Illicit

by Opal Carew

[Cocktails and Books]

I read the premise for this book and knew I wanted to read it. It's not a traditional male/female romance. It's hot, hot, hot, and did I say hot!!

Lindsay is reeling from the experience of walking in on her boyfriend in bed with 2 other women. He defends his infidelity by telling her that she is boring in bed and her mother reinforces his opinion. Needless to say Lindsay is short on self-esteem and confidence. She literally bumps into 3 hot guys on an elevator and begins to imagine sex with them. A mysterious invitation arrives and her wildest dreams are fulfilled.

The storyline here was weak. One of the males, Erik, had a supernatural ability to read minds and sets up the fantasy weekend. Lindsay arrives at their home thinking she will meet her friend, but she never even calls the friend to confirm or get more information. Shortly after she arrives two of the men , Conner and Travis) have sex by the pool. It dawns on her that this isn't the work of her friend and she realizes that she is there to have sex with the men (Erik, Conner, and Travis) she tries to leave and they have to coax her to stay. They do this by allowing her to have sex with Erik first. Conner and Travis leave. But why? She didn't want to be boring in bed, liked watching the guys having sex, had a connection with Erik and they still had to coddle her to get her to stay? I don't like storylines where the girl knows what she wants but you have to persuade her before she feels entitled to pursue her desires. She also fled at the first sign of conflict. They had to seek her out twice to get her to come back. I kept wanting her to be sexually liberated enough by her fantasy weekend that she would know Erik wanted her and have the chutzpah to fight for him. The other two guys obviously wanted her. I wanted to see her breeze past Erik and tell him it was his problem if he didn't want her. I attribute that to my feminist leanings.

I was a little afraid that this wouldn't really be a romance but a long versions of hardcore porn, but I was pleasantly surprised that I did connect with each character. Travis carried some scars from the rejection of his family because of his bisexuality. It was so touching when he allowed Lindsay to actually hug him and help heal the hurt. I teared up because so many people have been hurt and ostracized because of their sexuality. I could feel in that moment Travis becoming liberated from his past. So even though you have 3 men and one woman you see the power of love in each of their lives through the bonds they have forged begin to set them free to fully love and be loved. It was a true romance. I loved that the author had male/male sexual action. Many authors have multiple partners but only write about the women being sexually active with each other. The men are depicted as watching, enjoying, and participating at will. Again more of my feminist rhetoric but this was really a bright spot, and I wasn't at all uncomfortable with the sexual interactions. There was genuine, love, care, and respect among all parties. The author gave very detailed descriptions of the sexual scenes in a very tasteful manner.

If you like romance don't be afraid to dive right in I promise you will enjoy it. If you want to take a step up from the erotic novellas and short stories to something written more tastefully and with more length give this book a try.

Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books