Review: Hot and sexy with an unexpected encounter
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2013
Venetian Love Knots started out for me like a typical romance where our main girl, Allison Fox, is recalling sexy times with her former everything Cole as well as the awful, violent incident that ended their time together. Allison travels to Venice, a romantic city on its own, to celebrate the marriage of her good friend and participate in all of her `maid of honor' duties. Allison knows that Cole is also going to be at the wedding and the first part of the story is mostly convincing her inner self that she is over him and that he has no pull over her anymore.Enter Nico, a smoking hot Italian stranger who sweeps Allison off in a gondola and treats her like an absolute princess. Despite Allison hangups and caution she relaxes around Nico and genuinely enjoys herself. Allison has a lot of self dialogue going on but this new pair has a ton of potential.They are so sweet on each other, and to each other, and *sigh* I was swooning right along.Then this big bad cowboy, i.e. former everything Cole struts right into the picture. My first thought was, `No! Don't look at him!' but alas Ms. Fox is swept up in those dazzling eyes and charming smile and she is, as the author notes, `falling down the rabbit hole.' I can see through his charm, and I can see how controlling Cole, who supposedly has been thinking of our girl since they split, is when he grabs Allison. Despite this I found myself getting manipulated by his smooth words and handsome features. I wanted to believe, just like Allison that he was different and longed for only her.Cole is dominating in every sense of the word and Allison gets weak in the knees just by the mere thought of his touch. I get it, he's that rebel with a heart of gold that I love so much, isn't he? I won't give away the ending but Allison and I were both deceived!I also have to say that I was completely and utterly thrown by the steamy BDSM undertones and the unexpected menage that occurs. I will not name those involved but one minute you are wrapped up in knots with Allison and suddenly a naughty proposal slides off Cole's lips that literally makes you go back and read it again. Did he really just say invite a stranger up here???? I was all a buzz with that idea and let me tell you, this author does NOT disappoint in the sexual scenes. Too much more will again spoil, so be sure you are alone in a locked room before reading!As tied up as I was with the scene, I also started to realize that Cole was not what he appeared. It started as a little seed of doubt and by the end of the story it was a full bloom deception. I am happy to report that the author gives us a very happy ending and I will look for future titles. I would have liked just a little bit more insight to the way that Cole acted and a little more fight to Allison as she seemed a lot stronger. Overall, I really enjoyed Normandie Alleman and award Venetian Love Knots four stars!This book was provided to me through the Spanking Romance Reviews website for my honest opinion.