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WORK TITLE: Her Naughty Holiday
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.tiffanyreisz.com/
CITY: Lexington
STATE: KY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.tiffanyreisz.com/about/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married Andrew Shaffer (an author).
EDUCATION:Centre College, B.A.; attended seminary school.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
AWARDS:RT Book Reviews Editor’s Choice Award for Best Erotic Romance of 2012, for Siren; Romance Writers of America RITA Award, 2015, for The Saint; RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence, 2016, for The Bourbon Thief.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
American author Tiffany Reisz writes erotic romance stand-alone novels and series books. Her first novel, Siren, appeared in 2012 and launched her popular “Original Sinners” series, which often features scenes of sadomasochism (S&M) and other taboos. In an interview with Joyce Lamb in USA Today Online, Reisz commented on her preparations to write that novel: “While doing research for The Siren, I had a session with a real live New York City dominatrix. She thought it was so cool that I was a writer she told all the other dommes at the dungeon about me. One of them is still a good friend!” Reisz wrote about the experience on the Huffington Post Web site, noting that she paid 120 dollars for a “beating and an orgasm” from a dominatrix, all in the spirit of verisimilitude. Once that novel, The Siren, was released, Reisz was pleased to report: “So far reviewers have applied the words, ‘un-PC,’ ‘shocking,’ ‘controversial,’ “subversive,’ and ‘blasphemous’ to it. But at least no one has called it ‘unrealistic.’ Mission accomplished.”
Reisz followed an atypical course to becoming a romance and erotica writer. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English, she attended a Southern seminary, as she reported in another Huffington Post Web log post: “Seminary and I looked very good together on paper—one who loves God and loves studying would, naturally, love the study of God, right? Alas I’d never been more miserable. I had a devout heart and a liberal brain, and I couldn’t get on board with the antichoice and homosexuality-is-a-sin theology.” There was also a prohibition against sex between the students, a caveat that led to Reisz finding her own sexual outlet by beginning to write erotica and posting it online. “My writing gave me a deep peace and a sort of satisfaction that contrasted sharply with my frustrations in seminary,” Reisz further noted in the Web log post. “I knew I had something.” As her writing improved and her online fan base grew, Reisz finally decided to drop out of the seminary and try to become a full-time writer. This choice has led her to write a score of novels and a number of novellas since that 2012 debut.
“ORIGINAL SINNERS” SERIES
The Siren features erotica writer Nora Sutherlin, who is taken on by demanding British editor Zach Easton, who thinks she is a trash writer. He only agrees to work with her if she rewrites the book in six weeks, a difficult task for Nora, who is a writer by day and a dominatrix by night. Into those six weeks are packed a great deal of sex, even an affair with a Catholic priest. “With a complex plot and scorching-hot BDSM [bondage, discipline, sadomasochism] scenes, The Siren should be required reading this fall,” commented online RT Book Reviews contributor Mandy Boles. A contributor to the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Web site was also impressed, noting: “The Siren is surprisingly light on sex, but heavy on kink, and it’s the most detailed look into S&M I’ve ever read. It’s also sharp and smart, and incredibly well-written.” Nora’s tale continues in The Angel, in which she is in hiding but not out of the game. “The detail in portraying BDSM culture makes this book a genre stand-out,” commented RT Book Reviews Web site writer Elisa Verna.
The Prince continues the series with Nora reuniting with her fantasy love, Wes Railey, yet all the while her real sadistic lover, Soren, keeps tugging at her heart strings. Verna dubbed this a “heart-pounding tale about secret pasts and new beginnings, with plenty of surprising twists,” on the RT Book Reviews Web site. The Mistress concludes the first part of the “Original Sinners” series, when Nora finds herself in handcuffs, the prisoner of two men whom she must entertain with tales of her past glories. Writing again on RT Book Reviews Web site, Verna observed: “Plenty of happy endings are provided, and Reisz finishes things off with a highly unexpected twist.”
The second part of the “Original Sinners” series begins with The Saint, which takes readers into Nora’s backstory, when she was a rebellious teenager named Eleanor and just learning about the world of pain and pleasure. Verna termed this an “intensely powerful, beautifully woven love story that is not for the faint of heart, yet approaches many taboos with grace,” on RT Book Reviews Web site. A minor character of the series, Kingsley, gets his own book in The King, “everything I hoped it would be and so much more,” according to an online Harlequin Junkie reviewer. “It wasn’t just about BDSM, although it definitely had its fair share of racy scenes. This book was a chance to get to know a larger-than-life character and have copious amounts of fun doing so.” Eleanor is on the run from both Kingsley and Soren in The Virgin, an installment that “provides more juicy … backstory,” according to online RT Book Reviews contributor Verna. In the concluding novel of the series, The Queen, Reisz shows how the relationship between Nora and Soren became a reality in a “knockout ending to her beloved series,” as Verna commented on the online RT Book Reviews.
STAND-ALONE NOVELS
Reisz has also written somewhat tamer romance novels, including three holiday-themed works for Harlequin Blazes: Her Halloween Treat, Her Naughty Holiday, and One Hot December. Reviewing the second of those, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted, “Reisz’s fast-paced contemporary has everything anybody might want in a Thanksgiving romance.”
In The Bourbon Thief, Reisz delivers a “mash-up of suspense and thriller, mystery and romance,” as she noted in an online Under the Covers interview. “There’s even a marriage of convenience plot, but it’s not a romance and it’s not erotica. It’s a very Kentucky story. Scandal and bourbon, sex and revenge!” A young woman named Paris is caught while trying to steal a million-dollar bottle of bourbon from wealthy Duncan McQueen. Now she must play Scheherazade, telling Duncan the twisted tale of Red Thread Bourbon and the Maddox clan. “Paris’ story is certainly compelling,” noted Booklist reviewer Carolyn Kubisz, who further observed that “Reisz fills the narrative with rich historic details.”
Reisz again deals in history, mystery, and romance in The Night Mark, in which Faye Barlow attempts to reconstruct her life after the death of her husband. She takes a commission photographing the coast of South Carolina and finds the unexpected in the Bride Island lighthouse and its legend of the Lady of the Light. “In her quest to find some semblance of normalcy, [Faye] never expected to find hope, love, and purpose in the form of a ninety-four–year–old lighthouse,” noted Leona Woolfolk on the RT Book Reviews Web site. An online Harlequin Junkie reviewer also had praise, commenting: “It was a pleasure to read about a love as strong and true as Faye’s was, with the ability to stand the test of time. Tiffany Reisz certainly delivered a romance that both soared and felt grounded while delving into the fascinating history of South Carolina in the early 1920s.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, June 1, 2016, Carolyn Kubisz, review of The Bourbon Thief, p. 56.
BookPage July, 2016, author interview, p. 13.
Library Journal, December 1, 2016, Kristin Ramsdell, review of One Hot December, p. 78.
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2016, review of Her Naughty Holiday, p. 60.
ONLINE
Harlequin Junkie, http://harlequinjunkie.com/ (November 29, 2014), review of The Siren; (December 2, 2014), review of The King; (April 3, 2015), review of The Virgin; (October 26, 2015), review of The Queen; (October 21, 2016), review of Her Naughty Holiday; (March 23, 2017), review of The Night Mark.
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ (August 14, 2012), Tiffany Reisz, “How to Research an Erotic Novel for Under $150–Flogging Included;” (September 20, 2012), Tiffany Reisz, “You Can Take the Smut-Peddler Out of the Seminary but You Can’t Take the Seminary Out of the Smut-Peddler.”
RT Book Reviews, https://www.rtbookreviews.com/ (June 6, 2017), Leona Woolfolk, review of The Night Mark, One Hot December, Her Naughty Holiday, and Her Halloween Treat; Elisa Verna, review of The Bourbon Thief, The Green, The Virgin, The King, The Saint, The Mistress, The Prince, and The Angel; Mandy Boles, review of The Siren.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ (April 24, 2014), review of The Siren; (July 24, 2015), review of The Saint.
Smexy Books, http://smexybooks.com/ (September 25, 2012), review of The Angel; (November 19, 2012), review of The Prince; (July 31, 2013), review of The Mistress; (September 22, 2016), review of Her Halloween Treat; (November 2, 2016), review of Her Naughty Holiday.
Smut Book Junkie, https://smutbookjunkie.com/ (November 11, 2014), review of The King; (March 31, 2015), review of The Virgin.
Tiffany Reisz Home Page, http://www.tiffanyreisz.com (June 6, 2017).
Under the Covers, http://www.underthecoversbookblog.com/ (June 27, 2016), author interview.
USA Today Online, http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/ (June 28, 2016), Joyce Lamb, author interview.
Tiffany Reisz is the author of the internationally bestselling and award-winning Original Sinners series for Mira Books (Harlequin/Mills & Boon). Tiffany's books inhabit a sexy shadowy world where romance, erotica and literature meet and do immoral and possibly illegal things to each other. She describes her genre as "literary friction," a term she stole from her main character, who gets in trouble almost as often as the author herself. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, author Andrew Shaffer, and two cats. If she couldn't write, she would die.
CONTACT
Literary Agent: Sara Megibow (KT Literary)
Publisher: Harlequin (USA/Canada - Australia/New Zealand - France) • HarperCollins (Sweden) • Mira Taschenbücher (Germany) • Mills & Boon (UK) • Newton Compton (Italy) • HarperCollins Italy (Italy) • 8th Circle Press (worldwide)
Social Media: Facebook • Twitter • Wattpad • Radish • Instagram • Goodreads
Press Kit • Photos and Cover Images
Reviews, Awards, and Quotes • Bibliography
Teaching and Mentoring: The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Lexington, KY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
THE ORIGINAL SINNERS SERIES
Question: What order should I read your books in?
Answer: The full-length Original Sinners novels are, in order:
The Red Years: 1) The Siren 2) The Angel 3) The Prince 4) The Mistress
The White Years: 5) The Saint 6) The King 7) The Virgin 8) The Queen
Do not read The White Years before reading The Red Years books first, otherwise you will not know who some vital characters are. The White Years are not 100% prequels—they continue the storyline after the end of The Mistress.
The novellas and free short stories can be read in any order but they do contain spoilers. I would suggest reading all the big books first in their proper order.
Buy links and pre-order links can be found on the books page.
Question: The Queen isn't really the end, is it?
Answer: The Queen is the last of the White Years novels. This doesn't mean there won't be additional short stories or novellas, but it's the last full-length Original Sinners novel...for now.
