Many people in the mainstream like to separate out the “Romance” genre from the other “literary” genres. For example, I recently went to an all-genres conference at Colombia in Chicago, and romance was no where to be found at any of the booths.

I’m a fairly new romance writer, having started writing in 2015 and joined RWA in 2016. But still, it’s evident that there is a bias that’s present. “Romance” is not “literary” if you ask a lot of people who don’t read romance. “So you write Fifty shades of Grey, basically?” is what people ask me all the time when I tell them I’m a romance writer. Recently, the New York times eliminated eBooks from their bestseller lists, which was always dominated by romance novels, since they are the most widely read of any genre out there. You could make an argument that they did away with this list because they thought it was ‘weird’ that romance novels kept showing up so often on the list.

I have a whole host of reasons I have ranted about during my live feeds on why this separation between romance and other genres, and why I think it’s ridiculous. But I’m not going to bring those up right now since this is a review blog post and I don’t want to get too far off topic (to catch Mickey’s live feeds, join his reader group, Mickey’s Misfits on Facebook).

Anyhow, I suppose you may be asking yourself why I would even bring up this little rant when the title of this post is a book review? Good question. Let me tell you.

Every once in a while I read a romance novel so good that when I finish I have to take five and think about my own life and actions for a while. Marriage Games is one of those books.

(No spoilers)

The book starts out from the point of view of Adam Steinbeck, who’s wife has just left him. Adam is a former dom, and he left that lifestyle because he fell madly in love with his wife. He’s content to pursue a ‘vanilla’ sex life because he will do anything it takes to be with her.  Yet she still notices that he often seems disengaged mentally in the relationship.

Now, Adam is left with no choice but to show his wife a darker side of her. A side he’d meant to keep hidden.  But he’s out of options. Show her what he’s been hiding, or lose her forever.

I’m not going to go too much more into detail, because I think you can get the idea. But it’s damn phenomenal. The premise is original and incredible. Add in CD Reiss’s talent for weaving present and past into one, seamless narration, and you’ve got one of the best romance novels I’ve read in recent years. In addition to being incredibly hot, it touches on taboo fantasies, sexual shame, and bdsm in a way that is so real and in-depth. It frames how being a submissive is actually a position of power in a way that I’d never quite thought about it.

This novel is lifelike in how it shows the sexual side of a couple’s marriage.

Going back to my earlier point about how romance novels are some how ‘cast aside’ as not being a literary genre. Well, we live in an overly sexualized world where sites like PornHub are ranked number 31 on most trafficked sites in the world. Even if we don’t want to acknowledge the fact that our children are exposed to sexual crap on the internet at an earlier age than ever before. A lot of this hardcore stuff is just visual, with no attempt to even delve into the emotional complexities that (should) exist when indulging a lot of these fantasies.

Sometimes, the darker sides our sexualities are misunderstood, shamed, and unfairly treated. In my humble opinion, many people don’t fully understand their sexual selves, which isn’t always an issue since it’s pretty high up on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. But when it is an issue, it’s a huge one, and leads to lots of real life heartbreak, etc.

I would argue that the literary crowd could use more delving into the understanding of their sexual and romantic selves, and Marriage Games is a book that opens up that journey with a depth and profundity that took me by surprise.

Did I mention it’s hot as hell?

If you’re looking for a scorching read, check it out. My favorite duo, Sebastian York and Elena York read the audio version and they are incredible. You can get it on audible here Marriage Games: The Games Duet

And the eBook on Amazon, of course: Marriage Games (The Games Duet Book 1)

Personally, this is one of those books I like to have on hard copy.

Now it’s back to writing my latest! Have a great Sunday!

—
Mickey Miller is a romance author from the Midwest. His debut novel, Playing Dirty, came out in November of 2016. His next book, Dirty CEO, was cowritten with Holly Dodd and can be preordered on Amazon here. He does live feed and readings in his Facebook reader group the Misfits.