Review: Eight Kinky Nights

Eight Kinky Nights by Xan West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on April 21, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Gender feels: not just for trans and non-binary folks."

Due to the nature of this book I will be hiding the main review under a read more. This is because this book speaks a lot about kink and other things that aren't appropriate for those under 18.

I picked up this ebook last year because the idea of two older women negotiating a BDSM relationship/lessons very much interested me. I’m very glad that I did.

This book does talk a lot about D/s and SM and kink. Heed the author’s warnings if any of these topics might make you the least bit uncomfortable.

Jordan is a pansexual, stone butch who just moved to NYC (or back to NYC, I’m not sure about that part). She is currently living with her best friend of 30 or so years, Leah. Jordan is recently divorced and, because her previous partner wasn’t into it, she’s finally being allowed to explore kink and her interest in it. Leah is experienced in the topic, being a submissive and an educator. For Chanukah she offers Jordan eight kink lessons based around basics and specific interests that Jordan has. However, the two find that the experience goes beyond what they had originally planned and that sometimes, feelings are unavoidable.

I loved the characters. The two mains are older (49 and 51), autistic, fat, with their own PTSD and mental/physical limits and disabilities. The characters are fully fleshed out with flaws and backgrounds that make them seem so real. The side characters and minor characters are made up of a variety of identities including several trans and nonbinary characters. It was great to read a book with so much representation where the representation was treated so positively. There were discussions about negative aspects of the identities and people who made life hard for those who are different, but they weren’t over prevalent in the book.

The entire book takes place between December 13 and December 31st. I was originally worried that this would mean that the relationship that developed felt too insta-love for me to fully back it, but that wasn’t the case. The history the two had together, including them both crushing on each other in college and not knowing/wanting to make a move, made the relationship feel natural. Like there was no way these two characters weren’t going to end up together. I also wouldn’t mind reading a follow-up book that includes more about their relationship, maybe even them exploring their shared non-monogamy stance.

I love the kink lessons that were shared in this book. There were the actual lessons that were given to Jordan, but there were also discussions of kink and various kink topics throughout the book. I didn’t expect to learn things while reading this book, but the book managed to throw in information about kink, drops, relationships, stereotypes and misconceptions, and other such ideas. It was amazing.

My only issue is that there wasn’t more to the book. I would have loved to read about more of their scenes or even the remaining lessons. A flashforward to the following Chanukah would have been great as well.

This is an amazing book and, if you’re fine with the warnings, I would definitely recommend that you pick this up and read it. It’s a great read and I love it so much.