Pretty Lies (Pleasure House, #4)

by Kitty Thomas

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

4.5 stars

Pretty Lies is listed as the fourth book in the Pleasure House series by Kitty Thomas. Each story in this series can be read as a stand alone. This one in particular can, because it is actually a prequel to the series, so it takes place first chronologically.

If you’ve never read Kitty Thomas, her books are not romance. Some of them are pretty dark. This one isn’t as dark as some of her other works. I will say this one does have a happy ever after, though many of hers really don’t, in the romance sense of things.

In this story, Annette is working as phone sex operator helping to put her identical twin sister through pre-med school. Annette comes across a very hot guy while she’s out and is really drunk and starts to flirt with him. That really hot Russian was Anton. Then her sister goes for a massage at Anton’s spa. He doesn’t realize they are two different girls. He thinks this is the same girl that flirted, heavily, with him the night before. He decides she should be the first woman to be at his pleasure house.

Anton and his friends decide to come up with this house to train women to be good little submissives for extremely rich men. Anton will use his spa to help try to find women who will be a good fit. They don’t want women who aren’t submissive. They aren’t really looking to break women, but they do want to train them. Dr. Lindsey will use his psychologist practice for the same goal to find women who would fit into the lifestyle (you can now see how this really isn’t a romance novel).

Annette makes a bargain with Anton to exchange her life for her sisters. She will willingly come to live with him and go through training, if her sister is set free. Anton does one better. He offers to pay her sister’s rent and tuition. The sister is required to work part-time at Anton’s spa, to help him keep an eye on her, because let’s face it. What he’s doing isn’t exactly legal.

This story has quite a bit of sex and sexual tension in it. There is BDSM, but that part is entirely consensual, though Annette doesn’t have a safe word. Anton doesn’t ever go too far with her, at least pain wise. I think some of the other stuff she might have safed out, if given the option. Though, she does end up enjoying it in the end. I think the lack of safe word really pushed her further than she would’ve gone if it was available to her. I think it really helped her figure out what she liked.

Kitty Thomas has a way with how she writes. Pretty much everything she writes really pushes boundaries. There is a lot of psychological stuff going on in all of her books (though some more than others. Check out Comfort Food, if you really want a book that will really make you think). There is nothing in these books I would endorse in real life. She often has kidnapped victims in her stories. There is also a lot of coercion in her books. I would never ask for any of her books to happen in real life, but as a fantasy, her books are pretty interesting, and extremely erotic. I’m amazed at how she is able to make like characters I shouldn’t like. Kitty’s books aren’t for everyone, but I think people who give her a try with an open mind, usually enjoy what they read.