Rating Erotic Novels Called Dominic 

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"he's not a wizard, he's a rapist" was unexpectedly hilarious.

Hey look, they named a youtube channel after my favorite romance novel.

“Unless you’re demisexual, it’s completely possible to be attracted to someone you don’t like.” Me, on the Demi/ace spectrum: “oh yeeeah. That’s true. I forget about that. Thanks, Dom!”

i'm so glad you mentioned the conflation between sexual and romantic attraction in erotica. just bc you think they're hot doesn't mean dating them is a good idea

"Someone needs to make a standalone Dominic romance novel." You hear that fans? Dominic has given us homework. ✏️🤓

Had to pause to let you know - as a single parent, YES that absolutely happens. My kid has pushed me to get with adults they know and like several times. I think it's partly to do with the two-parent-family being the socially accepted "norm" and my kid wanting that appearance of normality, and part the fear of an "evil" step-parent coming in without their control driving my kid to want to pick someone they already know and like to prevent that possibility.

As a childfree by choice ex-evangelical, I also find the quick marriage with a kid on the way ending to be genuinely horrifying. Even worse are those that end with a quick marriage and a kid on the way...and then an epilogue where multiple children are born in quick succession. (One book had 8 kids in less than a decade.) Truly a nightmare. I didn't realise that I was reading a horror novel.

Dom: Better rename myself because people keep mistaking The Dom for S&M lingo also Dom: Better read all the smutty sex novels with my new name on it

Please yes, we ABSOLUTELY need more of these, it's SO refreshing to have somebody talking about this sort of thing who actually knows about BDSM etiquette. Having content of this genre that isn't just "god can you imagine what kind of psycho would actually think this is hot???" is really *really* good for everyone's mental health, thank you so much!

“How I will be judging the sex scenes? …… don’t worry about it” literally sent me into a laughing coughing fit and I loved every minute of it 😂😂😂

I love how Dom broke his wine glass while wearing a shirt of a cat knocking over a cup

Somewhere I read a beautiful explanation of why someone might think having the hots for someone = love. It went like this: people, especially women, even more especially religiously raised women, are told that sex is only to be had with the one you love, preferably your husband, so when they find they want to have sex with someone they think they 'must' be in love with them, or they're a slut/sexual deviant. I'm far too ace to confirm or deny this but it made sense to me.

I now feel the urge to write a novel about a sorcerer mafioso named Dominic

Body betrayal syndrome is the most infuriating trope. That along with infantilizing women, and the women being passive and always "giving in" seems to be the standard in waayyy too many books now.

I have a THEORY on the "kids bullying their parent" trope, based on the single parents I know. They often feel guilty for wanting a partner, or fear that the kid won't like their new love interest, so the kids really pushing for it would be a bit of wish fulfillment for the parent.

"I don't run an Only Fans for charity because I'm prudish." "I'm rating these books out of Dominicks based off how much I like their Dominick." There isn't anyone else who combines literature reviews, humitarianism, vivid descriptions of sexual adventures and dad humor.

If you are turning this into a semi-regular series, you could perhaps call it 'Domi-Notes'. You could have a logo of various erotic books falling like dominos.

I have it on good authority that kissing booths aren't a real thing. They only show up in movies, tv, and now books. as a light germaphobe i'm comforted by that every time they come up. Edit: Well apparently kissing booths are a real thing. Sometimes it's cute with dogs, or people costumes with masks, or consenting adults. But some of them were also highschoolers "volunteerd" by others to kiss strangers on the mouth for money... I hate it so much

Please try to imagine a world in which you wrote a dark horror fantasy story, called "Demonic" just for a printer to misread it and printing 10.000 copies of the worlds weirdest named book, cause naturally nobody in this is actually called Dominic.

“But because she didn’t choose another marine to do it with” That is probably the most marine thing I have ever heard in my 5 years enlisted.

This just makes me happy that fanfics come with "Dead Dove Do Not Eat" tags for something that is just very unpleasant. It's a nice warning to have before diving into something that has focus on very unpleasant topics. Either way, I'm in. I want more of this.

"A young Irish lass who is, apparently, the mortal woman most hated and cursed by ALL the gods." This divine sass made me want to check out that OF account.

