Review: Season of Seduction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 19, 2013
Every year I look forward to the Carina Press Christmas anthologies, I know I'm going to get a a sexy read with the Christmas feel good factor and that's exactly what Season of Seduction provides. I'm already a huge fan of Christine d'Abo but after reading their contributions to this anthology I'll definitely be checking out more from Jeffe Kennedy and Jodie Griffin in the future. If you're looking to add a little extra spice to your holidays then I'd definitely recommend this!Five Golden Rings by Jeffe Kennedy - 5 StarsTilda's plans to spend the holidays alone on an exclusive resort in Mexico are turned upside down when she meets sexy, dominant lawyer Miguel on the plane. Miguel is visiting his family's resort to sort out a legal problem for them but when Tilda catches his eye he makes her an offer she can't refuse. If Tilda agrees to follow Miguel's orders he promises her pleasure like she's never even dreamed of before. Tilda is a successful business woman who is used to being in control but the idea of giving herself over to Miguel both intrigues her and turns her on and she's more than up for a little holiday fun.Five Golden Rings was my favourite novella in the Season of Seduction anthology and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Jeffe Kennedy in the future. I love the fact that Tilda knew what she wanted and was willing to go out and get it, she doesn't hide from her sexuality and is happy to embrace her desires and jump into the world that Miguel introduces her to. I think one of my favourite things about this story was the fact that Tilda is a rich and successful woman in her own right, she doesn't need a man to take care of her and she submits to Miguel purely because she wants to not because he pushes her into it. She is new to the BDSM lifestyle but finds it incredibly freeing to let someone else take control for a change. After reading so many stories where you have a rich billionaire businessman and a naive and innocent young woman it is so refreshing to read about a woman who is the complete opposite!Miguel is sexy as sin and I loved his creativity when it came to the gifts he presented Tilda with, they were such a fun take on the twelve days of Christmas song and I couldn't wait to see what new idea he came up with each day. He introduces Tilda to a completely new lifestyle and turns her world upside down but at the same time he completely underestimates her and I loved how she turned that around on him. My only complaint about Five Golden Rings is that I wanted more, not because anything was missing but because I was enjoying it so much I didn't want it to end!Ménage on 34th Street by Elise Logan and Emily Ryan-Davis - 2.5 starsKat and Liam have a happy marriage but they both love to add a third partner into the mix occasionally. There is only one man that they would ever consider anything permanent with but Hunter couldn't deal with his feelings for them and left 10 years ago to join the Marines. Now that Hunter is back in the area Liam and Kat are determined to show him just how good the three of them could be together.I have to admit that Ménage on 34th Street was my least favourite story in the anthology, I usually really enjoy ménage stories but this one missed the spot for me. I feel like the authors were trying to do too many things in a fairly short novella and this would have been much better as a full length novel. There was an author's note to say that there will be a further story about these characters but at the moment I'm not sure if I'm invested enough to want to carry on reading about them. There were things I enjoyed about the story - the sex was HOT! - but I never felt that the three of them would be able to make things work. Kat and Liam are obviously in love and very happy together but I didn't feel enough of a connection between them and Hunter. I believed that they had all been in love at one point but after 10 years with absolutely no contact I thought they needed to spend time getting to know each other again.I spent a lot of the story feeling like Kat and Liam were trying to force Hunter into something he wasn't comfortable with. You could tell he was interested in them both but he's spent so long denying the fact he is bisexual I don't think he'd be able to accept things happening quite so fast. I also felt that Kat and Liam didn't take his concerns about his military career seriously enough, every time he tried to raise the issue they just pushed it to one side and tried to use sex to try and make him forget about it. When I pick up a novella, especially a Christmas one, I'm expecting a hot, sexy story. When it comes to ménage stories I'm not usually expecting a happy ever after but I do want a believable happy for now and I don't feel like I got that here. There seemed to be way too much talking which I started to find boring, especially since the more they talked the less I felt like they would work as a permanent threesome! The story also missed out on the Christmas feel good factor which was a real disappointment.Naughty Nicks by Christine d'Abo - 4 starsEvery Christmas for the last three years Kim has helped Blake run Naughty Nicks, a seasonal company that provides the sexiest Santa strippers for Christmas parties. Apart from a one night stand when they first met Blake has always kept Kim at a distance but her attraction to him has continued to grow and she is determined to take things a step further this year. Blake has wanted Kim from the moment they met but a nasty divorce has left him wary of relationships, Kim is special though and he finally feels ready to take a risk.I was already a fan of Christine d'Abo so I had high hopes for Naughty Nicks and I wasn't disappointed, it had everything I look for in a Christmas story - great characters, a cute romance and sexy stripping Santas! Kim and Blake have brilliant chemistry but Blake has several reasons to be wary of pursuing a romance with her, he worries about their age difference and the fact that he's her boss but the biggest block of all is the number his ex-wife did on him when she left him. He has so much fun with Kim but is scared of losing her as a friend if they try and fail at a relationship. It was so easy to tell how perfect these two were for each other and I really enjoyed Kim's attempts at seducing Blake. He was trying so hard to resist her but in the end it all became too much and he had to have her. I loved Blake's big gesture towards the end (no I'm not talking engagement rings but something much more fun!) and I completely believe that these two will get their happy ever after.I really hope that this might turn into a series because I loved the concept of Naughty Nicks and we were introduced to a few of their strippers who I'd love to see get their own happy endings. If you've not read anything by Christine d'Abo before I'd also highly recommend her Long Shots series which is set in a BDSM club and is incredibly hot, she's become an auto-buy author for me and I'm still working my way through her back list.Matzoh and Mistletoe by Jodie Griffin - 4 starsFor the last five years Becca has volunteered with the police department every Christmas and Easter and over that time she has become good friends with Jeremy. There has always been a spark between them but until recently Becca was married and unable to take things further. Jeremy has had feelings for Becca for a long time and now that he knows she is single he is hoping to show her how good they could be together. However, when he realises her husband abused her he worries that she will be put off by the fact that he is a Dom. He is sure he has seen signs of her submissive side but doesn't want to push her too hard and scare her away forever.I'm going to come straight out with it and tell you Jeremy is HOT, I completely fell for his character and I'm sure a lot of other people will too. I will admit to feeling that the relationship development moves a little too quickly in this novella but I enjoyed the story so much I was happy to forgive that. I think one of the things I liked most about Matzoh and Mistletoe is that it goes to great lengths to show the differences between a D/s relationship and an abusive one. It is one thing to give control to someone voluntarily and another thing entirely for someone to take your control away by force. Jeremy is very patient with Becca when he explains the difference and I appreciated that about him, I also loved the way he was so gentle with her and talked through her fears because of the things her ex had done.Becca has always had desires that her husband wasn't willing to fulfil, he made her feel dirty and wrong because she wanted to experiment in the bedroom so she has learnt to push her needs to one side. Jeremy encourages her to express herself, he wants her to feel free to tell him her deepest, darkest fantasies and assures her that nothing she comes up with will shock him. It was nice to see Becca start to come out of her shell and realise that there is nothing wrong with her because of her kinks. I also really loved how she realised that there is a big difference between being weak and being submissive. This was my first story by Jodie Griffin but I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more by her in the future.