It’s Friday and it’s not snowing and those are definitely wins!

In Flame For A Weekend, Dax and Gardenia finally give into the attraction that’s sizzled between them. This is a novella where the FMC is exploring age play, submission and a power exchange dynamic. It’s also where in a 35k novella, “Good girl” is said 35 times. Because the character Dax, loves to give out praise.  But a praise kink is more than “good girl.”

From Bad Girls Bible, “Praise kink, which is sometimes known as “affirmation play” or a good girl kink, involves the dominant or top showering their submissive/bottom partner with compliments, kind words, and other sorts of praise. Now, praise kink doesn’t just mean including praise. After all, that’s a common component of most power exchange relationships or kinky scenes. So if you have this kink or want to include it as an activity, it’s the focus of your interactions.” [https://badgirlsbible.com/praise-kink] 

Dax heaps the compliments on Gardenia because he likes how she reacts like:

“Gardenia, your breasts look beautiful in that top.” Dax smiled, coming forward to greet her. “I’m so pleased you decided to spend the weekend with me.”
I love how my shirt looks on you, by the way. Your body is gorgeous.”
She flushed at his compliment. “I don’t think… I’m always too….”

And

“And you were so gorgeous as your eyes closed and you clutched my shirt, and the orgasm spiraled through your body.”

When I was writing Flame For A Weekend, I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to explore praise kink beyond just the good girl. For a little novella, this book was actually a turning point for me as I realized that I love writing instant love romance and I started to have a hankering to play with softer, tender Doms that eventually led to Mercy.

In Five Days to Be Mine, “good girl” is said 56 times. Is this too much? I don’t think so, considering that Evan is a pleasure Dom and not only is he a pleasure Dom, he is a Dom that thrives on taking care of his partner.

In Flame For Two, “good girl” is only said 7 times and only once by Xander. Xander isn’t the type of Dom to give praise away like candy.

But “good girl” has become so popular as a reader requested praise kink it’s almost a whole sub-genre but it also has to fit the character.

My mutual on Instagram, Stacy Jane, wrote a post where she talks about “good girl” having to fit the character. I love what she says here:

“Once the praise kink hit mainstream, everyone was squeezing it in somehow. And while it absolutely works in the right scenes, it should never be forced to work in others. When any kind of tropes or things like this become overused, they can easily slip into the “parody” realm of things.” [https://www.instagram.com/p/C4zRq8lr6hm/]

The line between “real life” and fiction is always one I’m aware of and even though I write about private operatives and take lots of liberties in a fictionalized way, I shudder at kink becoming a parody in my work.

For this Follow Friday, check out Stacy Jane’s Rain in the Wastelands on Kindle Vella here and her standalone novel, Saving Gypsy

Gypsy Jones moved from New Orleans to Chicago in search of life’s next adventure. What she ended up with instead was a boring and lonely life. Stuck in an office job she hates and living in a tiny apartment she can barely afford, her life is far from what she dreamt it would be. Now, wherever she goes, she envisions the stars aligning and putting her on the path to her soulmate.
None fit the bill until Xander Larson. Gypsy is quick to fall for his charms and desperate enough for companionship to give into her lust for him just minutes after they meet. It’s not until Gypsy is in an afterglow that Xander tells her his name, revealing himself to be a man wanted by the FBI for domestic terrorism. By the time she learns his true identity, she’s already addicted to him and in complete denial he could ever be the monster she’s heard him described as.
Special Agent King Renzo is the FBI agent heading the Larson investigation. When footage of the wanted man is brought to his attention, he’s surprised to see Larson seduce a woman within mere minutes. He’s seen enough cases of women falling for the wrong man to know he needs to get her away from the terrorist before Larson destroys her. The only thing he didn’t expect was just how hard and fast he would fall.
Stand Alone novel with a happy ending.
Trigger warnings: violence and one brief rape scene.