Review: I expected something different...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 9, 2011
"You are what your deep, driving, desire is. As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny."- by The Upanishads -The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion.3.5 stars.Grant Madison is a yoga teacher. He is very controlled and avoids emotional outbursts. But my oh my, he does have a temper - if the need arises! He practices tantric sex. Arianna Devlin is quite the opposite. She is highly energetic, passionate, very ambitious and stressed. There's this saying "Opposites attract." Grant and Arianna have the hots for each other and then some! Whoa there...SLIGHT SPOILERThese lines explain a lot. How Grant 'works':From the moment they met, Grant controlled both the classroom and the bedroom. She felt as if he let her see a hidden part of him in their intimacy, but now she realized he'd never let himself lose control. He rarely came inside of her. He never exploded in orgasm without planning her pleasure first. He used tantra to stay in power. With great sex and love, came great vulnerability. By controlling her orgasms and holding back his own, he remained safe.In his mind, he couldn't give her the option of loving him or making the choice. By allowing her to choose him, he set himself up for failure, failure in both the relationship and in his school. [...] That way, he remained safely distant and made himself feel better by pretending he let her go for her own good, because he loved her secretly, silently. It wasn't a sacrifice at all.END OF SPOILERArianna needs to relieve some of her stress and that's when she finds herself seeking Grant who introduces her to an old yoga technique. Thanks to the yoga lessons (and Grant, of course), she feels more relaxed, balanced, and happier than before. One thing leads to another...and Arianna tells Grant that she wants him in her bed. I've got to hand it to her: this woman is straightforward and she doesn't beat around the bush! Grant has been hurt by his ex-wife and as a rule, he doesn't want to get 'involved' with a student. Yeah, Grant, the spirit is willing...but the flesh is oh so weak!They attend a yoga workshop together and all bets are off. Grant and Arianna are sharing a night of great sex but will they share a life as well? When deeper emotions get involved, both of them have to decide what they want and what is more important in life: love or business success.I really liked the heroine, Arianna! She's a real woman. She loves sex and she likes to eat and drink and she is not model-thin. To put it simply: she indulges in all the comforts life has to offer - without any regrets. Arianna is a woman according to my taste.What did not work for me:Yoga and tantra/sex - a first for me! Ehm, of course THAT works for me just fine!This ever-present lust syndrome bothered me a bit. And Grant was incredibly 'insta-lusty' - one glimpse and he got a hard-on. I know this is a good thing. It's hot. However, after the first lust and passion and this please-just-tear-my-clothes-off-and-make-me-come phase, there should be a transition to more sensuality and tenderness. Passion, sensuality AND tenderness. Now, THAT would be just perfect!I had my 'aha moment' when I was reading this:[...] Tantra is about harnessing your sexual energy, about connecting so deeply with your partner you become one. It's about giving pleasure to the extreme in a slow, steady pace. [...]This is the proof I needed - I was practicing tantra without knowing it. Duh! Obviously if you find the right guy then it shouldn't be a problem. Initially, I thought I was missing something here. I couldn't 'see' that for the life of me! I expect tantra to be something about a deeper meaning/connection, something SPIRITUAL. I didn't really feel that when I was reading this short story. I wanted more depth to the story and the frequent sex scenes were ok but - again - there wasn't enough depth. And I think less is more. We know that tantra is about 'giving pleasure to the extreme in a slow, steady pace' but their erotic encounters ended rather fast. Indeed too fast for my liking!The Tantric Principle is a good read with a lot of rather hot sex scenes, a nice story and likeable characters as well. Except for my few 'issues' I did enjoy this novella. Jill, again, thank you for this rec!