Customer Reviews

A Black Tie Affair

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fashion curator Athena Smith has the chance to acquire some vintage couture dresses for her exhibit at the Chicago Fashion Museum. The rich and powerful Clayworth family have agreed to allow Athena to examine the dresses for authenticity and she is allowed to visit the family's Secret Closet, a large underground vault that houses the collection. While examining the dresses, Athena is overcome by mysterious fumes that have the affect of truth serum and is rushed to the hospital. In all the confusion the dresses are stolen.

When Drew Clayworth hears what has happened he rushes to the hospital to see Athena. However things are awkward for Drew since he Athena have a romantic history but have not seen each other in 15 years because of a betrayal on Athena's part. Athena is feeling no pain due to the affects of the mysterious fumes and blurts out that she has missed him and still loves him. Drew, not sure what to do with this information goes along with it. To further complicate their damaged relationship, Athena's father has been accused of questionable business practices by the Clayworth family and Athena feels compelled to stand by her father even though she is in love with Drew.

Because of the health risk the dresses pose, Drew and Athena set out to recover them as soon as possible forcing them to spend a great deal of time together allowing old feelings to resurface and the sparks to fly.

A Black Tie Affair is a light, fast read, with several moments that made me laugh out loud. While I was amused and generally entertained, there were a few things that didn't work for me. The big reveal on Athena's betrayal was disappointing. While it was certainly something young lovers might break up over, it doesn't seem like something a couple would avoid each other for 15 years over especially since their lives are so intertwined. Also, the mystery of the noxious fumes was never fully resolved. While there was a good theory, there was no real confirmation as to what caused all the trouble in the first place. We never found out who stole the dresses so I assume the author is leaving that open for another book in the series. I would have liked a bit more resolution.

If you're looking for a light read with bit of love and romance lightly sprinkled with mystery, then you might enjoy A Black Tie Affair.

Athena Smith is desperate to get her hands on four couture dresses for her museum. With the profits the collection could bring in, it could help her young intern have enough money to attend college. The problem is, the dresses are owned by the prestigious Clayworth family and Athena has a very big history with them. Years ago, she fell hard for Drew Clayworth, but things ended badly between them. Since then she has kept her distance. Making matter worse, her father, who was employed by the Clayworth's, was let go due to what the Clayworth's say was shady business dealings. Athena refuses to believe her father would be anything less than honest, and those hurt feelings add to her already rocky relationship with the family.

Athena gets the opportunity to go into the Clayworth's secret closet, a vault where all of their treasure is stored to confirm these dresses are the originals. As she is inspecting the gowns, she unknowingly becomes infected with a truth serum, that the gowns are laced with. After starting to hallucinate and becoming very confused, she ends up in the hospital. While there, the four gowns go missing. Now Drew is forced to keep close company with Athena while they look for the gowns and rekindle love lost.

A Black Tie Affair is a book that I had a hard time finishing. I think the author was going for lighthearted and fluffy, but I found the story and characters to be ridiculous and flat. The situations they were put in seemed quite silly. Athena becomes sickened by a truth serum, which of course leads her to discover inside herself that she truly loves Drew. As the stolen gowns are found, Athena and Drew race to each scene with no legal authorities - Athena is the one wearing plastic gloves to take the gowns off of these people.

Worse, the book ends without completely solving the mystery. The rekindling of their relationship and the romance scenes are decent, but for much of the book you don't know why they broke up so many years ago. The reason makes sense for them to break up at the time, but I don't understand why they then couldn't see each other for fifteen years.

I found A Black Tie Affair to be a disappointing book, lacking engaging characters and humor.

Chicago History Museum costume curator Athena Smith looks forward to seeing the Bertha Palmer collection owned by John Clayworth and Company though that means potentially dealing with the man who broke her heart Drew Clayworth. The firm's Security Chief Bridget O'Flynn takes her to the renowned Secret Closet. Athena is ecstatic as she gently touches the four dresses unaware of the toxin they contain.

