Review: Dutch by Madhuri Blaylock

Dutch by Madhuri Blaylock

September 9th, 2015

I received this book in exchange for an honest review!

I'm calling it. There aren't any genuine Blasian couples in books that don't focus on East Asian men. Don't get me wrong, all Asian is fine! But sometimes I like to see a little diversity among Asian men in romance themed novels, especially with Black women, because y'all know those are my faves!

Dutch is a Paranormal type Erotica/Erotic Romance book featuring such a pairing.

There are a lot of things I liked, but there were some things I didn't connect to, which weren't deal breakers!

Things I liked:

Juma. I think Juma is the standout character of the book. She's a bit on the sociable side, which made her a bit chatty, but she was someone who owned up to her sexuality and didn't shame herself for enjoying sex.

 I liked Death. I would've liked to know more about her. Very few depictions of "death" are women in media, so I wanted to know more about her. I actually think there should be a book solely on her character alone, because I tend to prefer dominating women to the dominating men trope.

I think there's something very alpha about me that made like want to see Death stand on her own, and not just as someone's boss. I've been searching for more books where the women are the Doms and the men are the subs, and it's few and far between when you add that it needs to be diverse for me XD

The diversity.

I'm really close minded! I don't waste my money on books that don't include me anymore. I dont care how good the book is, how praised it is, or how popular it becomes. My money no longer supports stories that could give a crap about my narrative, or at the very least, an experience that doesn't only highlight white characters.

I think the diversity is a bit more subtle. Sometimes it might be "blink and you might miss it" type paragraphs, but I rarely miss the opportunities that highlighted characters who werent white.

I'm actually curious about the dynamic duo Rani Rao and James Sussex. I really don't think I see Black Indian couples at all, even Indian women and Black men. They seemed like a sexy unit of pain and pleasure, that for the most part seemed equal.

I love partners, tag teams or couples where there aren't traditional gender roles, and Rani, even though her character isnt as big a character as Juma, reminded me more of myself than Juma, even though I liked Juma.

Like I said, I'm very Alpha. It's really hard to be with an Alpha when you are an Alpha, but James seemed just as much Alpha as Rani, and they totally made it work.

Some of the sex. There's A LOT of sex in this book. Like, literally, there's gotta be like 15-30 sex scenes lol.

Just fair warning for clean readers, or readers who don't like sex in books. Most of the sex I enjoyed. I don't like anal sex, but it's kind of a personal choice and really bad experiences come to mind when I think of it XD but the only thing I would've changed was that most the sex is unprotected.

Since casual sex is more common nowadays, I don't like to see it unprotected. I'm very sex education first, enjoy mind blowing orgasms later. But if that doesn't bother you, there's a ton of hot sex that will probably make your mouth water.

Things I didn't connect to:

I really hate to say this. Because I don't really want to...Most of the book I didn't like Dutch. He's gorgeous. He's Indian. Already there are two requirements that pass my "Guinevere-Get-That-Number" Test. But he's kind of a jerk throughout most of the book.

He doesn't like you to speak when he has sex with you, or touch him, which is beyond strange. 

I liked him closer toward the end, but I didn't instantly connect to him when I needed to during the beginning. I guess because I'm getting older, I don't like to sexualize someone who's not treating me well, even if it's just from the fantastic pages of a book. Full disclosure: I grew up in a home filled with abuse. From my biological father, to my mother's now husband, I have no healthy depictions of a man who treats my mother well.

So my personal experiences shape how I felt about Dutch. Other readers who are used to this Alpha Male will probably love him though!

Also, even though Juma had sex with women, it didn't seem like her character was genuinely attracted to women. She seemed like she only liked women for sex. I'm very pro f/f in books, so I just don't want to see a person's marginalization sexualized if it isn't taken as seriously as how Juma takes men seriously.

Sometimes the dialogue is a little jarring. But it's not a deal breaker.

Some of the terms are confusing XD For some reason the word Poocha is so similar to coochie for me XD So it brings me back to my childhood of teasing or getting teased by being compared to one XD Lol

And the unprotected sex. Too many STI's out there, and no person is that fine to let them hit it raw unless they're willing to take you to the clinic on your first date XD

Overall, if you like a little magic in your erotica, I definitely recommend Dutch!

You can pre-order it through the link!