No Safewords: A Marketplace Fan Anthology (The Marketplace Series) by Laura Antoniou


No Safewords: A Marketplace Fan Anthology (The Marketplace Series)
Title : No Safewords: A Marketplace Fan Anthology (The Marketplace Series)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1613900724
ISBN-10 : 9781613900727
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 192
Publication : First published January 11, 2013

Ten stories of BDSM, submission, and service set in the secret world of Laura Antoniou's Marketplace. The Marketplace has fans all over the world, and Antoniou invited them to come play in her fictional sandbox/dungeon. Numbered among those fans happen to be some of the top erotica and alternative sexuality writers in the world, including D.L. King, Sassafras Lowrey, and Elizabeth Schechter. The full slate of writers contributing to NO SAFEWORDS runs the gamut of award-winning authors to bright-eyed new voices, as creator Laura Antoniou explains in her introduction: "As the saying goes, 'blessed are those who embellish the tale.' So here is the Marketplace, as seen through other eyes. There are some stories that show the world exactly as I created it, and some that push my boundaries a tad. There is romance and strife, glee and despair. There is hot sex, of course, but there's also humor and melodrama. Just the way I like it. "There were some surprises for me! I was delighted to find several female dominant/male submissive stories, especially since my examples of those relationships tend to be supporting, rather than main characters. I was also pleased by the writers who weren't afraid to go a little dark; a collection of stories all about slaves misbehaving in mildly inconvenient ways and getting fantastically, erotically punished would have been tiresome. "So whether you want a rollicking Victorian flavored tale of adventure and romance or a modern, sexy welcome to a new home for a familiar character, you will find flavors here to tempt or satisfy your tastes. Return for more time travel to a world where the language we so casually use to describe our tastes doesn't even exist, but where longing for a ritualized order and discipline and a sense of belonging transcends words, and gets expressed in the rich metaphor-and reality-of a garden. "Then swerve away from romance to feel the terror of a slave newly sold to an owner who represents their worst nightmare, whether because of demographics or the enormous challenge of a language barrier. "Here, you can get into the reflection of a trainer's long career or the grief and anguish of a new owner confronted with an inherited house full of property she didn't choose. Or, watch how even the jaded, experienced ways of the Marketplace aware people become awkward in that most awkward of adult challenges-a marriage proposal. Get a glimpse into the rarefied and formal household of an owner/spotter, and then take a detour to the desolate history of a young genderqueer punk fresh from the streets, confronted with the most iconic of Marketplace characters. All of this-a synthesis of my imagination and theirs, fed by culture, fantasy, fairy tales and fears. All fiction is, in a way, fan fiction. I am sorry it took so long for me to see this and to open myself to the interesting sensations-you might call it edge-play-in giving people access to my favorite victims. But better late than never!" Full table of contents: A Thousand Things Before Breakfast by Marie Casey Stevens The First by D. Alexandria If You Try Sometime by D. L. King Her Owner's Voice by Leigh Ann Hildebrand Hiding in Plain Sex by Sassafras Lowrey Delirious Moonlight, 1916: Mr. Sloan's Boy by Anna Watson Pearls in the Deep Blue Sea by Jamie Thorsen Coals for the New Castle by Marie Casey Stevens Getting Real by S.M. Li O, Promise Me! by Elizabeth Schechter

No Safewords: A Marketplace Fan Anthology (The Marketplace Series) Reviews

  • Danny Tyran

    Nice little collection of short stories. Some are better of course, but I loved them all, even the little opening speech. The comments only are written by Laura A.