Question: When will there be an Original Sinners movie?
Answer: I have a film agent who takes my books to meetings with movie studios. If the movie studio decides they like the books and think they'll make good movies, they might buy the film and/or TV rights.
Then it takes a miracle, divine intervention, the hand of God itself coming down and touching your book to get it turned into a movie or TV series.
So the reason my books are not movies are because I don't own a movie studio, and no one who does own a movie studio has bought the film rights to any of my books yet.
Will this ever happen? Probably not. Romance writer Debbie Macomber had over 200 books published before she got a television series. Can lightning strike? Could I win the Hollywood lottery? Maybe. But again, probably not. But here's the thing--if I wanted my stories to be movies, I would write screenplays, not novels.
If you're dying to see the Original Sinners on screen, the best thing you can do as a reader is to get more people to read the books, buy the books, and talk about the books. Otherwise, don't sweat it. I didn't get into this gig to be in movies. I write novels because I love writing novels. A movie or TV series would be a thin layer of icing on a very delicious cake.
Question: When will The Confession of Marcus Stearns novella be released?
Answer: This novella was released as a print-only giveaway at the RT Booklovers Convention in 2014. It is now available as part of the paperback and ebook collection The Confessions from 8th Circle Press.
Question: You mentioned in a blog post that the Red Years books were going to be re-released in the US with new covers and bonus material.
Answer: The original plan was to reprint them w/ the new covers and bonus stories, but that is on hold indefinitely. In the meantime, Mira has updated the ebook covers to match the White Years.
Question: I saw someone wearing an Original Sinner T-shirt. Where can I get one?
Answer: At the Original Sinners Zazzle store!
Question: Whatever happened to the Original Sinners graphic novel announced in 2013?
Answer: Unfortunately, it's been cancelled.
Question: Are your characters based on real life people?
Answer: Zach Easton was inspired by Jason Isaacs. Wes was inspired by a close friend and an ex-boyfriend who was a type-one diabetic. Griffin was inspired by a friend in the kink community. Søren is based on God. Everyone else is a figment of my sick, dark imagination.
EBOOKS
Question: I don't have an e-reader! How can I read your ebook-only novellas?
Answer: Using an ebook app, you can read ebooks on smartphones, iPads, and even on your computer. Check the website of the retailer offering the ebooks you want for further information on downloading their app or reading the ebooks online.
Question: When will your ebook-only novellas be in paperback?
Answer: Most ebook-only stories are published as ebooks because they're too short to appear on their own in print. Occasionally, an ebook-only novella will be included in a print anthology (The Gift/Seven Day Loan is available in 12 Shades of Surrender and the Australia-only Absolution, for instance).
ABOUT TIFFANY
Question: How do you pronounce "Reisz"?
Answer: RICE, like the food.
Question: Where do you live?
Answer: Lexington, Kentucky.
Question: I heard you were a nun.
Answer: Nope. I did go to a conservative southern seminary, but dropped out to write. You can read about my journey from seminary student to erotica writer at The Huffington Post.
Question: I also heard you were a Dominatrix.
Answer: More lies! I visited a Dominatrix, though—and you can also read about that at The Huffington Post.
Question: Do you answer your own e-mails?
Answer: Yes! Although it can take up to three months for me to respond. I reply to every e-mail except for e-mails that contain nudity (i.e. don't send me naked pics of yourself or anyone else—I have the Internet after all).
Question: What is your writing process?
Answer: I don't write everyday. Don't listen to people who say you should write every single day. Sometimes you take a week off to read. Sometimes you take a week off to go to Miami and sit on a beach and dream new ideas. That's all fine. But when I'm writing a book, I write like a motherfucker.
9-10am WAKE UP AND EAT BREAKFAST
10-12am TWEET AND ANSWER EMAILS
1pm LUNCH
2-6pm WRITE - Since moving to Portland I write at a park near our house that has a quiet meditation space. No WiFi there so I can get a ton of writing done. I've written 6000 words in a three hour span before. There's something magical about having absolutely no access to the internet and I can finish a 110,000 word draft in six weeks. Then I give it to four to six beta readers and make changes based on their notes. I'll send the final first draft to my editor. Six months later she gets it back to me with her suggestions. I make most of her suggestions plus do my own changes, which are usually extensive. The difference between the first final draft of The Saint and the final printed draft of The Saint is about 40%. Nico wasn't in the first final, neither were the ashes or the frame story. The first final was 136,000 words long. The print version is 118,000 words long. I do massive revisions on every book, and if I don't I feel like I've missed something.
Writing is so much more than typing. The story isn't perfectly formed in your head. You're not taking dictation from on high (although sometimes it can feel like that and those are the rare beautiful days when writing is a better high than any drug out there). You have to dig it out like you're digging out dinosaur bones. You lay the bones out, and then and only then do you know what sort of dinosaur you have. Then you get the wire and the glue and you can put the skeleton together to make something awesome. For every 10,000 words I write, maybe 5,000 get published. I delete a lot. I rewrite constantly. I am never married to anything in a draft until it's in print. I deleted my favorite chapter from The King because it doesn't fit into the new plot. C'est la guerre, as Kingsley would say. The new version will be better than the old. The old saying "The good is the enemy of the best" applies to your drafts. You might have a good scene, yes. But if you're willing to rethink, delete, and rewrite, you could have a better scene.
Years ago I asked my favorite professor at my alma mater Centre College if he thought another student was going to make it as a writer. My professor (Dr. Mark Lucas) said yes, he thought so because that student threw a lot away. That's the sign of a real writer, he said, not being too attached to your own words.
That student and I are now both international bestselling writers with major publishers. The best thing a writer who wants to make it big can do is be merciless with his or her own writing. Never settle for the good. Write for the best. Fight for the best.
Question: Can I send you a __________ in the mail?
Answer: In lieu of gifts, please donate to your local homeless shelter.
Question: When will you do a signing in my city?
Answer: Watch the tour page! If you don't see your city or country on the tour list, please don't take it personally. Writers almost always have to pay for their own book tours, and most locations outside of a day's driving distance are usually outside of the budget. If you want me to come to your town, ask your local bookstore if they're willing to organize a signing.
Question: Will you come to my book festival or conference?
Answer: Due to the number of requests received, I mostly attend conferences and festivals where expenses are paid by promoters.
PUBLICITY AND REVIEWS
Question: I'm a book blogger. Where can I find review copies of your books?
Answer: Book bloggers may access advance copies through NetGalley.
Question: Do you have a headshot or high-resolution images of your covers?
Answer: Yes—check out the press kit here.
Question: Who is your publicist?
Answer: Shara Alexander at Harlequin Mira (Shara_Alexander @ harlequin.ca).
Question: I'm a librarian. Where can I find trade journal reviews of your books?
Answer: Here's a link to Publishers Weekly and RT Book Reviews reviews.
OTHER
Question: When will your books be translated into ____________?
Answer: Translations generally take at least a year from the date of English-language publication. Links for translated editions (including Italian, French, German, and Japanese) can be found here.
Question: Will you read my unpublished novel/short story? Can you introduce me to an agent or editor?
Answer: Unfortunately, no. Check with your local library or bookstore to see if there are critique or workshopping groups in your area. Additionally, you may want to check out RWA.org (Romance Writers of America) to see if there's a local chapter in your city.
Question: Will you blurb my book?
Answer: Due to time constraints—writing and revising two novels a year takes time!—I don't have time to respond to requests for blurbs.
Question: Where can I purchase signed books?
Answer: For a limited time, Jan's Paperbacks in Aloha, Oregon is selling signed copies online. Otherwise, unless you can attend a signing, your best bet is to e-mail me your address and request a signed bookplate. Bookplates are stickers that you can then put in the front of your books. When e-mailing (manservant@tiffanyreisz.com), be sure to include the number of bookplates you need. Don't forget to include your name!
Tiffany Reisz
Tiffany Reisz
Follow
Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, author Andrew Shaffer.
If she couldn't write, she would die.
www.tiffanyreisz.com/storytime
twitter.com/tiffanyreisz
TIFFANY REISZ
Website:
http://www.tiffanyreisz.com
2016 – Series Romance winner
2016 – Mainstream Fiction nominee
2016 – Rt Book Of The Year nominee
QUOTE:
While doing research for The Siren, I had a session with a real live New York City dominatrix. She thought it was so cool that I was a writer she told all the other dommes at the dungeon about me. One of them is still a good friend!
Interview: Tiffany Reisz, author of ‘The Bourbon Thief’
212
SHARES
By: Joyce Lamb | June 28, 2016 12:00 am
Tiffany Reisz (Photo: Andrew Shaffer)
Tiffany Reisz (Photo: Andrew Shaffer)
Joyce: Welcome back to HEA, Tiffany! Please tell us a bit about your new release, The Bourbon Thief.
Tiffany: The Bourbon Thief is a dark and twisty Southern Gothic tale of family secrets, bourbon, and revenge. It’s set in Kentucky and split between the years 1978, 1980 and 2015. Don’t worry — you don’t have to drink bourbon to enjoy the book but you might want a shot or two by the end. It’s not a romance novel although it has a romance in it.
Joyce: What inspires your book ideas?
Tiffany: They come from everywhere and nowhere. The Bourbon Thief came from one line that hit me one day while I was on a beach — “A groom for a groom.” I wanted to write a book where a lowly horse groom ends up married to the rich heiress he worked for. It took some wild turns from that initial idea.
Joyce: Is there anything interesting that’s happened to you while doing research for a book?
Tiffany: While doing research for The Siren, I had a session with a real live New York City dominatrix. She thought it was so cool that I was a writer she told all the other dommes at the dungeon about me. One of them is still a good friend!
Joyce: Do you have any particular rituals that help you get into the writing frame of mind?
Tiffany: I don’t need rituals or anything special to write, but I do have a chair and a little desk by the window that looks out on a tree-covered mountainside and I do a lot of my best writing there. I love watching the trees change color when the sun sets. It’s a very peaceful place to write very turbulent tales.
Joyce: Who are three romance authors who turn you into a fangirl?
Tiffany: I can’t say no to a Mary Balogh marriage-of-convenience novel. Amanda Quick is a joy. Julie Garwood is my romance novel queen.
Joyce: Is there a TV show that you’ve recently binge-watched?
Tiffany: Key & Peele! So funny. So so soooooooo funny. Just brilliant comics.
Joyce: What’s your favorite snack and/or beverage while you’re writing?
