My, my, it's getting hot in here and it's not due to the summer season. Oh, no, it's all Cynthia's fault ;o)
First reviewed on Literaria sede-literaria.blogspot.com
The whole concept of SINFUL REWARDS got me hooked. Wouldn't it be delightfully wicked that we could get a treat for every sexy daring we pulled off? Such a tantalizing idea.
A good girl, a hard-working but lonely good girl, Bee Carter fantasies about a Prince Charming who will offer her a forever. Nothing will stop her from avoiding the kind of poor, unloved life her mother led because of a one-night mistake.
Belinda, you and I share more than a name. It's your endearing tendency to daydream about the fairy-tale quality of your fantasies as opposed to gritty, unfair, dream-shattering real life.
We share that longing for fair game, for just situations, for people to behave toward us as if they could instantly recognise our true nature. Which is that we are deserving of their interest, their care, their loyalty.
Beyond that, in the innermost recesses of our basic humanity, we share the desire to let go of inhibitions, to let hidden and scandalous desires out in the open to be free, to taste pleasure without shame.
I admire Bee's determination, it's really sweet of her to think the perfect thing and then be human enough to react to something else, a little bit less perfect. That's how she ends up torn between two versions of her dreams. And two men.
- Nicholas, poised, safe, a promised paradise of wealth and unbroken hearts.
- Hawke, a biker made of carnal temptations that oozes danger and a broken future.
I adore the author's writing style. It's funny, captivating, true to character. She's capable of sucking the reader into the characters' minds and personalities with such ease. The dialogues are so witty!
Bee is a very relatable girl with dreams that make you warm to her as much as her mistakes.
And the men the author creates... purely unavoidable. Strong, implacably irresistible, meltingly sexy.
Even though I can't feel sorry for Bee not owning big expensive purses, I do understand her insecurities. Feeling isolated and small because everything around her is better than what she has, knowing that whatever she does she will never achieve enough status not to be humiliated by others, makes me want to soothe her and cheer her up. After all, she's worth more than money.
She's smart and motivated. She proves it time and again at work, with her friend Cindy, and the decisions she makes regarding men. That's when the game begins. A mysterious stranger sends her a note asking for a private dare that she must accomplish, a very sensuous dare, and if she does, she will get rewarded in a very unusual, personalised way.
Wonderfully wicked, Sinful Rewards part I explores the topic of voyeurism. Where it may stem from, why it turns the female protagonist so much. It does this wrapped up in a story about a woman who struggles between what her mind wants and what her forbidden desires claim. It's the story of a woman caught between two choices and the two men who represent them. And what's a good girl to do when the reward for naughty behaviour is so sinfully good? ;o)