"As someone who is child-free by choice and I suspect was just born without that part of the brain that causes even the smallest paternal feelings, I've always found that kind of ending to be genuinely horrifying". This is the first time I've felt truly understood on this matter.

Kissing Booths weren't made up by L.A. Casey, but they are basically fictional. They were once a thing at carnivals, and college students can do it willingly (usually for charity), but as portrayed in fiction, it's not a thing.

Okay I screamed from the magician bit, but I am so so so damn grateful that you understand that dark romance exists in a space where everyone is informed that books are not instructions for living one’s life. I am tired of people hating on the genre for no reason at all

I find it uncreative but funny that the author picked the name "Karen" for the cheating wife of the first story 😂

Not a single parent, but I am a kinder teacher. A few years ago, less than a week after her parents broke the news that they were divorcing, one of my kinder kids straight up told me to date her dad. And told me that she had already told her dad that I was single.

As both a creator and consumer of romance and erotica, I really appreciate you judging the books based on how successful they are at what they appear to be doing, and not solely on whether or not they're your cup of tea! And I really appreciate the distinction you draw between the dark erotica that appears to know what it's doing and the works that may or may not, making it more difficult to suspend disbelief and/or get through them. I also think reviewing books with your name in the title is a hilarious gimmick that could wind up with you reading in all sorts of genres that you don't usually! There are so many books published now that you have to have some kind of guide to get a nice randomish cross-section without losing your mind. Usually, I like to try and make sure my premises are plausible, but sometimes it's fun to go back to a silly genre classic and indulge. Trying to get a reluctant hero/ine to do something they're uncomfortable with sure is better suited to the dark side of the genre, though...maybe not so much the teenage students. Like, sure, I was pressured into lots of stuff I didn't want to do as a teen, but a: not exactly a fun escapist fantasy b: rarely actually as serious as "sit in this mild sexual harassment zone against your will". Yikes!

Who else wants Dominic do more videos while steadily getting drunk?

7:55 Not a parent but educator, and I can confirm this is a thing! Now whether the parent follows through on the pressure is another story, but if a kid really likes a possible future step-parent, they'll inadvertently put the pressure on their parent to stay with the step-parent. It's often viewed as a positive pressure by the parent, but not always, so take that as you will.

I'm giving this video an upvote for the disclaimer you gave of "hey, stories are stories, not instruction manuals for how to live in real life, it's okay to enjoy problematic stories as long as you don't use them to justify real-world horribleness!" Also for "it is entirely possible to be sexually attracted to someone you don't like!" These are messages that need to be shouted from the rooftops, thank you good sir!

Quick, someone write a book with a guy being inducted into the magical world by a woman named Dominic, who turns out to be a sexy fem dom in the bedroom! Have him think she's sick of him by getting someone else to be his mentor, but it's actually so they can have an actual relationship on more equal footing without her having authority over him that is not expressly given in the bedroom. Wizards, concent, and equality. I think he'd love it.

"An extremely sexual prequel to the matrix" there are so many good lines in this one

i remember when this channel was called The Dom. and i thought it was a dom who read books from the perspective of a dom. and i watched anyway

My mom introduced my stepdad to me as her "friend" way, way back in the day when they genuinely were friends who had gone on maybe one or two dates after talking at work for months. I was just four years old at the time and I apparently moved spots on the couch and said "I'm gonna move so you can sit together". When she asked me why I said this I said, "mom, I think he likes youuu". So yeah, I think that counts towards the pressuring parents to date scenario. 😂

I've never been forced into working a kissing booth, but imagine faking being sick will swiftly get you out of it. Faking a bad cough isn't that hard.

I edit romance novels and the company I work for has been publishing more dark romance lately, since it's been a popular recent trend. But our brand is also sex-positive and about consent, so any non-con between the leads has to be about the characters being into that kind of roleplay scenario, and our novels all include a reader advisory so the readers know what they're getting into. The dark romance novels I've worked on have been mostly ones where the characters are greyer morally (like organized crime), or where they're into some D/s elements but without being part of the BDSM community. They tend to have more violence and therefore conflict about falling in love with someone who does terrible things.

