THE MAGICIAN'S LOVER

TITLE: THE MAGICIAN’S LOVER

AUTHOR: DANIELLE AUSTEN

Pages: 202

Date: 14/04/2013

Grade: 3.5

Details: no. 1 The Prophecy Girl

             Received from author

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The Blurb:

“Shy receptionist Lindsey Wade can’t believe her luck when a chance encounter with world-famous stage magician Angelito Tarrago leads to an affair. But when he tries to convince her that he possesses genuine supernatural powers – and she might too – her life changes for ever.

Pulled between her safe, comfortable life and the glamorous, erotic world of magic, Lindsey delves deeper; uncovering a secret society, long-buried lies, and sides to herself that she didn’t know existed.

Is her lover telling the truth? Could she really be the subject of an ancient prophecy? And who is the mysterious man following her around?”

Well, this was some story. It starts off innocently enough with Lindsey Wade winning a ticket to see Angelito Tarrago, world famous magician, perform his spectacular show. And we meet Lindsey as a shy, quiet and repressed young woman. That shyness disappears the moment she meets Angelito; suddenly the woman who was afraid to show her naked body to her best friend finds herself wanting and needing physical closeness and sexual attention.

“Her mind repeatedly took her to places she had never been before; sordid thoughts making her feel desires she had never known existed.”

All it takes is one night and Lindsey is captivated both by Angelito and the pleasures sex bring her. The only blemish on her new found delight is the man with yellow eyes who follows her, threatens her and tells her to stay away from Angelito. Lindsey doesn’t heed the warning though. Although she is sceptical about Angelito’s claims that they are both Magi with extra-ordinary powers she can’t stay away from him and is delighted that he appears to be feeling the same way about her.

But Lindsey is out of her depths. She has been suddenly dropped into a world she knows nothing about surrounded by powers she doesn’t understand but she seems to possess as well. She is in more danger than she could ever imagine and will have to figure out who her friends and her enemies really are before she loses everything, including her life.

This book mixes several themes; paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense and, of course, erotica. In fact this is a very sex-driven story featuring m/f as well as f/f scenes, ménage, sex in public, involuntary sex and anal play. Set in a world where magical powers seem to come with a more then healthy sexual appetite, a lot of the (inter)action in this book takes the form of sexual acts because:

“Sexual energy is always one of the first manifestations of our abilities.”

And Danielle Austen, having created this opportunity for herself, doesn’t shy away from introducing steamy and explicit scenes into nearly every encounter between characters, be they primary or secondary. And while that will delight anyone who is hoping to read a mostly erotic story it will put off those who enjoy a sex scene when it enhances the story but don’t like it when sex seems to be (most of) the story. On the other hand, in the context of the story it all makes sense since sex is a vital part of who these Magi are.

Copied from Korner Kafe Exposed

I’m a bit conflicted when it comes to this book. I have to admit that I enjoyed it. I had no trouble getting into the story and even less problems staying with it until the very last page. On the other hand I couldn’t help feeling that this book could have been a lot more; the story a lot better. Maybe with a bit more background information and a bit more character development this story would have been great rather than good. Although I’m a huge fan of erotic fiction and get a kick out of any well written sex scene I do feel that the author went a bit over the top once or twice. Especially the scene near the end of the book which was so extreme that, for me, it lost all erotic beauty and just became a blur.

Having said that, the story managed to grab me and excite me. More importantly, the book left me curious as to how things will progress. Austen left us with, not so much a cliff-hanger, as a teasing hint as to what may be happening next. A hint intriguing enough to leave me wanting more.

S.E.C.R.E.T.

TITLE: S.E.C.R.E.T.

AUTHOR: L MARIE ADELINE

Pages: 288

Date: 17/02/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: First in series

            Received from Crown Publishing

            Through NetGalley

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“No judgments, No Limits, No Shame.”

Thirty-five year old Cassie Robichaud is very good at anticipating and meeting everybody’s needs except her own. Four years after her alcoholic husband died she is waiting for life to start while working as a waitress. By the time the story starts it has been five year since Cassie had sex, five years of which she feels every minute. And while a part of her still hopes that maybe it is not too late for her, most of Cassie has given up on love and happiness. In fact, Cassie is so convinced that she has nothing to offer that she has rejected the advances of her very attractive and interested boss, Will.

Cassie’s favourite customers are a couple who come in regularly and seem very happy and intimate together. Cassie can’t keep her eyes of them, taking in how easy they are together and how connected. When the woman accidentally leaves behind a beautiful notebook Cassie can’t quite help herself. Although she only reads a page or two she sees enough to realise that this is some sort of diary, detailing erotic encounters.

And so Cassie is introduced to the world of S.E.C.R.E.T.; a group of women dedicated to liberating women who find themselves in an emotional and sexual vacuum.

“What we do here, Cassie, is we help women get back in touch with their sexual side. And in so doing, they get back in touch with the most powerful part of themselves. One step at a time.”

Soon Cassie starts her voyage of discovery; a quest of nine steps that will empower her, introduce her to unsuspected pleasures and ultimately liberate her.

This was a fascinating book. I absolutely adore the idea behind it. Whenever I read or hear objections to erotic fiction the reason given will be that these stories are supposed to be degrading to women. And while I don’t agree with that sentiment in general, nobody will ever be able to make such an accusation against S.E.C.R.E.T. In this book the women are in charge and those who are empowered use their insight to bring the same sort of liberation to other women. It is a very attractive idea. And if anybody is objectified or used in this book it is the various men Cassie encounters on her way to (sexual) liberation. Their only purpose is to serve the women in such a way that they can develop their best qualities. A purpose they appear to serve with pleasure, but under strict rules set by the women who run S.E.C.R.E.T.

