Enslaving Heaven

Enslaving Heaven
Michelle Houston
Phaze Books
ISBN: 1-59426-871-1
Fiction, BDSM Erotic Novella
Reviewed by Jean Roberta

"Heaven," in this BDSM erotic romance novella (under 50 pages), is not a place. She's a person, although this definition is subject to debate on the planet where she is sold as a slave.
DV65, a mining colony in space, is the site of regular slave auctions. Ironically, this tradition results from the outlawing of prostitution as such:
"Ever since the laws banning the sex trade were passed, the prostitutes who plied their trade in the four colonies suddenly found themselves without jobs. Many of them had no marketable skills, other than lying flat on their backs and spreading their legs. Most of them still owed debts to their pimps or madames . . . When they had more debt than they could pay off, they were sold to the highest bidder to cover their bills."
Space captain Lyssa, who runs a smuggling operation, has Dominant tendencies and a righteous contempt for the practice of selling women. So what is she to do when her pilot, Nita, brings the ship to the slave auction? Rescue the most delectable piece of female property by buying her, of course. Alya, who explains that her name means "Heaven," is a trained submissive whose grace and eagerness to please are evident even when she is displayed for sale.
Lyssa is still recovering from the latest attack on her ship by some of her numerous enemies. Nita thinks that Lyssa and the rest of the crew have better things to do than become distracted by a female sex-toy. Nita's resentment is so obvious that the reader wonders if she and Lyssa have a history together.
They do, but it's more complicated than one would guess. While flying through space, searching for (non-human) booty and evading interplanetary law and rival smugglers, Lyssa and Nita have come to know each other very well. Their sexual needs are complementary, but Nita yearns for the one she was forced to leave behind, a member of respectable society on a space station.
Alya shows herself to be so helpful (in non-sexual ways) to the rest of the crew that no one can resent her, even Nita. Yet Alya's clear loyalty is to Lyssa, who has set her free by day, at least. Will Nita ever be reunited with the one she can't forget? If so, will Nita have to leave the ship which is her only home?
This fast-paced plot includes several hot woman/woman sex scenes. Eventually, the dilemmas are resolved in a satisfying way and all the central characters have found happiness, at least until the next attack. The discovery of a treacherous former crew-member (a man, of course) suggests the need for a sequel novella.