Safeword: Rainbow is reviewed by The Forbidden Bookshelf

The Forbidden Bookshelf reviewed Safeword Rainbow.  The heat level and the book review were both a 4 out of 5.  Here are a few highlights from the review:

  • Despite their differing ideas, the chemistry between Tyler and Vivian was amazing.
  • … I love reading books like Safeword: Rainbow that push the boundaries of my comfort zone.
  • It was a well-written and fascinating story, definitely a page-turner.

Several people have had trouble with one of the final scenes of the book. My intention was to show a scene that points out how sometimes a Sadist needs more than a regular scene in order to feed his (or her) inner Sadist. There is a conundrum amongst some of the heavier S&M players of… if the submissive goes off into subspace then is the Sadist really hurting her? This type of scene is one of several answers to that conundrum, but in retrospect it may have been better to make it a shorter scene, or to talk about it instead of giving the blow-by-blow version of it.

At any rate, I appreciate the honest feedback about how much is too much. Some people have loved that scene, some have appreciated it for showing them where they don’t want to go, and some haven’t been able to appreciate it even a teeny tiny bit. There is no right or wrong response, everyone responds to it the way that is right for them, of course.

Overall it was a good review,  and I’m pleased with it.

Other reviews:

Safeword: Rainbow is reviewed by All I Want and More

Check out Cecile’s review at All I Want and More – I love the way she compares the story to white and dark chocolate:

  • White chocolate is just that… white, light, sweet, dreamy…  The adventure Viv and Tyler will take you on… some of it will be white chocolate. To watch them learn to grow for each other. To watch them fall in love with each other. And to watch them lose themselves to each other is just like that white piece of chocolate.
  • Dark chocolate… has some bite to it. Made to be sweet sometimes, but mostly made to be bitter than most. The world in which Viv and Tyler embark on is very dark. There is no vanilla in here.
  • … if you know how far your limits are.. then you can read this book and not worry about it hurting you… This truly is a very good story. It goes back to my chocolate…. the white/dark working on either end… I wanted soft and sweet, the book gave me hard and pain… I hope you don’t safeword out of it… because it truly is an amazing story!

Is that a great analogy or what? The BDSM is very intense – this is a love story between a Sadist and a Masochist who enjoy power exchange, after all. But it is a love story.

Other reviews:

Blackravens Reviews gives Safeword: Rainbow Five Ravens!

MacKenzie at Black Raven’s Reviews gave Safeword: Rainbow a Five Raven review!

Here’s some of what she said:

What a great story. I’m was impressed that the entire story was really about these two characters and not necessarily centered solely on their BDSM or sexual aspects. There was danger and intrigue that kept you guessing.

Candace Blevins does a fantastic job of not taking the easy way out in a romance novel.

It was immensely gratifying to watch this story play out page after page.

I haven’t read a book by Candace Blevins before, but this certainly won’t be my last.

Oh, my goodness. I’m walking around on Cloud Nine and my husband is rolling his eyes at me. You can read the entire review here.

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Safeword: Storm Clouds

Safeword: Storm Clouds is now out, and is available at:

Here is the blurb:

Kendra has lived as a vampire for thousands of years, and she’s been a Domme for the past thousand years. But then she falls for a human man who happens to be wired as a Dom. Neither is interested in a switch relationship, but neither is willing to give up their Dom side, either. They have strong feelings for each other, can they make it work? As Eric learns about the world of vampires and decides whether he can deal with it or not, the other vampires have to figure out whether they can deal with Kendra, their third in command, submitting to a human who some of them feel is so far beneath them on the evolutionary ladder. Can Kendra and Eric battle all of this to find happiness?

Warnings:This title contains consensual BDSM (both M/f and F/m), bondage, mild discipline, use of toys including anal plugs, cuffs, floggers, and canes.

An excerpt can be found on the Excessica site.

Safeword: Storm Clouds

Safeword: Storm Clouds will release in less than two weeks – on January 14th.  I’m a huge fan of the Urban Fantasy genre, and I had a lot of fun writing about vampires this time around.

Here’s the blurb:

Kendra has lived as a vampire for thousands of years, and she’s been a Domme for the past thousand years. But then she falls for a human man who happens to be wired as a Dom. Neither is interested in a switch relationship, but neither is willing to give up their Dom side, either. They have strong feelings for each other, can they make it work? As Eric learns about the world of vampires and decides whether he can deal with it or not, the other vampires have to figure out whether they can deal with Kendra, their third in command, submitting to a human who some of them feel is so far beneath them on the evolutionary ladder. Can Kendra and Eric battle all of this to find happiness?

Warnings:This title contains consensual BDSM (both M/f and F/m), bondage, mild discipline, use of toys including anal plugs, cuffs, floggers, and canes.
Word Count: 65,600
It will eventually show up pretty much everywhere, but for now you can read an excerpt at the Excessica site.

Contest – Win a free ebook of Safeword: Rainbow

I’m giving away two ebook copies of Safeword: Rainbow. Enter the contest by posting on the blog and/or commenting to the Facebook entry of this blog post. View my Facebook wall at facebook.com/candacesblevins.

I’ll use random.org to get two random numbers  – one for the blog comments and one for the Facebook comments. I’ll do the blog first, and if the Facebook entry happens to be the same person then the person immediately above that person will win.

Make sure I have your email address if you post on the blog, and if you post on Facebook then I’ll have to message you to get your email address once you win.

Contest ends Sunday January 2nd, once both of my daughters are asleep. (around 8:30 pm eastern).