Phoenix is an aerial dancer who quits her desk job, that only served to pay her bills, to pursue her dream. She has her life all figured out, she's happy, until her roommate decides to move across the country with his boyfriend, leaving her with an apartment she can't afford on her own. A friend of her's puts her in contact with Kris, who is a dom looking for a live-in sub. To Kris, this is the perfect fulfilment for all her fantasies. To Phoenix, this is the answer to all her money problems and sexual fulfilment. But neither were prepared for the beginning of a slow and tentative romance, with a healthy splash of erotica.

I unexpectedly loved this book. I am not usually someone who can get into stories told in the first person, because it's such a narrow POV. Even though this story was told in first person, from Phoenix's POV, I loved it because her voice was not self centred at all. It was easy to overlook that this was told in first person, because you get a good understanding of who Kris is and her feelings, and the descriptions of the surroundings were outstanding. Especially in the sex scenes, the description was so well done that you forgot that it was from one persons point of view, the descriptions were charged and magical, and left you totally lost in the moment.

Although Phoenix and Kris are both very sexual characters, they are also both very human, and you can see how they complement each other not only sexually but as partners in life. I was rooting for them so hard! The chemistry between them is there from the start, but so was the mutual respect, and the importance of communication and consent, which puts them on equal footing even though one is the dominant and one is submissive. I'm not usually keen to read BDSM or erotica because of the repetitiveness, but each and every sex scene was unique and played a role in bringing the characters closer together, allowing them to open up, and move their relationship forward. I really loved this story, because on top of the erotica there was this really nice overarching romance story, that was nicely paced, very realistic, and with no unnecessary drama.

This book is the whole package. A gorgeous mix of romance and erotica. And the writing was out of this world.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a oddly weird book, I say oddly because when dealing with a BDSM topic, of which I am not an expert or especially interested, I found it quite entertaining, which has not happened to me with other books on this subject. But, however little this topic interests me, I think it is treated rather superficially, although I can not judge it with certainty. Maybe this is the reason why I have endured it this time.

So the book is about a dominant / submissive relationship between the owner of a technology company, Kris, and an aerial dancer, Phoenix, whose personal circumstances and fate lead to find one another,  just when one can offer the other what they need or what they are looking for at the moment.

But being their personalities so different and Kris being almost a secondary character in most of the book, appearing only in their interactions with Phoenix and also as the book is narrated in first person from the point of view of Phoenix, the evolution of the relationship is a little skewed. In addition, Kris is in some way incoherent with her behavior, being the dominant and successful businesswoman, there are inconsistencies in her way of solving the issues that are developed in the book.

In short, for people who hope to find a BDSM erotica book, in the first half of the book they will find something interesting maybe, but my opinion is not an expert one. In the second part of the book, the sexual relationship is in the background without being the main thing in the final development. And all in all, the book is entertaining.

 <i>An ARC was sent to me from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley for an honest review </i>

Not your typical romance, Certain Requirements involves two women who enter a BDSM partnership. Kris is looking for a live-in sub who will do the housework and cook occasionally in exchange for free rent and her Domme services. Phoenix snaps up this opportunity so she can focus on her art as an aerial dancer and not worry about money. Their arrangement is heavily negotiated with rules and expectations clearly stated, most notably that they are not dating nor ever will be. While the obvious is realized by the end of the novel with them falling in love, what this story lacked was the bridge that spanned the gap between contractual obligation and falling in love. This probably could have been better realized if told through third person POV rather than through Phoenix’s first person POV. Phoenix is so wrapped up in her pining over Kris and the fear of rejection that is she is unable to pick up on any cues from the stoic and aloof Kris. I still enjoyed these two together and their extracurriculars as well as their ability to comically negotiate everything from chores to sex acts. Overall, very interesting with likable characters even though Phoenix’s adorable brat act could wear a little thin from time to time, I still enjoyed their unique journey.

Now that’s some mega sexy power play, how sexy was that, BDSM fans will love this I would imagine, I don’t even like kink but this really did surprise me, I’m shocked at how much I liked this book, it’s told from a first persons point of view which I always like, the main characters are great and the others were likeable, it’s really explicit and I bloody loved it, I’ll be on the lookout for this author in the future and I highly recommend this if your looking for a good story with very sexy power play, I thought the ending was a bit too rushed though and didn’t have enough romance for my liking....