Fair warning, fair reader: "The Red" Tiffany Reisz's latest book is straight up erotica. That being said it is some of the most well written erotica currently published. Not only in the titillating, push your buttons, one handed read sense but in a literary, lyrical, creative sense. This book is going to make my best of list for 2017 guaranteed. It pushes all of my button. An exploration of deathbed promises and, maybe, even a little bit of grief, the story takes art and sex and debauchery creates some of the most inventive mesmerizing erotica I've come across in ages. Tiffany Reisz is the Mistress of the filthy and taboo. You don't need to know a lot about art to truly enjoy the way this book is set up, so don't let that scare you off.
Mona is a gallery owner saddled with the burden of a deathbed promise to her mother. The titular "Red" is the gallery her mother devoted her life to and that Mona grew up in. Since her mother's death, The Red has floundered financially and Mona is on the brink of losing her mother's beloved gallery. That is, until late one night Malcolm appears at closing time with an offer. That offer is an utterly debauched trip through the looking glass. Is it ghosts? Is it a fever dream? Or is all of this really happening?
Mona and the reader can never be sure. The deal consists of one night every month or so with Malcolm for a year. During that time he will have his way with Mona. And after every night Mona receives a valuable piece of artwork that helps her dig her way out of financial ruin. It's not a love story. Or is it? What starts out as a deal with the devil, perhaps, turns into Mona coming to terms with her own sexuality and falling in love, just a little bit, with mysterious Englishmen who showed up at her door one night.
Mr. Reisz structures Mona and Malcolm's story into several vignettes, very, very kinky vignettes, based on various artistic masterworks. It's brilliant and unlike anything I've read before. Sexuality has always inspired art but when Ms. Reisz turned the tables and uses art to inspire sexuality you're in for a wild, debased ride. It is hot and boundary pushing and absolutely filthy in spots. I can't possibly articulate all of the reasons I love this story and, if I tried, I would ruin the journey. I'll stick with the top four.
This story is courageous. Ms. Reisz threw caution to the wind and wrote from her heart - marketing be damned.
This story is the ultimate fantasy because it defies description. It has a spooky supernatural vibe, without being anything close to "paranormal romance". When you add in Mona's internal monologue, it becomes a beautiful psychological journey of a woman finding her true self - emotionally and sexually.
Ms. Reisz' turn of a phrase is so artful, I couldn't be sure whether Malcolm was a kinky stranger, a hallucination, fever dream or the devil himself. It's tough to keep a reader guessing and engaged the way "The Red" did.
The use of art as the inspiration and framework for each of Mona and Malcolm's encounters was provocative and inspiring. It gave depth and texture to the story and took it beyond the realm of gratuitous, raunchy erotica and made it so much more.
It's sexy and mysterious; nasty and hot. The Red is a kind of book that creeps into your dreams and, occasionally, your waking moments. I can guarantee you'll never walk through museum and look at the art on the wall the same way. If you're open-minded and love a great, sexy, thought-provoking read, pick this up immediately. An ARC was provide for an honest review

#TopReadof2017
#SendBourbonandBatteries

I greatly enjoyed The Red. It reminded me of the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Ann Rice. It is a fairy tale style telling of a Mona, who made a deathbed promise to her mother and had no way to keep it until Malcolm made her an intriguing offer. If she submitted to him for a year, he would save her mother's gallery.

Mona accepted, flattered and intrigued that someone would pay her a million dollars to have sex with her for a year. Her sexual appetite along with an increased kink factor grew rapacious under Malcolm's tutelage. His unique demands that they re-enact the erotic scenes in famous paintings was a great idea to tell the story. I had a hard time putting the book down only to return later. Forget about it.

The Red by Tiffany Reisz
Source: ARC from author and purchase
My Rating: 5 ginormous stars
My Review:

Sometimes, I feel like instead of a full-blown review, I can just type “F*^$ you, Tiffany Reisz. Just, F*^$ you!” and everyone who reads her and knows her work well will simply laugh and know exactly how I feel about her latest book! Unfortunately, that may be awfully confusing to those who don’t know her work, so here comes a full-blown review.

When Mona’s mother was dying, Mona promised her she would do anything within her power to keep their art gallery, The Red open and operating. When the promise was made, Mona couldn’t imagine the crippling debt she would be in following her mother’s lengthy and expensive illness. With little to no revenue coming in and the bills relentlessly showing up, Mona lives in fear of disappointing her mother. It is at her weakest moment that Malcolm comes into her life with a proposal Mona’s still young and reckless enough to accept. For the period of one year, Malcolm will have access to her body for whatever purpose and position he so desires. In return, Malcolm will provide Mona with enough priceless art to keep her gallery not just open, but flourishing. Desperate and more than a little intrigued, Mona accepts.

The first few encounters with Malcolm are beyond anything Mona could have ever imagined. Each encounter is based on a famous painting and each sexual encounter is more inventive and satisfying than the last. In fact, there is more than one time when Mona assumes she dreamt or even hallucinated the events of her night with Malcolm and to an extent, that scares her. Worries aside, Mona wakes the morning after each encounter completely sated and with a new (at least to her!) work of art that is worth, at the very least, hundreds of thousands of dollars. To be sure, at the end of the year, The Red will not only be financially solvent, but so far in the black as to be secure for years to come. As the month’s pass, Mona’s financial security becomes less important to her than the eventual and certain loss of Malcolm. Though some of his scenarios scare and even anger her, there is no denying the hold Malcolm has over Mona and the fact he’s ruined her for all other men. More than anything else, it is this inevitable ending that scares and saddens Mona.

The Bottom Line: Holy sh*t!! Tiffany Reisz just wrote the book version of a mic drop and then sashayed out of the room leaving the rest of lying on the ground twitching!! As I said in the beginning, F*^$ you, Tiffany Reisz. Just, F*^$ you. Between the intensity of the read, the desire to know precisely who Malcolm is, and total lack of respect for my next day’s responsibilities, this book got finished in one shot at 5 a.m. I regret nothing! At its core, The Red is all about the art and the sex and I loved every single minute of this read. Only Tiffany Reisz can write a book that is roughly 85% sex and keep it fresh, exciting, dirty, and oh, so good! As always, the writing (even in ARC form!) is flawless and elegant and the ending is spot on awesome!!
P.S. *^$ you, Tiffany Reisz. Just, F*^$ you. 😊

P.P.S. Yeah, I ordered a signed copy of this one. It owes me 😊

Tiffany Reisz has dabbled a bit in Erotic Fantasies in her last few books, taking her readers on some pretty peculiar and eccentric journeys that play extraordinary tricks on the human mind... making you wonder what in God's name is going on! "The Red" is one of these wonderful, unconventional trips of a struggling art gallery owner who literally sells her body Carte Blanche to a strange Art connoisseur who takes her body on a carnal wonderland. Check out this sensual business transaction and take an illusionary voyage between Heaven and Hell in this risque carousel ride of a story. 5 Obscene and Libidinous Stars for a novel which sends your imagination in "The Red"!