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125th out of 1,195 books
—
1,614 voters
Strange Attractions
by
Emma Holly (Goodreads Author)
From "one of the best writers of erotic fiction around" (Susan Johnson) comes the hot novel of a young woman's sensual education at the hands of a reclusive professor who's adept at erotic mind games.
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
November 1st 2005
by Berkley
(first published October 5th 2004)
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1,514)
May 06, 2008
Laura
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of romantic erotica
Shelves:
romantica-erotica
Wow! Emma Holly does it again, but not in the way you might think. This was the first of her novels that I thought started slow. Very slow. Usually she hooks me in the first 5-10 pages. But because of the BD/SM and ménage theme for this novel it started slow for me. I don’t consider these romantic situations, especially in a controlled, scientific situation.
Charity Willis is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity by a reclusive physicist and gets much more than she bargains for. That’s all I’m...more
Charity Willis is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity by a reclusive physicist and gets much more than she bargains for. That’s all I’m...more
This is a weird book. The premise is peculiar but I can go along with it: a reclusive genius physicist, BG Grantham, and his best friend and lover, Eric, put together a game whereby they carefully screen a couple of candidates, choose one, proposition them and invite them to BG's mansion for a month of sexual games, after which the candidate will be fully funded to go to university. Eric chooses lovely Charity, who turns their games on their head and falls for both men, while learning about phys...more
I have two main comments about Strange Attractions:
1. I have read hundreds of romances, a decent amount of erotica - and I can honestly say that this is the first book of the lot to really give me ideas. Strange Attractions is more useful than most sex manuals.
2. It is incredible, yet true, that even though almost everything that happens in the book is explicitly sexual, the characters are fully fleshed out, three-dimensional, human. It's got a story, it's got emotional intensity, it's got com...more
1. I have read hundreds of romances, a decent amount of erotica - and I can honestly say that this is the first book of the lot to really give me ideas. Strange Attractions is more useful than most sex manuals.
2. It is incredible, yet true, that even though almost everything that happens in the book is explicitly sexual, the characters are fully fleshed out, three-dimensional, human. It's got a story, it's got emotional intensity, it's got com...more
I like Emma Holly's books she does a great job writing erotica and what is nice about this book is that you have a story that is more than porn.
Now about that story, well the character development was a little off. I wanted her to flush out Eric and BG more. The female character, Charity I never really got into her story. In my opinion the love stories involving her were shallow and not much emotion. However, the two male characters, had a really sweet love story. The M/M love story I totally br...more
Now about that story, well the character development was a little off. I wanted her to flush out Eric and BG more. The female character, Charity I never really got into her story. In my opinion the love stories involving her were shallow and not much emotion. However, the two male characters, had a really sweet love story. The M/M love story I totally br...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this fun romp. This book as it all, a lonely college girl, hot guys, hot brainy guys, a bad guy to catch, kink, and lots of steamy sex. Menage alert, consider yourself informed.
1 like · like · see review
Wow. I've read this book many times now and everytime I do I seem to like it even more. Emma Holly goes above and beyond her usual strengths and the result is a very satisfying read. If you are going to read only one of Emma Holly's erotic novels, make it this one.
I especially like the relationship between the two men in this novel. It is well developed, believable (almost more so to me than the hetero dynamics), steamy and, in its own way, quite romantic. This is the first book that I ever read...more
I especially like the relationship between the two men in this novel. It is well developed, believable (almost more so to me than the hetero dynamics), steamy and, in its own way, quite romantic. This is the first book that I ever read...more
I do love Emma Holly's writing because I find her characters just so darn likeable. They get on with it and don't have all this tortured miscommunication and angst driven, repetitive inner dialogue which is more often than not very off putting, painful and intelligence insulting. Charity is down to earth, has a moment of contemplation about being with 2 strong, smart men but doesn't get bogged down, she is strong without being unbelievable and hey she takes those 2 guys on (plus a little more) a...more
Apr 25, 2011
Jacqueline
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys good erotica!
Recommended to Jacqueline by:
Impulse buy
Shelves:
genre-romance-erotica
Damned good! Not just good, but damned good!
While I have never read Holly's works before, I was absolutely amazed at how wonderful a writer this new-to-me author turned out to be.
Erotica is a fascinating genre all to itself, and it can be equally amazing to witness true good writers of such in action. Being such a controversial type of fiction is tough enough, especially considering the fact that so many erotica authors either write in purple prose, or turn their works into one endless sex scen...more
While I have never read Holly's works before, I was absolutely amazed at how wonderful a writer this new-to-me author turned out to be.
Erotica is a fascinating genre all to itself, and it can be equally amazing to witness true good writers of such in action. Being such a controversial type of fiction is tough enough, especially considering the fact that so many erotica authors either write in purple prose, or turn their works into one endless sex scen...more
"From one of the best writers of erotic fiction around comes the hot novel of a young woman's sensual education at the hands of a reclusive professor who's adept at erotic mind games."
Mildly entertaining. My first foray into oficially labelled erotic fiction -- not taking into consideration the books my parents hid from me in the second row on our bookshelf, when I was a teenager. All things considered I might have enjoyed Fanny Hill, Henry Miller or Charles Bukowski more. My interest started fa...more
Mildly entertaining. My first foray into oficially labelled erotic fiction -- not taking into consideration the books my parents hid from me in the second row on our bookshelf, when I was a teenager. All things considered I might have enjoyed Fanny Hill, Henry Miller or Charles Bukowski more. My interest started fa...more
As part of our RA work at the library, we are reading through different genres. December's genre? Erotic fiction. I struggled to find something that was ridiculous (Storm Watch) or pseudo-intellectual bs (Sexual Life of Catherine M). Many web resources mentioned Emma Holly as an author that is a good writer and measures high on the spicy factor. The plot of Strange Attractions was a little kooky and involved a brilliant and hot physics genius, his best friend/lover/employee and Charity. They end...more
This is an erotica novel, so if that's not your thing, stop reading now.
