Review: Very short but also very hot and sensual novella by Anne Calhoun
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2011
"If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics s*ck."- by John Steinbeck -It's hot. It's erotic. It's steamy. It's thoughtful.Wow, I loved Fighting Fair! It's a short, yet very satisfying read. Anne could write a grocery list and I'd read and enjoy it. No doubt at all. I love her prose and how she writes so sensually! Touching is so essential and she describes it with such ease and my body and breathing sensors are running at full speed! Always. Anne, do you do it on purpose? I hope you know that you can really turn on your readers.Shane and Natalie's marriage is in very serious jeopardy. Natalie is fuming since her husband is already late for their first marriage counseling. Further, Shane seems to be unaware of their problems."When you announced you'd made this appointment was the first I'd heard we were having problems.They haven't had a real conversation in months. And they haven't been on a date in months. To put it simply: due to very demanding jobs, they don't spend enough time together anymore. Yes, I so agree! It's possible for both partners to have demanding schedules, yet still enjoy a satisfying, committed marriage. But there has to be a commitment to marriage and you do have to be willing to communicate early, often, and well. They'd agreed to the job, the long hours, but Nat had no idea what it would do to Shane, and to their marriage.His idea of reconnecting as a couple is pretty tempting eventually."You've got my attention, sweetheart."<...>"Looks like a fight. Sounds like a fight," he taunted softly, bracing a shoulder against the doorframe. "Smells like a fight, like sweat and turned on woman. Oh, we're fighting, all right."Shane suggests to talk but Natalie declines. And Shane said:"Then let's play a game."Okey dokey, game on! Shane didn't want to play fair, yet he intended to fight fair. After numerous discussions they knew that there was no fair in a fight, though. Shane also knew that he wasn't fighting to beat her at a game. He was playing for their marriage and their future together, and he wasn't going to lose. By voicing the right words and by touching the right spots of her body, Shane had the ability to satisfy her every need, to touch her to her very core. He'd taught her to need him, mind, body, and soul and then he'd all but disappeared from her life."We're here," she said. But where? On the map of their lives together, where were they?After some seriously soul-shattering sex, Shane initiated the long awaited conversation and he showed Nat in a very convincing way where they were. I loved to see them together sitting on the kitchen floor and eating ice cream and finally talking. Definitely satisfying and sweet! You get to see that Shane is not a bad and shallow guy. It's quite the opposite, after all."I remembered what you told me after our first fight, that you argued with people you trusted. I wanted to know if you still trusted me enough to lose it with me. If you did, we still had a chance.""I love you, Shane," she whispered. "How doesn't matter. It's always been you. And Shane replied "I'm listening."I'm relieved, Shane, that you did realize something very important:"I couldn't have done it without you. You were always there when I needed to vent or strategize. I took that for granted. Whatever's coming, I don't want to do it without you. Without us.(less)