Tiffany: A big bowl of grapes and strawberries or Greek yogurt. Gotta support Chobani. Their CEO (Hamdi Ulukaya) is one of my business heroes.
Joyce: Do you have a pet that hangs out with you while you’re working?
Honeytost keeps watch over mom Tiffany Reisz.
Honeytost keeps watch over mom Tiffany Reisz.
Tiffany: My little Honeytost kitty cat likes to sit on me or with me while I’m writing. She’s so sad and pitiful and cute!
Joyce: What would be your dream vacation?
Tiffany: One month in a beach house on Tybee Island (Georgia) with nothing to do but read, read, read every single day.
Joyce: What’s coming next?
Tiffany: The last book I wrote is an erotic/pornographic novel called The Red about a woman who owns a struggling art gallery and the mysterious man who offers to save it from bankruptcy in exchange for her agreeing to submit to him sexually for one year. I’ve also written three holiday-themed Harlequin Blazes that will come out this autumn — Her Halloween Treat (September), Her Naughty Holiday (October), and One Hot December (November). I’m taking a break before starting to write my next book. As I have written four books already this year, I think I’ve earned a break. And a drink! Pass the bourbon!
Joyce: Yes, you’ve definitely earned a break. 🙂
Thanks, Tiffany!
The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany ReiszAbout The Bourbon Thief:
A family with bourbon in its blood, and blood on its hands
When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it’s to discover he’s been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it’s property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris.
In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.
Find out more at TiffanyReisz.com.
QUOTE:
The book is a mashup of suspense and thriller, mystery and romance. There’s even a marriage of convenience plot, but it’s not a romance and it’s not erotica. It’s a very Kentucky story. Scandal and bourbon, sex and revenge!
INTERVIEW WITH TIFFANY REISZ
POSTED JUNE 27, 2016 BY UNDER THE COVERS BOOK BLOG IN FEATURED AUTHORS, INTERVIEWS / 5 COMMENTS
« ARC Review: The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz
ARC Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White »
tiffanyreiszinterview
Welcome back to Under the Covers, Tiffany! Now that you’ve wrapped up your Original Sinners series, you’ve changed genres a little bit with THE BOURBON THIEF. Can you please tell us what makes THE BOURBON THIEF different from what you’ve written before?
THE BOURBON THIEF is categorized as mainstream fiction although there’s never anything very mainstream about anything I write. The book is a mashup of suspense and thriller, mystery and romance. There’s even a marriage of convenience plot, but it’s not a romance and it’s not erotica. It’s a very Kentucky story. Scandal and bourbon, sex and revenge!
What inspired you to write this story?
After I wrote THE HEADMASTER, which is a Gothic romance, I felt a strong urge to write another Gothic book. I’d already written Kentucky books about horses. What’s more Kentucky than bourbon? So I had this idea for a book about a spoiled teenaged bourbon heiress and her quest for revenge after being betrayed by her family.
It’s very evident that a lot of work went into this book. What type of research did you have to do to write this book, if any at all?
I wrote THE BOURBON THIEF two years ago and spent most of one long summer reading everything I could about bourbon and Kentucky history. Plus I visited a lot of distilleries and always asked the tour guides to tell me fun stories. One tour guide mentioned that during Prohibition, only four of all of Kentucky’s bourbon distillieries were allowed to stay in operation. Why did they stay open? Because bourbon was being prescribed as “medicine.” Sure, right. Medicine.
Tell us a bit about Paris. She’s a fabulous character!
Paris is my storyteller in this book. She’s intimately connected to the story she’s telling but you don’t know how intimately until the end of the book. I loved Paris—she’s a sort of femme fatale but with a good heart. She has inherited both money and a very heavy burden of history which she carries with grace and determination.
What would you say was the biggest challenge you encountered while writing this book? How did you overcome it?
The book didn’t want to be written. Originally it was all in her hero’s POV. Then I rewrote it in the heroine’s POV. Then I rewrote it in both. I overthought it before I started writing it and I had to throw several drafts out to finally get it right. But that’s the job!
What’s next for Tiffany Reisz?
Three romance novels! I wrote a trilogy of Harlequin Blaze holiday books coming out this autumn. Read all about them right here! http://www.tiffanyreisz.com/storytime/men-at-work-a-harlequin-blaze-holiday-trilogy-from-tiffany-reisz
QUOTE:
Seminary and I looked very good together on paper—one who loves God and loves studying would, naturally, love the study of God, right? Alas I’d never been more miserable. I had a devout heart and a liberal brain, and I couldn’t get on board with the anti-choice and homosexuality-is-a-sin theology.
My writing gave me a deep peace and a sort of satisfaction that contrasted sharply with my frustrations in seminary. I knew I had something.
THE BLOG 09/20/2012 10:24 am ET | Updated Nov 20, 2012
You Can Take the Smut-Peddler Out of the Seminary but You Can’t Take the Seminary Out of the Smut-Peddler
By Tiffany Reisz
What do you get when you send an over-educated pervert to a conservative seminary? Sounds like the set-up to a joke. And perhaps it was a joke, me in seminary. Not that there’s anything wrong with going to seminary. I’m a semi-devout Catholic who loves reading the works of G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Merton, and Rowan Williams (the Archbishop of Canterbury—don’t judge me). It should come as no surprise then that I once spent several years working toward a Master’s in Theology. Well, it might surprise you given my current career choice. I’m an erotica writer of the BDSM variety. And yes, I do my own research.
God have mercy.
Like most teenagers, the only God I believed in was my own smug self. But in college I fell madly passionately in love with two men whose names both started with J. J #1 introduced me to J #2—Jesus. Although fascinated by religion all my life, I’d never had the proverbial “personal relationship” with God. Once I started attending church with my boyfriend, I started to see the appeal of the Christian faith. There was something so profoundly beautiful about Christ on the cross...His one perfect sacrifice that forced everyone who looked upon to ask himself, “Would I submit to that for someone I loved? Even if that someone was the one pounding in the nails?” Christ humbled me which might be proof enough he is a miracle-worker.
For all that newfound devotion, I never ceased to be my usual irascible self. The J who introduced me to Jesus bore little resemblance to his supposed God. Where Christ seemed the epitome of forgiveness and loving-kindness especially to fallen women, my boyfriend had a bad habit of demanding perfection of everyone but himself. God’s love and blessings were for him while judgment was reserved for me. Even my Anne Rice novels were proof I wasn’t the perfect girl for him. Boyfriend J went by the wayside. But Jesus Christ, him I decided to stick with.
I stuck with him so much that a favorite professor of mine suggested I attend seminary. The church needed more female professors in its schools. And I thought Dr. Tiffany Reisz had a rather nice ring to it. Other women my age were determined to get their MRS degree. I wanted my Ph.D.
Seminary and I looked very good together on paper—one who loves God and loves studying would, naturally, love the study of God, right? Alas I’d never been more miserable. I had a devout heart and a liberal brain, and I couldn’t get on board with the anti-choice and homosexuality-is-a-sin theology. My professors were fairly free-thinking, but my fellow students were of the borderline fundamentalist variety. I had one friend who felt equally out of place at school and could hardly restrain her anger when she was told her love of Bridget Jones movies was a sign her heart wasn’t right with God. We commiserated over out sense of being entirely out of place over ice cream and episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
My friend and I had each other and we had books. We also had the Internet. And one night my friend sent me an erotic story she found online and said it was the sexiest thing she’d ever read. I read it. Not bad but I told her I could write something hotter with my eyes closed. After all, single students at my school, despite being legal adults, weren’t allowed to have sex. That would be fornication after all. Any sexual activity had to be reserved for marriage. I didn’t even have a boyfriend so I found a useful loophole. I could have sex on paper. I wrote my first story over Spring Break—a 9000 word explosion of borderline rape and erotic violence and posted it on the Internet. A handful of people loved it. I added a chapter. More people loved it. I wrote a whole book. Hundreds of people loved it. I wrote another one and people started sending me gifts and naming their cats after my characters.
My writing gave me a deep peace and a sort of satisfaction that contrasted sharply with my frustrations in seminary. I knew I had something. Not a day passed that someone didn’t comment on a story or email me to tell me how much they loved my writing style, my dialogue, my sense of humor. Sure, they loved the sex scenes but the stories themselves were what they came back for again and again, hounding me for more and more words. I didn’t have time to work on a Master’s degree and write fiction. I had to pick one or the other.
Christ have mercy.
There’s a line from the movie Chariots of Fire that has always stuck with me. The main character, Christian runner Eric is trying to describe why he runs. “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
I asked myself, when do I feel God’s pleasure in me? I certainly never felt it in Greek class banging my head against the wall over the Koine words. But I did feel it when I wrote a perfect sentence or put a vicious cliffhanger chapter ending into place. God had given me a gift and it would have been a sin not to use it.
I dropped out of seminary, got a full-time job, moved into a friend’s closet and started to write a new book. And into this book I poured my sexual frustrations, my theological convictions, my love of Christ, my hatred of the religious hypocrisy that divided all the women of the world into the categories of virgin or whore. This book would eventually become THE SIREN, a work that has more symbolic religious content in it than The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. THE SIREN released in late July to the best reviews my publisher has seen in years. If the subsequent books do as well as the first there’s a good chance I’ll be able to fulfill a long-standing dream of mine...returning to school to finish my Master’s in Theology.
Lord have mercy.
Tiffany Reisz, author of THE SIREN and THE ANGEL, lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats (one good, one evil). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College, and dropped out of a conservative Southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. She has five piercings and one tattoo. She has only been arrested twice.
QUOTE:
beating and an orgasm.
So far reviewers have applied the words, “un-PC,” “shocking,” “controversial,” “subversive,” and “blasphemous” to it. But at least no one has called it “unrealistic.”
Mission accomplished.
THE BLOG 08/14/2012 12:50 pm ET | Updated Oct 14, 2012
How to Research an Erotic Novel for Under $150—Flogging Included
By Tiffany Reisz
In New York City, a $120 can’t buy you a lot—20 frappuccinos at Starbucks, six hours at a cheap hotel, or seven seconds of decent parking in Manhattan. Last June I discovered $120 could buy me a beating and an orgasm. As a woman, I don’t usually have to pay for my orgasms. But I’m an erotica writer and I was on a mission—find a dominatrix in New York City and let her kick my ass.
