This book gets no stars because it was SO disappointing. It's supposed to be a full length book, with chapters written by different people. However, I got the feeling that I was reading a book in a series, where I missed the first 2 books. There seemed to be a lot of background stuff going on that I had no idea what it was about, and the characters were drawn very poorly, with no real sense to them at all. The writing, no matter who was doing it, was muddy and disjointed. There was also way too much talking, not enough BDSM. Even those scenes were strange.

To add insult to injury, the printing of the book was off, so that the last 20 pages had blanks, and then different pages followed others, so that I never could get to the real ending!!

What a waste of my money.

The Academy -

Thank You, Miss Claudia by Karen Taylor - 5
Revisit Miss Claudia as she oversees a new maid. A man wanting to be a chamber maid, uniform and all. Nice to see Miss Claudia again.

The Tiger in the Dinging Room by M. Christian - 5
A slave's punishment requires her to wait naked in a room to contemplate the reasons she is worthy of her master's time and while doing so facing a burglar who's intent to do her harm. At first his presence trips all her erotic fantasies, thankfully she realizes his intent is not the same.

Bullseye by Cecilia Tan - 5
A cautionary tale, when a spotter crosses the line. His attempt to be a trainer goes horribly wrong. Well written.

The Nurse by Karen Taylor - 4
Very brutal read. The owner is diagnosed with AIDS, he purchases a new slave with nursing skills and his lover brutally takes out his anger and frustrations on him.

The California Way by M. Christian - 3
Doris is purchased in a household with owners being Ma, Pa and a boy. Ma is a man, Pa is a woman, the boy is a man but they all have their roles and Doris is their new toy. I’m guessing the point was to illustrate how far out the Californian way is from the Marketplace. It didn't work for me, detracted from the cohesiveness from the overall book.

In Service by David Stein - 5
A slave as a Trainor, the story ended too soon. A man wanting to become a 'real slave boy', seeks out Mr. Benjamin to train him for the Marketplace. I could have easily listened to more about Mr. Benjamin.

Alex's Choice by karen Taylor - 5
Great finding out how Rachel and Chris knew each other and how she came to join Alex and Grendel's House. Alex and Rachel get it on then Rachel tells her and Chris' story.

Redemption by Michael Hernadez - 4
Morgan seeks revenge on Ian after Ian abused a potential slave. Non-consensual kidnap and sadistic torments but still turned Ian on.

Insha'Allah by Karen Taylor ( )

These stories are written by various authors. The quality of the stories really varies between each story. Probably only about 1/3 of the stories are really ones that I would recommend. ( )

Chris Parker, and his new "project" Micheal, head off to the annual meeting of Trainers and Spotters in Okinawa, Japan for the Academy. Chris has his work cut out for him. Anderson has chraged him with getting the Academys members to accept a proposal to certify trainers by a elected group of mambers. Nautrally, no one wants to be told what to do, or how to do it, so there is resistance, including Micheal's former trainer - Geoff.
Most of our favorites appear, Chris, Anderson, Ron, Ken, Ali, and many more with a interesting story to pull all the little tales of the marketplace together from other trainters and spotters, as well as much more background on Chris Parker. ( )

In her series, The Marketplace, Laura Antoniou tells the story of a semi-underground society, where people involved in a BDSM lifestyle are able to meet and mingle, to share their fantasies and make them reality. There are Slaves and Trainers, Buyers and Sellers, and these people meet for their equivalent of a yearly convention at The Academy. This is not cheesy leather-porn; you'll get plot and character development and suspense along with very erotic and kinky explicit scenes. In this volume, Antoniou invites other erotic authors to partake in the tale, adding their stories to the larger plot. Not for the squeamish, but definitely worth a read. ( )