>>6
No, they're really quite different, especially in their treatment of the sadomasochism element. In Black Jewels, S&M is what it is: a perversion. People revel in it because everyone's a pervert. It's all dark and gothy and creepy and there's some silly nonsense about magic cockrings and stuff.
The Kushiel books largely treat all forms of sexual experience as expressions of human nature, and don't deny that everything has its proper place. The heroine bears a mark that allows her to feel pleasure with pain. While there are a number of risque scenes the novels never really rely on them to move things forward. The huge overabundance of ALL MEN ARE PRETTY might be something of a turnoff though.