By: Elle Thorne
Publisher: Barbed Border Press
Published: November 13, 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Content: M/F, F/F, M/F/F, Ménage, Multiple Partners, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Anal Play, Oral Sex, Toys
Length: Collection of Six Novellas
Heat Level: Sigh, Sweet, Spicy, Scorching
Reviewer: Dana
Date: May 14, 2015
The Pleasure of Discretion is a new adult series that delves into relationships and complications. Sex can be one of those complications. As the series progresses, some of the scenes may push the boundaries for some. In the same way that life pushes boundaries at times. It spans the relationships between couples, and at times, others.
Jessica, a college student raising her teenage brother needs a job. She needs a job a lot more than she needs a boyfriend. And she doesn't need her boyfriend to be the nephew of her new boss. Not that player, hell no.
Rick just wants to sink into women and booze. And self-torture. That's the only way he can deal with the demons that haunt him.
Lucas owns a club that caters to those who want to explore their kinks and sensual pleasures. He doesn't need his stepsister- the one he made the mistake of falling in love with- reentering his life.
Miranda wasn't bothering anyone. Just stripping at Trinkets, snorting her recreational coke. Who said she had to want more out of life? Who said she had to want Lucas?
Jessica, a college student raising her teenage brother needs a job. She needs a job a lot more than she needs a boyfriend. And she doesn't need her boyfriend to be the nephew of her new boss. Not that player, hell no.
Rick just wants to sink into women and booze. And self-torture. That's the only way he can deal with the demons that haunt him.
Lucas owns a club that caters to those who want to explore their kinks and sensual pleasures. He doesn't need his stepsister- the one he made the mistake of falling in love with- reentering his life.
Miranda wasn't bothering anyone. Just stripping at Trinkets, snorting her recreational coke. Who said she had to want more out of life? Who said she had to want Lucas?
Jessica's Dilemma - Book One
Heat Level - Sigh
Jessica is willing to do anything to keep her job. Even staying away from her boss' manwhore nephew. Jessica doesn't think it will be too hard, considering she has sworn off men and has too much to lose if she loses her job. Except that she didn't expect Rick, the manwhore, to be as H*O*T* as he is.
When fate throws them together, can Jessica resist?
Clearly, this first story is setting us up for what's to come, and aside from a few stolen kisses, not much happens between Jessica and Rick.
I'm still trying to figure out if there is any real chemistry between them. Both have secrets and clearly are in need of a friend. Until they can rid themselves of their demons, they'd better stick to being friends only.
Jessica Released - Book Two
Heat Level - Sweet
Rick and Jessica get closer despite Jessica's hesitation. Again, not much happens, except that this ended with the pair going to Discretion, a sex club because Rick won tickets in a poker game. The pair don't stay long, but Jessica's libido come out of hiding while there.
I would like this book better if Jessica stopped sounding like a middle school student.
Breaking Jessica's Rules - Book Three
Heat Level - Scorching
Jessica has two rules: Rick's dick belongs only to her, and Rick's mouth belongs only to her. Break them, and they are through.
Rick and Jessica have been together for a year now. It is Jessica's 23rd birthday and Rick has planned a surprise. He is bringing in a third to the mix. Miranda is supposed to be Jessica's surprise birthday present. Except that surprises are just that. Miranda was late and Jessica was on time, so Rick never had time to explain to Miranda that this night was for Jessica only. He was to be only an observer. Rick also had a few other surprises for Jessica that night, like a few video cameras to capture everything.
Jessica is still annoyingly immature, but now that I know her age, it makes more sense. Rick is reverting back to his pre-Jessica ways, which may signal the end of the pair.
Miranda's Unfinished Business - Book Four
Heat Level - Spicy
This book was all about Miranda and her stepbrother/boyfriend Lucas. Miranda is clearly very angry at the world, but the author uses Lucas to narrate that Miranda had been abused by an uncle, and her mother did nothing to stop it. It never got as far as rape, but it went far enough for a little girl.
Miranda is bi-sexual, and doesn't quite understand why the only man she has ever loved is her stepbrother.
When she goes to Club Hedonist for the night to drink away her sorrows, she spies Jessica there. Miranda hits on her, still thinking about their steamy night together on Jessica's birthday, and while Jessica is responsive, she ultimately stays faithful to Rick.
This book really offered nothing in the way of a background story on Miranda or Lucas, and how or why they are together, except that Lucas will do anything for Miranda and hates to see her self-sabotage.
Paying Jessica's Price - Book Five
Heat Level - Spicy
Jessica finds out something awful about Rick and breaks up with him immediately. She then quits her job and disappears. In the meantime, her brother gets into an accident and is arrested for drunk driving. With bills mounting up, Jessica takes a job as a hostess at Discretion, after using Miranda's name to get in. Jessica maintains that she will not be a part of anything sexual, but the book takes a very weird turn and Jessica agrees to become a masked attendant because it is more money. On her first night as attendant, Jessica is drugged by another attendant and almost raped by the man who requested her, who had a connection with Jessica's supervisor. She is rescued by Rick's brother and her friend Levi.
This story just didn't work for me. The only thing I got from the story was that Jessica was desperate for money. Even the backstory part of this scene was bizarre.
This was also the last book in Jessica's story. It ends with Rick and Jessica being pushed together to talk. I was expecting more. I was hoping for at least some closure between the two, but didn't receive it.
Miranda Unlocked - Book Five
Heat Level - Scorching
This last story was all about Miranda and Lucas. Miranda is trying and failing to get her life back on track. She meets Lucas at his club Discretion and they watch a foursome play with some new toys and new friends. As they are leaving, Miranda runs into an old nemesis, but because there is no backstory on who this man is, I don't know why Miranda cannot stand him. Words between the two are exchanged, and then the next scene is Lucas getting a call that Miranda has been drugged, attacked and brutally beaten and is in the hospital.
Lucas convinces Miranda to go to a special rehab where they can go and heal together.
When Miranda's attacker winds up dead, both Miranda and Lucas are considered suspects.
At rehab, Miranda is slowly recovering, but a surprise visit from her mother has her falling back a few steps. Again, not sure why there is such animosity between the two, because it clearly is more than just the mother not protecting her daughter from her lecherous uncle.
Because Lucas is a suspect in Miranda's attacker's murder, Lucas is forced to leave the country and Miranda is forced to stay behind with her stepfather and continue to pick up the pieces of her life. Lucas and Miranda both promise to stay connected.
What grabbed my attention to want to read this collection were the blurbs. A blurb can make or break a story. While the blurbs made me want to pick up the stories, the stories themselves unfortunately failed to deliver what was promised.
Ms. Thorne has a vivid imagination and her writing is satisfactory, but the story ideas seemed to be too complex and didn't flourish as they could have. There were too many histories untold and complexities of families left behind; especially the additions of Lucas and Miranda’s individual stories. While they were a great addition to the stories as characters, their individual stories seemed incomplete and forced.
One of the biggest distractions for me while I was reading the collection was the editing and/or formatting. I’m not sure if the problem of missing words, or improper placement of punctuation were due to formatting or not, but all I can say is that it was a constant bother and disrupted the flow of the books. It led to the lack of clarity of sentence structuring and understanding, which made reading dialog and narrative very confusing at times. All of these problems lead to me not having an enjoyable experience reading this collection.
While this is my opinion, others love the collection. It just wasn't for me, but you never know for you. Read the blurbs, other reviews and pick this collection up if you love New Adult romances filled with budding relationships, packed with complications of sex and youth. You never know, you might find a beautiful gem.
