Gwen’s review of Dangerous Pleasures by Bertrice Small
Contemporary erotic fiction released by NAL (New American Library) 5 Aug 08
I’m a gigantic Bertrice Small fangirl. I have daydreamed about being Skye O’Malley more times than I care to admit. I boohooed when Niall died and shivered every time she was taken advantage of by her slimy step-brother. The O’Malley Saga books were the first romances I had read with really hot sex in them. As big a fan as I am, I had never read any of her contemporary erotic fiction until this one. I didn’t want to ruin that lovin’ feelin’, if you know what I mean. Small’s writing occupies a very special place in my reader’s heart and I was afraid if I read her other genre work, it would mess up the rest for me. I was right, to an extent.
Dangerous Pleasures is the fourth of Small’s loosely related contemporary erotic fiction novels. There are some characters and other elements that are common between all four. I can’t call this entry “erotic romance” – there’s very little romance in it. It’s definitely “erotic fiction” with some odd paranormal elements. But there’s no real romance in the book. Sex, sure, but no romance. And the sex is strangely arm’s length – no real emotion is invested in it by any of the actors. But that may be because of what you’ll read below.
By the way, this book will be difficult to continue reviewing without mild spoilers. So keep reading at your peril.
Dangerous Pleasures was an odd book to me. I read the first 2/3’s thinking, “Okay, nice for a short story, but not enough for a novel.” I was actually getting a little bored. Then, BLAM! Something incredibly DARK happens. Like CREEPY as SHIT dark. Having not read any of Small’s previous contemps, it totally took me by surprise.
Very shortly before and all the way after that event, the book progressed down a COMPLETELY different path than I dreamed it would go. The heroine’s personality changes, and not for the better. There is NO hero, at all. The secondary characters suddenly get downright diabolical. It totally took me by surprise.
I think if Small had hinted at something sinister earlier in the book, I might have given it a B. However, because there’s no fore-shadowing, I dropped the grade a bit. It just seemed too disjointed and it took too long for these twists to develop for me to believe in them.
I can’t really recommend this book to anyone other than fans of Small’s writing or to people reading this group of books. If you’re looking for straight contemporary erotic fiction, there are better ones out there. And this is from a fangirl (gasp – I KNOW).
Grade: C
Summary:
Widowed with five children, stay at home mom Annie Miller has been just getting by—and growing restless because of it. Thinking Annie just needs a vacation, her sister enters her into a contest sponsored by The Channel, a network that caters to delivering women’s fantasies. Annie wins the grand prize, a week at a luxurious spa—and gets a treat when she turns on the flat-screen TV. The one working channel lets Annie program—and experience—her own personal fantasy each night. Suddenly she’s living out dreams she didn’t even know she had. But now that she’s experienced a complete sexual awakening, how will everyone in her former life handle this humble homemaker turned vivacious vixen?
No excerpt available when this review was written.
Other books in the “series”:
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