"flawless Muti-POV makes this breathtaking, spellbinding!"

Emma Holly is a writer that continually fascinates me. You never quite know what to expect from her, which is obviously her intent. I don't choose erotic fiction as a matter of routine, because honestly, most of it fails to deliver on the one level I want most -- makes me care about the characters. Recently in a debate about the levels of sexuality in Romance in general, some came down on the side of sizzling hot, some for chaste Regency Romances. I said, "Frankly, I don't care which road you ask me to travel; tell a good story, and I will enjoy it." And for me, that is so true. I enjoy Sandra Heath Regency tales as much as I enjoy Angela Knight or Emma Holly, two of the red- hot sizzling writers of today. Why Holly continually leads me down roads I'd travel less is she starts with the most important ingredient: characters. She creates very human, very alive people, reaches in and grabs your heart, and then proceeds to push emotional and physical boundaries like no other writer around.

Once again, with her newest work, Strange Attractions, Holly delivers up a spicy, but emotional dish. An O.T.T. scientist is obsessed with knowing the why of everything. And the most elusive why to him is emotional response and feelings. When he is not being this era's Albert Einstein, Grantham unwinds by playing games with people - his very own human Kens and Barbies, trying to figure out what makes them react as they do. A one man Think Tank, B.G. Grantham very selectively chooses his candidates, looking for people that are strong willed, but flawed. His right hand is Eric Berne - Grantham's Man Friday and Ken doll rolled into one. It's time for Grantham to unwind from his more earth- saving pursuits, so he sends Eric out to find a new subject.

Eric has chosen sexy, wisecracking Charity Willis. Charity immediately wins the readers over. She is a gal who loves being a woman, short skirt, tight tops. Coming from a less than spotless background of a mother who moved about, and "uncles" who moved in and out of Charity's life with the regularity of the Navy, Charity has learn to protect herself. She is wound, yet resilient; she won't take gruff from people who mistake her delight in being sexy as a come on to any Tom, Dick and Harry. But life has not given Charity any breaks. She means well, but she's been fire from more jobs than she had "uncles". She's bright, but little applies herself, because what's the point?

Charity has seen Eric around the offices where she works, Future-Tech, even had the strange sensation he was following her on several occasions. She is attracted to the sexy man, but feels that a man like him would be interested in a girl like her for only one reason. When she's called to the personnel office, she at first fears getting fired for perpetually being late. She is ushered into the office by Eric who says he has a proposal for her. Charity steels herself for the usual, and is ready to put him in his place. Instead, Eric tells about his employer, how he likes to study people, their pleasure, what makes them tick and offers her the job of being Grantham's personal Barbie Doll for a period, after which they will pay for her college education, see she gets a good position with a job that has a future. After hearing the terms of the contract, Charity agrees feeling life has never given her a chance to get ahead before. Since the contract spells out that anytime she feels uncomfortable with Grantham's requests, she just has to say the word, they will bring her back to her home and the contract will end, Charity thinks she has nothing to lose.

So begins the journey of education of this touching brave young woman, that leaves the reader spellbound, with Eric as her guide. A modern twist, a cross between Svengali and My Fair Lady, done as only Holly can do. She strongly, flawlessly uses Multi-POV (point of view) to keep the reader attuned to all her characters inner emotions. Simply put, Emma Holly told me a good story and I enjoyed it. Her brilliance, her open-mindedness, and her willingness to test the envelope mark her as the brightest star in fiction - par none!

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted November 22, 2004

Summary

Determined not to repeat her mother's mistakes, high school dropout and unrepentant heartbreaker Charity Wills jumps at the chance to attend college for free. There's just one little catch...

She must travel to the estate of reclusive physicist B.G. Grantham, who likes to play sex games as exotic as the particles he studies-and is obsessed with the thrill of being refused the one thing he craves. But Charity is more than up to the challenge-especially when Eric Berne, her sexy "keeper," lends a hand.

Behind the locked doors of Grantham's isolated mansion, the games begin. So does the education of Charity Wills- who's about to discover that the possibilities for sensual indulgence are beyond anything her wildest dreams ever allowed...