Like all erotica novels, it's based on an entirely impossible romantic scenario, but with much more creative sex scenes. Emma Holly, the writer, is especially gifted at mixing a happily-ever-after sappy romance with very hot sex scenes.
In this novel, a genius reclusive rich physicist named B.G. runs his own version of Fantasy Island on a wooded, Northwestern estate. His best friend and lover Eric helps him. Together they ch...more
Like all erotica novels, it's based on an entirely impossible romantic scenario, but with much more creative sex scenes. Emma Holly, the writer, is especially gifted at mixing a happily-ever-after sappy romance with very hot sex scenes.
In this novel, a genius reclusive rich physicist named B.G. runs his own version of Fantasy Island on a wooded, Northwestern estate. His best friend and lover Eric helps him. Together they ch...more
Aug 12, 2012
Mollie *scoutrmom*
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Romance fans who can accept mild erotica
[Addendum to my review two years after first written: for those to whom I've been saying there is much better out there than the Fifty Shades books, I really should be giving them this title as an alternative.]
Emma Holly has made a wonderful achievement in this book. She has written an erotic romance so good that I will read it again and again, without the use of any suspense or paranormal elements. This talent of hers deserves recognition, I enjoyed this book as much as any I've read by Jayne A...more
Emma Holly has made a wonderful achievement in this book. She has written an erotic romance so good that I will read it again and again, without the use of any suspense or paranormal elements. This talent of hers deserves recognition, I enjoyed this book as much as any I've read by Jayne A...more
Whew, this was one steamy book. It is a love story, of sorts, between two pretty men and one soon-to-be-exhausted woman. In Holly's hands, this different love triangle works. If you're looking for something edgy and different from the same-old stale romance you can't go wrong with this book.
I had a 'strange attraction' of my own to this book - my first full-length Emma Holly tale. I don't want to give anything away, but it's not too much of a secret that this is a menage story, pretty much from start to finish, though more is going on than just that. Now, I wouldn't consciously choose a M/M or F/F book to read, and I'm not into sharing partners,especialy simultaneously, but it was the characters that made this enjoyable for me. You just couldn't help but like the heroine, the hero,...more
Two and a Half stars.
Upbeat woman in her early twenties gets hired by eccentric professor and his lover/right hand man. In exchange for getting to please her sexually in situations she'd never have experienced otherwise, they'd set her up for life and pay for her Ivy League education.
The storyline was a little... odd?
But the sex was hot.
Upbeat woman in her early twenties gets hired by eccentric professor and his lover/right hand man. In exchange for getting to please her sexually in situations she'd never have experienced otherwise, they'd set her up for life and pay for her Ivy League education.
The storyline was a little... odd?
But the sex was hot.
Pervy, wild little erotic romance violating nearly every convention of the genre: it deals with a bisexual triangle with two guys, one of whom is a physics geek. Yep, you read me right. Check it out.
Some Emma Holly books are a guilty pleasure...but this one...not so much. It was pretty blah for me all the way through. Not enough of what Holly is good at and the plot wasn't interesting enough.
May 17, 2012
Jessica McReaderpants
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
adult-fiction,
lesbanism-eroticism-homos
This is a porno in print. If you like boy on boy and girl on boy and any combination of the three this is it. The story line is stupid, but really, who reads theses for the story line?
I am a huge Emma Holly fan. The sex in here when it does happen is pretty hot. I could not get into this book at all. I will take a step back and try again later.
Wow! Emma Holly is not only the queen of erotic fantasy, but she writes hre erotica into a great story with some intrigue and great characters as well. Loved this!
A twist on the erotic romance, an in-home experiment with obedience. Holly does create a very homey feel to her contemporary stories. Great characters.
This book was a lot of fun! I thought the characters were likable and the premise was interesting. The sex was hot and varied and there was lots of it!
This was my first M-M-F book. I prefer M-F-M, but this was really sweet. I loved the chemistry they had, and I don't know it was just really sweet.
Hot sex in a remote quantum physics lab. Geniuses, government intrigue, hinky quantum events. My friends, this is the perfect book.
I felt like the author had made a list of everything she thought might be titillating and then shoved it all into a puerile storyline.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Only made it to page 50. Found the storyline to be too unbelievable. Was grossed out by the homosexual scenes.
Jun 08, 2010
Valerie
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Insomniacs, enemies
Recommended to Valerie by:
"Beyond Heaving Bosoms: the Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novel
Dear god this is dull. It's got a fabulously awful plot premise, sex on every other page and it is dreadful.
Once again, Schroedinger's poor cat is hauled out of its box to show that the heroine (Charity Wills!) has the ability to learn things. Is there no other science topic available?
I stopped reading when one of our heroes--the Bill Gates-type recluse with his own little Harrad Experiment as a diversion--realizes that Charity is special because she is a "natural student". No, really.
It's no...more
Once again, Schroedinger's poor cat is hauled out of its box to show that the heroine (Charity Wills!) has the ability to learn things. Is there no other science topic available?
I stopped reading when one of our heroes--the Bill Gates-type recluse with his own little Harrad Experiment as a diversion--realizes that Charity is special because she is a "natural student". No, really.
It's no...more
I actually really liked this book. It turned out really sweet at the end.
The sex was hot!!! But te physics part threw me for a loop.
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I'm a USA Today bestselling author who LOVES the hot stuff, both to read and to write. My favorite obsessions are all things coffee, almost everything on HGTV, and dreaming up new stories.
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May 06, 2008 02:29pm
May 07, 2008 03:29am