"Erotic exploration of a married woman's need for passion"

Thirty-nine-year old Debbie seems to have it all: loyal friends, a stained glass business which is doing so well that she'll be soon be able to quit her day job. A husband who is her best friend. But that appearance hides a sad reality: her husband may be her best friend, but he hasn't been her lover for a long time. Debbie feels as if she is dying inside, needing passion and sex the way a flower needs sunlight and water. When her friend Stacy organizes a bachelorette party for another pal, Debbie decides to go along -- even though the sex club venue is hardly her sort of place. Wandering through the rooms, she finds herself watching hungrily, drawn to a handsome stranger to whom she almost succumbs.

What she doesn't know is that her mystery man is Stephen, the contractor she knows only from email, who has helped her build her stained glass company into a thriving concern. He has fallen in love with the woman with whom he's discussed everything except sex -- and he wants her desperately. He sends her another invitation to the club, hoping that this time Debbie will give in to the desire he knows she feels for him.

Debbie must decide whether she will risk her marriage for an adulterous affair -- and whether there actually is a marriage left.

Most of us don't find books about adultery very romantic unless the other spouse is an outright rotter or abuser. Debbie's husband is neither, but his lack of interest in her is killing her slowly. She is a wonderfully well-drawn character, keenly aware of morality and her wedding vows, but unable to continue living within the hollow shell her marriage has become. Stephen isn't a casual Lothario but a man who longs to share his life with a complex woman whose talent he admires and whose spirit has lured him into love. He wants all of her, not just a brief fling. This elegantly written novel explores the emotions of two painfully real people caught in a web of love and circumstances, and takes them on an intense journey as they struggle with morality and passion. The author doesn't make the adultery easy or comfortable for them -- both know there is betrayal involved -- but their desperate hunger for each other makes Debbie's surrender inevitable and the sex incandescently hot. This book will arouse a strong emotional response, and the characters will haunt you long after you finish the last sentence.

PS. There IS a HEA, so don't panic, but the author makes it a hard-won happiness, because this love story involves three people, not just two.

Sensuality Rating: very steamy -- masturbation; oral sex, voyeurism. WARNING: Adultery -- heroine is married to someone other than the hero.

Reviewed by Gillian Fitzgerald
Courtesy Sensual Romance Reviews
Posted June 15, 2004

Summary

When her best friend drags her out to a bachelorette party, Debbie Carter knows one thing for sure -- this will be the last time she'll try to attract the opposite sex. She's learned the hard way that she isn't desirable anymore. But when she flirts with a man at The Sex Club, she gets far more than she bargained for. In the end, she must choose between the love of her life and her secure, safe, yet horrible existence.

Stephen Knight enters the club looking for the woman he has fallen for over email and through her art work. Debbie is everything he's ever dreamed of and seeing her in the flesh makes him desire her physically as well. As her passion comes to life in his arms, Stephen's lust turns to love. Wanting far more from her than a few nights of incredible pleasure, can he make her believe in forever?