Forbidden Pleasures (Pleasures Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Bertrice Small (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pleasures Series | Publication Date: June 27, 2006

Replacing a social life with a career, bestselling romance novelist Emily Shann has gotten by on a vivid imagination, hiding a shocking secret that not even her publisher suspects—until she’s asked to write something that’s hotter, sexier, more explicit, and true to life. Emily has nowhere to turn for advice except to her new editor—tall, dark, and handsome Michael Devlin—who’s already stirring her fantasies. So is The Channel—a secret network designed to tutor women in the art of sensual delight. Now more willing than ever before, she must convince Devlin to teach her everything he knows...if her literary fantasies are finally to become unedited flesh-and-blood reality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Spectacular storytelling….Ms. Small has another winner on her hands.”—Barbara Bretton, Author of Someone Like You



“Nothing is forbidden in this hot, sexy, luscious confection of a novel. I devoured it.” Thea Devine, Author of His Little Black Book

About the Author

Bertrice Smallhas written thirty novels of historical romance and two erotic novellas. She is a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of numerous awards. In keeping with her profession, Bertrice Small lives in the oldest English-speaking town in the state of New York, founded in 1640. Her light-filled studio includes the paintings of her favorite cover artist, Elaine Duillo, and a large library—but no computer as she works on an IBM Quietwriter 7. Her longtime assistant, Judy Walker, types the final draft. Because she believes in happy endings, Bertrice Small has been married to the same man, her hero, George, for thirty-eight years. They have a son, Thomas, a daughter-in-law, Megan, and two adorable grandchildren, Chandler David and Cora Alexandra. Longtime readers will be happy to know that Nicki the Cockatiel flourishes along with his fellow housemates, Pookie, the long-haired greige and white, Honeybun, the petite orange lady cat with the cream-colored paws, and Finnegan, the black long-haired baby of the family, who is almost two.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451218507
• ISBN-13: 978-0451218506
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bertrice Small is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 34 novels in print. She lives in the oldest English-speaking town in New York state. Her website is bertricesmall.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, she's a Grande Dame in this field, but....., July 20, 2006

By 

C. Farley "seafaire" (Bakersfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forbidden Pleasures (Pleasures Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Beatrice Small has been around and writing forever. I was reviewing her list of books and recalled over a decade ago reading her versions of "vanilla porn" ("Kadin", etc....) Even then, when the field was much less crowded with quality writers, her style could cause my eyes to roll back so far it was a wonder I didn't fall over and break my neck. This novel is the last I will buy and it just kills me I paid trade paperback price for it. The female character is an embarassment. In shorthand, she is simply "too stupid to live" TSTL. The character is a writer, virginal both physically and mentally, yet over thirty. When she meets the male lead, in between just dumb sensual scenes, she is also a gourmet cook and keeps lover boy well fed. The dialogue between the two characters, including some awful phone sex, is so ridiculous that at one point I thought I was reading a parody of bad romance writing.
If you like this author's style, then welcome to more of the same. But look around, there are so MANY much sexier, funnier, emotionally satisifying reads available it's a same to waste your hard-earned dollars on this dog.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed..., July 18, 2006

By 

Katherine A. Mcneil (Royal Oak, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forbidden Pleasures (Pleasures Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book as soon as it came out because I loved Private Pleasures, but this one was a big disappointment. The characters are too boring to care about and the plot wasn't convincing or interesting. The "does he/she really love me? Why don't they say so?" uncertainty got old very quickly and really grated by the end. If you're looking for further exploration into what the Channel offers, you won't get it here as it is a backdrop at best. Even the spicy scenes get a little routine (with one juicy exception closer to the end). This one will be going back to the store!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I did not enjoy this and wanted it to be over., January 6, 2008

By 

Jane (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forbidden Pleasures (Pleasures Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Following are some of the problems with the book.

(1) The writing style was almost like a log book or diary. She sleeps, wakes up, eats this, calls someone, discusses that, plans what and where she will eat dinner, etc. There is a lot of description as to what she is wearing, exactly what she is eating, what decorations are in the lobby at work, etc. I'm not sure, but maybe the story is lacking emotional descriptions. Somehow, it was tedious reading about these common, everyday activites. I was never emotionally drawn to anything about the book.

(2) The main conflict or concern in the story was Emily and Dev loving each other but afraid to tell each other. Too much time was spent in the heads of these two, wondering how the other felt. Conflict due to lack of communication is not a favorite of mine.

(3) Emily is writing a novel. She describes the plot to Dev. Then she acts much of it out using the interactive tv method called the Channel. I think some of it was repeated a third time as she was writing. This meant I had to read parts of the story at least twice, which was boring.

(4) There were many sex scenes, but something was missing about the way they were written. It might have been the writing style or lack of emotional draw, I'm not sure. I was like: they did this, they did that, they did this, then they went to sleep.

Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: 21. Setting: current day Egret Pointe, a small town not far from New York City. Copyright: 2006. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.