Customer Reviews

Forbidden Pleasures (Pleasures Series)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I picked this book up because the author has been around a while and I had heard her books were good. This was the worst book I have ever read! I am an avid romance reader and read a lot and a variety of romance books. I made myself read the whole book and then I actually threw the book away it was so aweful. I didn't like "The Channel" story line at all. It was like a separate story within the story. The characters were good and I like the development but the overall story was unbelievable. Other books by Bertrice Small may be good but don't waste your money on this one.

Apparently there are enough easily-titillated people with more money than taste to warrant the existence of this book. This is the second installment in Small's "Pleasures" series (her and her series...yikes). At this point there are two others in print and another to be released next year. I will read none of the others, not even for a laugh.

I'd say I could eat a bowl of Alpha Bits and crap a better novel, but that would be childish. Small, who heretofore has written historical "romance" (history with sex is more like it), has branched out into contemporary erotica. Or so we're told. If you've read any real erotica, you'll recognize this for what it really is--a goofball romance with some "naughty" language, action, and sex toys thrown in. Erotica is the exploration of the human psyche and its relationship with sexual pleasures. It is felt, not dictated. Erotica maintains that feeling throughout. Any relationship between characters is secondary to the feeling. I think it's understood that erotica is not love stories. Erotica doesn't even need to have a plot.

"Forbidden Pleasures" is not erotica. Novelist Emily Shanski is told by her publisher that her next book must be "sexier" if she is to keep her contract. But how can she write sexy (whatever that means) when she herself is a virgin, pure as the driven snow? I suppose imagination and actually talking to other people isn't an option. Emily has to get that cherry popped, and who better to do it than (insert standard adjectives of handsome masculinity here) Michael Devlin, her new editor. And then there's something called the Channel which is like a sexual fantasy holodeck for bored suburban housewives and is provided by the local cable company. Anyway, between the fleshy Michael and the fantasy Justin Malincourt, Emily learns all about sex, sexuality, and how to write a sexier book.

I'll just touch on a few points.

I really hate reading about two characters having phone sex. Where's the point in that? I'm already an observer, am I not? How much further removed do I need to be?

Small has no handle on the standard modern vernacular--that is, she doesn't know how people in the 21st century actually talk. All of her characters have the same soulless speech patterns of the very wealthy and the very distantly removed from...oh...the people who would buy the book perhaps. She has no sense of slang at all. We're all over the f-word by now, I hope. I almost choked on my root beer when, while preparing some dinner, Michael asks Emily what he can do to help, and she suggests he toss the salad. In my corner of the world, that's slang for masturbation.

Please, I mean no offense to people who enjoy unorthodox sex. All acts of love and pleasure are fine by me. In this book, Michael presents this as something Emily should experience. Personally, I can live without it. I think plenty of people can live without it. But Small seems obsessed with what she's called in other books the "rose hole" and the "portal of Sodom". I don't think an author scores kinky points simply by having this in a book. It kind of has to fit the mood, the tempo, and the people who are doing it.

The New Jersey Romance Writers (whoever they are) gave this thing the 2006 Golden Leaf Award for a long contemporary novel. It must have run unopposed.

I agree with all of the not-so-pleased comments that have already been posted. This book would not have been published if it didn't have an established author's name on the cover.

I will admit it is a page turner, to some extent. But, in the end, there is really no substance here. The heroine is a 30+ year old virgin. That's fine, but she then jumps with both feet into having sex with Mick AND has no inhibitions, no matter what Mick suggests. She makes that transition waaaaaaaaay too easily. Much of the dialogue is stilted, particularly among the two main characters. In fact, I think the secondary characters were much more realistic and interesting.

And the ending...the placement of the ring...how unimaginative!!

Save your money, skip this one.

I had wanted to read this book for quite some time after hearing another reader rave about Bertrice Small. I'm sure she's a wonderful writer, but it's hard to believe this is her best effort. The dialogue is cringe-worthy, very stilted and unrealistic for a contemporary novel. The heroine? I'd have to agree with the reviewer who called her "too stupid to live" -- I didn't object to her chaste state at over 30. What I did object to was the fact that the "conflict" between the hero and heroine could have been resolved with a simple conversation between them. I was also VERY irritated at the author's disregard for having her characters practice safe sex. The hero evidently enjoyed engaging in risky sexual practices, but didn't mind exposing the heroine by not using a condom? Please.

The sensuality? This is supposedly a romance. In my opinion, there's no emotion in the sex scenes, which separates romantic erotica from other genres. Repeated use of the "F" word does not a sex scene make. Those sex scenes were pushing the bounds of believability as well.

Pass on this one. If you're in the market for erotic romance, there are many other choices better than this.

I've read some Small's historical romances, they always follow the same formula, so I've decided to give a try to some modern thing, but this was awful. Left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. As someone else said: there's not love in the sex scenes, this is no romance at all. And - don't be absurd - Emily is 30, popular American writer, not some primitive woman living in jungle - and she doesn't know she can get pregnant after first sex? Ridiculous. No thanks, I've had enough of Small.

Well, where to start? I loved the first 50 pages and read them very quickly. I instantly loved the spark between Mick and Emily and was rooting for them from their first meeting.

Then it took a turn. Emily is over 30 and a virgin. Okay, that didn't bother me. What bothered me is she didn't seem to know anything. I mean, come on. In this day and age? The woman writes romance novels for cripes sakes, and doesn't know anything? Then there was the whole immediately going into bed factor ~ seemed to kill the chemistry for me right away. And don't get me started on the Angel Face thing. Blech.

After suffering through pages 50-60, I started liking the book again. Save for the fact that Emily, a 31-year-old woman living in modern times didn't know a woman could get pregnant from having sex the first time. Again, give me a break. Other than that, I found myself smiling at the dialogue between Mick and Emily again and actually enjoying the story.

One other tiny thing that bothered me was the fact that Ms. Small tends to repeat herself ~ almost to the exact sentence. I would read a sentence that had already been written 50 pages prior. I had to overlook that and just continue on.

This book could have gone either way with me ~ today, I was in a more forgiving mood and chose to overlook the little things that may have turned this into a wallbanger. I'd say it was somewhere between Okay and Good. I liked it and it kept my interest for a day of reading, which was something I hadn't done in a long time. I've already ordered the other two books in the Pleasures Series and am hoping that I'm not disappointed

I couldn't wait to read this book. I've been reading Bertrice Small for years. She's my favorite author. I never thought I would give any of her books less than 4 stars but I have to give this book 1 star. It was that bad.

I read the reviews before I bought it but I ignored them because people gave "Memory Of Love" and "Bedazzled" bad reviews too, but I loved them. The reviews are not wrong. This book is terrible. I couldn't even finish it. I read the first few chapters and was shocked at how bad it was. I hated all of the characters in this book, especially the heroine. She was so immature - I couldn't believe that she was over the age of 30. She's my least favorite heroine of all time. Private Pleasures was not one of her best books, but I did enjoy it enough to finish it. It was a lot better than this book. The parts I hated the most was when the herione visited The Channel. I skimmed through those parts, because, they were so boring. I think Ms. Small needs to stick to historicals.

Do not let this book stop you from reading other books by Bertrice Small. She's usually a great writer. The O'Malley Series, Lara Series, Beloved, Blaze Whyndam and Hellion (just to name a few) are really good. I'm not sure why she decided to put out such a bad book. Even though this book was bad, I am looking forward to reading the latest book in the Border Cronicles series that comes out later this year.