TEST
Kiss It Better is such an understatement for this book. Kiss it better? More like suck, rub, squeeze or generally irritate it better. This book isn’t erotica; it’s just porn without plot. Not only is there no plot, but the author kept hinting at a larger conflict, which made me kind of interested in how this implied conflict would be resolved. This turns out to be a cop-out as the problem is solved with only more sex.
Fifteen years ago, Sandy Jackson was robbed and injured during a seaside vacation. A young man stayed by her side until an ambulance came, and he disappeared before she could find out who he was. Since then, Sandy has maintained an image of this ideal “Prince Charming” in her mind. Little does she know that he is actually Jay Bentley, the heir to a huge fortune from developing shopping centers. Jay has also been actively, obsessively lusting after her these fifteen years. As a little twist, Jay was recently in a car accident, and has since had problems getting physically excited over a woman. He has, however, still been able to “get it up” whenever he fantasizes about his “Princess” and relies on his imagination to satisfy his urges.
Jay’s father has just bought a property in the countryside, and Jay is sent to check it out. He recognizes Sandy at an open house and becomes determined to fulfill his fantasies with her. The problem is that Sandy’s café is part of the property that has just been purchased, and it is entirely possible that she will hate his guts when she realizes his family is about to put her out of business. He introduces himself to her as simply “Jay,” and although Sandy doesn’t know him, there’s something very familiar about this man. They embark on a torrid affair, and then…The End.
I started disliking Kiss It Better after I realized that the main couple has very explicit sex within 10 minutes of meeting one another. Such extremely casual sex is not my thing, and I was put off by how soon their first joining is. After this first sex scene, the sex continues hard and fast, with nary a plot to be seen. Frankly, this is just plain old porn, and not a little boring. The sex in this story is very graphic, but not sexy. There’s a lot of pulling this and rubbing that, over and over again, and I found myself skipping to the end. It also didn’t help that Jay keeps grunting “Princess! Princess!” and the endearment “Princess” is high on my list of Sleazy Nicknames.
The author seems to have written this book “one size fits all” – there is something here for everyone. A little bondage, a little phone sex, car sex, restaurant sex, bathroom stall sex…it quickly became a contest to see who could find the most exciting place to have sex. The author even tries to make Jay more appealing to a larger pool of readers; the first half of the story he’s bearded, then he’s clean shaven for the remaining half.
The characters aren’t very well developed, and Jay is particularly distasteful. His sexual obsession with his image of “Princess” is actually scary, and he comes off as overly macho and sleazy. He’s too calculating for comfort, and a bit too condescending towards Sandy. Instead of feeling any sort of satisfaction at Jay’s eventual declaration of love for her, I was just relieved that he didn’t turn out to be a psycho killer. Sandy is nice enough, although I couldn’t figure out what she finds so attractive about Jay.
Ultimately, I can’t truly recommend Kiss It Better. The HEA just isn’t there; towards the end, Sandy herself calls their two-day fling no basis for a real relationship. She continues to say that the sexual attraction is so strong that she can’t help herself. Jay says he loves her, but it seems he loves the way she plays with sex toys even more. If that’s the kind of reasoning that will prevail throughout the book, I’d rather not read it. But to each her own.
Grade: C-
Book Type: Erotica
Sensuality: Burning
Review Date: 20/07/09
Publication Date: 2009/08
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.