The main character in my book series THE ORIGINAL SINNERS is a woman named Nora Sutherlin. She’s an erotica writer by day and a Dominatrix by night. I’ve done kink for years but only in the privacy of the bedroom. I’d submitted to sadists and dominants, even topped a time or two. I had all I needed by way of personal experience to write my male characters—my sexy sadistic anti-hero and a whole cadre of Underground kinksters. What I needed, however, was first-hand knowledge of what paying for pain entailed. So while in NYC for The Romance Writers of America Conference, of all things, I made a date with a Dominatrix.
In the state of New York, exchanging pain for money is blessedly legal so finding a Dominatrix only required a quick Google search. I found a dungeon that advertised online. Their mission statement reads, “We believe that a submissive, masochistic, and/or fetish-inclined gentleman should receive a good session with an attractive skilled domina possessing a proper fetish wardrobe, in a safe and clean facility for a reasonable fee.” I didn’t really qualify under the “gentlemen” rubric but I thought they’d make an exception for a writer on a mission. Two dominatrixes were on staff that night according to the online calendar. I could pick either one. My fictional Mistress Nora is petite. I like to put big personalities into small packages. The dungeon’s website included pictures and bios of the dominatrixes on staff. One of the ladies stood almost six-feet-tall. I picked the five-foot-three shrimp, Mistress J.
A friend escorted me to the dungeon’s location. After getting buzzed in, I took an elevator to the seventh floor (not everyone keeps their dungeon in the basement). As soon as the elevator opened, I was greeted by Mistress J. She wore exactly what you imagine a dominatrix would wear plus perfectly coifed Bettie Page-esque hair and the reddest lipstick in the entire history of the color red. Once inside the dungeon, I was instructed to pay upfront. We discussed what I was looking for. I told her “pain and bruises.” “I knew I liked you,” Mistress J said. “A lot of my clients don’t let me leave marks. They can’t show their wives.” As a matter of safety, I was instructed to take all my clothes off to prove I wasn’t packing my own riding crop (or gun or knife) before leaving me alone again for a minute to prepare myself.
During that minute alone, I forced myself to relax through deep breathing. But I didn’t merely breathe and go Zen. $120 had only bought me half an hour and I wasn’t about to waste a second. In my book, I describe Mistress Nora’s dungeon. Having never seen one before, I could only use my imagination. Luckily I have a very good imagination. Rows of riding crops, coiled rope, single-tail whips, and floggers lined the room. A huge leather table with spikes around the edge lined one side of the room. On the opposite wall hung a massive mirror. In front of the mirror sat a leather kneeler like one would see at an old-school Catholic church.
When Mistress J returned, she tied me up with my arms crossed behind my back, bent me over the kneeler and proceeded to flog and cane me. There might have been paddling too, but it’s all a blur now. One quickly forgets one is on a mission of credibility when one is getting one’s ass kicked by a tiny goddess of sadism.
After the beating ceased, I was lead to a hulking wood and leather throne, bound tight to it with my legs open wide. With the world’s most powerful vibrator, I had the world’s quickest orgasm. Blissed out, sore, and tired, I got dressed, tipped Mistress J a Jackson, and grinned like an idiot for the next four hours. Over a week later, I still had the bruises.
On May 1st, my first full-length novel THE SIREN came out in ebook. It releases on August 1st, in paperback. So far reviewers have applied the words, “un-PC,” “shocking,” “controversial,” “subversive,” and “blasphemous” to it. But at least no one has called it “unrealistic.”
Mission accomplished.
Meet Tiffany Reisz
BookPage. (July 2016): p13.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 BookPage
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Q: What's the title of your new book?
The Bourbon Thief Q: Describe the book in one sentence.
It's a dark & twisty tale of family secrets, bourbon, and revenge.
REVENEGE!
Q: What events from bourbon history inspired this novel?
The historic 1978 Kentucky River flood kicks off the story. A distillery employee told me of the time he waded through chest high water. Rats swam for their lives around him.
Q: How much drinking did you do for "research"?
NOT.
NEARLLY.
ENOUGH.
It's for "research" OK?!
Q: What's one thing everyone should know about a Kentucky girl?
We don't all ride horses and drink bourbon daily. Just most of us.
Q: What's your guilty pleasure?
Lying on author Q&As.
Q: Words to live by?
The minute they try to civilize you, light out for the territory!
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE BOURBON THIEF The author of the popular (and sexy) Original Sinners series, Tiffany Reisz takes a new turn with The Bourbon Thief (MIRA, $15.99, 384 pages, ISBN 9780778319429), a Southern gothic saga of scandal and lies swirling around a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. A Kentucky native who studied theology before becoming a writer, Reisz now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her boyfriend and two cats.
All those perfect flaws
Kristin Ramsdell
Library Journal. 141.20 (Dec. 1, 2016): p78.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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When it comes to romance personae, especially our heroines and heroes, is it truly their perfection that we admire? Be honest now. Do readers really like--let alone identify with--characters who are so perfect one can find nothing wrong with them, who don't have anything to improve upon or fix, or who have no room to grow? Frankly, it's the flaws that make these protagonists come alive and make us want to get to know them better. Their imperfections might be as ordinary as the need to wear glasses, as traumatic and difficult to handle as a rare disability, or anything in between. Most interesting characters have their faults--you could even say it's those flaws that make them perfect.
[...]
Reisz, Tiffany. One Hot December. Harlequin Blaze. (Men at Work, Bk. 3). Dec. 2016.224p. ISBN 9780373799244. pap. $5.50; ebk. ISBN 9781488000454. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Veronica "Flash" Redding, skilled, self-sufficient, and a top-notch welder and metal sculptor artist, is as independent as they come--but when she crosses the line and has a one-night stand with her boss, construction company vice president and COO Ian Asher, she gives notice and prepares to walk. Ian has never forgotten that night, and he's not about to let her go. He plays his trump card--a vintage iron fireplace screen that needs repair at his mountain chalet--hoping it's an offer Flash can't pass up. Sensual, smart, and hilarious, this engaging, fast-paced read touches on class and Jewish cultural issues as it delivers a heartwarming, engaging read. VERDICT An independent heroine who's not about to let any man control her and a hero determined to convince her that they belong together singe the pages in the last of Reisz's blazing holiday trilogy; sure to make fans rejoice. Reisz {Her Naughty Holiday) lives in Lexington, KY.
QUOTE:
Reisz's fast-paced contemporary has everything anybody might want in a Thanksgiving romance.
Her Naughty Holiday
Publishers Weekly. 263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p60.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
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* Her Naughty Holiday
Tiffany Reisz. Harlequin, $5.50 mass market (224p) ISBN 978-0-373-79920-6
Reisz's fast-paced contemporary has everything anybody might want in a Thanksgiving romance. She crafts credible, fun characters, drops them in Mount Hood, Wash., and gives them comfortably familiar holiday problems to tackle in their unique way. Clover's Greenery owner Clover Greene has been too busy literally growing her business to bother with men. Erick Fields is a tool-belt hero who's had a crush on Clover ever since she consented to hire his 17-year-old purple-haired daughter, Ruthie, despite the teen's criminal past. Clover doesn't notice Erick's interest until the whole Greene clan decides to take advantage of Clover's hospitality. Invited or not, they're coming for Thanksgiving dinner. Now she needs to produce both a turkey and a boyfriend that will keep her meddlesome family satisfied. The eponymous naughtiness ensues after Erick volunteers to play the role of boyfriend--to the hilt. Rita-winner Reisz (the Original Sinners series) throws in plenty of sex and just enough tension, charm, and passive-aggressive family banter to make for delicious, festive R-rated fun. (Oct.)
QUOTE:
Paris' story is certainly compelling
Reisz fills the narrative with rich historic details
The Bourbon Thief
Carolyn Kubisz
Booklist. 112.19-20 (June 1, 2016): p56.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
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The Bourbon Thief. By Tiffany Reisz. July 2016. 368p. MIRA, paper, $15.99 (9780778319429).
When Paris gets caught trying to steal a million-dollar bottle of bourbon from Duncan McQueen, the richest man in Kentucky, the only way she'll be able to walk out with it is by convincing McQueen that it is rightfully hers. This kicks off the dramatic, often sordid tale of Red Thread Bourbon, from its shady beginnings during the last days of the Civil War to the conflagration that put the Maddox family's distillery out of business. Through Paris, erotica and romance author Reisz recounts all the evils perpetrated by the bourbon clan, exposing the truth about the men and women who built their empire and made their fortune on slavery, lies, rape, incest, and murder. Paris' story is certainly compelling, but is it convincing enough for McQueen to allow her to walk free, along with a priceless bottle of bourbon? Reisz fills the narrative with rich historic details; memorable, if vile, characters; and enough surprises to keep the plot moving and readers hooked until the final drop of bourbon is spilled.--Carolyn Kubisz
Review: Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz
November 2, 2016 By Mandi 3 Comments
29568772-1
Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz (Men at Work #2)
Released: November 1, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
I really enjoyed Her Halloween Treat last month, so was eager to head into a Thanksgiving holiday romance with, Her Naughty Holiday. This book presents a fake boyfriend trope, which usually annoys me but it ended up working very well for me. Clover asks Erik to be her fake boyfriend to get her family off her back, but they pretty much fall in love before the fake-scene has to happen, so they are truly in love and don’t really have to pretend.
Clover started her own plant nursery business from scratch, and now has two locations and a five million dollar sale offer she is contemplating. She loves her work so much, and isn’t sure if she is ready to sell her baby, but all of that money would be really nice too. Her assistant is a seventeen year old girl named Ruthie. Ruthie is very outspoken, one with nature, and has a hot dad.
“I have lived all my life under the cuse of the Sexy Single Dad. My own friends check him out. It’s so gross.”
Clover has spent the past year checking out Erik, but since she is so close with Ruthie, she would never jeopardize that friendship. But when Ruthie leaves to visit her mom for Thanksgiving, it leaves one-on-one time with Erik. Clover’s family is disappointed that at the age of thirty, she is still single and childless. Instead of being proud of her business accomplishments, they nag her constantly on her personal life. When she learns Erik will be alone for Thanksgiving, she asks him if he would be her fake boyfriend, just to survive dinner with her parents and siblings.
Erik is thirty-eight and owns his own cedar decking company. He finds Clover hot, even if she wears turtlenecks and long pants, all year round.
“You’re a little reserved.”
“Reserved? Me?” She sat up straighter, prim as a schoolmarm.
“Your lowest cut shirt is a turtleneck.”
“Is there something wrong with having a warm neck?”
