Strange Attractions, by Emma Holly

From L’Inferno to erotica fiction: well no-one could ever accuse me of having narrow reading tastes, or of being a prude. Mind you, I got a whole lot more than I bargained for when I pulled this little number off the shelf. I was thinking it might be a pleasant change to try a nice, little romance novel and to familiarize myself with that section of our collection. I’ve never been much of a Mills & Boon type of reader but it’s good to know a variety of authors and genres when you work in a library. Well, at least that’s my excuse.

Well, dear reader – BEWARE!! There is a LOT of hanky-panky going on in this story: enough, even, to make Hugh Hefner himself blush. At over three hundred pages, there is a naughty scene at least every few pages, so that adds up to an awful lot of naughtiness, and I’m not talking about your regular, run-of-the-mill naughtiness here either; this is downright kinky, eye-popping naughtiness.

So, that out of the way, Holly has somehow managed to get a story line woven in amongst all the spanking and threesomes. I have to say, though, it’s an odd story that doesn’t really match the nature of the book.

B. G. Grantham is a reclusive genius; a quantum physicist with a penchant for sex games. He’s fascinated with social interactions and human desires and when he’s not working on being a super-nerd, he relaxes his mind (and body) on the latest “guest” at his mansion. His best friend, Eric, plays the part of the guest’s keeper, and I’ll leave your imagination to work out what sorts of things he gets up to. Charity Willis is the latest guest and the whole story revolves around the relationships between these three. To keep things “interesting” there are some physics explanations thrown in for good measure, including the paradox of Schrodinger’s cat.

For me, I think I’ve familiarized myself with this genre well enough for now, but if you like this kind of thing, Holly’s book suits its purpose well enough. Personally I prefer a bit more romance and a little less gratuitous bonking, and I found it was a real effort to read through to the end.

Rosemary