Tag Archives: Random House

Review | S.E.C.R.E.T., L. Marie Adeline (Preview Sample)

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Given the fervor for the erotic genre, was it possible to write a book that was first and foremost a smart and engaging novel and, second, erotically charged? And if someone wrote that in the current publishing climate, would readers respond?

[Letter from Doubleday Canada that came with the sneak preview uncorrected proof]

16099174Admittedly, my experience with erotic fiction is very limited. I suppose I’ve always viewed erotic fiction with Anne Rice’s frame of mind. In the introduction to The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, she writes that she wastes no time in getting to the sexual content: “every page is meant to give you pleasure.” The classic Story of O establishes the mood of sexual desire from the very first page. So when I read the promotional letter about S.E.C.R.E.T., my initial reaction was to wonder, perhaps naively, how an author who set about making the eroticism second priority could differentiate her book from a racy Harlequin romance.

“No judgments. No limits. No shame.” What if you could have your every sexual fantasy fulfilled, in a safe, supportive environment where the men are hot and you are in total control? For shy, awkward waitress Cassie Robichaud, the idea is too wild to even contemplate — and yet too tempting to pass up. The premise of S.E.C.R.E.T. sounds very erotically charged, but the book itself lives up to its promise to put the story first. The story opens with Cassie observing the people at the cafe where she works, and reflecting on her fourteen year marriage to an angry drunk:

Waitresses are adept at reading body language. So are wives who’ve lived under the same roof as an angry drunk. […] And yet whenever I tried to turn that skill on myself, to anticipate my own needs, I couldn’t. [p. 1]

When it comes to sex, Cassie hasn’t had any in five years. She calls her vagina “down there” because it seemed the only appropriate term when by yourself — to the author’s credit, this hesitation on Cassie’s part arouses sympathy rather than irritation. This is a woman who calls a red dress “brave” and is so shocked at reading about a woman having two men at the same time that she immediately slams the book shut. So when S.E.C.R.E.T., a society of women who help other women achieve sexual fulfillment, reaches out to Cassie, you can’t help but cheer her on. As one of the members of S.E.C.R.E.T. says, “We definitely found the right candidate in you. You can’t even say the word [fantasies]!” [p. 70]

As far as the erotica goes, S.E.C.R.E.T. is beyond vanilla, and fittingly so. The sampler I got included only the first fantasy (Cassie will have a total of nine fulfilled), and featured “a lanky, good-looking man” with “puppy-dog brown eyes.” Despite an intro straight out of a porn movie, the fantasy scene is ultimately rather sweet.

I covered my face with my hands.

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“It is. This is all for you.”

[…] The contact felt amazing. His hands on my thirsty skin. How long had it been since I’d been touched, let alone like this? I couldn’t even remember. [p. 74]

It’s the ultimate fantasy, isn’t it? The kind, considerate, handsome man who tells you you’re beautiful, who asks you exactly what you want, and who you know will stop at the slightest hint that you want him to. There is no romance in this scene — we don’t even know the man’s name — yet there is much romancing in it. It’s a lovely scene, and Adeline does a masterful job in showing just how much such small gestures mean to Cassie.

There are moments when I wondered if Adeline was poking fun at Fifty Shades, most notably with Five Years. It’s been five years since Cassie has had sex, and she calls her celibacy a “skinny old dog […] Five Years came with me everywhere, tongue lolling out, trotting on its toes.” [p. 3] I seriously hope the author meant that as a jibe against Anastasia Steel’s inner goddess rather than a serious attempt at metaphor, because seriously? Five Years the dog? He’s mentioned again a couple of times later on, and at one point I had to go back to check that Cassie wasn’t referring to an actual dog.

From the 81 page preview, this book definitely shows promise. Cassie still has eight fantasies to go through, and I believe they’ll just get more and more erotically charged as she becomes more open to her sexuality. There’s a hint of potential romance for Cassie with another character, but from the preview, the focus is clearly on her and her alone. She’s a sympathetic figure, and I look forward to seeing her regain her confidence and sense of identity through S.E.C.R.E.T.

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NOTE: I received the sneak preview for this book before the holidays, and had originally scheduled the review for the release date in February. I just received the final book in the mail today, and am delighted at the opportunity to find out more about Cassie’s story. So I’ve decided to bump up this post a couple of weeks, and let you all in on the S.E.C.R.E.T. a bit early as well!

Interested in finding out more? The preview I just reviewed (Step I of S.E.C.R.E.T. / first fantasy fulfillment) is now available online at the book’s website! Check it out here. And if you want to keep reading Cassie’s experience with Step II (second fantasy fulfillment), check it out here.

Stay tuned for my review of the full book in February!

