Tag: dominent males

Scene from 'The House on Black Lake' trailer.

Sugar and Spice (The Duty and Destiny Series Book 6)

Please Note:  The House on Black Lake has been adapted to screenplay. Visit Home Page to view cinematic trailer.

The themes of obsessive love, BDSM, alpha males, control and submission, the use of wealth and power to allure, exploit and control, are all explored in The House on Black Lake. Ramey Sandeley is a man who it has been said that "God gave too much and so he has price to pay".  He has everything that a man or woman could possible want, but he has never known a truly soulful love. When he meets Alexandra their perfect lives are blown apart and they are taken on a journey that compels them to explore the dark side of human behavior and dig deeper into their psyches. He believes the body must be contained (and sometimes beaten) for the soul to to be released. He threatens Alexandra with a whipping when she returns from a liason with a young French Artist Andre Labat and warns her that once the soul has been released from its human bondage there is no turning back.

The House on Black Lake mirrors many of the same themes as the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Yet, the characters are at different points in their lives. Ana and Christian are fortunate to meet when they are both without responsibility and available.  Ramey and Alexander fall in love at first sight.  However, they are both are newlyweds when they first meet, and have children when they reunite (she has divorced and he is still married). Yet, the longing and desire for something deeper, more profound and primal are universal at any age. Their journey is both exciting and torturous, as integrity and faithfulness are at stake as well as the confinements of society.

Other books popular with women who loved "Fifty Shades of Grey follow. The list offers a wide selection that includes recommendations from readers of all ages, and levels of  sophistication and education.

1. Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard

2. Innocence Tempted (Generational Sins Series)

3.An Ordinary Girl by Barbara Elsbord

4. Sleeping Beauty Series by Anne Rice

5. Sempre by J.M Darhower

6. Insufferable Proximity by Z. Stefani

7. Wicked Burn by Beth Kery

8. Sweet Restraint by Beth Kery

9.  Sweet Surrender (Complete Series) by Maya Banks

10.Forever Wicked: A Wicked Lovers Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Shaya Black

11. Naughty Bits Part II: The Training Session by Joey W. Hill

12. An Irresistible Bachelor by J. R. Ward

16. Bound (Forbidden Series - Book 1)

18. Surviving Passion (The Shattered World Book 1)

21. A Tall, Dark Cowboy by Mackenzie McKade

22. Rocky Mountain Heat(Six Pack Ranch Book 1) by Sarah McCarty

26 Lost Star[Interstellar Service & Discipline] by Morgan Hawkes

28. An Ordinary Girl by Barbara Elsborg

30. Liberating Lacey by Ann Calhoun

31. BDSM Positions: The Beginner's Guide to BDSM

32. Bound, Spanked and Loved: Fourteen Kinky Valentine's Day Stories

33. The Wicked West  by Victoria Dahl

34. The Principal's Office by Jasmine Haynes

35. The Taker by Alma Katsu

36. Beautiful Disaster by Jaime Mcguire

37. Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn

38. Breaking Sin by Teresa Mummert

39. Love Unscripted by Tina Reber

40. Honor Student by Teresa Mummert

41. The Story of O by Pauline Reage

43. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day

44. Master of Shadowland Series by Cherise Sinclair

45. Sweet Series by Maya Banks

46. Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

47. Existance Trilogy by Abbi Glines

48. Bared to You by Sylvia Day

49. Untouchable by Lindsay Delagair

50. From Rags by Suzanne Wright

Author Anastasia Blackwell grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is familiar with the world of Christian Grey.  In a series of interviews set in Jacksonville, Oregon she discusses the controversial novel.

There is something very intriguing about a horrible alpha hero. No matter how distusting and depraved, if they have an ounce of good looks and charisma there is a desire for redemption. When I was watching the HBO Deadwood series on DVD recently  I became entranced with the brothel owning anti hero played by (Ian McShane) who was utterly disgusting and deplorable, and a most beautiful foil for the good looking sheriff (played by Timothy Olyphant), who, dispite his upstanding integrity, falls for the seduction of infidelity. I desired to know what terrible childhood had created such a tough shell.  The show is filled with such cruel alpha males seeking to survive and find their fortunes in a brutal environment. None of the women featured were saved a measure of heartbreak, if they made the mistake of opening their hearts to these men.

When I began writing "The House on Black Lake" I had no idea how my hero would take shape. His background was clear to me - wealthy descendant of old Montreal family, blessed with preternatural good looks, raised with the finest education and social experiences, taught to be a man by shooting big game in the wilds of Africa and learning to tame animals from native descendants on Black Lake. Hero Ramey Sandeley was not strictly of my imagination, as I have known similar men. But once he came alive in my novel he had a mind of his own.

There are many scenes in my book where I believe he is cruel and selfish with heroine, Alexandra Brighton. But it is also clear to me that his intense connection with Alexandra terrifies him, as well his her role in his unfolding fate. The fact that his mother abandoned him by taking her own life and his wife, Ruth, is an alcoholic who tricked him into marriage, makes him terrified of being emotionally close to a woman. So, the cruelties he exhibits appear to me more as boyish ways to fend off his own feelings of vulnerability and abandonment, as well as a fierce desire to help Alexandra grow out of her cocoon into a worthy counterpart -rather than the desire to hurt or destroy her.

Ramey has inherited a position within the power elite. He knows the ways of international commerce and government. His perceptions are skewed do to the nature of his position in society. Although Alexandra, world weary and reeling from a cruel divorce, is literally his captive during her stay on Black Lake and he is involved in her transformation inside the French Canadian underground, his goal is to release her from the psychological imprisonment of  society. In a dramatic scene in a shed behind the old Victorian on the island on Black Lake Ramey picks up a length of rope and asks Alexandra to tie his hands and do whatever she likes with him, so she can feel the power that drives her suppressors. When she declines and tells him he's acting crazy he responds: "How do you decide what's crazy? How do you determine what's good or bad unless you've tried it? Whose rules do you live by, anyway?  Who tells you how you should live your life or feel about anything. Is it you, Baby? Or is it your parents, your husband, your priest, or some fucking magistrate. Don't judge me until you can ask those questions of yourself and be completely honest with the answer." Ramey believes that by breaking Alexandra's shell her soul will be set free - but she does not share his insights. There is a tremendous power struggle between the two, and this struggle marks the beginning of Alexandra's growth as a woman.

On the other hand, the character of Georgie La Point, Ramey's cousin, a prominent French Canadian rock star, is another matter altogether. Also emotionally broken in childhood (his mother left his father for the stained glass craftsman hired to inlay the family crest in their front door), he is cruel and evil to the bone, with no hope of redemption. The man is a supreme narcissist who grooms his hair in the reflection in the eyes of his admirers, makes love to his own singing, and has never been with a woman more than once. No woman can tame this man and those who try will become damaged goods. So, Georgie is the villain in my story, and I had great fun having Alexandra challenge him in very provocative settings.

I have made a list of the top ten cruelest, meanest, most horrible heroes in romance novels (thanks to the Amazon Romance Community for their input).

1. Domenico, The Silver Devil, by Teresa Denys

2. Felipe, The Flesh and the Devil, by Teresa Denys

3.  Sean, Stormfire, by Christine Monsoon

4. Dillan,  Into the Fire, by Anne Stuart

5. Bastian, Black Ice, by Anne Stuart

6. Gray, After the Night, by Linda Howard

7. Steve, Sweet Savage Love, by Rosemary Rogers

8. Rodrigo, Fearless, Diane Palmer

9. Rolf, Risk Everything, Sophia Johnson

10 Dominic, Wicked Loving Lies, by Rosemary Johnson