Review: Decadent by Shayla Black

This book falls into my Erotica Reading Challenge.

I read Ms. Black's first book in this seris, Wicked Ties (review here), and I liked it, but it had some issues that were hard for me to get past. I wanted to try another book before gave this series a thumbs-up or not. Well, I'm giving it the thumb's up....I like it and am looking forward to the next book. Okay, the premise was a bit unbelievable, but once I got past it I didn't care - it was a sexy, sexy book!

Kimber Edgington is a twenty-three (I think!) year old virgin. She's been saving herself for her long-distance boyfriend Jesse, who is a famous musician that's been on tour for several years. Kimber and Jesse met while Kimber's dad was doing bodyguard work for Jesse, then after an intense summer he went on tour but they stayed in touch. Kimber knows Jessie likes menage, and she wants to be taught the "tricks of the trade" so to speak, but she wants to remain a virgin for Jesse. She knows that one of her father's former employees, Deke Trenton, is into menage and she asks him to teach her.

Deke has known Kimber since she was a teenager, and he respects her father, his former employer. He turns her down at first, but his cousin Luc convinces him that if they don't teach her she'll find someone who will - and they may not be as gentle with her as Deke and Luc will. Deke reluctantly agrees and Kimber moves in.

I think you all know about how I get creeped out about people who are related by blood being in a menage together. I guess 2nd cousins don't count in my book because it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Deke and Luc are sexy, sexy men.

Deke had some weird hangup/terrible secret about not having sex with a virgin, but they worked around that. I did spend a good portion of the book trying to figure out how Deke killed someone during sex. I just knew that had to be his terrible secret - what else could it be? I mean, honestly, why else would he not want to have sex with a virgin unless he accidentally killed one? But, in the end that part of the storyline made sense. There was also another storyline going on with Kimber's dad and a stalker which made for some conflict (conflict here meaning more opportunities for Kimber and the guys to have sexytime *wiggles eyebrows*).

Well, I know this review is all over the place, but what I'm trying to say is that it was a fun, sexy read. I can't believe I'm writing this but there may have been a bit too much sex for me (I may have skimmed the sexy parts a time or two). I'm looking forward to her next book, Delicious - Luc's book.

I give Decadent 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Wicked Ties by Shayla Black

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, I hadn't read anything by Ms. Black before. Morgan O'Malley is the host of a cable sex show, and she's looking for ideas for the second season. She's also got a stalker who has apparently followed her from her home in LA to her half-brother Brandon's home in Houston. No one knows they're related, so he's posing as her fiancee.

She meets with Jack Cole in Lafayette, Louisiana to interview him about being a guest on her show. He's a Dominant, and she's interested in showcasing that lifestyle. When they meet for the interview, someone starts shooting at her, and Jack helps her escape. When she explains she has a stalker, he tells her he's going to protect her - he's former special ops and does bodyguard work on the side.

Morgan reluctantly agrees, and he takes her to his cabin in the middle of the swamp. What she doesn't know if that Jack arranged the meeting because he wanted to seduce her and send video of them having sex to Brandon, his former best friend who betrayed him. Megan and Jack end up having D/s sex and she likes it. Jack sends the video to Brandon.

Later in the story we meet Jack's grandfather, a little old Cajun man who knows Morgan is the one for Jack because Jack's been dreaming about her and it's a family legend that the men dream of their true love. We also meet Jack's partner, Deke. Deke seems to be a typical special-ops type guy too, and he is also into BDSM. I think you know where this is going so I'm not going to say anything more about that (it was very hot).

While Morgan is wrestling with her secret desire to be dominated, the stalker is still out there and Jack and Deke are trying to find out who it is.

It was a good story, but I had a few problems with it. My main issue is that Jack went on and on about how D/s was about trusting the other person, yet after their first sexual encounter he sent a video of them having sex to Brandon! For the rest of the book I just could not get past that. Also, when Jack asked his grandfather to bring Morgan clothes, he brought her skanky lingerie. His grandfather - really?!

I liked Morgan's half-brother Brandon, and I liked Deke and would like to read stories about them. Deke's story is Decadent, which I need to go out and buy; I don't think Ms. Black has done Brandon's story - yet.