Romance novelist Emily Shanski, has a dilemma: Her publisher is not going to offer her a new contract unless she starts incorporating explicit sex scenes into her books, because, let's face it, sex sells. Another bomb is dropped on Emily when she finds out that her long-time editor has decided to retire. How is she supposed to write sexier if she's a 30 year old virgin and has never experienced the act herself?

Michael Devlin is a handsome international playboy. Widely known to always have the most beautiful women on his arm, he is the quintessential love 'em, and leave 'em type. And he's Emily's new editor. Can Emily seduce Michael to gain the inside edge she needs to write her new novel?

Already having read other books by Bertrice Small, my expectations were set before I picked up this latest installment. Unfortunately, this book wasn't up to snuff. Literary license aside, there were a few things that just didn't add up for me.

For one, Emily is a subscriber to The Channel, an exclusive cable channel, only for women, in which the viewer creates and lives out their own fantasy on screen. Being the left brain thinker that I am, I don't buy it. It's a pet peeve of mine when authors take a completely falsified idea, set it in today's world, and then leave no explanation on how this could be plausible. If Jurassic Park could do it by extracting DNA from mosquitoes encased in amber, I expect no less. If the story was set in a fantasy world, or in the future, I could live with it, but this isn't the case here. Also, the whole idea of The Channel is taken straight out of a novel that is required reading in almost every school in America. Most of us have read Fahrenheit 451 and reading about The Channel sent me in a tail spin back to the days of lockers, sloppy joes and teen angst.

Another thing that didn't ring true with me was the fact that our heroine is a virgin who, after seducing her editor, suddenly becomes a sex fiend, has anal sex, and an orgy with six men. All this from a woman who never before had sex simply on the basis of not wanting to be like her parents and disappointing her grandmothers? If you say so........

The novel that Emily is writing? You'll know that story by heart. The scenario of her novel is played out over, and over.........and over again to the point where it made me start skipping pages (a rare occurrence).

While the sex scenes are somewhat realistic for someone of a more experienced nature, some things seem a bit fantastical and risqué for someone who has just lost their virginity. To put it plainly, it just didn't fit her character. There was also a lack of imagination when it came Emily's verbal sounds of pleasure. While I know it can be hard to put the sounds of passion into written words, there are other words than "Oh" and "Ohhhhhh" that can be used. Although, I think I might have seen an "Ummmmmm" somewhere in the book.

Then there are the Ben Wa Balls that emit small amounts of mercury into her vagina. Uhm....last I checked, mercury was an extremely toxic substance, even in small quantities.

While the story was a perfect balance between erotica and romance, I felt that the story wasn't fully thought out. Maybe I'm being cynical. Maybe my expectations are set too high for stories from this author. Or maybe, just maybe the story really wasn't as good as it could have been.

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Publisher: NAL Trade (June 27, 2006)
ISBN: 0451218507
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