TITLE: THE FETISH BOX Part 3: 

          WHAT REMAINS

Author: Nicole Camden

Pages: 125 (approx)

Date: 30/03/2013

Grade: 4-

Details: No. 3 The Fetish Box

            Received from Gallery, Threshold, 

            Pocket Books through NetGalley

Own/Kindle

The Blurb:

In an attempt to seek out the source of the violence against her friends, Mary takes on a role she’d never imagined she’d play—a role that requires Mary to embrace the darkest parts of her soul. 

For the first time in her life, Mary understands who she is and where she belongs. What remains when you take away the sex and fun and adventure…is love. Love for her new friends, love for her lover, and love for the mother she never knew. She’s willing to risk anything—do anything—to keep them safe… 

And so we arrive at the final episode of Mary’s introduction to and continuation of her mother’s kinky life. Again, since this book is not so much a third title in a trilogy but rather the third part of the same novel, we start exactly where the second story, “What Escapes”; ended with Max and Mary waiting for the police to arrive after people have broken into her house, forcing Mary to flee. 

After this second attack, Mary is more determined than ever to attend the fetish party her shop is preparing for. She may be inexperienced when it comes to kink, but she is determined not to expose her new found friends to danger that is aimed at her personally. If anybody is going to put themselves at risk it should be her, and nobody else. And although her friends, and especially John who is starting to care for her more than he’s willing to admit, worry about her safety they can’t argue with the fact that it makes good business sense for her to introduce her mother’s customers to the new owner of The Fetish Box.

Courtesy of Korner Kafe Exposed

Deciding what clothes to wear to the party gives John and Mary plenty and highly imaginative opportunities to explore new sexual games. I loved the first outfit Mary tried on and all the play it induced. The idea of the thong made of pearls that rub in all the right places is very hot, as were the nipple clamps that she wore underneath the sheer dress in lieu of a bra. John and Mary can't get enough of each other in this book which leads to frequent and descriptive sexual scenes. Because there is nothing wrong with Nicole Camden's imagination this never got repetitive or boring though. Quite the opposite in fact; some of the scenes in this book were inspired. Especially the moment when Mary decides to prove to John that she will be able to pull off dressing up as a Dominatrix got my juices flowing. And yes, the picture shown here also refers to a scene in the book, but if you want to know more about that one you will just have to read the book; I can't spoil all the fun here.

And although the party does turn out to be as dangerous as everybody feared, all’s well that ends well, especially since it allows Mary to discover exactly what she wants to do with her new life.

It is going to be impossible to share my thoughts on this book without repeating things I already said in my reviews for “Open All Night” and “What Escapes”. Since this is in reality one story rather than a trilogy I’m not sure that it is possible to review this book as a single entity. In fact, if anyone were to read this book without having read the first two installments first, they would probably be completely lost as to what exactly is happening and why.  So, my objections to Mike’s Irish accent and to the speed with which Mary turns from a virgin into a sexy vixen still stand. At one point in this book our heroine is actually described as being “experienced” which is a bit of a stretch taking into account that it has been a mere few weeks since she was first introduced to the pleasures of sex. 

As far as this book specifically is concerned I have two remarks to make. I found the resolution of the suspense part of the story a bit rushed. After all the build-up in the previous two installments it only took a few pages for the bad guy to come out of hiding, stage his attack and be caught. I also think I would have preferred it if there had been a twist with regard to the identity of Mary’s opponent.

But, having said all that, I have to admit that I did enjoy the story as a whole. I liked the idea behind it, I liked the characters and enjoyed the interactions (both physical and verbal) between them. In fact, I think my rating would have been a bit higher if I had read this as one book, without interruptions rather than the way I was forced to read it now. I’ve got a feeling that there may well be a sequel to this story coming and if that is true I hope Nicole Camden will consider publishing it as one book rather than a serial. I do find myself curious as to how this story and these characters will develop further but I’m not sure I want to put myself through reading-interruptus once again.