All Comments on 'Love and Trust'

of five stars because you have chosen to write about one of the most difficult of subjects with care, concern and a great deal of insight. Obviously this is a fantasy since real life would never be that straightforward and uncomplicated but it addresses many of the issues involved including how difficult relationships are for men. It might have been easier to construct the scenario if there had been only two women involved though. Four seemed a bit greedy. Your English is very good and there were very few errors. Sentence construction was pretty good on the whole. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

But the religious aspect killed it for me and also the fact that to rescue women like that takes character and courage.......neither of which can be found in native swedes.

Shame as there was a good story in there

Great story. Hopefully there will an international force to combat slavery one day.

Thank you for writing about a major problem today with compassion and sensitivity. While the religious approach may be irksome to some, it perhaps is a good approach to discussing the issue. Yes, it can be argued that four women to one man is excessive, and inclusion of fewer characters might have worked. Having all four women in the plot surely enabled the author to tackle the problems raised more easily than with fewer women. From my limited perception, the plot would not have moved forward so rapidly. There are several organisations that are attempting to tackle slavery and trafficking. The plight of those unfortunate women that are involved is mostly traumatic, and many end up dead or badly misused.

Hopefully by writing about this, you will open up peoples' eyes so that they become more aware of the problem, and ignite a determination to join the cause to eliminate slavery, trafficking and forcible confinement in the sex trade.

Every person saved from this demeaning industry is a nail in its demise and its coffin.

I wish I could write in a foreign language just 10% as well as Halin24!

Thank you all for your comments!

I can say that I was uncomfortable submitting this story for several reasons. The subject is not something to be taken lightly, and this is after all an erotica site. I was afraid it would be seen as 'very bad taste'.

It's also problematic to hit the right note, not making it sappy, and not cold and crass. Whether I have managed or not is up to you all to decide.

To comment on what Swedishreader1 wrote I would like to say this:

Perhaps the religious aspect became stronger than intended. I'm not religious myself and I am actually not a fan at all on a larger scale. After all, through history religion has caused a lot of trouble, many wars and endless number of deaths. On an individual level I have no problem with it.

About your comment on 'native Swedes' I will only say that I'm one of them, so thank you very much! Swede's as a group may be anything you or anyone else say they are. We are individuals though, and for every accusation there will be someone who disproves it. I'm not saying that I would disprove what you stated...

When I saw the description I thought it would be about that frequent problem of betrayal within a married couple and we all know that recovering from this situation is very difficult. But in this case we are dealing with the lost of trust in ones fellow human

beings, with sex slavery being focussed. The recovery protrayed is wonderful but in my opinion very unlikely.

betrayal of a christian minister. you should really refrain from writing about things you are not familiar with. Swearing and approval of polygamy are unrealistic portrayals. Nice story, otherwise.

I very much enjoyed it. It could have gone many ways but your choice of ending was a lot of fun.

Halin24, this time you have overcome!

Great story, with a sad background as is the trafficking of women, great scourge of society, especially from some of the EU countries, which really does not put enough resources to combat this stigma.

As for the comments on religion and polygamy, I do not agree with them. I respect the opinions of others, but I am not obliged to share them. In this hypocritical society in which we live, we hide too much in religion to hide our dirty laundry. I'm not saying that everyone does it, but an important majority. As for polygamy, I do not agree either, since the protagonist marries Irina only (a single legal wife), so there is no polygamy. If there is a polyamorous relationship, but that is not prohibited by law, at least not in my country, and I think in Sweden either. Particularly, I am not for or against, I think that this is a decision to be made by those exclusively involved.

The only thing I can emphasize is that the Swedish people (in general the whole Scandinavian people) are much more advanced than the rest of the EU (and other countries) in terms of social relations and sex. This can cause controversy with some people who have not reached that level of social relationships. To these people, I would recommend that they self-evaluate, that is, what they think about those who abuse women and consider them mere merchandise for their pleasure and deny them all their rights, turning them into simple slaves. I guess and I hope they consider that wrong. If now all this is going up a step in the ladder of social evolution, perhaps they will realize that their opinion about this fictional story is the same as the aforementioned abusers have of those who criticize them, so, although in different Stair steps, your opinion is very similar. Please, evolve and do not be hypocrites, the future society will thank you.

5 * for you.

I apologize for my English (yet and forever), isn't my native language.

PS:

I guess this comment will bother some people, so I want to make it clear that I will not answer anyone who is offensive and / or degrading. I have no interest in entering into philosophical, religious or moral discussions.

A great story about a horrible subject! I am moved by the story and the characters, the morality and their mutual respect and caring for each other. The love for others was there and was followed by trust but none would have been possible without openess and honesty. Great story and thank you for sharing it.

Once again: thank you all for your comments!

