The Siren (The Original Sinners) [Paperback]

Tiffany Reisz (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 31, 2012 | Series: The Original Sinners

Notorious Nora Sutherlin is famous for her delicious works of erotica, each one more popular with readers than the last. But her latest manuscript is different—more serious, more personal—and she's sure it'll be her breakout book…if it ever sees the light of day.

Zachary Easton holds Nora's fate in his well-manicured hands. The demanding British editor agrees to handle the book on one condition: he wants complete control. Nora must rewrite the entire novel to his exacting standards—in six weeks—or it's no deal.

Nora's grueling writing sessions with Zach are draining…and shockingly arousing. And a dangerous former lover has her wondering which is more torturous—staying away from him…or returning to his bed?

Nora thought she knew everything about being pushed to your limits. But in a world where passion is pain, nothing is ever that simple.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Tiffany Reisz is a smart, artful, and masterful new voice in erotic fiction! An erotica star on the rise!"-Award-winning author Lacey Alexander

"Dazzling, devastating and sinfully erotic, Reisz writes unforgettable characters you'll either want to know or want to be. The Siren is an alluring book-within-a-book, a story that will leave you breathless and bruised, aching for another chapter with Nora Sutherlin and her men."

-Miranda Baker, author of Bottoms Up and Soloplay

The Original Sinners series certainly lives up to its name: it's mindbendingly original and crammed with more sin than you can shake a hot poker at. I haven't read a book this dangerous and subversive since Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. The most shocking thing, however, is how much you'll feel for the characters. If your heart doesn't break at least ten times over the course of The Siren, check yourself into a morgue."--Andrew Shaffer, author, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love

"Provocative, smart and downright cheeky. The Siren put me through my paces and had me begging for more."

-Emma Petersen, author of Reign of Pleasure

"Daring, sophisticated, and literary. . .exactly what good erotica should be."

-Kitty Thomas, author of Tender Mercies

About the Author

Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky.  She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College and is making her parents and her professors proud by writing erotica under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice. When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler.  If she couldn’t write, she would die.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin MIRA; Original edition (July 31, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780778313533
• ISBN-13: 978-0778313533
• ASIN: 0778313530
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (364 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her boyfriend and two cats (one that may or may not be the Anti-Christ). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing erotica under her real name.

Tiffany has six piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice. When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp's aunt was her fourth grade teacher. There is little to nothing interesting about her.

If she couldn't write, she would die.

www.tiffanyreisz.com/storytime
twitter.com/tiffanyreisz

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 135 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 out of 10 hearts! August 8, 2012

By Stephanie

Format:Paperback

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Little Bird Publicity in exchange for an honest review, as part of the virtual book tour

I have a SO much to say about The Siren, so this review may be incoherent; it makes me that big of a bumbling mess. But I'll tell you a secret: all the best books do.

I suppose I should warn you: This book isn't what you're expecting. If you are a fan of romance novels, you will not like The Siren. If you enjoy erotica, smut with explicitly arousing pornographic detail, and no romance in between, you too will be disappointed because The Siren is neither. The blurb and cover indicate otherwise, I know. I picked up this one thinking it was just another Harlequin but with a kinkier theme. I assumed it was a variant of the regular romance novels we know and love/hate, with a cute but trite twist on the heroine who is an erotica author (as opposed to, say, a sexy librarian, single mother, English student, tourist, or whatever other props romance novelists are inclined to use), and another one on the hero, who's a handsome but provocative Brit. Swoon. Sounds like a romance, right? Nice try, but no. To say there is a hero and heroine to begin with, is a ridiculous statement. To the traditional literature fans who demand two protagonists in a love story: you will be sorely dissatisfied; there are none.

So then, you are brought to ask, why DO I freaking love this book so much. In so many words (or, relatively none at all), it's because The Siren is complex. It's not a book you read and forget about the next day. It's incredibly intelligent in both structure and style: a perfect combination of present-day havoc and brief, flitting memories, with a deep, effortless tone that must be superglue -- I couldn't keep my hands off!... The pages literally turned themselves. I devoured the whole thing way before I wanted to -- before I could even realize.

The characters are human and unforgettable. Zach, I feel, is the one I can explain most easily, so I'll talk about him first. Eight years ago, he met the woman of his dreams, albeit, through a ferocious, sexually-charged tumble he swears he never deserved, and he married her. But thirteen months ago, his life began falling apart when she told him to leave. So he hops on a plane to New York to forget about her and focus on his career. A Cambridge professor, he's a much sought-after figure at Royal House Publishing; soon, within the time span of thirteen months, he gains notoriety as being the house's toughest, but best editor, as well as the infamous label, London Fog, because of his cold, shady demeanor.