What I like about Dom (er the youtuber not these various Dominics) is how respectful he is of other people's tastes. I love reading Dark Romance and I appreciate how he talks about it. Its not his thing but he's not shaming those who like it, just how its written. Thanks bud 👍

Kid pressuring parent troper here. When I was young I hated everyone my mom dated and always told her as much. Eventually there was one I met and afterwards I told her "He seems fine. You can keep this one." They got married and stayed together until he died this year.

As someone who was a child of a single mother; it took me until I was an adult myself to finally warm up to my step-father. A child WANTING a step-father sounds so foriegn to me.

"I am not the target audience of these books." What? But they have your name on them?!

Well Dom, you have a masochistic relationship with your subs.

I'm pretty sure that kissing booths were at least real things like 20+ to 30 years ago.🙃🙃👀 Forcing somebody to operate one who did not voluntarily wish to, even if they weren't a minor, is horrifying though.

"for less than a portion of fish and chip!!!" Man, I was having the worst day and now you made me cry with laughter! Thank you

Dom trying to imitate an US American accent just sounds slightly better than me trying to imitate an English accent lol

This video has just inspired me to look up books with my name in the title, I've found three so far, one's about a former Navy SEAL turned biker trying to protect the woman he's romantically involved with and her young daughter from shady people in their past, another's about a pirate lord who takes in a young woman disguised as a man with a treasure map tattooed on her back as his cabin boy, and another is about like a shapeshifter knight falling for the sister of his traitorous former best friend, and the rest is just various books about Tristan & Isolde. *EDIT* - I've found some more, one's about a guy who, after being tremendously heartbroken by his superfamous popstar ex-girlfriend whom he was a lyricist for, moves to Brazil to escape any mention and image of her until sometime later he is reunited with her as she needs his help to save her son, another one is more of a slow-burn unrequited love story about a guy who is in love with his friend's sister but she's married, or at least she was, and she gets his help to solve a work problem, There's also some gay romance ones, and then there's one about a werewolf falling for a female veterinarian who aides him in seeking revenge on the people that attacked his pack.

#1 Dominic story: I did have a single father's child try to guilt me into marrying her dad. It does happen. She was a doll but I was too young to be her mom or anyone's wife. Reoccurring theme please! Just because it's nice to see book reviews and the theme is a marvelous idea.

Speaking as another elder millennial, I was not asked about my feelings on either of my step-parents. I was informed after the fact. Both on the marriages and a half-brother.

I kind of love that ALL these books are part of a series, because that means that that all these different authors randomly decided to name a side character Dominic and than also all individually decided he could carry a book of his own.😂 Also I totally get your point about the difference between dark and being evil in an uncomfortably realistic way.😢

"Presented as either a tramatic event from their backstory or full on kink," This man knows full and well the horrors of 50 shades where its BOTH, so i trust him to know the two apart as well

Loved the discussion of how if you write it well, you can write books where consent is off the table but everyone is into that being the case and the reader is made fully aware of that going in. It's not my kink (I much prefer enthusiastic consent in my smut) but the problem isn't that people like it, it's when writers do it badly, or worse, don't even realise they're doing it and try to pass it off as romantic.

I've DNF'd many books that have the troop of the FL being abused by everyone and the love interest just being another bully on top of that. Idk how that's a regular thing. I want him to be the "knight in shining armer" that defends her. IT'S SO WEIRD

Not to torture you, but yes, I would like more Dominic reviews.

I am pretty sure Kissing Booths are a thing of the past. Like the Tunnel of Love attractions. Both only live on as weird tropes without actual basis in reality anymore.

Funnily (?) enough, that third book’s over-the-top premise and execution reminded me of how grateful I was that a book I recently read didn’t devolve into a bully romance. It’s called Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto, and it’s about a girl who poses as a guy in a Warcraft-like game to avoid harassment, and is simultaneously dealing with bullying from this one guy who happens to play the game in real life. The way it pokes fun at the fake dating and extreme enemies-to-lovers trope was quite fun, in spite of the rather serious subject matter. And the actual love interest is actually one of the few non-toxic guys at the school and in the game. It was a review copy, but it comes out for the public this coming Tuesday, I believe!

