Sublime: A Collection of Shorts by Rachel Haimowitz

Sublime: A Collection of Shorts by Rachel Haimowitz
Stars: 3/5

Note: This review does not include the last part of the collection, which is the first chapter of the novel Counterpoint.

Overall
This collection is more like an album of snapshots than a series of stories. Each interaction between Sir and Nicky takes place in the span of a couple hours. The writing goes in depth detailing what is happening in each act of submission, but the characters never blossom into fully developed beings. While we are shown brief glimpses into their lives outside of the bedroom (or the kitchen, the living room, etc), it isn't the focus of the story. No plot (not really), but that wasn't the aim of the stories either.

Strengths
BDSM. The stories contained here cover a wide variety of kinks and give fairly good details on the scenes. Much like a variety pack of chips, I liked some more than others, but ended up eating them all anyway. Worth it, if just for the education, with the bonus of no calories to burn off.

Good, strong writing that explained some rather difficult concepts (for the un-initiated) in ways that were accessible. I don't get pony play, but I was happy for Nicky and understood it a little better.

Weaknesses
Development. While I don't mark this collection down for the lack of plot, necessarily, I would love to see more developed characters. It would make quite the hot, steamy novel to see these two develop over a time-line and get more emotional connection to them. For me, this was the weakest part and why it scored so low--if I don't feel emotional connections to the characters, it's hard for me to completely enjoy a book. People who don't need as much squishy heart romance in their books may not be bothered by this.