The Secret Library: The Thousand and One Nights edited by Antonia Adams

Mr Darcy who?

Reviewed: 29 Jun 2012 by Blueeyes82, a Single Straight Female

This book has 3 different novellas in them: The Thousand and One Nights (Kitti Bernetti), Out of Focus (Primula Bond) and The Highest Bidder (Sommer Marsden).

Unlike other Xcite erotica books, The Secret Library books has more of a Jackie Collins x Emily Bronte type feel. Not that I'm complaining, delving into the world of these three authors was exciting.

The Thousand and One Nights is a loosely based Scheherazade, loosely being the main word here! There are two main characters, Breeze and Seb. Sebastian is a millionaire, owning his own companies, a big notch in the business world but not a man who is foolish, he sees all, especially when it comes to her, le Femme Fatale. Breeze has been stealing money from Seb's company, sneaking back into the office at night, embezzling funds and thinking she had managed to get away with it but her boss knew. He knew and had plans to make her pay.

Blackmail is a bitch but makes a very entertaining read. This was the most enjoyable story for me, sort of a dysfunctional affair that worked.

The highest bidder is about an auction with a twist, a male auction that is! I found it a gripping story between Casey, who has organized the charity event and that of Nick, one of the guys that she is auctioning off.

Although it had me gripped, there were a few points in the story that you had to think about to make the link. Some women find the average man hot, Nick really didn't seem to feel like the 'A game' but I think Casey likes that.

The sex scenes were hot, the lacking in confidence and trust with Casey seems to be spot on for a woman who had lost the love of her life. I did feel slightly uncomfy in some parts, as it seemed that Nick was aiming for compliments whenever possible, that for me would put me off any guy, good looking or not.

But are they made for each other? You'll just have to read it and find out!

Out of focus is about a slight foolish female photographer. I put her foolishness down to her age, a young adult with a lack of knowledge, especially in the exhibitionist/BDSM world. Eloise is employed to take a family portrait of the Epsom family, a rich (in more ways than money) family with a modern day Adams type family. She is asked to take photos over a period of a weekend, during this time, it's like a short written version of 9 1/2 Weeks but not with just 1 person and a fruit stall but Eloise finds herself being taken in by the whole family, one by one.

The sex scenes are well written and very erotic, I wish this one was more than a novella, as I would love to have read more. It's an intriguing story, I won't give away too much but I was wondering 'who was watching?'.

Getting back to the outside of this book, the cover is unique for me. It's a mint greenish and black velvet, very elegant to look at, I felt it's a fitting cover. The feel of the cover helped to get me into the stories, sounds weird but it was more of an erotic rush for me. Feeling the velvet as my fingers gently stroked the outside of the cover, as I was falling deep into the stories which was a first for me when it comes to feelings and delving into a book. I really am not into this kindle lark, I believe that a book is half the fun or reading, curling up on the sofa at night, lamp on, peace and quiet surrounds you as you turn over a page, intrigued to find out what was about to happen. It's an imaginative experience that is a must have, in my opinion.

In fact, just writing this review is slowly bringing back memories of my short time spent with this book. I feel like cracking open a bottle of wine, running a hot bubble bath and soaking the evening away with this book, all over again!

The RRP sits at £7.99, which I think is a fairly decent price

I am a fan of the Xcite books, especially their Novellas and I have to say, The thousand and one nights is a must have for any collection! I really am looking forward to reading more in the Secret Library line.