I had genuinely been Dominiced so much that, upon reaching the "and now for a word from our sponsor" I was honestly expecting the sponsor to also be Dominic and was taken aback at the not-Dominic.

I just realised you're my favourite smut reviewer I didn't even know that was a category until now

As someone who was the child of a single parent (but I am not a single parent, unless cats count lol), I know I had a preference about who my mum dated. She had two major relationships during my childhood, and one man was very bad towards me, and the other one was actually nice. I remember telling her often to go back to the nice one or not date at all.

I was dating someone for about a year. She was looking to buy a house, so sometimes I'd go with her to check them out. I was a fairly recently divorced father of an elementary age boy. I had my own house and we had not even broached the subject of moving in together. I had my son on a day that she was looking and asked if he wanted to come. He'd known we were dating for months, but this was the first house he looked at with us. As we looked around, he said she should buy this house, then proceeded to tell us the master bedroom would be his, she'd get the second bedroom and I would get the spare (technically not a bedroom) room. Our eyes practically popped out of our heads as we looked at each other in silence. She bought that house, I moved in, my son lived there half time (shared custody). We've been married 10 years.

Yes, more books titled “Dominic” should be read and reviewed. This was wonderful.

Finally! Someone else agrees with me with the practice of kissing booths. They sound so gross and cringy. Thank God I have never seen one in real life but I just know it’s only a matter of time.

The rocky horror inclusion made me very happy thank you dominic

On the topic of children of single parents pressuring them into dating someone, I have a funny story to tell: I have a good friend who's divorced and his young daughter likes to point out attractive men for him to date. He's not gay, she just thinks it would be cute if he were 😂

The final book, by the sound of it, really gave me Detroit: Become Human vibes with its setup. I know that's not really new ground as androids in fiction have a lot of crossover, but it was literally the first thing that popped into my head as Dom described the book. Making me, low-key, interested in reading it.

Dom is becoming a glutton for punishment at this point XD

In the name of all that's holy, please stop punishing yourself like this, Dominic! While it is undeniably highly entertaining, I fear for your emotional equilibrium in the long term!

I maintain that one of the best romance novel series ist the "Psy-Changeling" Series by Nalini Singh. The world bulding as so fascinating that I reread them after a while and _skipped_ the sexscenes for the plot! It's a world with three races: Humans, Changelings (Humanoids that can shapeshift into specific animalforms and tend to live in groups and are very "instinctbased") and Psys, a race of Telepathically and Telekinettically advanced humanoids. This last group is pretty much the focus point of the conflict: About 2 generations before the books the "Silence"Protocol was implemented, a often brutal conditioning of Psychildren to become emotionally detached in all things, due to the high number of Insanity among their Population. How true this argument is and what harm "Silence" may have cause is pretty much the (overarching) plot of the books. I reccomend them, they are good romances _and_ a decent story!

Did Bright Cellars know what subject matter their bottles were being paired with? Actually, "Bright Cellars" sounds like it could be a series about some kink dungeon action, where part of the kink is bright illumination. "It was a dark and stormy night, and I was contemplating my reflection in the bathroom mirror..."

I am very tempted to come up with the “Erotic Dominic Drinking Game”, taking a drink each time the name ‘Dominic’ is said But I am worried I’d die of alcohol poisoning halfway through the video

I wish Chuck Tingle had would have graced us with what would be the greatest book ever written for the namesake, "Dominic gets pounded in the butt by a butt named Dominic." God bless you Chuck Tingle and bless the entirety of the Tingleverse. Love is real, especially for you Dominic, and your butt also named Dominic.

1:13 for those who may have missed the book that was briefly on screen, here's the title: Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes, The Santa Claus Chronicles Book 2 by Robert Deveraux. When I saw the book cover, I thought he was takin' the mickey. I thought, "this can't be a real book!" So, I HAD to look it up! I went on Good Reads, and it turns out that it is real. Wha---?

RE the kissing booth thing: IDK about Ireland, but I'm from the US and my mom got forced into staffing a kissing booth when she was in high school. Unsurprisingly it lowkey traumatized her. She can't stand those Kissing Booth movies because they bring back bad memories

I love to hear a writer actually researched bdsm to write their romance book, thank goodness

Now I'm wondering whether the first Dominic story was written out of spite towards Shades of Grey.

