Review: Loved it
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2014
What will one find beyond the velvet rope? In Elliot Richards’ Babylon, the answer to that question is anything one desires. VIP status opens up every avenue for the club’s guest, and the person there to make it all happen is Thandie Shaw, club promoter extraordinaire. In New York, Thandie’s status as a promoter is infamous, and she could definitely help Babylon’s reopening; the only problem is that Elliot Richards doesn’t hire females. He’ll seduce them; he’ll screw them; he’ll make their bodies feel immense amount of pleasure, but he’ll never again work with a woman. But when Warren, one of Elliot’s backers, calls in a favor and asks that he reconsiders his rule and hire Thandie, the line of business and pleasure blurs almost immediately.The day Thandie walked off the plane and into Babylon, numerous people told her to stay away from Elliot, but she’s instantly mesmerized by his good looks and grey eyes. She doesn’t want to want him, but she can’t help herself, and ultimately, Thandie knows she will succumb to Elliot’s charm and sexual prowess. Elliot’s seduction of Thandie is a slow burn. He advances on her, and she refuses those advancements. Elliot’s never been refused before and so getting Thandie in his bed becomes a challenge he refuses to lose. But what starts off as a game slowly becomes something else; something Elliot won’t acknowledge, and Thandie tries to keep hidden. Thandie believes a man like Elliot, one with secrets and a tenacious sex drive, can never change his ways, but what if she’s wrong? What if she’s just the woman Elliot needs, but she walks out of his club and out of his city before he steps up?Thandie rocks as a heroine. She’s an independent woman who knows what it takes to be successful. She’s beautiful, feisty, and tenacious. She loves her job and kicks ass at it, but her job with Babylon challenges her on so many levels. Thandie slowly becomes the woman she never wanted to be due to Elliot’s manipulation, and Tiffany Ashley illustrates her emotions and actions quite well as Thandie slowly succumbs to her body’s need for Elliot.Elliot Richards –he’s a master manipulator. He’s a playboy who enjoys woman; he doesn’t lie to any of them, but he’s callus in his actions quite simply because he knows he can get away with it. He’s frustrating, arrogant, and a jerk most of the time. But there are moments in the book when he interacts with Thandie and allows her to see beyond his seducer faade and see the man beneath. Elliot’s persona is created in such a way that readers will want to hit him and drop their panties for him at the same time, which makes him quite the interesting male lead.Beyond the Velvet Rope is a provocative story that takes readers inside an exclusive club and shows what happens behind the scenes of the club’s major players, both personally and professionally. I really enjoyed watching the dynamics of Elliot and Thandie’s relationship change and the banter that they exchanged was both hot and humorous. The secondary characters also bring a great dynamics to the text, and I hope that we will see their stories told as the series progresses.A complimentary copy was provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.4.5 poison apples (The Fairest of All Book Reviews)