“Not a damn thing.”
He definitely wants to be her fake boyfriend – but he also suggests the week leading up to Thanksgiving they should spend time together to get to know one another better – preferable naked. Now that Erik knows Clover is attracted to him, he has no qualms about coming out and saying he really wants to get to know her. They end up sleeping together on night one, and fall in love by night four. Their whirlwind romance worked for me. Also, he looks like Indiana Jones.
“Harrison Ford.”
“What? Where?” Erik glanced around the room.
“No, you. I was trying to figure out earlier who you reminded me of. You look like a young Harrison Ford. But with a beard.”
He lowered his head so that their lips were barely an inch apart and whispered two words to her.
“I know.”
Erik and Clover are very talkative. That might sound weird to say, but that was the first thing that came to my mind as I was reading. They talk a lot to each other. They don’t keep anything in – which is refreshing. Clover is somewhat shy, especially when it comes to sex. But they talk about it. Erik allows her to go at her own pace, but politely challenges her too, to try things that might take her out of her comfort zone. Erik is a very dirty talker in bed and Clover starts to look at him as a sexy beast, rather than just Ruthie’s dad. A lot of time is spent with them getting to know one another physically, and I liked that.
Erik is also there to support her when her ridiculously horrible family comes over.
I felt Clover and Erick’s relationship to be quite genuine, given the short time-frame.
Grade: B
REVIEW: Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz
Posted October 21st, 2016 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blaze, Blog, Harlequin Mills&Boon, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 4 comments
HJ_TopPick
Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz: After reading (and loving!) Tiffany-2Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz, the first in her holiday-themed romance series Men at Work, I was anxious to get my hands on Her Naughty Holiday. Set in the same tranquil and idyllic locale of lakeside Oregon, it’s a great follow up and just as delightful as the first story in the series.
Clover Greene runs a successful plant nursery operation. In fact, it’s so successful that she’s been offered a multi-million dollar buyout from a larger company, a decision she has to make at the same time as she’s dreading hosting her somewhat obnoxious family for Thanksgiving. Since they only seem interested in her love life and not the fact that she’s built her own business, she and her 17 year old employee Ruthie come up with a plan to have her present a fake boyfriend to the family for Thanksgiving dinner. Ruthie thinks hiring male escort ‘Sven’ would do the trick, but she’s a sneaky young woman and contrives to leave her phone behind when heading out on a week long holiday at her mother’s place out of state, conveniently meaning her single father will have to pick it up for her. Erick Fields loves his daughter dearly but can admit that a few days without her is a relief – especially when Clover confides in him their plan, and promptly asks Erick if he’d mind filling in as the fake boyfriend. Having had a crush on Clover since she hired his daughter a year ago, it’s no hardship to say yes, especially with the sparks of attraction bouncing between them. Giving in to temptation they quickly take advantage of his child free state for some steamy encounters. Could this Thanksgiving give them even more to be grateful for than either expected?
Just like in the first book in the series, the fun and witty banter holds center stage, right up there with some steamy sex scenes between the couple. Clover hasn’t had much experience with men, especially since she’s been running her business full time 7 days a week. But that hasn’t stopped her from side-eyeing her employee’s very handsome, rugged, hardworking contractor father (a fact that hasn’t escaped Ruthie’s notice). With the opportunity to let loose with a man who also hasn’t had much time for dating while dealing with his very energetic daughter, Erick makes her feel desired and appreciated. The banter doesn’t stop outside the bedroom door and indeed makes great fun of how messy and awkward sex can really be. They feel like real people experiencing the rush of sexual attraction and all that comes with it. In fact Clover has had a crush on Erick just like he had on her, so it’s no hardship for them to admit to each other that they are enjoying this interlude together, and want more. Also, Clover feels like she knows Erick already from the conversations she’s had with his daughter about him, and vice versa. The result is two people who know in a very short time that they have found someone special.
Clover’s relationship with her family unfortunately isn’t all that unique. With married siblings who already have children, and two college educated parents, Clover doesn’t seem to be able to do anything right in their eyes. Her parents are still smarting over the fact that she left college without a degree to work with her hands. They have no appreciation for the hard work and dedication she’s put in to build her successful business. Her siblings are no better, believing that she can’t be happy because she isn’t married with children. Erick rightly sees how truly insensitive and rude they are being to her from the first moment they walk in the door for their Thanksgiving dinner. But Erick’s faith and support in her gives Clover the strength to finally stand up for herself.
Erick’s daughter Ruthie has some scene stealing moments herself, as a precocious older teen with an attitude and a firm belief in the power of Mother Nature. She is definitely a unique character whose plan to get her boss and her father together finally comes to fruition. All in all, this is a story of family, laughter and sexy romantic love, complete with a slice of pumpkin pie.
QUOTE:
In her quest to find some semblance of normalcy, she never expected to find hope, love and purpose in the form of a 94-year-old lighthouse.
THE NIGHT MARK
Image of The Night Mark: A Novel
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
How to put into words just how beautifully written The Night Mark was? The Night Mark starts off in a way that you are so ready to stereotype its story, but something keeps you from committing to any assumptions, and it all has to do with Faye’s character. There will be times where you sort of loathe her because of her cold attitude toward almost anything, and yet your heart bleeds for her because of the journey she’s on. The author does an amazing job of being 100 percent transparent about any and all characters that happened upon the pages of this story, so there’s never a moment when you’ll wonder why someone does or says something. Faye’s life has been heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak, and you get to the point where you almost want to beg the author to put her out of her misery, but then hope surfaces in the midst of all of Faye’s pain … the lighthouse on Bride Island. You will find yourself falling in love with every character that Faye encounters, and you'll also find yourself torn with the direction of how the story is going. Throughout the entirety of The Night Mark, though, you’ll find yourself almost begging for a favorable outcome for Faye; you’ll wait with bated breath just to see in which direction the author will turn; and at the end you’ll find yourself not being able to go a minute without thinking of the journey and glorious storytelling of Tiffany Reisz.
After the murder of her first husband, Faye Barlow doesn’t know which way is up anymore, so taking a job taking pictures for a calendar in Beaufort, S.C., seems like as good a plan as any to jump start her life again. In her quest to find some semblance of normalcy, she never expected to find hope, love and purpose in the form of a 94-year-old lighthouse. (MIRA, Mar., 400 pp., $15.99)
Reviewed by:
Leona Woolfolk
ONE HOT DECEMBER
Image of One Hot December (Men at Work)
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
2016 – Series Romance winner
Loved it, loved it, loved it! With Veronica’s snarky and wild attitude mixed with Ian’s reserved personality, this easily becomes a book hard to put down. Even though things between these two started off rocky, the fire that burns from their one night together burns brighter with each passing encounter. You’ll easily fall for both characters as you see that no matter what situation they find themselves in they remain true to themselves. After their one night together, Veronica was so crushed that Ian broke things off that she welded metal “attributes” to the bumper of his truck! Ian, on the other hand, might come off as stiff, but from the recollections of their one night together it's easy to see his passion. There’s so many great things that can be said about this book, but the bottom line is that the characters reel you in with ease, the storyline flows naturally and the romance between Veronica and Ian is in no way forced, but happens organically, and the steam is scorching.
Veronica "Flash" Redding and Ian Asher might work on top of an active volcano, but the heat from the lava bubbling within has nothing on the heat simmering between these two. In One Hot December, Veronica is ready to stop trying to win back Ian’s attention, and after an explosive night, she waves her white flag and announces her two-weeks notice. But Ian’s reaction is not what she expected. Could the job he has for Veronica at his new home be a ploy to throw caution to the wind and make Veronica his? Will Veronica get her hopes up only to have them dashed when things with Ian don’t turn out as she hopes? (HARLEQUIN BLAZE, Dec., 224 pp., $5.50)
Reviewed by:
Leona Woolfolk
HER NAUGHTY HOLIDAY
Image of Her Naughty Holiday (Men at Work)
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Her Naughty Holiday is an excellent continuation to the Men at Work series. The chemistry between Clover and Erick is so organic and hilarious that you have a hard time putting their story down for any reason. Even when you’re pissed on behalf of Clover from the treatment of her family, you can’t help but feel excited for the huge moment when her family comes to her house and the arena has been set and the games are beginning. Ruthie’s character — Erick’s teenage daughter and Clover’s personal assistant — is a little hard to connect with because some of her saying makes you think to try to understand what she was saying 80 percent of the time, but the desire to see her dad and Clover happy hits you right in the feels. Her Naughty Holiday had everything you could ever want for a contemporary romance: t comedy, steamy romance and drama.
Having your family over for the Thanksgiving shouldn’t be the cause of wishing for death or a fatal sickness … well, unless you have a family like Clover Greene’s. When news that her family will be coming to her house for Thanksgiving, Clover has an epic meltdown at her nursery in front of Ruthie, her teenage personal assistant. Unbeknownst to Clover, when Ruthie hears of the ridicule and snide remarks her boss will be facing she starts to formulate a plan that involves her hot single dad. With both Erick and Clover realizing that their attraction was not just one-sided the aggravation they felt towards Ruthie’s meddling falls to the wayside. Will Erick acting as Clover’s “fake” boyfriend work in their favor or will the relationship that is being built behind closed doors when they’re alone start to seep into the facade they’re putting on for her family? Furthermore, will the loneliness that both Clover and Erick feel be abolished or will they realize that their individual lives and responsibilities are more important than the effort of building a relationship that carries consequences? (HARLEQUIN BLAZE, Oct., 224 pp., $5.50)
Reviewed by:
Leona Woolfolk
HER HALLOWEEN TREAT
Image of Her Halloween Treat (Men at Work)
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Where to begin?! Her Halloween Treat is such a breath of fresh air with the characters’ off-the-wall humor and relatability. Just from the conversations between Joey and her best friend in the very beginning, it becomes evident that Her Halloween Treat is going to be hard to put down. For a short read, it sure didn’t feel like it, it felt like it was a full and complete story, full of romance, laughter, and self revelations. Chris’ character didn’t fully have me under his spell, but I loved him for the fact that he was able to love Joey as she deserved to be loved, better than that jerk of an ex-boyfriend Ben treated her. The only downside to Her Halloween Treat is Joey’s willingness to stick to this regiment of doing all the things she should do instead of living life to the fullest, she almost missed out on a good thing when she was willing to let Chris pass her by because of what she felt she “should” do.