"Someone needs to write a standalone Dominic erotica, you cowards." Those are fighting words, worthy of a Dominic. Also the good premise for a Dominic erotica. 😂 Also "Dominic Erotica" is now going to become a genre of erotica, I foresee it.

1. I got a great kick out of your Southern American accent 2. I just love having such a great RU-vidr with high-quality content who’s childfree by choice. You’re great representation. I shall continue to edit and add to this list as I keep watching

The covers of these books are also what I often see with short, gay romance books 😅. I remember actually downloading one from my public library's website but weirdly, the book I got was not the book in the description! And was rather awful, I believe. I would've accepted the weird mixup if the book I was given had been good, but sadly, it wasn't. And I can't just out myself to my libarary as a woman who sometimes likes to read gay erotica, so I never told them about the issue 😂. I am so sorry to the next person who might want the actual book in the description...

Dom, your name deserves SO much better😅😅😅😅

I absolutely adore everything about this. You drinking wine while talking about the books, the rating system, the fact you got actual people to voice acts of the lines, this has the exact right kind of chaotic energy. I would definitely appreciate this being a series

Look, i might only read gay fanfic for my romance novel needs, but this was brilliant and i need to know more about the wizard Dominic one.

That nail polish is FIRE 🔥🔥🔥

I’ve lived in Northern Ireland my whole life and while I don’t know if it’s any different down south, kissing booths are not even at thing, as far as I know, and forcing someone into one has to be, if not illegal, just not an option ESPECIALLY if minors are involved

Dominic rating other Dominic's is the most Dominic thing ever 😂

This was a really fun and interesting video. I hope there's enough interest for you to do it again, especially after you referenced that book at the end. Also, gotta shoutout Jessie Gender for that completely legitimate Irish accent.

Edit for clarity. A wider understanding and acceptance of the split-attraction model could possibly help avoid the "sexual vs romantic attraction confusion" in the 3rd one. But, unfortunately, not everyone believes it's a real thing, so...

OK, was gonna offer to write a Dominic into my _Mass Effect_ fanfiction, but then i heard the first "novel" was a Marine that belonged to a motorcycle gamg called Cerberus, so someone beat me to it. Uh, no pun intended. EDIT: OK, "plot grinds to a halt" needed a nod.

"That's how single I am" I guess I missed the breakup. My condolences, Dom.

Single parent chiming in... yes. Kids will try to pressure you into being with people they do like or break up with a partner if they do something the kiddo doesn't like.

"It's more of a she-can-fix-him thing than a isn't-toxic-masculinity-great affair" just summarised two incredibly prevalent and problematic genres in mainstream Hollywood romance depictions, not just obscure erotica.

I do need a name for the demon lover in my MM fantasy romance...

As the father of a woman who was dominated, abused, and assaulted by her husband I can assure you that I could NEVER have finished that book either. Nor could I ever believe that anyone could find it erotic EXCEPT such an abusive person. That it was published disgusts me.

As for dating as a single parent, it’s best to be fairly sure about someone before introducing them to your child. Like, give it at least six months and determine whether you both want a long term commitment. Otherwise a kid might bond with a string of short term partners, leading to heartache and confusion when each relationship ends.

I spit tea all over my keyboard at "Unfortunately, he's not a wizard. He's a rapist." 10/10 you are the best Dominic.

Lost opportunity for a joke with robo-Dominic, "I don't need a man to buy me anything." "I am not a man" replied Dominic with a smug smile...

I know that "kissing booths" were once a common thing for fundraisers in the U.S. And, yes, teens were voluntold that they had to run it whether they wanted to or not. I don't think that happens any more, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it still does. I was roped in to being the male half of a kissing booth on two different occasions.

The image of the _Santa Claus conquers the Honophobes_ was only there for a second and now I cant stop thinking about buying it for a friend of mine 😂

This was a hoot! More Dominic on Dominics action, please and thanks.

Hearing Dark Dominic not being the worst made me ask "Oh, did E. L. James write a book called Dominic?"

“A dark mafia…like a magic mafia for evil Sorcerers doing the Dark Arts.” The way I was instantly DOWN for this!