"You don't know? Winterlynn, didn't you ask the person you auditioned for?" Winterlynn turns away from Devon, zipping up the bag. "She said it was fully nude." Devon bursts out with a shocked laugh, "Fully nude? You're kidding me? Why didn't you just say that then? Are you cool with that type of dancing?"
"I've done it before, just not like this," Winterlynn admits. Devon pulls her close, teasing her with hip bumps and slaps on her round booty. "You have? My roomie has so many secrets. And I thought we knew everything about each other. You're going to show it all off, every bit of your fine ass body to strangers at some club? Wow, didn't know you were that girl." Winterlynn faces the statuesque model. "I'm not. I'm a dancer desperate for work. At least I can pay my half of the rent this month."
Devon retreats, not liking her tone, saying, "I told you I would cover it. I make enough to pay the full amount." Winterlynn gives her a warm hug. "I know, and thank you, but I don't feel right about you doing that. We're not..."
"What?" Devon hugs her warmly.
"We're not girlfriends or lovers."
"We could be..."
Like sexual clockwork this week's story gets me caught in its gears, ticks another beat, and explodes all over the page like wanton lesbian lust. Really, I never thought about having to put my Kindle in a waterproof plastic bag to read a book, but this one does it for me. What gets me so worked up? Patience, let's lightly dust the surface of this chocolate cake of a book with powdered sugar before I reveal.
We have here a woman who runs a secret, discreet, high-end lesbian sex club. Her employees and entertainers are the focus of this book, and we get to peek in on the events of and surrounding a lipstick-smeared and sex-covered night of debauchery, dashing in and out of different character's lives for a glimpse into moments we should have never been able to see, but through the magic of erotic fiction, we can.
Part of this book relies on intimacy, and to achieve that we have to switch point-of-views quite drastically. There are a lot of stories being told here, and while I was able to follow along, there were times I felt a little lost when another character jumped into the scene and I had to readjust and re-read. This brings up two questions:
Would this book have been stronger with just one or two PoVs? I could have read the entire book just from the head-mistress' point-of-view and been satisfied, but we would have lost the intimate vignettes and encounters between the performers and attendees of the club - which would have been a huge voyeuristic loss. Otherwise, we would possibly need to place our luscious owner of the night's festivities into each situation, which would have felt forced and removed the sudden yet gripping intimacy of each encounter. For this type of a book, I don't see any way around the problem, so in fact, the PoV jumps were a small inconvenience, but one I felt was needed to maintain the closeness and special nature of each encounter.
So in short, I feel the PoV switches are essential for this sort of a book, even if that runs against common fiction wisdom a little. In a way, they are like when we 'drop in' on two actresses in an erotic movie scene, we are the voyeur, and to force one constant PoV through the story would be unrealistic, and also ruin that sense of unique intimacy each scene requires.
So let's jump back into this secret candy shop, and the candy shop is a great analogy here because it speaks to another issue which was handled deftly. One would think, with all the femme sex going around, that after a couple chapter we would begin to tire of the wet-fingered proceedings. Not so, as there is a balance and variety kept that keeps the reader off her painted toes, and we deliciously dive into the sex-stained world of escort office politics, and I found these little tidbits to be amazing in their detail and authenticity.
She's too good at hiding her feelings.
This one makes little snarky comments about being the boss' only pet.
She broke the rules by bringing a friend to work.
That one has a brash attitude and calls her co-workers whores, is that in fun or is there another issue hiding there?
She is jealous of the new girl.
You don't get this stuff in many erotic books, and this adds the powdered sugar and fresh strawberries to the frosting of what was already a very delicious treat. When I was settled in thinking this was just a hook-up book, we are treated to all sorts of camaraderie, bitchiness, in the trenches together friendships, and a business-like attitude that people will come and go in this line of work (and don't fret it) that smacks me as an honest and frank assessment of this line of work.
You can idolize the candy shop, or you can be honest about it while still recognizing the glamour.
This book chooses to be honest about it while still acknowledging, hey, this is a candy shop and it still is a treat to work here.
That.
If you learn one thing, it is that.
You may have a dream to work in some place or industry, but there is a level of seriousness and maturity that you need to possess when working there. It is in short, respect for what the service the establishment is trying to provide. Every day won't be a great one, you will put up with a lot of behind the scenes shit, but there are moments where you have to be bigger than your human-ego frailties and be a better person to make the candy shop work. There is a level of putting yourself above the day-to-day and bullshit you need to possess, to be bigger than your feelings and ego, and to put all your personal crap behind you to stand up and deliver for your place of work. You also admit you probably won't last forever, and the place will run without you - but this is how the world works.
You give up a lot to work at the candy shop, but you do so out of love and respect for the dream.
Some people are like that, and those are people that can sacrifice one day and smile the next day are your gold stars.
They make the place work.
This book lays out these little interpersonal relationships so damn well in an environment so full of emotions and sex-charged workplace tit-for-tats (and tatted tits) that it floored me with its honest intensity and observations.
The sex? I know, finally I am getting to it. Written with experience and an eye towards the deliciously nasty and sex-soaked side of lips-on-clit debauchery. We don't always dive straight into the final, lips-on-hips act either, some characters hold off, others tease, and the sex isn't all the same every time. The acts burn with an intensity and passion that I have rarely seen in a long time, they come on like a rush, soak us in their sex, top it off with nasty talk, and leave us in a sweat heap afterwards to cuddle and whisper sweet nastiness in each others' ears.
Rarely have I seen sex this sudden and this nasty, and it takes some real skill to do this dive-in sort of writing while still delivering a scene which by the end feels like it was led up to by a couple of thousand words that don't actually exist. You feel a lot more was there than actually is, and that takes a great deal of skill as a writer to deliver that much during a sex scene. We get little bits of information along the way, little reactions, and all the while we are building towards the wet storm of passion we know will crash down upon our pages and moisten our loins with dewy precipitation.
And there is this 'seducing the ice queen' subplot which shall be the focus of my fantasies for a couple nights this week that shall keep my bedtime cardio elevated, and my fingers quite occupied before I drift off to the sweet bliss of Wonderland.
Strong recommend.
One of the best lesbian sex books I have read this year.
Comments
Post a Comment