This time I would like to reply to what Dunmovyniv wrote.

You have, of course, every right to have your opinion, and I respect that, but perhaps I know more about the different views among Swedish parsons than you think.

I actually know about two parsons who occasionally swore, and with some feeling too. This was in private of course, and since it was some thirty years ago things may have changed... Their explanation was simply that it was a matter of 'inner meaning', what they meant and not what the actual word stood for.

I'm not saying that it's common, what I say is that even 'Men of God' are individuals with their own views at least partially. Another - perhaps stupid - example is the different views on women as parsons (and bishops for that matter). There are still some who refuse to accept that. Forty years ago there were many who refused to accept women in such positions because it was 'against Christian tradition and belief'.

'Approval of polygamy' is certainly not accepted in Sweden, but what I wrote was 'without words but in spirit'. Actually it wasn't officially polygamy in other words. What, then, is the difference between having one wife and three official and by the wife accepted lovers, being single with four lovers, or having four wives 'in spirit' with one being official?

Apart from that, there are actually Christian societies, sects or cults - call it what you want - that accepts polygamy. Not the Swedish state church - yet - for sure, but then again it wasn't that long ago that it didn't agree to same-sex marriages either...

Last of all, I do note that you say it was a 'nice story, otherwise' and I appreciate that. This rant of mine was only to clarify my position and experiences. No offence taken, and I hope that goes for you too if you read this.

Well worth my time to read

I really enjoyed your story. I can appreciate that english is not your first language so it made the read a little difficult at times with minor grammer errors but it was worth reading. Well done and thank you. 5 stars.

I liked the first six pages and then it changed

Sorry but there's no way the group could transform in that way.

You wrote in the beginning that there would be a long setup. On the contrary, to me it felt kind of rushed. In fact, the whole story was littered with points where I wondered why you didn't take more time expressing emotions or thoughts from the characters. Everything kind of happened and as a reader I was left in the dark as to why all these things - or even what (They talked for one more hour...about what?) - occured.

Perhaps as a result, the characters' actions seemed unrealistic to me - at least sometimes. I mean, it felt good to see the burdened women overcome their traumas, it was just hard to identify with them (mostly later in the story) because of how unrealistic it seemed.

Another minor issue may be that the Eastern European women (or everyone, really) apparently could speak perfect English - apart from your grammatical errors - without further explanation.

One thing I personally liked was the miscommunication thing, where Jenny had to intervene so Peter and the young women would be more comfortable together. That seemed like it would likely happen.

All in all, it may be a tough subject (as rightbank put it) that you challenged yourself with and where the hurt and other emotions need to be communicated to the reader and the characters act according to their individual personalities combined with their traumas to make it believable. You missed the mark on this one in my eyes, however I'm sure you can do better in the future.

- R

Liked the story, and all the hard work and effort you put in to it, for my entertainment, as a reader, I look forward to more.

North

Perhaps you express my problems writing better than I could have done myself! Let me start with the easiest problems.

Whether the setup was long or short is probably a matter of what you're looking for. That comment of mine focused on the sex, and since this story wasn't about that it was probably correct.

The 'correct' English is really an issue regarding my own English, I guess. I try to write better all the time, and since I'm not a 'natural English-speaker' it is difficult to fake it. I actually tried at first but it got too difficult, too long and too complicated. Because of that I decided to make it simple: after all, why shouldn't eastern European's have learned English as good - or better - than I have?

As a whole It is all about my writing style I guess: I usually start with an idea. It may be a sentence, a picture, a news report, or anything. I build the story around that beginning, and it usually progresses pretty well. Until I have the ending clear in my head...

At that point I usually get bored, lose my interest. It doesn't matter if I think it is good or bad, has a deeper meaning or not. When the end is clear to me it is a struggle to write it down before I leave it as something 'almost finished'

This one was as much of a struggle as any other, and as a result probably not as good as it could have been....

One of the truly intelligent and thoughtful works here. One doesn't have to be

anti-intellectual to be erotic.

Thank you for sharing your stories with us!

Sex slaves. Evil, vile and dehumanizing. You seem to have pondered about this hence this story. Thanks for publishing this. It has me thinking about it. And that is a tribute to the author.

Quit. Old school!! See evil and don't do something about it you are as guilty maybe even more guilty than the evil doers

"Creators privledge"

Nicely put. I don't go with the notion that "Only good people get saved" for the simple reason that my bible tells me "No-one is good. NO, not one"

Or as Jesus told the those who Insisted that they were the only good people, "If you admitted your need I would help you, but as you insist you can see, I will leave you in you blindness."

I like this story, I can see the ladies focusing their trust on the one man who made them feel safe and loved. I see this event being one of two ways, the way described here or him falling in love yet having to let them all go for their safety. An epilogue could be the loved one returning