Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Berkley Sensation, 2004.
Description
Behind closed doors, the wicked play... Charity Wills is a heartbreaker, and she is determined to fund her education by any means necessary. B. G. Grantham is obsessed with the unattainable - the thrill of being refused the one thing he craves. Invited to stay with the erotic-minded recluse in his mansion, Charity provides the challenge he so desires. And with the arrival of Eric Berne, her sexy 'keeper', she finds herself tempted by both men...
User reviews
LibraryThing member MlleEhreen
I have two main comments about Strange Attractions:
1. I have read hundreds of romances, a decent amount of erotica - and I can honestly say that this is the first book of the lot to really give me ideas. Strange Attractions is more useful than most sex manuals.
2. It is incredible, yet true, that
I picked this book up because although I was a bit dubious about the whole menage-a-trois aspect, I have been very impressed with other Emma Holly books. Sure, threesomes are hot - but I imagined it would be really emotionally messy and unpleasant, or just...impossible to make emotionally satisfying. Boy was I wrong. The relationship between the three characters was perfect - loving, respectful, with different personalities, different talents and flaws, that strike a perfect balance as a triple rather than a couple.
A couple of things are a bit botched.
One is that Holly doesn't dwell on the part of the book where Charity agrees to the "game" and there's not much adjusting going on - one second Charity is offended that Eric is propositioning her, whatever the proposition may consist of, the next she is in up to her neck and her sexual inhibitions are ancient history. I didn't mind - I, too, was happy to jump straight to the fun parts & I'd frankly rather do without fifty pages wasted in whinging and feeble protestations. But, still, the transition was awkward.
The other thing is that B.G. is supposed to be a genius physicist and there is this kind of ridiculous subplot involving quantum mechanics and ghosts. Now, one of my best friends happens to be a bona fide theoretical physics super-genius-prodigy, and although I realize that all genius physicists are not the same, because of my knowledge of my friend & certainly what I've learned from him about his work, certain things about B.G.'s character (let alone his science) seemed really jarring and out of place to me. So if you are a scientist, know a lot of scientists, or just read a lot of science magazines - be prepared to heave a disdainful sigh or two. But read the book anyhow. It's totally awesome.
1. I have read hundreds of romances, a decent amount of erotica - and I can honestly say that this is the first book of the lot to really give me ideas. Strange Attractions is more useful than most sex manuals.
2. It is incredible, yet true, that
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even though almost everything that happens in the book is explicitly sexual, the characters are fully fleshed out, three-dimensional, human. It's got a story, it's got emotional intensity, it's got complex and shifting relationships that go along with the complex and shifting physical contortions that spice up almost every last page. I picked this book up because although I was a bit dubious about the whole menage-a-trois aspect, I have been very impressed with other Emma Holly books. Sure, threesomes are hot - but I imagined it would be really emotionally messy and unpleasant, or just...impossible to make emotionally satisfying. Boy was I wrong. The relationship between the three characters was perfect - loving, respectful, with different personalities, different talents and flaws, that strike a perfect balance as a triple rather than a couple.
A couple of things are a bit botched.
One is that Holly doesn't dwell on the part of the book where Charity agrees to the "game" and there's not much adjusting going on - one second Charity is offended that Eric is propositioning her, whatever the proposition may consist of, the next she is in up to her neck and her sexual inhibitions are ancient history. I didn't mind - I, too, was happy to jump straight to the fun parts & I'd frankly rather do without fifty pages wasted in whinging and feeble protestations. But, still, the transition was awkward.
The other thing is that B.G. is supposed to be a genius physicist and there is this kind of ridiculous subplot involving quantum mechanics and ghosts. Now, one of my best friends happens to be a bona fide theoretical physics super-genius-prodigy, and although I realize that all genius physicists are not the same, because of my knowledge of my friend & certainly what I've learned from him about his work, certain things about B.G.'s character (let alone his science) seemed really jarring and out of place to me. So if you are a scientist, know a lot of scientists, or just read a lot of science magazines - be prepared to heave a disdainful sigh or two. But read the book anyhow. It's totally awesome.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
Holly is a good writer, the sex is sexy, and the characters are interesting, but the paranormal element here is really ridiculous and distracting.
LibraryThing member ftbooklover
I enjoyed this story even though it was unusual for a romance. The main character was very open and easy to like. All three voices of the main characters came through. The descriptions of the scientific world were a distraction from the story, but otherwise this was a unique tale of love and
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acceptance. Show Less
Subjects
Original publication date
2004-10-05
ISBN
0425198219 / 9780425198216