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Thank you to Random House Canada for the uncorrected proof preview of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | A Door in the River, Inger Ash Wolfe

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Inger Ash Wolfe’s A Door in the River is my first Hazel Micallef mystery, and at first I didn’t believe the person on Twitter who told me the series was disturbing. After all, I’ve read Stuart MacBride and Val McDermid, and at first glance, the mystery of a well-liked man being killed by a bee sting didn’t sound too horrific. The book doesn’t get quite as gruesome or horrific as MacBride and McDermid, but it does enter some pretty emotionally and psychologically intense territory.

The setting is Port Dundas, Ontario, and the heroine is a snappy, broody sixty-plus year old inspector who lives with her eighty eight year old mother. Hazel is sharp, has issues with authority, and is overall a great series character, but for me, it’s her mother who takes the spotlight. Cranky and a bit emo in this book, Hazel’s mother is hilarious and compelling, and I love seeing them interact with each other.

From a seemingly straightforward murder, Wolfe takes the mystery to a place that totally blindsided me. More than a surprise however, the story suddenly takes a much darker, more emotionally fraught tone, and the crime much more horrific.

A Door in the River is a good, solid mystery, and I like the surprise twist. It didn’t quite blow me away, and a few parts dragged, but Wolfe does pull at the heartstrings. His story is horrific, not because it’s gruesome or especially dark and twisty, but because the crime is horrible, and all too easily imagined in real life headlines.

It’s a good book, and worth reading particularly for Hazel and her mother.

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Thank you to Random House Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | Trust Your Eyes, Linwood Barclay

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Stephen King calls Trust Your Eyes “the best Barclay so far,” and who am I to disagree with the master of horror? I’ve been a fan of Barclay’s work since No Time for Goodbye. His mysteries begin with a killer hook (in No Time, it was a teenage girl waking up to find her whole family gone), and while his stories usually turn out to have fairly conventional endings (mildly disappointing only because the hook is so gripping), they are fun, entertaining thrillers. I definitely agree with King however that Trust Your Eyes is Barclay’s best one yet — it’s the most tightly plotted of his books, and probably the one I found most difficult to put down.

Family relationships play a big part in all the Barclay books I’ve read, and in Trust Your Eyes, the author focuses on the strained relationship between brothers Thomas and Ray. Their father had just died, and Ray has had to put his life on hold to figure out how to best care for Thomas now that their father is gone. Thomas is a map-obsessed schizophrenic who spends most of his day in his bedroom, travelling the world through a Google Maps-type program called Whirl360. Part of Thomas’ schizophrenia is the belief that it’s his job, practically a calling, to study the world through Whirl360 and commit the streets to memory. The mystery kicks off when Thomas sees an image in a New York window that looks like a woman being murdered.

I have to admit — a major part of this book’s attraction for me is the techie spin on a concept similar to one of my favourite Hitchcock films. The amazing thing is, this story isn’t even futuristic anymore. Who hasn’t used Google Maps and Google Street View to find places? A character admits using Whirl360 to find a restaurant and research their menu, and that’s not even awe-inspiring anymore. The average person probably wouldn’t get involved in a murder mystery like Thomas does — like Ray, we are more likely to choose to ignore odd images and focus on our own lives. So I love how Thomas’ obsession with online maps is disturbing voyeurism on one hand, yet also offers itself to superhero potential in this story.

The mystery itself is fairly straightforward. We know fairly early on the circumstances and key players behind the scene that Thomas witnesses, and a plot thread leading up to that scene runs parallel to Thomas and Ray’s story. Despite our access into the perspectives within this plot line, however, Barclay deliberately obfuscates the thread, so that we are treated to various surprising revelations throughout.

The real hook to this story however is the family dynamics between Thomas and Ray. Their relationship adds a tender, complex angle to this fast-paced high-tech thriller. You feel for Ray, who has no idea how to teach his brother to take care of himself, yet you also feel for Thomas, who, as another character points out, is treated with condescension. There are several subplots about their family — the circumstances around their father’s death, an incident from Thomas’ past that seems to have scarred him — and, to be honest, there were times I found those even more compelling than the main plot. I wanted to learn more about these characters, and Barclay’s given both of them very rich backgrounds.

I generally find Barclay’s endings the weakest part of his books, and Trust Your Eyes is no exception. His endings are still good, just difficult to live up to the expectations set by the absolutely gripping beginnings. I especially love how Thomas’ unique talents played such a big role. Still, the big thriller ending in Trust Your Eyes felt a bit rushed — having taken up all these plot threads, Barclay had to tie all of them up neatly. The big action scene also involves a couple of really convenient twists. The ending also included some really big revelations that, while fairly central to the story, felt like they were placed at the end just to elicit a last minute gasp from the reader. True, there was a last minute adrenaline spike, but it felt artificial.

Still, Trust  Your Eyes is his most tightly plotted, possibly his best novel that I’ve read yet. Compelling mystery, and fascinating story about brothers.