Athena wakes up in the hospital after hallucinating that Drew stayed with her to help her learn the truth about her father's alleged indiscretion. Drew believes Athena betrayed him though he has not moved past his feelings for her. However, while she was rushed to the hospital, someone stole the valuable nineteenth century dresses. Athena offers to find the dresses as she has the contacts if someone tries a sale so Drew accepts. Neither welcomes the attraction that remains strong.

The Talk of the Town in Chicago is Sherrill Bodine's wonderful second city romance. A second chance at love thriller, fans will enjoy the rocky ride between two individuals who distrust one another as they hold the other culpable for their break-up. Although the whodunit takes a backseat to the romance, fans will enjoy Ms. Bodine's entertaining joy ride.

Harriet Klausner

4 STARS
Well this is the third Sherrill Bodine book that I have read this week. I have like all three. This one has an almost unbelievable poison in it. That actually did happen to a real person. Though I don't know if the sideeffects are the same.
Athena, Venus, and Diana Smith are sisters who are opening a store together Pandora's Box. A Vintage couture bazaar. Their father was let go of his shop after working for years at Clayworth's. Their father won't discuss it and Clayworths won't either they signed papers to that fact.
Athena doesn't want to do anything with them now, but she was in the process to get 4 vintage couture gowns of Bertha Palmer that are stored in a secret underground bomb shelter. The exhibt would be part of a scholarship fundraiser that her assistent would get.
When in the bombshelter in the vault by herself after an hour she is having halllucinations that Bertha is their and Jackie O but she was leaving so she was going to follow her. Bridget got Athena to the emergency room for help. was Bridget was too worried about getting Athena to medical care she did not lock up the bombshelter and the four dresses were stollen.
Athena one of the side effects was telling the truth. She was calling Drew's name and so he went to see her in her hospital room.
Drew Clayworth lost his parents at 18 and Athena betrayed him when she was 17. Since then they stayed out of each others way. Now the 4 dresses that were taken could infect others and they could be sued if others were harmed.
So Drew and Athena had to work together to find the dresses and they spend a lot of time together and look back at the things and see what happened. As they find the dresses one by one.
Who knew that old dresses could end up poisoning those around them in just the right conditions (or wrong ones)
I enjoyed reading Black Tie affair and can't wait to read Diana's story if their is one coming.

A Black Tie Affair

I was delighted to win this book, A Black Tie Affair, by Sherrill Bodine. I won't write a lot about it because the other reviews here cover everything quite well. What I will say is that A Black Tie Affair is well written by a writer who fully enjoys the life she is living. The drama pulls you back and forth in the lives of the two main characters and the story includes some mystery, tension, romance (I skipped over the erotica since I'm not comfortable reading that), lots of fashion detail and it even has an odd little detail in the ending. On the whole, it is an intriguing read.

Sherrill Bodine can certainly write, and if this is the reading you enjoy then you may want to pick this one up - and her other one, Talk of the Town. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I loved Talk of the Town, so of course I was excited to read A Black Tie Affair. I have to say I was disappointed.

Athena has been in love with Drew since she was seventeen years old, but due to her betrayal (which was not even something serious), they have not spoken to each other in fifteen years. A little too over dramatic for me, but whatever. Fast forward to present day. Athena is thrown together with Drew after some priceless vintage dresses are stolen, and they are the only two who can track them down. I could have done without that whole aspect; I din't find the mystery with the dresses entertaining at all. Then you have the whole ordeal with the Clayworth family firing Athena's dad from the company because he too has betrayed them.

Overall it's a quick read, but didn't really hold my interest. I felt no connection what-so-ever to the characters and didn't care one way or the other what became of them or the dresses. The situation with Athena's dad is left unresolved in this book, leaving it open for another book to follow up. I do believe the next one will involve Drew's cousin Conner and Athena's sister Venus.