I also liked that there were no quick, overnight, transformations in this book. Cassie (as any other woman accepting the assistance of the group) has to go through nine steps which will bring her to surrender, courage, fearlessness and trust, to name just a few qualities. And it isn’t until Cassie has gone through all the steps that she is ready let go of her fear and to fully embrace who she is, and that she is enough.

“Fear is the only thing that stands between you and your real life.”

Now this is a work of erotic fiction which means that the liberation of Cassie is achieved through nine different sexual encounters.

“Our whole reason for being is liberation through complete submission to your sexual fantasies.”

Cassie’s nine encounters are all based on fantasies she has admitted to at the start of the process and we follow her as she is introduced to oral pleasures both as the receiver and - much to her surprise - the provider, a mild form of submission, anal intercourse and other new experiences. And in the process Cassie overcomes fear, learns to trust and gains confidence.

I loved that this book points out that there is a difference between physical attraction and love. In so many works of erotic fiction it seems that the attraction between two people is based on little more than their compatibility between the sheets. And while Cassie does appear tempted to fall into that trap, the support the programme gives her makes it possible for her to distinguish between lust and love and to make her decisions accordingly.

Having said all that, this book is about so much more than just sex. This is a book about self-discovery; a story about finding the courage to create your own life, according to your own needs, desires and dreams. In fact, while sex was an important part of the story line, it is not the story. I often feel that the story itself is an after-thought in erotic novels; a means to include as much sexy scenes as possible. Not so in this book, here the sexy scenarios are an important and integral part of a much larger, and very strong story-line. And while the scenes are quite descriptive they are not, in my opinion intended to shock or embarrass.

This is a book about empowering women. This is a story that shows us that being a strong and independent woman doesn’t mean giving up on pleasure. It is good to surrender as long as it happens from a place of strength and confidence.

“Above all else sex requires surrender, the ability to simply melt with each arriving moment.”

This is a well written, well thought out and fascinating story about one woman finding her strength with the help of other women. It is sexy and inspiring and a thought-provoking read. I’m looking forward to finding out how the story continues.

THE BOOK OF TWENTY-FOUR

TITLE: THE BOOK OF TWENTY-FOUR

AUTHOR: Nathan L. Flamank

Pages: ???

Date: 07/01/2013

Grade: 3

Details: A Seth & Amber Erotic Tale

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It is Seth’s thirtieth birthday and his wife Amber wants to give him an extra special present. But what do you give a man who has everything his heart desires, the man you love dearly and who has given you so much happiness? Amber’s solution is to give Seth a cheque-book containing 24 cheques. Each cheque represents one wish Amber will fulfil for Seth. What Amber hadn’t quite counted on is Seth’s clever but devious mind. He will only need to use two of his cheques to get everything he wants from her, indefinitely. The birthday weekend will be exhilarating, with both Amber and Seth discovering desires and pleasures they had never considered before.

Well, I guess the love affair couldn’t last indefinitely. Eventually I was bound to come across an erotic book that would fail to entice me.

I really liked the idea behind the story. The present of a cheque book with 24 checks, each representing a wish, is a good one and gives the author endless potential. I also liked the way in which Seth surprised his wife with his first wish. In fact, at that early point in the story my expectations were high.

But then it was as if the author went into overdrive. It was almost as if the author had been told that he would only be allowed to write one, short, book and he felt the need to put every single idea he had ever had into that one story. Everything you could possibly imagine was squashed into this one book. We have sex scene after sex scene but we also get an enormous amount of, at times unnecessary, background information.

We didn’t need to know about Amber being unable to conceive children or Seth’s troubled childhood in order to follow them on their weekend of sexual exploration. Nor was there any need to mention Amber’s unpleasant family. None of these issues or people play a role in or influence the story; they don’t add anything but rather distract from the events during the weekend.

I can only guess that the author had heard or read somewhere that readers like it when the characters in a story are fleshed out a bit and decided to do just that. And it might have worked if this had been a full length novel. With this being a rather short novella, everything in the book felt rushed. The reader is given details of Seth and Amber’s lives, their backgrounds, their families and their sexual relations. We were told a lot about what they did, where they came from and their emotions but I never felt any of it. In fact I found myself caring very little for the characters and the descriptions of their sexual adventures left me mostly cold. And that can’t possibly be right when you’re reading an erotic story.

As for those sexual adventures there is not a whole lot Amber and Seth don’t try over the course of one weekend. We read about public sex, voyeurism, water-sports, masturbation and domination to name but a few. But again, it is rushed. The term “slam, bang, thank you ma’am” springs to mind. And I can’t help wondering if the fact that this book was written by a man has anything to do with my issues with this book. Is it down to the male perspective that this book seemed to be more about intercourse than intimacy. Or am I just being horribly sexist here?

If I had been able to talk to this author before he decided to publish this book I would have told him to go back to his drawing-board, take all his, rather good, ideas and allow for another 200 pages or so to flesh them out. The reason I’m rating this book as many as three stars is that I liked the idea and can see what this story could potentially be. I’m just sorry that this book didn’t turn out to be what I hoped to find when I read the description on Amazon.