Beyond Shame (Beyond, #1)

by Kit Rocha

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted was a life beyond--beyond her stifling role as a prim and proper councilman’s daughter, and beyond the walls of the patriarchal city of Eden, the only remnants of safety in a world destroyed by solar storms decades earlier. But when she’s banished for violating the prohibition against immorality, she’s unprepared for the lawless world outside the city’s walls.

The sectors surrounding Eden house those abandoned to fend for themselves--men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. Jas clawed his way up from nothing to stand at the right hand of Sector Four’s ruthless leader, and he’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life. But fighting hasn’t prepared him for dealing with a sheltered City princess who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, but so is her intense sexual curiosity. Soon they’re exploring every dark fantasy she’s ever been ashamed to have. But if Noelle wants to claim her place with the O’Kanes and at Jas’s side, she’ll have to find the courage to embrace something even more terrifying than her own desires.

Her own power.

***

Beyond Shame is an erotic dystopian romance set in a dark and decadent world. While the characters explore kink and sex with multiple partners, all sex between characters is 100% consensual.

• ISBN10: 1479327573
• ISBN13: 9781479327577
• Publish Date: 16 September 2012 (first published 1 September 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 354
• Language: English

Reviews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Beyond Shame is the first book in the Beyond series by Kit Rocha (a.k.a. Moria Rogers, a.k.a. Donna Herren and Bree Bridges). This series takes place in a dystopian world after solar flares took all technology on the planet. Electricity is not stable either. Eden is supposed to be a utopia, but with all its rules and restrictions, it is far from it. That is where is find Noelle Cunningham, the councilman’s daughter, who was living outside of those regulations. She is kicked out of the city and dumped into Sector Four to fend for herself.

The sectors surrounding Eden are known for their corruption and crime. They are run by gangs and street rules apply. Each sector is known for different “specialties”. Sector Four is run by the infamous bootlegger Dallas O’Kane. He makes the best liquor in the area and makes tons of money at it. Sector Four is also known for its explicit extracurricular activities. Nothing is off limits as long as it is consensual.

When Noelle falls at the feet of Jasper McCray, right hand to the head of Sector Four. Jasper takes in Noelle who is on something and nurses her back to health. Jasper, even though he is a cage fighter and a thug, he has quite the soft spot and Noelle fits there perfect. They are perfect together. He is a natural dominant. Noelle is a natural submissive who wants nothing more than to experience life.

The characters in this book couldn’t be better. They are hot, tattooed and share well, for the most part. There are some pretty elaborate sex parties in the sector. The people in the gang are loyal, sarcastic and cocky. Once you are part of the O’Kanes, you are one for life. You are even tattooed with cuffs around your wrists to prove you are part of the gang for life. It also offers you extra protection in the sector. Everyone knows that if you mess with one O’Kane, you will mess with them all.

Narration
The narration is good. Lucy Malone does a good job with each of the different characters. I don’t think she does a bad job with the men. She makes Noelle’s innocence sound believable. Each character has a distinct voice. The tone and pace is done well.

[Amanda]

Kit Rocha is a pen name for Moira Rogers (who I love), so when Kelly read and loved Beyond Shame, I knew I had to check it out, too. (Where Kelly goes, I shall follow.) Beyond Shame is the kind of book that you either read all at once or you have to stop and breathe before diving back in. It is overwhelming, but in a good, "I shall think all the thoughts and have all the feelings" way. In fact, this is what I told Kelly:

I feel all...FEELY inside. I am deeply intrigued and I know that I've never read anything like it. I'm just like, "I have FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS about this book," but I can't actually communicate what they are.

But I am going to try.

If you follow my shenanigans on Free Books Need Love Too or Twitter, you know that I'm a frequent reader of erotica. I'm not new to the genre, and I know that all erotica is not created equal--in more ways than one. I've read some really shitty erotica and I've some really well-written (and steamy) erotica. There are also plenty of kinks. Unless you count the tentacle sex erotica (which I find more amusing than anything), this is not an area that I've explored much...until Beyond Shame.

Here's the thing. Beyond Shame has to be read with an open mind. It has BDSM themes, but the world the authors built is challenging as well. The BDSM themes fascinated me, because there is a quite a bit of underlying psychology that makes a BDSM relationship far, far different than a "normal" one. At the same time that I struggled to understand it, it was never over the top or so overwhelming that I had to stop. (Pun not intended. I think.) Noelle and Jasper were both characters worth exploring and learning and loving. Their romance is as compelling as it is non-traditional.

