American Yakuza, lesbian crime drama with a hint of kink

If you are a fan of crime, lesbians and bondage, I got the perfect trilogy for you. As the title kind of gives away, Isabella’s American Yakuza centers around crime families in the United States. Luce, the half Asian (Japanese and Korean), half Caucasian leader of the Yakuza is into both women and BDSM. A fact that seems to bother as well as fascinate financial reporter Brooke, when she finds herself being served tea by a barely dressed Maid, while interviewing Luce at the latter’s house. However, they have a common enemy in Petrov, the head of the newly arrived Russian criminals. And the enemy of my enemy… Is someone I’d love to tie up…? Well, I guess you can predict what happens next.

The kinky stuff

Though Luce is certainly into BDSM, and they hang out at a BDSM club in all three books, this trilogy is a bit light on the kink. By which I mean to say that of all the books and series I have recommended thus far, these have the fewest BDSM scenes. It’s all in the name, isn’t it? The books are mostly about the female American Yakuza and her war against the Russians (always a juicy adversary). In the first book, Luce and Brooke are off to a bumpy start. They meet when they almost drive each other off the road and in an effort to make it up, the elusive Luce allows Brooke to interview her. However, Brooke’s thrown a little off-guard by the essentially naked maids strolling around Luce’s house. And her nervousness increases when she walks into Luce who, blindfolded and tied up) is worked over with a flogger in one of the bedrooms:

In the center of what appeared to be a bedroom, sat a woman on her knees, blindfolded and bound. Her elbows were pulled back almost touching, tied with a thick, red, fibrous rope. Brooke noticed that it forced her breasts up and jutted forward, each breast bound tightly, so tight in fact that they had a reddish purple sheen to them, their nipples standing erect.

Brooke’s research-efforts take her to the Dungeon where she gets a taste for kinky practices. And all that’s left then is to find someone to share them with.

Why you should read American Yakuza

Though the bondage and impact play scenes are light, the descriptions of the sensations and experiences are beautiful. This is not simply smut, the narrative is not there to get as much sex as possible into the book. Rather, these are crime novels that just happen to feature kinky lesbians. They are the perfect Beginners books. And even if you read them just for the premise, and strong female leads (if so, what are you doing here?), the kink will not bother you. Anyway, just read them. They’re short, sweet, and the relationship is truly ship-worthy. To entice you even more, here’s one last quote to… wet your appetite, so to speak.

And yet, Brooke wondered if Luce Potter had any idea of how much sexual energy she gave off. The woman was a walking aphrodisiac. The way she smiled or the way her low gravelly voice sounded when it was bedroom soft. She was a walking contradiction of power and sex, of fear and pleasure.