    Table of contents:
    *** A Thousand Things Before Breakfast by Marie Casey Stevens
    ***** The First by D. Alexandria
    **** If You Try Sometime by D. L. King
    ***** Her Owner's Voice by Leigh Ann Hildebrand
    ***** Hiding in Plain Sex by Sassafras Lowrey
    ***** Delirious Moonlight, 1916: Mr. Sloan's Boy by Anna Watson
    ***** Pearls in the Deep Blue Sea by Jamie Thorsen
    ***** Coals for the New Castle by Marie Casey Stevens
    ***** Getting Real by S.M. Li O
    ***** Promise Me! by Elizabeth Schechter

    The last longest short story made me think of the end of John Preston's novel, Mr Benson. This is a part that his publisher had asked him to lengthen a little his novel, whose length did not meet the criteria of the time. The short story here--as the last part of Preston's book--is about an abduction by Arab slavers. ;)

    I noted above the number of stars for each short story. There are some faults in a few stories, reason for the withdrawal of a half-star (4.5). But I rounded it to 5 stars because I like too much everything about the Marketplace.

  • Erzabet Bishop


    Formal manners in regard to slave and Master stories are something I have always had a fascination with. I fell in love with The Marketplace by Laura Antoniou the first time I picked up the book. I am still immersed within its pages and find myself treasuring each moment like a fine piece of chocolate. Mine. Mine. Mine. So, when I was given the chance to review No Safewords, a collection of fan stories about the world I had fallen so hard for, I snapped up the book like the greedy little book junky I am.
    No Safewords is a collection of fan based stories based in The Marketplace. Each one has a forward and introduction by Laura Antoniou, with reasons why she selected each piece. They are all different and I found that I didn’t want this book to ever end. The first piece in the collection is “A Thousand Things Before Breakfast” by Marie Casey Stevens. If you ever wondered what happens at a leather conference, here is your chance. This speech is what you would hear if you attended a meeting for those in the Marketplace world. Evocative, informative and educational, this little story takes you there in every way.
    “If You Try Sometime” by D.L. King brings us an endearing character from the Marketplace series by the name of Robert. He is brought across the pond to be of service in London. His new Mistress is a stickler for formal manners and her reprimands are truly inspiring. The scene that is set evokes the grand manor style setting with maids, cooks and the like. This story looks at humiliation as a tool for training and was one of my favorites in the anthology.
    “Coals for the New Castle” by Marie Casey Stevens is about a trainer that has left the Marketplace for a life on the outside. It gives a unique perspective, filled with kink, some pretty hot ink, a Sybian (oh I really want one now) and a story that will curl your toes. What happens when two lovers with a past decide to get married? How do you put Marketplace values into the home of a married couple, when you aren’t sure you are doing the right thing? Where does the soft world end and kinky real life begin? These are all things Magda and Julian face when they consider tying the knot. Thankfully they have a wonderful friend in Charlotte who will help them with their uncertainty. Hot, thigh clenching fun!
    The last story in this anthology is the longest. “O, Promise Me” by Elizabeth Schechter is a trip through a historical Marketplace scenario that had something for everyone. When Thomas is requested to marry Eugenia and take her collar, all sorts of fun things happen. Kidnapping, rescue and an unlikely friendship emerge in the wicked wild land of Cairo. Here you will meet a Mistress with a sweet face and a sharp hand for discipline, a very eager lord who just happens to be a slave and a tale that will keep you up until the last page is read. (Or at least it did me. No sleep. More Marketplace!)
    This collection of fan based devotion to the Marketplace series was truly inspirational. I absolutely loved each and every story. From nightmarish slave scenes in “Getting Real” by S.M. Li where a new slave wonders what the heck he has done to himself to “Delirious Moonlight” by Anna Watson, I can’t say enough good things. Every author did a superb job with crafting stories of slavery and masterful ownership that bring further life to an already wonderfully crafted universe. Ms. Antoniou should be very proud of this anthology. Kinky fun for everyone!
    Reviewed by: Erzabet
    Tags: Marketplace, BDSM, anthology

  • TammyJo Eckhart

    I found eight of the ten stories fit very nicely into the universe that Laura Antoniou has created over the course of five novels. Regardless of orientation or time period, each of these eight seemed quite plausible for the rules of the organization called "The Marketplace." Two pieces did not seem to fit either because "owners" broke the rules in ways that seemed likely to get them removed from the list of acceptable buyers or because the relationships were really outside the organization and did not involve slaves and owners who wanted to be part of it.

    I've written a much fuller review on Amazon.com.