Bertrice Small, Private Pleasures

Private Pleasures

Bertrice Small

NAL, Jul 2004, $14.00, 224 pp.

ISBN: 0451212037

Forty-nine-years old Nora Buckley knows that her spouse Jeff is cheating on her. Already depressed she is shocked when her four Ainsley Court coffee mates inform her that Jeff has been on the prowl for years. Adding to her melancholy is that her daughter is starting law school and her son is graduating high school; Nora fears the empty nest of being alone. Instead of ire and depression, the fearsome foursome females suggest she go to the Channel to obtain the fantasy of her life. Nora heeds their advice and when she tries the Channel; Kyle and Rolf appear and star with her in her deepest sexual dreams.

When Jeff asks for a divorce Nora is so calm and so what about it, he becomes angry. He is even more stunned when she announces his lawyer will speak to her attorney about the divorce settlement. As Nora lives her most delightful sexual fantasies through the Channel, though it may not be real, she does not care as she now rediscovers the promise she had as a college student that she gave away to become Jeff's rug rat so many years ago.

This quad X tale should be dubbed The Cable Channel and Miss Jones (though the only devil is Jeff) as readers obtain a wild contemporary tale of sex and the rejected first wife club member. The story line is weird, but perhaps virtual reality and interactive TV will produce sex partners in a world in which cyber relationships are part of the norm. Though the story line lacks substance, fans of erotic erotica will enjoy this tale just keep the remote handy and not just to press buttons.

Harriet Klausner