The life of Joey just took a dive for the worse; she finds out her boyfriend of two years is married, her brother is getting married on her birthday and she might be stuck staying a rundown cottage. After enduring all of this you would think that Joey would just want to crawl into a hole and drop off the face of the earth for a while, but luckily her saving grace comes in the form of an old high school friend, Chris, who just happens to have grown up in more wonderful ways than one. When Joey learns that not all that is around her is falling apart, will she see the lifeboat that Chris personified as a life saver or will she still cling to wanting revenge on the man that hurt and lied to her for two years? What will Chris have to do to show Joey, who he’s had a crush on since high school, that he’s been in love with her since that first kiss behind the very cabin she’s staying in? (HARLEQUIN BLAZE, Sep., 224 pp.,$5.50)
Reviewed by:
Leona Woolfolk
THE BOURBON THIEF
Image of The Bourbon Thief: A southern gothic novel
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
2016 – Mainstream Fiction nominee
2016 – Rt Book Of The Year nominee
This Southern Gothic-inspired stand-alone is exactly what readers would expect from Reisz: beautifully written and delightfully insane. Tamara’s strength and bravery in the face of many tragedies make her seem superhuman. What makes this book especially memorable is how Reisz vividly captures the American South with a brutal honesty that only enhances the dark material.
Bourbon mogul Cooper McQueen beds a beautiful stranger, only to find she’s stolen his most prized possession: a vintage bottle of bourbon that holds the secrets of one of Kentucky’s greatest dynasties, the Maddoxes. Claiming the bottle is rightfully hers, she tells Cooper the story of Tamara Maddox, the sole heiress to a twisted family with a patriarch hell bent on maintaining his lineage’s power. Cooper learns that the business he loves is steeped in corruption, vengeance and blood. (MIRA, Jul., 384 pp., $15.99)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
knockout ending to her beloved series
THE QUEEN
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Although this book may not leave you as gutted as other Original Sinners novels, Reisz delivers a knockout ending to her beloved series. The focus remains on Søren and Nora, but the most important part of this novel is how the relationship between Nora, Søren and Kingsley is solidified. That relationship has been the heart of the Original Sinners, and Reisz does it justice with a beautiful finale.
Eleanor Schreiber has returned to New York City after a year away, on the verge of selling her first novel and desperate to make money. Naturally, she seeks out the one person she can trust: Kingsley. With his help, she uncovers her inner Domme, Mistress Nora. Determined to dethrone a wicked Dominatrix intent on blackmailing her and her beloved priest, Nora is set on becoming queen of the underground. But Søren can’t come to terms with the new Nora, and an assignment overseas could steal him away forever. (MIRA, Nov., 448 pp., $15.99)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
provides more juicy Original Sinners backstory
THE VIRGIN
Image of The Virgin (The Original Sinners)
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Reisz provides more juicy Original Sinners backstory, bringing her series closer to a full circle. She adds more depth to Kingsley’s character as he selflessly bares himself to Juliette and is the ultimate romantic, while Nora’s story is less about her relationship with nun Kyrie and more about her finding her own identity. While Nora is understandably distraught over Søren’s callous behavior, Kyrie’s uninspiring qualities may have fans questioning Nora’s decision to start anew with her. Nonetheless, Reisz’s prose demands full attention, and readers will revel in the details of what happened during “that year.”
On the eve of a big wedding, Nora, Søren and Kingsley reminisce about the past, specifically what happened during the year Nora and Kingsley fled New York City — and Søren — after a devastating event. Nora reveals she sought refuge in her mother’s convent and had a scandalous relationship with a young, virginal nun. Kingsley recounts his time spent in Haiti, where he freed Juliette from the clutches of a French ambassador. But most importantly, we learn how Elle transformed from Søren’s obedient submissive into famed dominatrix and novelist Nora Sutherlin. (MIRA, Apr., 416 pp., $14.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
THE KING
Image of The King (The Original Sinners)
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Kingsley, one of Reisz’s most intriguing characters, finally gets a book of his own. And this one, set during the same time as The Saint, is no less gut-wrenching and beautiful than the rest of her Original Sinners stories. While the only romance is the one that lingers between Søren and Kingsley, it’s Kingsley’s relationship with his lesbian secretary Sam that stands out. Sam and Kingsley’s bonding over growing up queer will move readers and make the duo’s quest to defame a corrupt televangelist all the more satisfying. Another great addition to an innovative series.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kingsley Edge is on his way to becoming one of the most powerful men in New York City — if only he could stop being one of the most miserable. He’s certain he will never see the only man he’s ever loved, Søren, again, but when Søren returns — donning a new clerical collar — and drags him out of the gutter, it’s up to Kingsley to fulfill his dream of erecting the most extravagant BDSM club in the country. The only thing standing in his way is real estate, a building that belongs to a hateful evangelist preacher aiming to shore up his congregation. But when has faith ever stopped Kingsley from getting what he wants? (MIRA, Dec., 448 pp., $14.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
intensely powerful, beautifully woven love story that is not for the faint of heart, yet approaches many taboos with grace
THE SAINT
Image of The Saint
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
2014 – Erotic Romance nominee
The best book from Reisz yet, The Saint is an intensely powerful, beautifully woven love story that is not for the faint of heart, yet approaches many taboos with grace. Teenage Nora is wild, intense and hilarious. Søren is the ultimate hero — protective and caring, he respects Nora and understands she needs independence to grow. Their love is the most perfect kind — Søren is secure enough to let Nora explore and experiment, and he loves her fiercely. While reading Reisz’s previous novels is recommended in order to best appreciate The Saint, it’s not necessary.
Teen Eleanor “Elle” Schreiber’s life could be better. Her single, devout Catholic mother works two jobs to keep food on the table and her father is a car thief who runs a chop shop. When Elle nearly lands in juvie after helping her father repay a large debt, the judge sentences her to community service with her church’s new priest — a young Jesuit, Father Marcus “Søren” Stearns. In exchange for her total obedience, Søren promises her everything — but it comes at a price, with a secret he isn’t sure Elle is ready for. (MIRA, Jul., 448 pp., $14.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
Plenty of happy endings are provided, and Reisz finishes things off with a highly unexpected twist.
THE MISTRESS
Image of The Mistress
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
2013 – Erotic Romance nominee
I cannot say enough good things about this book without sounding like a madwoman. The final installment in the Red Years portion of Reisz’s Original Sinners series brings out the best in her characters. It provides heaps of fan service without sacrificing an ounce of juicy plot, while also giving readers a deeper look into Nora and Soren’s complex relationship — setting up book five beautifully. Plenty of happy endings are provided, and Reisz finishes things off with a highly unexpected twist.
Nora Sutherlin is bound and gagged — not in a good way. She’s being held captive, forced to tell dirty tales from her past to buy time, which makes her realize that her plans of a traditional happily ever after may not be what she wants. Her friends must come together and devise a plan to save their mistress, while caught up in their own tangled web of drama. Will Nora’s knight come to her rescue, or will her priest risk it all to free her? (MIRA, Aug., 464 pp., $14.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
heart-pounding tale about secret pasts and new beginnings, with plenty of surprising twists,
THE PRINCE
Image of The Prince
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Reisz’s Original Sinners series just keeps getting better! The Prince truly transcends genres and will leave readers absolutely breathless — and not just for reasons erotica lovers expect. A heart-pounding tale about secret pasts and new beginnings, with plenty of surprising twists, someone will have to pry this book out of your hands. Read the first two books in the series first to best enjoy The Prince — and avoid any spoilers.
After a snooping journalist forced Nora into hiding all summer, she isn’t quite out of the woods yet. Soren sends her to Kentucky to reunite with a former flame, and he and fellow kinkster Kingsley travel to find out who has been sending the trio of sinners threats of exposing their hedonistic lifestyle. Soren and Kingsley must face their dark past together in order to uncover the mystery, while Nora must decide if she can truly have a vanilla relationship, or if she’ll be returning to Soren’s arms once again. (MIRA, Nov., 416 pp., $13.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
The detail in portraying BDSM culture makes this book a genre stand-out
THE ANGEL
Image of The Angel
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
Reisz continues Nora and Søren’s story with this absolutely stunning tale of love, loss and pain, beautifully tying together the many plot threads with finesse and proving her talent. The detail in portraying BDSM culture makes this book a genre stand-out and will appeal to anyone looking for a little “ouch” with their “oooh.” Readers will want to pick up The Siren before diving in.
Nora Sutherlin will do anything for her partner and Dom, Søren, even if it means hiding out in upstate New York with friend Griffin and sub-in-training Michael. But as a journalist starts digging up dirt in hopes of destroying Søren’s career, Nora and her friends must bury the truth. Plus, Nora realizes her feelings for an old friend are too serious to ignore. She may have to re-think her relationship with the most important man in her life. (MIRA, Oct., 416 pp., $13.95)
Reviewed by:
Elisa Verna
QUOTE:
With a complex plot and scorching-hot BDSM scenes, The Siren should be required reading this fall.
THE SIREN
Image of The Siren
Author(s): Tiffany Reisz
2012 – Erotic Romance winner
With a complex plot and scorching-hot BDSM scenes, The Siren should be required reading this fall. The formidable heroine has an intriguing past and an equally captivating present that will keep readers turning pages to find out more. Fans of Megan Hart will appreciate Reisz’s sardonic wit and ability to plot unexpected twists and turns.
Zachary Easton has one book left to edit before he leaves Royal House Publishing’s New York City offices in six weeks: notorious erotica writer Nora Sutherlin’s latest. Nora is determined to prove herself. As Zach “cracks his editorial whip,” she contends with their attraction, her pull to her charismatic ex and her bond with her intern. Will Nora be signed by Royal House? Can Zach handle Nora’s double life? There are plenty of smoldering curves en route to the answers. (MIRA, Aug., 432 pp., $7.99)
Reviewed by:
Mandy Boles
QUOTE:
It was a pleasure to read about a love as strong and true as Faye’s was, with the ability to stand the test of time. Tiffany Reisz certainly delivered a romance that both soared and felt grounded while delving into the fascinating history of South Carolina in the early 1920s.
REVIEW: The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz
Posted March 23rd, 2017 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, HJ Recommends, Paranormal Romance, Regency - Historical Romance, Review / 6 comments
HJ_Recommends
In The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz, In the last four years, Faye has lost her beloved husband Will and watched as her life has spun out of control. Bad decisions have been made. And her grief is wearing her down. The only thing she knows to do is to carry on and begin a new chapter in her life, as difficult as that might turn out to be.
