Book Review: Wild Licks by Cecilia Tan

Since I reviewed my publisher's last book in her "The Secrets of a Rock Star" series it seemed appropriate to look at book two in that series as well. Wild Licks (Secrets of a Rock Star) follows two characters we met in "Taking the Lead" -- Gwen Hamilton, the sister of Ricki, and Mal Kennealy, the guitarist for The Rough, the rock band at the center of the series. Yes, we do get a bit more of Ricki and Axel but they are minor yet important characters in this novel. And I do use the word novel on purpose because this isn't soft porn, this isn't an one-handed masterbation toy.  This is a fully developed story with a lot of very intense sex. It also can be read without reading book one in the series though I think you'll get more from it if you have read the first book.

The Hamilton sisters are from a powerful Hollywood family, the type of power that is behind the scenes not in front of the camera most of the time. While I liked Ricki okay in the first book, Gwen is much more what I want a sexy, female character to be. Sure there are moments of self reflection and doubt, but right from the start it seems clear that Gwen has a greater understanding of what turns her on and acceptance of the full range of her desires. In a break with her family's traditional power, Gwen wants to become an actress but based on her talent (or lack thereof) not her family name. Using her acting skills and her access to costumes and makeup, she easily plays roles in the joint fantasies that Mal and her create. These fantasies are both sexually and emotionally described making this a not-safe-for-work read. Gwen stands up for herself when things fall apart as they always do in the romance genre. Ricki didn't cry over her man either but Gwen seemed more self-reliant to me, able to adapt and make changes with less displayed sorrow. However, Gwen isn't perfect. She misrepresents herself the first time she meets Mal and continues to do so even after she starts "dating" him as a publicity stunt. Lying, deceiving, those are not qualities of a good submissive or masochist, let alone of a good partner. However, we can sort of understand why she does it and continues to do it. Fulfilling fantasies can be intoxicating and unfortunately can also lead to misjudgements and miscommunications.

On the other hand, I'm not as big of a fan of Mal as I was of Axel. As lead singer of The Rough, Axel always had a public persona to think of but his time with Ricki seemed to free him in very positive ways, ways that frightened him at times but he was always relatable. Mal just seems angry and cold, I'm not sure I'd trust a submissive or masochistic friend or relative of mine with him. If Gwen had asked me, I'd have told her to run not walk away from that mess. Mal seems to just go with his desires and fantasies first and foremost without thinking every possibility through which leads to some danger. Then he beats himself up, talks himself down, and labels what he wants and desires in the most negative terms. That can only lead to problems which Cecilia Tan knows full well. She shows this repeatedly but most shockingly when Mal refuse to take Gwen and himself to a hospital as he should. Mal isn't a good top in my book but, sadly, it is a reflection of much of what can happen in kink or vanilla sex when you don't slow down and think a bit. I did feel some sympathy for Mal because we learn more about his previous serious kinky relationship. I had a partner who pushed me too far and wouldn't accept my limits as the dominant/top but that pales in comparison to what Mal went through. However, I didn't torture myself by saying "never again" and locking my heart up, I didn't refuse to provide aftercare for my partners, and I sure as heck didn't accept any damn description of myself as a monster. My sympathy ended for Mal when he repeatedly refuses to see himself for a messed up man in need of help and continued to cling to his monster identity.

From book one, the kinky sex scenes are intense and they are not for the weak hearted nor are they models you should follow unless you've had some real-life mentoring and experience. If you know a bit about BDSM, then you'll understand when I say that this novel has a ton of edge play in it and if you are not comfortable reading that sort of thing, this book will be a challenge for you. If you don't know much about edge play, let me clarify and say there is intense roleplaying that lasts days and nights, knives, odd object insertions, and fire. The intensity isn't only in the sex scenes. Mal is messed up from his childhood, his past relationships, and he admits he is trying to be emotionally distant. He says, thinks, and does a few things that made me want to put him over my knee and beat his ass and not in a consensual way.

I know that in romances there is this duty for the woman to help the man come to terms with his emotions but in "Taking the Lead" I didn't feel that was the case. While there was some miscommunications and misunderstandings, I never felt like Axel was emotionally stunted. Mal is not only emotionally stunted but frankly a crap communicator who hides behind the title "sadist" instead of accepting responsibility as a top. He is also self loathing and that was a big turn off to me. Frankly I think Mal needs therapy and a lot of it.

I don't know if this is a problem with word counts and publisher but the story jumps suddenly from Gwen and Mal realizing they will continue to be drawn to each other to everything being great. No mention of therapy, no mention of continued struggles that would be happening, just BOOM things are great. For Ricki and Axel I could believe that, they didn't have any major emotional traumas but that isn't true for Mal and by extension it won't be true for Gwen. Even a couple of sentences in the epilogue acknowledging the weight of the struggle that couple will face would have made a world of difference to the story and not spoiled the happy ending all these romances demand.

If you read "Taking the Lead" and loved it, you'll want to get the second book in the series, too. If you follow this link you'll be able to do that. If you like, please a review of it because as an author myself, I can tell you that doing so, means a great deal to the author and to the publisher. If you want quality romance, quality kink, then you need to show us that you want by buying and speaking out about it

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