What I just worship, is how well Reisz portrays the tragedies of real-life relationships, including the failure to recognize a lasting love's demons because of the need to deal with first, those of our own. Even though The Siren is highly indulgent in setting, the feelings we see and grow upon, are so, so real. The characters are so complex and so fleshed-out, that I feel the utter aching they are each inflicted with and sharply inhale the searing breaths each of them take. Further, the author's eloquence and novelty shock me. Just in general, everything she comes up with, everything she pens, is astonishing. There not many authors who are this skilled. So Reisz, I commend.

The Siren is sexier than sex itself, but not because of its explicit scenes. I can't pinpoint this one as erotica because the scenes, while frequent and red-hot, are not the pivot of the novel. They certainly make it a naughtier read, but they aren't what solely constitute it. This isn't another Harlequin, not another aforementioned penny dreadful. You must know what I mean: boy meets girl, boy wants girl, girl finds a reason not to like boy, boy does something to win girl's heart, girl wants boy, sex, marriage, happy ending, boom. The end. Nope. None of that. The Siren has a story other than the expected romantic elements. As a whole, you could view The Siren as a love story, a very tragic, very arresting love story, but it could never be a romance. Romances are meant to make you feel good. The Siren will make you feel so empty, you will want to tear up the book's spine, but so affected, you will then want to make love to its ripped-out pages. I guess that's what separates erotica or erotic romance from erotic literary fiction; this is the kind of material readers will debate about and speculate on for the years to come, rather than binge on in one sitting and fail to ever recall again.

It gets better (or, I argue with myself, worse), though; you think I'm done with my review, hooo boy you're wrong. The best (and most painful) part about The Siren is that it's not about Zach's relationship with Nora. He is a mere passerby in her life, an extremely troubled one at that, one who is vanquishing his own monsters. That isn't to say his involvement with her is insignificant, because the way in which she helps him overcome his angsts will be indistinguishable from the method in which he will help her stave off her own. But once Zach proceeds, she will never be able to influence him again, and vice versa. The Siren is not a romance. Once the two briefly-acquainted lovers have saved each other in ways only they will ever have known, they will move apart, move along, and move on, in order to face (and hopefully fight) the bigger catastrophes they each have managed to push aside for the book's time being. This is one of The Siren's most tragic messages of all: life goes on.

I'm kind of a whore for purgatory when it comes to fiction. The more tragic, the more I grow attached. The Siren, to summarize, is brutal, twisted. It isn't a nice, pleasant story. Charming, wicked, savage, oh yes. But it's not a good story. It's gnawing, it's agonizing. It is hideous and immoral, but I am proud to say, I enjoyed every sentence of it; without one word out of place, The Siren is a true tour de force. Masochists, this one's for you.

The Siren is NOT for everyone, I'll be among many to confess. If you like wholesome stories, stay away. If you like morals, well-being, and happy endings, stay away. If you like missionary position, please -- just stay the eff away. I warn my readers: The Siren prances around topics like statutory rape, sexual violence (BDSM), polyamory, casual sex, sodomy, a wickedly clever pottymouth, and sins under the Catholic church... and well, to civility. Yes, it's an intense, brutal, blasphemous read, both in its harsh sadomasochistic scenes and emotional turmoil, BUT it absolutely will steal your breath away. I disclose not everyone will find The Siren palatable, but guarantee that no reader will finish it without having been thoroughly and salaciously impacted, and that much must be enough to make you want to at least give it a try.

Now, let's have a stupendous and thought-provoking one-way discussion about Nora Sutherlin, the female lead. While I refuse to name a definitive hero and heroine in this book, Nora's, no doubt, our frontwoman. She's as complicated as the plotline itself, and I couldn't love her any more for it. She is, essentially, the ideal female fatale. She is wry, cheeky, sexy, hilarious. Guys want her, girls want to be her... hell, to be honest, girls want her even more. But she also possesses fragility that isn't as deeply embedded into her skin as one would expect. Zach discovers it quite directly, actually. Nora is a masochist in only the most disturbing of ways, a masochist who not only enjoys the strike of the cane and the welts purpling her body, but also the pain arisen from heartbreak and perversion, that stems mainly from self-disgust. And the way to vindicate such vile sins? Well, a lashing or two; that ought to be punishment enough. Nora is a highly flawed character, a walking contradiction, and by all means, not a righteous one. Yet despite her brashness, charm, and impropriety, she is in desperate need of tenderness and care. She is strong, a renown Dominatrix, merciless, dangerous... but she is at the same time, the weakest character, the most miserably vulnerable, in that the worst of pain is always inflicted on her -- not by others, not by Sřren -- but by herself. She is brought to life through Reisz's mastery of words, which almost make her a fantasy of a woman, and even with her mistakes, her awful hideous, selfish ambitions -- she is a character I love, and loved even to the end.

The Siren is a book that distinguishes hurting from harming, and reveals a broken character's most tragic purging of sins. The Siren proves that we can have fun and be sinfully sexy, naughty, and rogue, but in the end, we are all only just human. The Siren conveys the sheer importance of the craft of writing: bringing people back to life, resurrection with words; and does a little bit of reviving itself. The Siren reveals a grievous lesson: that in the end, if we're lucky, we all return to the people we love, and if we're not, we are destroyed by their persisting memory; and tells us a corrupt secret: that the only way to be cured of a broken heart is to break one back.

