"BDSM can be tender and exciting within a loving relationship."

This is a set of four stories about people who live in the same apartment building. Although they're all from diverse backgrounds, they will take the same sensual journey to discover themselves and their partners.

The book opens in Apartment 4B where Eve Bentley receives an early visit from her neighbor Simon Austen, who delivers a package that will create a new relationship and change both their lives.

In Apartment 6C, a young married couple, attorney Laura Stratton-Burns and husband, elementary school teacher Adam Burns, are caught up in marriage routine. They have become complacent and need something to jump-start their relationship again. When Laura discovers that her husband was once a participant and instructor in a sexual dominance group she is shocked. He has failed to share this with her but she decides to make a change and surprise him. (WARNING: I recommend close proximity to a partner or cold water while reading this one.)

In Apartment 7A, 41-year-old divorced photographer Adale Martin is about to get a fresh young change in her life. One of her models, Brian MacMillan, is the perfect man for her. The only thing that bothers her about this is he's eight years her junior. What's a woman to do? This has an unsuspected ending.

The final story takes place in the Penthouse. It's about Jason Burk, a successful author who has made his living selling fiction books based on the broken relationship with his true love, a woman he met while working on a college experiment about sexual response. Twenty years have slipped by and now he has only memories and regret. But he gets a second chance in an unusual way.

This is a great book! While this is only the third book of hers that I've read, Sahara Kelly is on my list of favorite authors. She's an excellent writer who makes good use of all the rules of fiction writing. Her characters are all distinctly different and well developed. The dialogue is natural and flows beautifully. The plotting is very well paced.

Ms. Kelly is also an excellent storyteller--her work is mentally engaging and physically stimulating. She has taken the BDSM subject and shown how tender and exciting it can be within the confines of a loving relationship. She has also demonstrated how giving one's self over to someone you love can be very humbling.

There's something in this book for every age. Safe sex is used whenever necessary, or at least within the appropriate time period. I highly recommend this book. It's a keeper.

Rating: NC-17. Sensuality: oral sex, BDSM.

Reviewed by Angela Black for Sensual Romance.

Reviewed by Sensual Romance
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted September 3, 2003

Summary

Four sets of lovers, four different stories.

On the fourth floor of a quiet apartment building, Fate, in the guise of a handsome man, is about to deliver an unusual item to an unsuspecting woman.

Upstairs, in 6C, a married couple is in a rut—it seems they both need a good kick to get out of it. Or is there some other form of punishment that would do the trick?

In her seventh floor studio, a divorced photographer has to learn that age is strictly a calendar thing. Her teacher is younger, harder, and more determined than she could ever imagine.

And in the penthouse, a lonely man with the world at his fingertips and nothing but memories of passionate games once played. Can he recapture what he lost so long ago? And at what price?

These four tales share a twist, a sting of passion, a spicy flavor all their own. And it's not vanilla...

Sexual Content: NC-17. Genre: BDSM.