“Carrick told me about the night mark. You know what that is?”
“It’s the name for the lighthouse’s particular light pattern.”
“That’s right. Carrick said the night mark is the heart of a lighthouse. And Carrick and Will have the same night mark, Pat. They shine the same light.”
Faye’s decision takes her to coastal South Carolina where she begins working on a photography job. One that brings her attention to a beautiful old lighthouse on Bride Island. And even though Faye is warned about the dangerous water there, she wanders too close. But instead of being tossed about, she’s washed up on the same shore. In 1921. Her journey from there brings her face to face with a man who looks just like her husband Will. But is it really him? With the help of a kind retired priest, a deaf housekeeper, and the island’s lightkeeper, Faye will learn just what she’s willing to sacrifice for love.
‘How long had it been since she’d been able to smile while thinking of Will? Just smile? No tears, no panic, no pain? Coming to the lighthouse had been good for her, if for no reason other than it had given her this one little moment of peace.’
Magical, life-altering love touched our heroine’s life twice in The Night Mark, a new standalone novel by Tiffany Reisz. Time travel, the potential for scandal, and questions about love and faith kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end.
“To think I spent my whole life believing time only went in one direction,” he said. “Thought it was a river. Turns out it’s an ocean. Waves come in. Waves go out. Sometimes those waves take us with them.”
Tiffany Reisz has been one of my go-to authors for some time–I love her Original Sinners series–but with her recent standalone novels she’s quickly become one of my favorite overall storytellers as well. Not many authors can write historical/time travel fiction and incorporate everything I love about their contemporary writing into it *and* for it to work well. But Reisz does just that with The Night Mark, mixing in a bit of controversy, keeping a sense of humor, loading up on the passion, and detailing the emotions perfectly…especially the loneliness and despair of those who have lost loved ones.
Okay, so I have to say that with this being a time travel story, you kind of have to run with some of the things that happened to Faye that would be unrealistic in our daily lives. People don’t normally get washed away by the ocean only to wake up ninety-four years in the past. (That I know of. 😉 ) But it is a cool premise. So that drew me in to the story as well as the characters themselves, the intriguing historical thread about South Carolina in the Roaring Twenties, and the nautical history about lighthouses and the people who tended them, which has always interested me.
There’s just something about the way Reisz crafts her characters and how tangible they are. It seemed like we got a really good sense of who each person was here and all of the complex feelings they were sorting through. I ended up liking Faye a lot. She was basically an emotional wreck but kept on going, trying to get over losing her beloved husband Will. Yes, she might have made some iffy choices but I liked how she owned her mistakes and her feelings. The secondary characters were every bit as charming and multidimensional as well: Carrick, Faith, Dolly, and Pat. I really did love them all but Father Pat was definitely a favorite. He was such a cool guy who added so much to Faye’s life and to her healing.
It was a pleasure to read about a love as strong and true as Faye’s was, with the ability to stand the test of time. Tiffany Reisz certainly delivered a romance that both soared and felt grounded while delving into the fascinating history of South Carolina in the early 1920s. And for those of you who have read The Bourbon Thief, be on the lookout for some names and a location that ties the two books together.
QUOTE:
The Siren is surprisingly light on sex, but heavy on kink, and it’s the most detailed look into S&M I’ve ever read. It’s also sharp and smart, and incredibly well-written.
Review: The Siren by Tiffany Reisz
by Elyse · Apr 24, 2014 at 2:00 am · View all 13 comments
A
Title: The Siren
Author: Tiffany Reisz
Publication Info: Harlequin July 2012
ISBN: 978-0778313533
Genre: Erotica/Erotic Romance
Book The Siren - a close up of feet in black fishnets and black heels with a white cloth tied around the ankles When I finished reading Misbehaving by Tiffany Reisz, I immediately picked up the first book in her Original Sinners series, The Siren. I knew going in that The Siren was erotica, not romance, but I didn’t expect what I got. The series centers around a world-famous dominatrix and Switch, Nora, and the men in her life: Zach, her frosty, British editor; Wesley, her nineteen-year-old, virgin intern; and Søren, her Dom.
The Siren is surprisingly light on sex, but heavy on kink, and it’s the most detailed look into S&M I’ve ever read. It’s also sharp and smart, and incredibly well-written. I normally don't read a lot of books about S&M because generally I don't like reading about people in pain. I like steamy contemporaries that feature some spanking or submission (like Rush by Maya Banks) but hardcore pain is typically not my thing. I really liked this book, though. It was like a potato chip book for me. I couldn't stop at The Siren. I read The Angel ( A | BN | K | ARe ) and The Prince ( A | BN | K | ARe ) immediately after in one big bleary-eyed kink fest. I stopped reading at 3 a.m. because I loved the characters.
The book opens with Nora at a crossroads. She’s been writing erotica and is in the process of switching publishing houses. Zach isn’t thrilled at being Nora’s editor. He doesn’t have a great opinion of erotica, and he’s generally got his panties in a knot. He’s also depressed following the separation from his wife. When he actually meets Nora, he’s intrigued by both her sassy mouth and her ducky pajamas. They make a deal that Zach can ride her as hard as he wants in the literary sense and in six weeks, if the book isn’t up to par, they’ll scrap it and walk away from each other. Zach makes a private deal that he will not be riding her in the literal sense, no matter how much he wants to. Because he’s frosty. And British. And conflicted.
Nora is conflicted too. She left her lover and Dom, Søren, years ago, but she yearns for him every day. Søren was Nora’s master, he controlled her and she submitted to him. He’s also a sadist. He can’t get aroused without inflicting pain.
The last time Nora ran back to Søren, their interlude left her battered. Despite the fact that Nora wants this, consents to this and craves this, it totally freaks out her intern/houseboy Wesley. Wesley is a student a nearby liberal arts school, living with Nora rent-free in exchange for his help around the house. What started as a friendship between them has been blossoming into love and desire. Wesley is strictly vanilla though. He wants love and fidelity. Nora has never had vanilla sex, doesn’t know how to be the person he craves, and so they dance around each other, never touching, afraid of crossing that barrier.
Wesley is a key part of Nora’s life. He’s so appalled by her relationship with Søren, that he tells Nora that if she goes back to her Dom, he’ll leave.
So there’s really three intertwining storylines here: Nora and Zach, Nora and Wesley, and Nora and Søren. The fact that book didn’t feel disjointed and that everything blended together seamlessly is a testament to the writing.
So now for the kinky stuff. I said parts of this book would normally bother me. This isn’t like light spanking/flogging S&M romance that’s more or less flooded the market. Søren is not a billionaire with waaaaay too much fucking time on his hands. This is hardcore pain and control. Søren doesn’t redden Nora’s ass with riding crop (well, he probably does, actually). He canes her. He beats her. He causes her serious pain. There is a sodomy scene in this book that made me wince and do deep breathing through my nose (luuuuubbbbe, you need lube!). In the past, after their scenes together, Nora has wound up needing medical care.
So why didn’t it bother me? For one, Reisz deftly handles the subject of consent. Everyone involved in Nora’s world, a world centered around a club called the 8th Circle, is there by choice. It’s not just a game for them, it’s a lifestyle, and something they need. There is no manipulative “do not Google BDSM” or “I will leave you if you use your safeword” bullshit. Everyone knows exactly what they are in for. At times I needed more detail to tell me Nora was enjoying this, that her protests were merely play rather than my assuming that. In the next few books, Nora's joy at a kinky sex is much more apparent, which eased my reading about some of the violence.
Also the sex is character-driven, not just for titillation. Søren cannot function without being a sadist—it’s as much a part of him as his eye color. Søren is off-screen a lot in this book, but you always feel his presence. And he does love Nora, although I didn't really pick that up until The Angel. In fact, their need for each other is this all-consuming, pyre-like thing. Nora doesn't just submit to Søren because she loves him, she does it because she needs to submit, and she enjoys the pain and accompanying pleasure.
He saved up her pain, counted it like currency and the more pain she endured, the more pleasure she could buy with it.
The idea of someone wanting to be beaten or to beat their lover doesn't super appeal to me, but I'm not appalled at it either. I didn't do any pearl-clutching during this book. But I did understand that Nora needed it, and that it was an integral part of her character, not something she was dabbling in or coerced to endure. This was the lifestyle she wanted and she was absolutely 100% an empowered character. And most of the time Nora is the Domme. Can we just have a hallelujah for a female Domme here? I'm so sick of billionaires spanking their girlfriends books. I want dominant Amazonian women in leather boots, goddammit. I need a break from all the other books out there. I love the Reisz can write a submissive male character and still keep empowered and sexy. It can be done, people! Hurray!
I found the Nora/Wesley storyline to the most enjoyable, probably because of the unfulfilled longing between them. Their mutual desire and frustration is palpable, and I love that shit. It also illustrates Nora stuck between two worlds—the one represented by Søren that doesn’t completely fulfill her, and a “normal” life with Wesley that can’t fully make her happy either. Basically this book is about Nora pursuing Zach, holding herself back from pursuing Wesley, and being pursued by Søren.
This is not some Edward/Jacob shit though, largely because Wesley and Søren and Zach don’t suck. Søren is manipulative to be sure, but Nora is his match. Nora is a tough, smart, independent woman and I love her as a character. She’s sassy and funny, a one-woman sexual revolution. I love a female character that just goes for what she wants and articulates her needs clearly. Nora is like that. And I think she also looks like Betty Paige (well, in my head she did) so that’s awesome too.
Reisz also explores the link between religion and kink in a really thought-provoking way:
“Look how Ciseri painted Jesus. See the curve of His back and shoulders. It is a classic feminine posture. His hands are tied behind His back and His robe is falling over His hips. And all the men are just pointing and staring and gawking. But the women—see them? One’s looking down and she—“ Nora pointed a female figure who was turned completely away from the horrible scene unfolding behind her “—she can’t even look. She has to hold onto the other woman just to keep from collapsing. And of all of them, she’s the only one whose whole face we can see… They know what He’s feeling. The women always know. They know it isn’t just a beating or a murder they’re being forced to witness. It wasn’t even just a crucifixion. It was a sexual assault, Zach. It was a rape.”
Nora took a deep breath and Zach felt his own breath catch in his chest. He wanted to say something but didn’t trust himself to speak yet.
“That’s why I believe, Zach,” Nora continued. “Because of all the gods, Jesus alone understands. He understands the purpose of pain and shame and humiliation.”