Author Sherrill Bodine claims that family is her number one passion, writing second, and philanthropy or travel as a dead pan for third. She has written books under the pen name Leslie Lynn, (Buried Shadows, A Soldier's Heart, and Autumn Loves), and also under the pen name Lynn Leslie, (Street of Dreams, Defy the Night, and The Other Amanda.) The other title under her name is Talk of the Town. Sherrill resides in Chicago, Illinois with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Fashion curator Athena Smith was overjoyed to find she was finally going to be able to get her hands on the Clayworth family's couture collection for her museum exhibit. But when she's called in to authenticate the rare gowns, they turn out to be laced with toxins, causing her to pass out and wake up face-to-face with her first love, Drew Clayworth. Drew still believes that Athena betrayed him all those years ago, but his traitorous heart still beats wildly for her. And now the gowns have gone missing, causing him to have to work closely with her to retrieve the priceless part of Chicago history before anyone else gets sick. Can the past be put behind them to finally move on, or will more lies keep them apart forever?

The plot and pacing for this book seemed a bit rushed to me, especially at the end, and the way that the dresses were coincidentally found was almost too easy, but neither of these things deterred me from reading.

What makes this book stand out for me was the author's ability to use internal thoughts and punch them into stellar one-liners. It made the characters so much more dimensional, complete with lovable flaws. You really found yourself relating to them and rooting for them. The tension between the hero and heroine was sexy right from the start, jumping off the page. The secondary characters were endearing. I would love to see spin off books on Athena's sisters. Though the gowns had toxins in them and then were stolen, this book was intended to be a light-hearted romance and not a suspense. Readers can get a real feel for Chicago in this book, as well as information on what goes on in the world of museum curators. You won't be slammed by unnecessary facts, but you will come away knowing more than you did. Recommended!

The premise for Black Tie Affair is decent enough, but premise doesn't get you very far. The main characters have been estranged for fifteen years, but it turns out the reason for the estrangement is barely worthy of not talking for a couple of days, let alone half a lifetime. Add to that weakness the questionable science of a toxin that makes you feel euphoric, and the plot seriously weakens. There's a mystery built into the plot, which is fine, except for the fact that the mystery is not adequately solved. Then there's the matter of Ms. Bodine's poor writing. I have trouble believing an editor saw this manuscript, with all the awkward writing and major sentence structure problems. Barely a good story, not a good read.

Grab a glass of champagne and take a bubble bath with this book! Ok, just don't drop the book in the water because you won't want to miss a page of this story. This is a fast paced romance with a bit of mystery to keep the interest going. I haven't enjoyed a romance like this in a long time.

The Smith sisters are characters that I would enjoy reading more about and this one features Athena and her expertise of collectable vintage couture. Who knew that there was a black market for such things? The plot revolves around her and Drew who had a romance when they were teens and broke up over a misunderstanding. I was hoping that the two would get back together. I am off to order Talk of The Town which features another minor character, Rebecca Covington.

I really like the concept behind this book - the look into vintage couture dresses and jewelry fascinates me. I am a home sewer and love vintage wear and live for stories about couture. I could envision the beautiful dresses and wanted to see them myself. The story of how Athena runs into Drew again after all these years and the problem with the dresses from his family vault is great in concept. Most of the book had me enthralled. But overall I was left feeling kind of ho-hum about it. I think the execution was hurried by the end - most of the book was spent developing a wonderful story, but not enough time was given to concluding it. It was really hurried.

That said - I did enjoy this book and look forward to reading more by Ms. Bodine. I am guessing there are more stories in this series coming since Athena has two more sisters. I also want to read Talk of the Town. The characters in A Black Tie Affair are great - I loved Athena, she is struggling with her feelings for Drew and her own self-confidence which is somewhat linked to Drew. Drew truthfully hasn't forgotten Athena but he still feels betrayed by her actions from long ago. The attraction starts right back up when they meet but they are both fighting it and each other. There is great tension and mystery in the book and the romance is good. It is a good book - I just wish it had been a little longer.

However I suggest you check it out for yourself as this is just my opinion.