Review: Totally implausible, but  VERY erotic! A clever premise makes for a titillating tale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 13, 2013
Unlike many of the earlier reviewers, I did NOT receive a review copy from the author or publisher.THANK YOU, Ali Clark for making your wonderful tale available at such a very reasonable price! (And a malicious hex on the many erotica authors who try to charge outrageous prices for their e-books.)It's not a perfect novel, but... WOW!! This story is exceptionally erotic--one of the most titllating novels I've read in some time. The very explicit scenes are so tantalizingly described. If you can overlook the obvious implausibility, it is a delightfully hedonistic sexual fantasy. If you enjoy explicit stories that stretch the boundaries of marital fidelity, you might even relish the fantasy of participating in such a naughty extramarital adventure. It is that very blend of the socially-forbidden-yet-now-permitted sexual adventure that so many yearn for, but often fear.The novel begins as a story of Claire's premeditated seduction of her best friend's husband, Michael--BUT at the instigation of Michael's own wife, Leah! The story ends up being about much, much more than Michael's seduction, however (read the book!!). A major theme of the novel is the erotic delight experienced by a woman who gives free rein to her sexuality and luxuriates in its power. In fact, that is the basic premise of the story: Leah, recently married to Michael, realizes that she wants more sexual freedom than monogamy allows. Her biggest obstacle is her very conservative husband, whom she dearly loves. If only Michael can be persuaded to accept some extramarital games.... In the process of helping Leah to realize that ambition, Claire finds that she also revels in some extramarital explorations.Most chapters focus on the perspective, emotions and experience of a single individual, but each episode of the story is revealed in multiple chapters, so that we see the same incident from each person's perspective. (The resulting redundancy is very minimal and not at all distracting.)While most chapters are entitled "Leah," "Michael," "John" and "Claire,"-each telling the story from that person's perspective--there are also chapters entitled "The Cabin" and "The Bed." Those are among the most erotic. My favorite episode was when Claire, her open-minded husband John and Michael spend a night in a small mountain cabin designed to accommodate no more than two(who presumably would be lovers). There is a hot tub barely large enough for three and a solitary bed similarly limited in size. It's unlikely that your imagination could do that scene justice, but the author's does.Erotic tension remains white hot throughout the story because neither Claire, John, Leah or Michael knows exactly how far they want their extramarital adventure to go. Each new step arouses their anxiety as well as their lust. Will the initial blatant teasing and provocation culminate in all-out sexual penetration, or will jealousy and fear bring things to a halt? Although the reader is also a bit uncertain about the conclusion, you will not be disappointed.One of the pleasures for us as readers is being privy to the hidden erotic reactions (many of them involuntary) of each character, as well as the self-doubts and fears that each experiences-often unknown to the others-as this seductive story plays itself out.This would be a great novel for a couple to read to each other as their own sexual foreplay, chapter by chapter. Let's hope that Ali Clark writes many, many more erotic novels! And,that many more wives allow themselves to enjoy such adventures.