Kiss My Boots by Jennifer Learmont had me intrigued immediately from the front cover blurb “…I
was a dominatrix, yoga student singing in a gospel choir…” and I couldn’t wait to jump in.
The book is an autobiography of Jennifer’s life. It starts with a quick introduction to the present-day, which sets the scene of how the story comes about. Straight away I liked the short and sharp
writing that is straight to the point, and I knew I was going to enjoy this book.
In the first few chapters, you learn about Jennifer’s family history and what can only be described as
a dysfunctional childhood.
Jennifer’s family consist of her parents, 2 older brothers Chris and Craig, and her twin brother John. She mentions often how neglected they were and how difficult things were growing up.
This did make me wonder later on about some of her choices. Did her childhood cause this need to be loved and accepted? She does mention that her childhood did create resilience in her though, which is tested many times throughout the book.
Moving out of home at 14 with her older brother Craig, she revelled in her freedom, discovered
drugs and developed a deep love and respect for music during the years she lived with him. Also
during these years, she meets Evie who becomes her best friend and together they start to dream
and plan of heading over to America.
Finally, the day arrives when she heads to the States with Evie where they are young, completely
naïve and in her words “a disaster waiting to happen”! Straight away she tells of crazy adventures
that looking back on, she realises she is fortunate enough to be able to retell.
It’s absolutely incredible what this woman got up to and how she managed to survive, on many occasions. Becoming a dominatrix due to curiosity and the need to make good money is fascinating, however, I did feel left wanting a bit here. I would have loved more details!
Throughout the book, Jennifer talks about her many great loves as she falls in love quickly but
passionately which is sometimes to her undoing. She also talks about her many regrets which are
always stated very matter of factly but does show a lot of reflection.
Drug use is mentioned a lot but does not detract from the story. She doesn’t glorify or condone it, it was just how it was at the time.
All in all I loved the book and didn’t want it to end. Jennifer comes across as an incredibly positive, caring, family orientated and honest person that has had an almost unbelievable life. There is so much in this deceptively short looking book and I laughed, cried and shook my head in disbelief and wonder, many times over.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Shawline Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this fabulous book. But most of all, thank you Jennifer Learmont for not only living this life but being brave enough to write about it and share it with the world. What a story!
ISBN: 9781922594709
Copy courtesy of Shawline Publishing Group
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Kiss My Boots by Jennifer Learmont. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
An often confronting story of a strong minded woman who once she puts her mind to something, achieves it. The story follows the highs and lows of a unique existence, and is a easy to read book.
Thankyou so much for your review
Thank you to Beauty and Lace Club and Shawline Publishing Group for my copy. I must mention the plain brown wrapping paper Shawline Publishing Group use to post their books in, it has a nice personal touch and is also more environmentally friendly.
Wow, what a ride this book was! Jennifer Learmont lead a crazy, wild, free life living in the moment everyday without any thought of the future for near on 20 years. Her adventures started in Australia as a young teen in the 70’s and then the real rollercoaster ride started when she went on a 3 month holiday to the U.S with her friend Evie in 1980.
Before going to the U.S there are a few chapters dedicated to the background of her life as a child and teenager in NSW. She describes her dysfunctional family and the neglect by both parents which contributed to her becoming a ‘wild child’. Once arriving in the U.S, Jennifer and Evie start their adventure in San Francisco, then onto New York and finally L.A where the real craziness starts. The girls 3 months visa runs out and they stay on illegally in L.A which would be near on impossible in the present day. The dominatrix part of Jennifer’s life starts in chapter 14 and pops up here and there in other chapters. I have always had a secret fascination about dominatrix and although there is a reasonable amount in the book I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t discussed more in depth. Of course the clients aren’t named but their occupations are and I found that really interesting. What was really interesting were the reasons her clients went to a dominatrix and paid big bucks to do so.
This is the author’s first book and she is not a polished writer but she does a pretty good job of telling her wild story and kept me entertained. I found it hard to stop reading and wished it was longer than the 155 pages. There are a few photos in the centre of the book which is a great addition to the story, but some are hard to see the detail due to their age.
What I really enjoyed was the absolute honesty of the author. She admits her faults, mistakes and regrets. I think she is lucky to be alive after the many risks and drug taking but it didn’t slow her down. I think the adventure she had could not happen in present day and it shows how much the world has changed since the 80’s and 90’s. I found the part where she said goodbye to her dog Kelly heartbreaking but it was also good to see her taking charge of her life.
4 stars
Thank you for taking the time to read my book and giving it a great review
Fantastic review, thank you so much for reading ❤️
I am not really sure what I expected from this book… but it delivered.
Seriously Jennifer, what a life you have led and continued to lead.
I find it hard to review this book, because it is an honest account and recollection of Jennifer’s life. I do not like to judge people. So I will just tell you how this book made me feel.
I gasped and shook my head and worried and cried. I read late into the night and at times wanted to shake Jennifer and say what are you doing??
Read it..
Love the review , Thank you so much, great review ❤️
I had really high hopes for Kiss My Boots by Jennifer Learmont but my expectations didn’t meet the reality.
The books blurb and cover had me expecting a tell all tale of what really happens in a dominion, obviously less the identifying details. While this was touched on a little, this was much more a who, how, what and why of a life well lived.
I learnt about Jennifer’s life from her early years to her life in America. From her marriages and loves to her family. From her excesses to her clean living. And from her career as a dom to her passions of yoga and music.
At times I found the level of self promotion and focus on success a little too much and would have liked to have read more about the real Jennifer including the parts that were glossed over, such as family and passed relationships. At the end of the day how much is shared is entirely up to the author.
While not what I expected I still found this an interesting read.
Thankyou so much for taking the time to read and review my book ❤️
I’m not normallya huge reader of autobiographies, however, the cover and tag line of this story caught my eye and intrigued me…the story did not disappoint! It’s a wild ride that the author takes you on with an amazingly polar opposite careers and highs and lows in life that she has experienced. Highly recommend this read
I really appreciate you taking the time reading and reviewing my book, thank you
I found this book and very easy to read and entertaining for the most part. I felt like it glossed over the nitty gritty parts of the authors life. Having said that- her journey was just that – hers. Loved the family history and relationships too Lots of travel, love and self learning.
A good casual read.
Thankyou for reading my book and reviewing it. love the feedback ❤️
Kiss My Boots… was an interesting read, I bonded with the author almost straight away with her description of the Gold Coast.. this is where I too live so the familiarity was nice. It is also nice that Jennifer came full circle as it noted in the Epilogue that Jennifer return to Burleigh Beach to write this book. The story of Jennifer’s life is often hard and cruel with a few funny twists and adventures with her friends. I did expect a little more of a story about the dominatrix side of her life rather than sort of an autobiography. But the story was well told even though often hard to read given some of the sad and tough aspects of her choice in partners and life activities. I felt there was a sense of loneliness and wanting to be accepted or be something to someone, which often lead to bad choices in men as partners. It seems Jennifer’s life would always be shrouded in bouts of profound sadness, losing her father and then her brother in such tragic circumstances and the eventually her mother. I think it was a nice touch that there were some pictures in the middle of the book that depicted some obvious highlights of her life like the time she went horse riding, these moments obviously stood out for Jennifer, it is just a sad story when much of it focused on drugs and habitual drug taking.
I liked the way Jennifer told her story so I look forward to reading her next book as I did enjoy her writing style.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Shawline publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
Thankyou so much for taking the time to read my book .
Love the reviews ❤️