My fingers literally trembled as I turned the remaining pages of this one. I am outraged to have to wait til September for the sequel's release. Tiffany, you sadist! You better not disappoint me. Read more ›

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Just Erotica May 10, 2012

By Allie Sanders

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've spent the last two days in stunned awe at this book trying to come up with the right words to describe it. I'm still not sure I have them.

This wasn't erotica. This was a heart-wrenching, soul-aching story about people who keep coming together and falling apart. I laughed, I came damn close to crying and I was sucked in from the first page and The Siren didn't release it's grip on my throat until the book was over. Long after the book was over.

Nora's character is so complex I could read a hundred books about her and never really understand the whole of who she is. It would take over a million books to understand Soren and his relationship with Nora. These people are complex, are honest, are real and so intelligently written it's as though they could walk off the page.

Yes, there is sex. Yes, there is the BDSM lifestyle. Yes, it is hot and steamy but if that's all you're looking for, if you just want the titillation then go find a different book. If you like smart, fun, deep, books with a heavy sensual side then The Siren is the book for you.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HOLY WOW May 5, 2012

By Katee Robert

Format:Kindle Edition

Holy wow. Just finished this book and still trying to process everything. It's not your mother's love story, that's for damn sure (and I mean that in the best way possible).

Nora is one of the most engaging characters I've ever read. She's so real, I kind of want her to come off the page so I can kneel at her feet and let her pet me. And so beautifully damaged -- my favorite kind of character.

Everyone in this book is running from their personal demons. Zach most of all, perhaps, though his are much easier to vanquish than some of the others.

As I suspected, I fell head over heels in love with Soren, even though he scares the crap out of me. Still...such a compelling man.

I loved this book. With one fell swoop, Tiffany Reisz became one of my MUST READ authors.

Well played, ma'am, well played.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh dear oh dear, where do I begin? Not sexy, terrible writing January 14, 2013

By Alan A. Elsner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The cover of this volume, with its image of stiletto heels, fishnet tights and a woman's bound ankles, makes clear this is a fairly cynical attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon. But this story of a masochist turned sadist turned writer of erotica turned writer of literary fiction fails on every conceivable level. It pretends to be literature but the characters are paper thin and trite; it pretends to be a romance but it is not romantic; it pretends to be kinky but I found it tasteless; it pretends to be erotic but it is a huge turnoff.

Perhaps that makes me, in the dismissive words of the central character, "vanilla" in my tastes. But I think an author ought to be judged against his or her own pretensions and at the end of the day, this is little more than sexploitation. The author tells us near the beginning of her tale that "romance is sex plus love while erotica is sex plus fear." This book evokes none of the first and little of the second.

The plot: stiff, starchy British editor Zachary Easton is given the task of editing the latest work by notorious author of erotica, the impossibly sexy Nora Sutherlin. Nora has written a few erotic potboilers but now wants to produce a literary masterpiece. Zachary, we are told, is such a brilliant editor that only he can tame Nora's prose and shape it into a thing of wonder. At the same time, author and editor are violently attracted to each other but vow to abstain until the great tome is completed.

We learn that Nora has deep and perverse secrets, including an illicit crush on an innocent young man, Wesley, who for some half-explained reason lives in her mansion and is devoted to preserving his virginity.... There is also her past infatuation with Soren, a still-frocked Catholic priest who for several years beat Nora black and blue in the name of love before relieving her of her virginity. Soren continues to celebrate mass by day while presiding over the most exclusive S&M club in Manhattan by night. And Zach has his dark secret too which explains why he fled his marriage in Britain for New York.

All these plot strands are worked out at inordinate length, interspersed with excerpts from Nora's book and lots of sex including theatrical S&M complete with all the traditional fetish accoutrements.

A word about the writing: everything in this book is described with two adjectives. Nora's house is "cozy and homey," on one page but "elegant and historic" a few pages later. Wesley's frame is "slim but muscular," Nora's fingers are "quick and nimble" and she smells like "hothouse flowers in bloom" and she stands up "with the well-trained grace of a geisha." Nora's priestly lover says she is more dangerous than suicide bombers in the Gaza Strip. This may be hyperbole or it may be an attempt at humor - but it really isn't very funny is it?

In what seems to be a defense of S&M, the author draws a distinction between hurting someone, which is OK, and harming them, which is not (or it might be the other way around). Therefore, beating a sexual partner to the point that they have a bruised rib, purple cheek, split lip and red welts around the neck and both wrists is an expression of love as long as no actual "harm" is done.

I know there are readers out there who really like this kind of stuff. I read all the analyses of "Fifty Shades" and the different theories behind its success. One suggestion is that these books "focus on female desire" which is new in mainstream culture. This book may well find an audience. I found it rather distasteful - but that's just me. Read more ›