LauraJ’s review of All Tied Up (Pleasure Inn, Book 1) by Cathryn Fox
Contemporary Erotic Romance novella released by Samhain Publishing 19 May 09

How does she do it? Cathryn Fox is able to create stories in a short amount of space and you still feel like you have read a regular full length novel. I have heard authors say that it’s much harder for them to write a novella than a novel because they have so much they want to say or they need to say to convey the entire story. In all the novella’s I have read by Ms. Fox I have never left feeling that I have missed any part of the story.

Now this is the first of what I’m assuming is going to be at least 3 stories.  There are two other characters that are introduced in this book that you can tell have their stories waiting in the wings and so there are “parts” missing but nothing that I know won’t be resolved in these other books, assuming of course, I’m right about the next two. As for the hero and heroine in this story I do feel that I got their whole story.

Lindsey, Candace, and Anna are three long time best friends who own their own interior decorating business. They are offered a job to fix up rooms in an old Victorian Manson in the town of Mason Creek for a woman who wants to turn the home into a place for lovers to indulge their fantasies. Each girl is asked by the owner to design her room based on her deepest fantasy.

In this first story, Lindsey decides to decorate her room in a BDSM theme. While she is trying to figure out how to make everything work and fit into the small room, the home’s owner introduces her to Brad is a handyman she has brought in for Lindsey to consider hiring to tear down a wall to make the room larger. Sparks fly immediately between the two despite the fact that both Lindsey and Brad have had relationships in the past that have made them wondering if there is “the one” for them. Lindsey has had several relationships where the men take from her without giving her anything in return but heartache. Brad is tired of women only wanting to bed him and not get to know him.

The story does have a bit of a paranormal tone to it with the two secondary characters, Pamina and her cat, Abra, who “guide” the girls who have given up on men to finding their heroes.

I don’t know how long I’m going to have to wait for the next two stories, but I hope it’s not too long.  The was a great, fast, and very sexy read and I’m looking forward to seeing how Candace and Anna’s stories play out.

Grade: A

Summary:
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Interior decorator Lindsay Bell jumped at the chance to help restore the old inn at Mason Creek. What could be more fun than letting her imagination run wild on an unlimited budget? Eagerly she plans to turn her assigned room into a fantasy BDSM playground.
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All she expected from her newly hired handyman was to help her tear down a support wall. She certainly didn’t expect Brad Caldwell to be so drop-dead gorgeous in a tool belt. When he proves to be a steady, hardworking, stand-up guy—unlike the men she’s dated—Lindsay has a new and wicked idea.
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To take her new creation on a test drive down the road of their deepest, darkest, most delicious desires—and seduce her way into his heart.
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Warning: Smokin’ hot sex with creative use of toys, and a dash of magic.
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Read an excerpt here.