“The Only One” by Daisy Jane [Femdom Book Review]

As is somewhat the habit of femdom romances, this one pops up in the tail of a “Wrench Kings” series, a collection of erotic romances about banging small town mechanics. Unlike most of the stories you find in this part of the genre, the subtitle and branding make it very clear it’s going to focus on gentle femdom.  Thus two silly innocents decide that because Delane, the female protagonist, has listened to a lot of femdom erotica on audiobook she’s going to teach the virginal male lead, Miller, some more confidence with women. Gentle femdom shall follow, but what Delane thinks is a casual short term deal obviously becomes something much more. 

Much of the rest of the book being readable depends on delivering on that premise in a way that accepts this is a stupid plan. As you might imagine, Delane is also a virgin and she’s flying by the seat of her pants. Whether or not you enjoy it will have to depend on how ok you are with the main characters both lacking not just a clue, but probably the entire current in print line of Hasbro board games. At least this defect essentially drives the major conflict of the story, since Delane not knowing any better is a plausible justification for having the courage to try randomly dominating a cute coworker. The persistent real world belief that femdom in the apex expression of feminine wiles and savoir faire makes the mess the characters get themselves in feel perfectly plausible.

Flawed protagonists notwithstanding, the rest of the plot is pretty standard: sex lessons with building chemistry; a horrible ex boyfriend stalking and harassing in the background; and a background cast of heart-of-gold blue collar people not particularly concerned about minor physical violence, but also heavily invested in each other’s love lives. Big dreams that stay in the immediate orbit of their community; and maybe a bit too much Not Like Other Girlsing around imagined competition that the female lead is at least able to recognize might be a bit unfair to the strangers she projects it on. These tropes aren’t remarkable to find in their niche (small town contemporary), but it’s a good reminder that it’s perfectly possible to stick to an ultra traditional format and showcase a non-traditional dynamic. 

Where it’s weak is that the sex framing is sometimes awkward. Within the first forty pages the text from Delane’s perspective has had her mention her nipples feeling hard in two separate incidents. Likewise, it’s not enough that she enjoys her porn, but we get text samples of what she is listening to , while she lingers credulously on her imagining things must work exactly on page. It is, to be frank, the sort of porn I wouldn’t review for this project, though it makes for an interesting contrast because Jane is clearly trying to make these vignettes of audiobook samples feel over the top. However, once it gets rolling the flow of libidinous references gets less shoehorned feeling.

While I think I personally lean a lot rougher in tastes, there’s a sort of dorkish realism to the spice between the actual characters that never loses sight of how this looks when real people do it. It does make things go perhaps a bit too easily for both parties, but since the underlying theme of the book is about the characters getting over the idea they are unworthy due to their psychological hang ups and lack of confidence, it makes thematic sense. 

And people really do act like this. Places like r/femdomcommunity gets a regular amount of people whose only Sex Ed is porn. We tell people to get their butts to a munch, but this is easier said then done if you live in a town with less than 100k people, and even then most femdom is couples awkwardly working it own on their own. The text doesn’t actually show when Delane switches from purely porn driven advice to what is clearly other online research, but you could imagine the phases of their relationship as a series of her frantically searching for advice or ideas to do with her new partner.

Everything else is unapologetically (and unselfconsciously) sappy. The male lead is every part a perfect gentleman, an escapee from the very Christian commune of his birth who cooks well, volunteers with the needy and steps into ideal son in law mode long before the couple makes it official. And, while Delane does fuck up by leaning into Miller’s own assumptions about her experience level, ultimately they are written as being able to salvage their dynamic on the other side of the necessary confessions and realignment of their perceptions of each other. It can drag a bit at the end where the story extends well past the HEA being established, but only via giving you about three more chapters worth of the main characters getting what they want and loving eachother.

Otherwise what I liked was that you will find both chastity cages and pegging here long before these people try out PiV. BDSM is never treated as the hard mode you can’t start with. The female lead has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about people she perceives as being traditionally femme, at least in the pink Pilates princess sense, but the narrative is otherwise both relentlessly sex and also porn positive. While the characters do lack for any real formal discussion about consent, likewise the pacing and framing is set up so you at least don’t worry anyone is being coerced. Overall I think femdom could use a lot more optimism about how much writers lean into it in romance. Thus, even if this is overall outside my favourite tropes and kinks to read for fun, I also feel it skillfully accomplished taking things that usually go very regressive and delivering a very progressive approach to kink and who can do what to whom, regardless of gender.

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Where to Buy: The Only One: A Soft Femdom Romance (Wrench Kings Book 3) by Daisy Jane