A Review By Wendy
3.75 Play With My Mind, Turn My Body On Stars
* * * 3/4
Writer's have it hard... they come up with concepts... pray that they work...causing readers to buy in and go for the intended ride. If they hit the mark, giving the reader a perfect ride... then two things are about to happen....
The reader in love with the experience will be salivating for the next gem from the author... expecting to love this new installment as much as the first. The second is the author works to produce an installment which equals or surpasses the first... As a reader, I can understand how daunting it must be to plan out a series and figure out how to lead all the readers where you want them to go.
So with the surprise enjoyment I had reading with the first installment of The Invitation by Roxy Sloane, I was ready to experience the next part equally as much.
What had stunned me and set me up in the prequel was presented in this book, as well. Roxy Sloane has figured out how to suck the reader into the mind set she wants us to have from the first page. With the first book, it was new, fresh and surprising to me. I read it with my mouth dropped open and was thrilled to see this type of approach. I had not read The Seduction, so I hadn't experienced this way of talking to the reader.
It worked.
In this installment, the opening was similar; touching all the bases.... training our minds to be in that space...
The space where we, the reader, can envision all of the things described... where we are reading this book but also running our own "sub" story in our heads... which will tap into all the things written but also all the things we personally think about. To get the reader there in just a few choice phrases, sentences and planted thoughts is an art form. Ms. Sloane has a way with words.
What happens next is the presentation of our story and characters. We met them in the first part. It is three years later and they have evolved.
J.J. has worked hard to become a rising young attorney on the brink of being noticed by her firm and put on the partner track. She has put her intense, seductive sexual life on the back burner. She thinks about the one man who slayed her over the years... Ashton... because not only did she lose him as a possible lover, she lost her best friend, too.
We find her in NYC to handle a huge case. Her client's program was stolen by his partner. He is fighting to receive the recognition of part ownership. This is a battle of David and Goliath proportions as the thief has partnered with an investment firm with unlimited funds. J.J. finds herself as the lead on this due to a change in her firm.
As she arrives in NYC, her accommodations are through her friend. She has loaned her a penthouse apartment for her stay. Sitting pretty on a table wrapped in silk is a box with a card attached.She opens the card and imprinted on it is:
Play with me.
There is a golden key in the box and nothing to identify the sender...
Curious as almost no one knows she is here...
She puts this aside... and goes the scheduled meeting with her client and the opposing attorneys. As she waits for the start of this critical confrontation, her client mentions the silent partner of the company fighting him is actually here. J.J. had tried to find out who he was... there was almost no mention of him in any of the documents released. She is on guard and waits to make sure she is in control of this situation.
The gathering in the boardroom begins... places are set and J.J. starts and the surprise guest turns to face her... Yes, it is Ashton... her Ashton... but he is cold, calculating and acting as if he has never met her before. She is stunned... she must pull herself together... she fights with everything she has to make it through this first meeting...
It becomes obvious to her, she is in turmoil... her body responding to past remembrances, her mind fighting to stay focused. She is almost finish and escaping when Ashton asks for her to stay a moment... she tells her client to go ahead and she braces herself for what is about to take place....except what happens isn't like any of the times she has played this in her head... he is not her" Aston... he is cold, manipulative and closed off. She calls him on it and after a few fleeting seconds of seeing something cross his face... he turns back into the steel closed off capitalist. There will be more scheduled meetings with him and J.J. vows to get a grip and just handle the case; win the case.
Plus... there are these invitations teasing her... who is sending them... touching all her sexual buttons...Things are happening... she has this stranger in her head and he is bringing out all of her sexual needs.
This book follows the pattern of the first... teasing, tempting and terrific sexual situations... a smorgasbord of playing from mental mind games to watching.....to oh, so much more....
So why did I give it 3.75 stars... what's up with that?????
Well, I am an old mystery reader from way back. One of my besties here on GR named me Naughty Nancy Drew because I seem to figure out things early. Which brings me back to why the rating.
There is lots to like... and there is so much more coming in this series. I will continue with it because I am hooked with the way this is presented, the keying into the reader's mind and the characters. Things plan to get even more intense and I am ready... Just like Bette Davis... I will fasten my seatbelt and get ready for a bumpy night.
A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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