Shannon Emmel
Publisher Name: Ellora's Cave/Moderne
Date Released: December 2010
Price: $4.98 Retail
Genre: Erotica/Contemporary/Fetish
Book Format: eBook

BACK COVER BLURB:

Months of therapy go out the window for Noelle when Brad moves back to town. Her super-hot ex has tongues wagging and temperatures rising when he makes his first appearance at the company Christmas party. Everyone is curious about Brad and the rumors surrounding his arrival.

COVER SNARK:
Blah. Ellora's Cave covers are so blah!

FIRST LINES:

"I couldn't take my eyes off the bed," Noelle said recalling every detail of Brad's bedroom. The bed was huge, with the four elaborately carved posts draped from floor to ceiling with miles of deep red velvet.

NOELLE'S GIFT opens with Noelle at her therapist office freaking out because her ex is coming back in town. To make matters worse, he'll soon be her boss. She's reliving the shame she feels because Brad invokes her fetish for fur. She gets really turned on by fur, how it feels against her skin, etc., etc., etc. Since their relationship ended, Noelle has banished all fur from her life and is terrified that having Brad around will evoke all the cravings she's spent a long time repressing.

When she goes to work for her office's Christmas party, she's freaking out because someone went all out decorating the office for Christmas to include a lot of furry stuff. She knows that Brad has had a hand in that. That feeling intensifies when she sees Brad and he's wearing a furry suit.

To be honest, I didn't get what Noelle's problem was. To semi-quote Brad, who cares that you have a thing for fur? I love Christmas and keep a Christmas tree in my bedroom? What's the big freaking deal? Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but you get my drift. I didn't understand Noelle's motivation for shame and why she just cut Brad out of her life when they were in a relationship. From what I could perceive, the only reason she cut off the relationship is because she was embarrassed about her fetish? Why? He didn't mind indulging in it so I didn't get the big deal. While some of the reasoning was explored, I couldn't buy into it. The reasoning behind Noelle's actions just didn't gel for me personally.

Just because I didn't connect to Noelle didn't make this a bad story, because after all was said and done, I believed that Noelle and Brad would have a satisfying relationship. I believed in their happily ever after.


WHERE PURCHASED:

Received Copy from the Publisher for Review.

Rating: