Customer Reviews

The Top of Her Game (Black Lace)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've been trying to get a copy of Top of Her Game for two years now and so I was happy to see that Cheek was doing a reissue of several of Emma Holly's more popular but out of print titles from Black Lace.

Top of Her Game, like Personal Assets and Menage, is definitely a keeper. Holly most certainly knows how to create hot tension between her lead characters and she does it in this book quite well.

Julia, despite being at loose ends in her life is fascinated and compelled by Zach, the owner of the Montana dude ranch she's sent off to for the weekend. She's also got some major baggage that comes from a childhood experience of seeing her mother disciplining her lover.

The sex, and there's plenty of it here, is varied, there's certainly something for everyone. If you are faint of heart, this probably isn't the book for you. Then again, complaining that there's too much sex in an "erotic" romance seems to be counterintuitive.

The book is vintage Holly, great scorching sex scenes, hot men and women to choose from, smart independent women and endings that are happy but where the woman is living on her own terms. I most definitely recommend Top of Her Game and urge you to get out there and buy the reissue before this one goes out of print too!

P.S. -My only complaint is the cover. What an ugly and totally misleading cover it is! The main character is a dominatrix, she has sex with multiple partners at a dude ranch in Montana, the cover has a cartoon woman in a sweater with a funny looking blonde bob. What's up with that? Aside from making the book look like chick lit, which it is most definitely (and thankfully) not, it's misleading to the extreme. I know that covers like this make the book more acceptable to buy and read in public but at the same time, they are silly. I'd like to think that as adult women, we can be trusted with a cover that isn't silly.

Emma Holly amanages to balance plot, characterization and seriously hot erotic sex, all without dropping the ball on a single one. The author manages to show the growth of Julia, a life-time dominatrix and the growth of the other characters, none of which remains static. Everyone changes, everyone moves. Julia's cowboy is a complicated man, who shows Julia the power of sex not from a dom/sub view, but as equal partners. Definiately read this one.

I've read 3 of Emma Holly's books now ("Menage" first, followed by "Cooking Up a Storm") and loved all 3. And while I agree with another reviewer that Menage was my favorite, this one is definitely different and VERY hot! The domination/submission storyline is explored in a very interesting way -- somewhat reminiscent of Anne Rice's "Sleeping Beauty" books, though not as hard-core, and with a better story line! Both Julie and Zach are exactly stereotypes -- Julie's a bit larger than the usual beauty with the perfect figure, and Zach -- well, he has a "quirk" that sets him apart from the usual stud with superhuman sexual capacity and the ability to have an unlimited number of orgasms per encounter. Can't wait to read more from this writer!

What makes this novel so much fun is the cast of five characters (three men, two women), all with varying degrees of horniness. Imagine the combinations when they start trading beds! As promised in Black Lace books, every chapter delivers a sexy encounter, but Ms. Holly's skill with characters makes each encounter different, each scene essential to the tale. The main female character was easy for me to identify with, and her male counterpart -- well, let's just say that he was MORE than appealing! Lots of light BDSM, so if you'd like to dabble in darker fantasies, but without getting too deep or violent, then you'll find this book a very enjoyable read. I sure did!

What a pleasure to read an erotic novel with a compelling plot, intriguing characters, and sex scenes that are seamlessly integrated into the storyline. Ms. Holly has set a standard in full-length erotic fiction that will hopefully raise the bar on this genre. It's not enough to paste an overlay of mix-and-match sex scenes onto a rickety plot; readers want substance, excellent writing, and a story that holds their attention between the squirts and spurts. This novel is mean, sexy, gritty and lyrical at the same time. The relationship between Julia Mueller and Zach Taylor is a perverted romance that will raise the pulse rate of the most jaded reader of erotic novels. Are you sick of "trembling lips" and "swollen members"? Tired of quivering maidens being spanked in gothic castles? Take a ride through Emma Holly's Montana, with Julia Mueller the size-sixteen dominatrix who longs for love, and stoical cowboy Zach Taylor, the latent volcano of lust.

Crack open a box of chocolate truffles and curl up with this novel--you won't be disappointed.

This was the 1st Emma Holly book I read, back when it was a black lace title. While I'm not usually into the dominatrix novels, this one has a really nice love story to go along with all the steamy sex scenes. I recommend all the Emma Holly erotica - though I really HATE the new "chick lit" covers on these reissues. I bet some people are going to get a real eye opener if they think they're buying your typical light love story!

As a fellow author (of contempory and historical romance) I am extremely impressed with Emma Holly's use of language and imagery in this book. Besides holding something exciting and inventive at each turn, this is just plain good, lyrical writing, which greatly added to my enjoyment of the story. This was my first foray into erotica, and although I will admit I was a little surprised by it, I was quickly drawn in. I will definitely read more Emma Holly.

While the setting of this novel did not draw me in as easily as the prior two, it was still enjoyable watching the dynamics of the dominatrix and the subject she was allegedly reporting to, as well as his co-workers.

If you have problems getting Black Lace (or other books published in the UK) books from US distributors, I suggest trying Amazon.co.uk. Same service, and since Black Lace IS a UK firm, it stands to reason they might be kept available longer there.

I don't expect you'll find Emma's books in the used book stores which carry erotica--no one seems to let go of them once they get home.

In this book the reader is literally thrust into the sex rather than the eroticism of the story by the second paragraph when, the heroine, Julia unwraps a new leather whip given to her by Durbin her boss and owner of an investment firm.

The premise of the story is that Durbin's firm lost a contract to a competitor as a result of what he believes to be the result of someone leaking confidential information. To find the fink, he sends Ben, Carolyn and Marty, three execs at his firm, to a dude ranch in Montana for a weekend session of brainstorming,and Julia, Durbin's secretary was to accompany them as his personal spy.

The lonely dude ranch is nestled in the mountains and run by Zach who is adored by women for, well you know what.

The sex is too fast and contrived. After barely getting intoduced to Carolyn, one on the other characters in the book, that we find her having sex in the parking lot of the coffee shop and feed store where they pick up supplies for the working weekend .

Although it's nice to get into the sex part of the book early, if we are slapped in the face with it in unreal type of situations it crosses the line from eroticism into porn.

Needelss to say once at the ranch everyone pairs and re-pairs while the writer interjects the plot (oh yes the fink in the corporation) as an afterthought to the actions and goings on ....

Sorry this book just isn't what I expected from one of todays' premiere erotic fiction writers....

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I read it all in one sitting. I haven't read that much erotica but I can tell this is one of the best, I'd recommend it to anybody.