The book has some nice reviews!

One from BDSM Book Reviews, here: http://www.bdsmbookreviews.com/2013/07/10/review-nothing-ventured-by-salome-verdad/

And one from Rude magazine, here: http://www.rudemagazine.co.uk/culture/book-review-nothing-ventured-a-twisted-tale-of-high-tech-high-heels-by-salome-verdad.php

Both reviewers (and some of the others too, including some of the reviews on Amazon) see the book as very much a work of two halves - a first 'sexy' half and a second 'violent' half. This is really interesting to me. I always planned for the plot to go the way that it did.

BDSM is, it seems to be, a highly stylized pageant which is about violence but does not necessarily involve any 'real' hurting. I  think that for many in the scene pain and threat, and humiliation for that matter, are important as symbolic confirmations of the transfer of power. Pain is more important in this way than as a physical stimulus - for the sub, it's a way of proving to yourself that you really have ceded control. Giving up control while remaining safe is what it's all about.

Putting actual violence into the novel violates this, which is why it's so upsetting. From the perspective of a writer something has to happen to make a story; consensual, safe BDSM sex is what you want in real life, but not in fiction. I've noted that other femdom writers do something similar - depicting a good, loving femdom relationship and then bringing in an outsider to disrupt it - Joey Hill does this in Natural Law, for example.

It's probably also worth noting that the internet has democratized BDSM in unexpected ways. Once, the scene was small and closed. People were initiated into the culture via other experienced practitioners. They bought props and stuff from specialist shops, and if they weren't prepared to make that sort of commitment and take that sort of risk then they didn't move beyond fantasy. Now it's possible to order kit online, and to interact with others without having to meet in real life at all. Femdom porn of varying quality, and depicting all kinds of scenarios (not just the scene's prescribed ones) are widely available too.

At the same time images from femdom and BDSM are much more present in mainstream popular culture - advertising, TV, music videos, fashion. Lots of people come into contact with it, and their interest is piqued. It all makes for a very different kind of audience.