
Kally's name came up. Masters at Arms
was being offered free as an introduction to the Rescue Me series. What did I have to lose? Nothing. What did I
gain? Wow!
I'm a voracious
reader. As an editor, it's my job. As a recreational reader, it's my joy. At
the end of the day, I don't put my work down; I just pick up something that I
can read that doesn't have a deadline. I love stories that make me laugh, make
me cry, make me angry, make me happy, and, most of all, take me away from the crazy
insanity of everyday life. Authors who can put words on paper that draw the
reader in to such an extent that they can hear the characters in their heads,
watch the story play out in their mind's eye, feel the emotions the characters
feel as the story progresses possess a precious talent. As a reader, when I
encounter those books, it is a treat not to be missed. Kallypso Masters did
just that with Masters at Arms. For
three solid days while I devoured every word of Masters, Angel and Hero the outside world disappeared and I was
drawn into Kally's world on a roller coaster ride I thoroughly enjoyed.
Then, through pure
luck, and a click of the Send button, I was eventually invited to join The Masters at Arms Family.
Nobody's Perfect deals with some of the most intense subject
matter I've ever encountered. Abuse and pedophilia on a level that even the
strongest among her readers would find hard to take. As a survivor and later in
my professional life, I thought I'd become pretty desensitized to the things
that one human being can inflict on another. Kallyso Masters writes stories
about realistic characters in very realistic situations and how these
characters deal with those situations day to day; she does this extremely well.
Childhood sexual abuse, domestic abuse, abuse within the BDSM community, PTSD
within the civilian and military settings, and healing from these traumas are
the underlying themes in her stories. I
knew her work was very well-researched. I just didn't know how well until I
encountered Chapter Eleven in Nobody's
Perfect.
I related to Savannah
on the level of understanding a child's terror and helplessness when a parent
is the abuser because I'd lived it. But I only understood the depravity of Savannah/Savi's
life at the hands of her father and her handler and how it shaped her on an
intellectual level. In Chapter Ten in Perfect,
the reader is introduced to a couple named Victor and Patti. This is a
Master/slave, 24/7, collared relationship. Victor and Patti are clearly devoted
to one another. Patti, however, is a survivor of horrific abuse. She is also a
masochist. Pain is the key to her emotional release and wellbeing; it is her
coping mechanism. When triggered, she cannot function nor can she find
emotional release without it. The problem for this couple is that they require
a Service Top to give Patti the extreme intensity of pain that she needs in
order to reopen herself when she shuts down if triggered. Her Master cannot
bring himself to deliver the extreme level of pain she requires. Damián is the
only Top at the Masters at Arms Club who can deliver what Patti needs.
Victor asks Damián
to administer what is known as a cathartic whipping.
Cathartic whipping
is just that—achieving emotional catharsis/release through flagellation. This
is beautifully and thoroughly addressed in Tymber Dalton's The Reluctant Dom, a book very highly regarded within the BDSM
community.
In Kallypso Masters'
Nobody's Perfect, Chapter Eleven took
me on a completely unexpected journey. I related to the scene where Damián
undertakes Patti's cathartic whipping in a way I've never previously experienced
when becoming involved in a story. It began as I read where Damián is preparing
himself mentally to administer the whipping. As I read the lines Kally wrote, I
felt myself literally pulled into the scene. It was as though I could hear the
thoughts going through Damián's head as he grounded himself. It took me back to
my own experience and I relived it while reading Kally's words. As I read her
descriptions, the thoughts going through the characters' heads, her description
of Patti's reactions, I was taken back to my own experience to relive that
unique, freeing, euphoric, amazing release that was unlike anything I had ever
experienced before. I had been triggered, just like many of her readers who are
survivors of their own personal hell experienced and wrote to her about. Some
survivors have told her it may take them nearly a year to finish this book, because
they'll need emotional breaks, but they have vowed to come back again and again
because they know this story is going to provide healing for them, too, on some
level. Besides, the stories are just too good not to finish. I heartily agree.
I have no doubt that
this book will reopen some very deep wounds for some people. It did for me and
also allowed me to experience again the incident that was the key that finally
opened a door so that I could finally heal. Yes, there are triggers here, but
there is healing, too. This book is a ride and a half that the reader won't
forget. One of the Doms Kally consults with made the statement that this book
will be compared to The Reluctant Dom
for the way it pulls at and triggers emotions. I wholeheartedly agree. Yes, it
is one of the most intense books I've read in quite some time.
I can also say
without reservation or hesitation that it is truly one of the best books I've
read in years.
Blurb:
Savannah Gentry, now
Savi Baker, escaped the torture and degradation forced upon her by a sadistic
father for eleven years and has made a safe life for herself and her daughter.
When her father threatens her peace of mind—and her daughter's safety—Savi runs
to Damián Orlando for protection. Their one day together eight years earlier
changed both their lives and resulted in a secret she can no longer hide. But
being with Damián reawakens feelings she wants buried—and stirs up an onslaught
of disturbing flashbacks that leave her shaken to the core with little hope of
ever being a sexual being again.
Damián has his own
dragons to fight, but has never forgotten the one perfect day he spent with
Savannah in a cave at the beach. He will go to the ends of the earth to protect
Savi and her daughter, but can never be the whole man she deserves after a
firefight in Iraq. Besides, the trauma of war and resulting PTSD has led him to
find his place as the Masters at Arms Club's favorite sadist. Savi needs
someone gentle and loving, not the broken man he has become. But he sees that
the lifestyle he's come to embrace also can help Savi regain control of her
life and sexuality. How can he not help redirect her negative thoughts and
actions if she needs him?
For those new to the Rescue Me series, the intensely
emotional stories will have you laughing, crying, screaming, and experiencing a
catharsis of your own as you read about these honorable, loveable, but quite
imperfect characters who still manage to fumble toward ecstasy in the arms of
their perfect mates.
The stories are told in chronological order and build upon
past stories, so you'll readers are advised strongly to read the series in
order. To help you enter their world and understand many of the main characters
in the series (who will return in book after book), the introduction to the
series, Masters at Arms, is a free
(Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, All Romance eBooks, Kobo, iTunes, and
other booksellers). Masters is
followed by Nobody's Angel (#2), Nobody's Hero (#3), and Nobody's Perfect (#4). At least five
more books are planned over the next few years, but no other publication dates
have been set.
Find Kally at the following places:
Contest Information:
Kallypso will be
offering one commenter a $10 Gift Certificate to bookseller of choice on each
blog. Please leave a comment with email to enter for the daily
prize. No Email = No Entry. Contest ends tomorrow so get your comments in now for a chance to win.
She will also be
offering one commenter from the whole tour a grand prize of a $200 Gift
Certificate to book seller of choice. Fill out the form below for the grand prize entry
It is with a sad heart and tears that we say good-bye to a sweet & wonderful man Ruben (Angelo) Riguero-Brito. We lost Angelo this morning when he was fatally shot while he was trying to break up a fight at a nightclub. I keep thinking this stuff you see on t.v. or read about but it would never happen to someone you know.
