Hard Corps By Claire Thompson

Black Lace
ISBN # 0-352-33491-6 (pbk)

Reviewed by Kevin Tipple
Rating ****

This engrossing and very erotic paperback novel details one woman's growing sexual maturity during two years of her life. Remy Harris is a freshman cadet at the prestigious Stewart Military Academy. As a freshman, not only does Cadet Harris have to survive as a new student, but also has a second strike against her in the fact that she is female.

Lonely and feeling every much the outcast that she is, she survives Hell Week, only to drawn into the orbit of Jacob Stewart. Jacob is a senior and his attentions overwhelm her defenses. Soon, he has her seduced and is taking her virginity in his bedroom on campus. He shows her the pleasures of being with a real man and not some kid back home. She thinks they are in love, but he wants her for other purposes.

As time passes, he begins to add little twists to their almost daily liaisons. He gets progressively rougher with her. While on one hand she fears it, on the other, she finds it tremendously arousing. Fighting this split in her feelings, she climactically refuses to submit to his desires. Disgusted with her behavior, he ends the relationship.

While this rocks her world, she eventually is witness to some proceedings that hint of something else going on at the Academy. She slowly learns of a secret group within the school known as the Slave Corps, or by their joke nickname, the Hard Corps. The group is made up of Masters and Slaves and comprises a mixture of students, staff, and professors.

Sworn to secrecy as are everyone involved, she is slowly accepted into the group through a series of detailed erotic tests. Her sexuality, her wants and desires are gradually awakened over the two-year period as she explores herself and others.

Softer in some aspects than her e-book The Stalker, this is still a very good novel. The author has first hand experience in the lifestyle and it clearly shows in her writing. Her work is detailed with vivid descriptions of the settings, sexual acts, and progressive character development. Her work is always arousing and I hope she will continue to pursue in her writing what clearly is a labor of love.