Monday, October 17, 2011

Review for Working Out the Kinks by Kiki Howell


Making an appointment with his ex-girlfriend under a fake name, David buys himself one hour to get her attention. Hoping to apologize and remind her of their time together, he intends to do whatever he has to in order to make Meredith, a practicing Wiccan, forgive him for being idiot enough to have listened to those around him which meant choosing his political aspirations over love.

Meredith is resistant to let David anywhere near her heart again. Desperate, David plays all his trump cards and suggests a sexual magick ritual which incorporates the BDSM lifestyle he and Meredith used to experiment with. The methods he uses may be unconventional, like sensory deprivation and sensation play intended to build trust and to achieve altered states of consciousness. But David is more than willing to do whatever it takes if he can just get Meredith to agree.


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Former lovers Meredith and David have been torn apart by his family and their judgements.  After realizing how much he's lost when Meredith left, David is back and trying to make amends in this short story that doesn't scrimp on the heat.  

A lot has happened between our couple before the story has even begun and the emotions for each are very chaotic as they try to work through sadness, anger, and disappointment in what happened to their relationship.  So when David arrives and Meredith touches his bare skin it's no wonder the sexual flames flare with so many intense emotions in the air.  The sexual interludes from there on are intense with a bit of BDSM involved.

Adding to an already intriguing premise is Meredith's being a practicing Wiccan.  With David's political aspirations, it is this fact that ends their relationship.  To get her back he's immersed himself in the world of magick, buying books and studying spells all to prove that he accepts her wholeheartedly.  Aspects of certain rituals show up during their lovemaking and add to the intensity of the moment and show proof of their newfound connection.

As I said, this is an intriguing storyline that caught my attention from the start.  The Wiccan aspects felt a bit overdone to me though and David's wholehearted acceptance felt a bit unbelievable.  I know he's doing it to prove a point to her, but he seemed to throw away a lifetime of beliefs in favor of the Wiccan religion rather quickly after it being such an issue between them.  I also didn't feel fully invested in their relationship.  They definitely have a strong sexual connection, but I don't feel there's a deep romance between them and I think my feelings mostly come from the fact that the foundation of their relationship is unseen.

These small issues didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the story though.  The storyline's creative and the sexual interludes are imaginative.  All-in-all, reading this short story was an entertaining way to spend the afternoon and I recommend it to others looking for a little afternoon delight.

My rating for this is a B

*I received this from the author in exchange for my honest opinion. 

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