As much as I enjoyed the romance, the world building in Beyond Shame is what stole the show for me. Noelle comes from Eden--repressed, puritanical Eden. Though no where near comparable to society right now, Eden capitalizes on many of our underlying values that have stuck in American culture--even as sex continues to sell, sell, sell. Women are either good little virgins waiting for marriage or sluts; an in between, where women can enjoy sex just as much as men do without fear of receiving a negative label, does not exist. This is the juxtaposition of Eden and Sector Four.

But to call the women in Sector Four sluts would be to do them (and ourselves, as women) a disservice. Whether done intentionally or not (and I'm just reading into it), Sector Four attempts to find that middle ground. And if, like me, you have been trained by society to think in terms of virgins or sluts, Beyond Shame is overwhelming. And a little uncomfortable. But it is overwhelming and uncomfortable in a positive way so that, like Noelle, you are forced to confront your beliefs. And I liked that. I liked it a lot.

Beyond Shame is not going to be for everyone. Like I said, it requires an open mind. But if you want to push yourself--your beliefs, your exposure to what exists beyond the "vanilla"--Beyond Shame would be the place to start. Like all Moira Rogers's books I've read, their Kit Rocha books are well-written and completely engrossing. If it hadn't started Beyond Shame so late in the day, I would have easily devoured it in a single setting. As it was, I finally had to rip myself away from the book at 2am.

[Cocktails and Books]

I'd read a lot about this book and wondered how I had missed all the buzz about it. So when I saw it up on NetGalley, I grabbed a copy so I could join in on the fun. After reading it, I'm glad I picked it up. It was different and had characters that I loved because of their grittiness.

I'm going to write this review a little bit differently and list what I liked and what I didn't about the book.

~What I loved~

*The O'Kane Gang: I loved them all. They were gritty and hard, but they were a family who looked out for one another.

*Lex: She was a ball buster and took a lot of that out on Dallas, but I have a feeling all her bluster is her armor. I get the feeling she's hiding something, not sure what, but whatever it is it caused her to become this hardened woman that uses whatever she has at her disposal to get keep people at arms length. Too bad we can see right through her when she's Dallas.

*Dallas: He could be a tremendous asshole when he wanted too, but it was in the name of protecting what was his. His sector, his business and his people. But you could see the caring side of him, especially when he was with Lex, Jas, Bren and Noelle. He has that soft squishy center and if he ever manages to get his act together with Lex, we may just see it.

*Jasper: He was a big white night in shining armor disguised under tattoos, bulk and silent, broody attitude. The minute he had Noelle in his arms his protective instinct kicked in. I doubt he knew what that meant as he carried her to safety, but she was his downfall from that very minute. He really struggled with what he wanted versus what he though was best for Noelle. He didn't always make the right choices, but in the end he got it right.

*Noelle: Poor Noelle had a lot thrown at her. She'd been forced from the only place she knew into a world that was beyond her wildest expectations. She had to let go of everything she ever learned in order to figure out just who she should be and what she wanted. It wasn't easy for her, especially as she looked for validation in what she was doing from Jasper, Lex and even Dallas. But she eventually learned that she needed to make sure own decision before she could truly be happy.

~What I didn't really like~

*I needed more information about Eden and the sectors. What was the Flare that caused them all to live like they do. I wanted to know who ran each sector and how those sector related to Dallas' leadership.

*Noelle's family: I felt like I needed more information about Noelle's family and why they would go to such lengths to toss her out. And what the real reason was for her father coming to see her (because I think there was really more there than saving face).

*Noelle: Her immediate submission to just about anyone who showed an ounce of dominance sometime grated on me. I know this was all new to her and she didn't know how to react, but honestly, where was that backbone she had when she was living in Eden sneaking pre-Flare porn? She couldn't have been a doormat to everyone there and I really didn't like her willingness to submit for 85% of this story to whoever wanted her submission (especially since it wasn't always about sex)

All in all it was a really great story. The sex was unbelievably hot (and there was A LOT of it) and the building for this world has me hooked. I have many questions about what's going to happen next and want to see how the characters develop, so I will eagerly await the next release in the series.

[anastasia]

Full Review on NetGalley