Suz's Reviews > Hot Ticket

3.5 stars. Part 2 of a 2 book ARC review at Paperback Dolls blog:
http://paperbackdolls.com/?p=13308

This is the story I was really looking forward to in this series, not a little bit because Jace’s interest in BDSM had been competently referenced in earlier books of the series. I had high hopes for the BDSM elements in this story. I readily admit that I’m kind of hard to please in this regard because of an abundance of real life experience.

I think Cunning did a better than average job of representing the BDSM elements in this story. She even managed to communicate how topping, which might be dominating but isn’t by default so, can actually be a kind of service. “Service” is generally ascribed to the submissive partner by the folks who are committed to their stereotypes, but the truth is that most BDSM relationships are as dependent on reciprocity of one form or another as any relationship. The common term is “power exchange” but there are as many ways to manifest it as there are people to dream those ways up. Cunning did a fine job of illustrating that concept in this story, often turning the roles on their heads without needing to make one partner or the other appear “weak” or “strong” simply because of the role they were assuming.

I have to admit that I have been chagrined and disappointed that Cunning created a kind of personality “breakage” as an excuse for Jace’s BDSM needs. It’s inordinately cliché in the pop fiction genre to use BDSM as an excuse to create character flaws and Cunning did that here. I realize that there needed to be some tension, some thing to grow through and from, to make the characters interesting, I just wish she had found something that didn’t have anything to do with his BDSM for his breakage. Still, I have to own that my attitude is probably a continuation of taking these tropes personally because the truth is that Cunning did a very good job of creating empathy with these characters and not “blaming” the kink. Jace’s back story is heart wrenching and the way he and Aggie work through their hurdles is pretty inspiring, even if occasionally cliché.

And of course the sex is off the chain. Cunning always delivers the heat.

Finally, the very odd release sequence for these books is confusing. It’s not intolerable but it creates a level of angst in the reader that seems unnecessary to me, and yes you do get a bit of spoilers by reading Double Time before Hot Ticket and book 4. If you can suspend your disbelief to believe that all bisexuals are unsatisfied nymphomaniacs then I guess you won’t have any trouble seeing Aggie & Jace as a happy couple before you actually get their story.

The story chronology in releases is:

1 – Backstage Pass
2 – Rock Hard
5 – Double Time
3 – Hot Ticket
4 – Yet to be released, tentatively named “Snare.”

The premise, the characters, and the sex in this series are exceptionally good, but the stories and how they are unfolding leave a lot to be desired. Final analysis of the Sinners On Tour series – it’s well heated fluff, but not to be taken too seriously.