There was a scene in this book that bothered me slightly. SPOILERS: At one point Nora unknowingly has sex with an underage, teenage boy. He’s a masochist, and so conflicted about his unusual sexual preference that he’s driven to the point of attempting suicide. His parents have disowned him, and he feels worthless. When he comes to the 8th Circle and Nora dominates him and takes his virginity, it’s done with such compassion and tenderness that it felt like a healing moment, not exploitative. Again, handled less deftly than Reisz does, this would have really upset me, but I found myself able to accept it.
Strangely, my issue with The Siren is the same issue I have with paranormal romance. Giant Carpathian dicks and doggy-style.
No, just kidding. It’s world building.
It takes a lot of world building to set up the lifestyle Nora and the other characters live. The time spent world-building detracts from the time spent telling Nora's story. I felt like The Siren was missing a little depth in that regard. Like I said, this isn’t dabbling in S&M, this is something that these characters must have in their lives. It’s a sexual underground, similar to the vampire undergrounds I’ve read about in paranormals. The reader is introduced to this world through Zach, the newcomer, which made the transition fairly easy. Still, I enjoyed the next two books in the series more because I was already immersed in the world.
This isn’t a book for everyone. It deals with a lot of taboo subjects as erotica is wont to do. But it’s wonderfully written and smart, and I’m glad I found the series. It definitely broadened my understanding of what S&M is, and Nora is like my erotica WonderWoman; she just has a whip rather than a golden lasso.
REVIEW: The Siren by Tiffany Reisz
Posted November 29th, 2014 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Erotic Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 1 comment
HJ_TopPick
In The Siren (The Original Sinners #1) by Tiffany Reisz, Author Nora Sutherlin has approached Royal House Publishing about the new book she 9780778313533_smp.inddis writing. She wants an editor who will lay it all out there on the table and not be shy in their opinion. In other words, Nora wants an editor who is as brutally honest as she is. When she is paired with Zach Easton, she knows he’s the perfect editor to help her turn her erotic love story into something spectacular. If she can get him to agree to work with her. It turns out that Zach is not a fan of Nora’s genre. But she’s sure with some coaxing, he’ll be on board with the project. And maybe some extracurricular activities as well…
“You gotta know, Zach–Nora’s not just some smut writer with a wild sex life. She’s the motherfucking queen of the Underground. And Kingsley Edge is, obviously, our king.”
“And him? What is he?” Zach didn’t even want to say Søren’s name.
“He’s whatever’s higher than a king and queen.”
“An emperor?” Zach guessed.
Griffin smirked. “A god.”
Zach and Nora’s tentative working relationship begins to even out while the heat between them builds. The book rewrite is progressing, but Zach is unsure how to handle his attraction to Nora. He realizes that Nora is also keeping a secret from him. Zach is unaware of the relationship she has with Søren and others in the darker parts of the Manhattan nightlife. As they become more involved in each other’s day to day lives, Nora offers to show Zach just what wonders pain and pleasure can bring to his life. Will it be too much for the former Cambridge professor? Or will it open his eyes to something he’s wanted all along?
‘Nora…the siren and the goddess, the ship and the wine-dark sea. She would either save him or end him. Right now, with her words singing in his ears, he didn’t really care which.’
The Siren was a wonderful surprise. I went into this thinking it would mainly be about BDSM, and instead found this to be a complex, emotionally astounding love story. Albeit one with a woman torn into pieces over three very different guys, but still…
Don’t get me wrong. There is still a heavy dose of BDSM along with the why’s and how’s, so it may be a bit much for some readers. But to me that wasn’t the true focus here. I felt this story was really about the difficult decisions people must make sometimes when they are in love, as well as how complex relationships can get when you love someone who may not be right for you. Or right for them, even. I think that was why I really found the complicated relationship Nora had with Søren, Zach, and Wesley so fascinating. (And Kingsley, for that matter.) All three men were vastly different but loved Nora in their own way. I was quite impressed with how strong she was, with how far she was willing to go, to do what would ultimately be the right thing for the men in her life. Even if it meant heartache on her part.
I really was quite knocked out by Tiffany Reisz’s writing style. The prose was intelligent, with quick dialogue that was not only full of double-entendres, but some very poignant messages as well. There was a lot of power play between the characters at times, and that was made evident by the wonderful details Ms. Reisz included in each passage. From a steely gaze, to downcast eyes, you knew where Nora, Wesley, Zach and Søren were emotionally in the scene. Well, as much as you could with Søren, anyway…he was such an enigma. He was one character that I really wanted to dislike, the way he exuded power over Nora. But I found that once I understood their dynamics more, I had a bit of respect for him. I may not be a fan of some of their passionately brutal moments together, but I now get that it was an important part of the game they played and the love they shared.
I think fans of both erotica and truly entangled romance will fall for Nora and the men in her life. I was honestly wow’d by how wrapped up in the storyline I became and just know I’ll be checking out the rest of the Original Sinners series before long.
Review: The Angel by Tiffany Reisz
September 25, 2012 By Mandi 7 Comments
The Angel (The Original Sinners, #2)
The Angel by Tiffany Reisz (The Original Sinners #2)
Erotic BDSM Romance
Releases: September 25, 2012
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
My Favorite Quote: “My confession begins,” Father S said, “as the confessions of many men begin – with three words.”
“Father, forgive me?” Michael hazarded a guess.
Father S sighed. “I met Eleanor.”
A few months ago I read The Siren and at that point it was my favorite book so far this year. I found the writing to be so engaging and refreshing. The emotions and pain, both physically and mentally the characters endured in that book broke me. It stretched my boundaries. I think the dialogue and character development is some of the best I’ve read. I also was horrified at underage sex and a Catholic Priest taking in a 15 year old girl and teaching her to submit. I say all this, because now book two is out. I convinced myself it would not live up to The Siren. I was sure of it. The Siren was so amazing, I honestly thought the sequel would fail. I was wrong.
I’m not going to rehash the events or characters we meet in The Siren. In order to understand The Angel, you must read book one. They completely build upon each other. So if you read this and are lost, go read The Siren and then come back.
The Angel starts about a year after The Siren ends. Eleanor/Nora is back with Søren. Wesley has left to go back home. We learn a little more about Wesley in this book, and oh boy. I think book three will bring about very interesting revelations with him. Michael is still going strong, crushing on Nora like any 17 year old boy can. Life is somewhat stable for everyone, until Søren gets word that he is on the short list to become the next bishop of the diocese. Søren does not want this promotion. Being priest of his church, he has privacy. He is able to meet with Nora and live his Dom lifestyle, without gossip or prying eyes. He needs to work it out so he is not chosen for this honor. On top of this, a reporter by the name of Suzanne gets an anonymous tip that Søren could have a conflict of interest regarding being a priest and getting chosen for bishop. Suzanne’s brother, in his twenties committed suicide because he was abused by a priest when younger. When Suzanne hears, ‘conflict of interest,’ she immediately assumes Søren must be abusing children, and goes on a crusade to uncover every detail about him. Obviously, Søren taking in Nora when she was 15, is not going to look great to Suzanne if she ever discovered this fact.
Søren, calm as ever, sends Nora and Michael to Griffin’s country estate in upstate New York as he and Kingsley stay back and try to deal with the whirlwind Suzanne brings in.
At Griffin’s, Nora is sad to be away from her beloved Søren for the summer, and Michael is shy and awkward, yet very excited as he prepares to be trained as a submissive under Nora’s guidance. Nora and Griffin of course are ready for fun together too.
We learn so much in this book, but I hesitate to give anything away. Where is the fun in that? This book has a little bit of a lighter tone to it. Griffin has a butler that seriously made me laugh out loud. Although Nora is sad to be away from Søren, she has a very fun and flirty (and sexual) relationship with Griffin. I adore Griffin. He became one of my favorite characters in this book. He has a surprising relationship with someone that blew me away. It was pretty perfect.
We get to know Michael too. He is ‘The Angel.’ as Nora lovingly calls him. He has a lot of page time in this book and while in The Siren he was a 15 year old getting his virginity taken by Nora, in this book he is a 17 year old ready to learn the BDSM lifestyle. Griffin and Nora take him under their wings and many scenes with him made me smile.
Things aren’t all happy though – I mean come on, this is Tiffany Reisz. She has to give us pain. (I’ll also say there are a few scenes with Søren and Nora at the beginning that stretched my bdsm boundaries yet again!) In this book we dive deep into Søren’s past. We learn about his childhood, and it is dark. Very, very dark. The kind of dark that makes you curl up into the fetal position and not feel so good. But, and this is a big but – the author had to give Søren a past like this. It was vital to make us understand his extreme sadist ways in the present day. After I read The Siren, I didn’t like Søren. I think I wrote that in my review. He scared me. I didn’t understand him or why he acted or treated Nora the way he did. After The Angel, I love him. I can see him as a human being now, not just some weird guy who beats Nora to a pulp. I totally understand his love for her and her love for him. And, at the end of this book, my heart cracked a little for Søren. And now I must have book three to see how everything plays out.
We also have the new character of Suzanne in this book. I’ll be honest and say at first she felt out of place, I didn’t understand her character or why she was in the book. It felt, almost like she was filler. But she has a great role in this book. Once she started interacting with Søren, I got it. She made sense and I really enjoyed her journey in this book.
Finally, Kingsley. Oh Kingsley. Apparently we get more of his story in book three. We learn a few big revelations about Kingsley and Søren in this book and I can’t wait to learn more about it all in book three.
I think this book is so incredible for many reasons. Tiffany Reisz writes such well-rounded, engaging, conflicted, flawed characters. They jump off the page and are so realistic and fulfilling, that there isn’t one moment or word that goes by that doesn’t feel right. She pushes boundaries. A lot of boundaries. But there is never a scene that goes by that feel like it is only in there for shock value. Each scene has a purpose in this story, and she weaves them together so well, that at the end of the book, you just sit back and shake your head.
She really is a master at telling a story and lucky for us, she has more stories to tell. Bring on The Prince.
Rating: A
Review: The Prince by Tiffany Reisz
November 19, 2012 By Mandi 9 Comments
theprince
The Prince by Tiffany Reisz (The Original Sinners #3)
Erotic Contemporary
Releases: November 20, 2012
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
The Prince is book three of the Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz. A continuing story that revolves around writer and retired dominatrix Nora Sutherland. At the end of The Angel, Nora ran from Søren into the arms of her beloved, virginal Wes. This broke my heart, as I went from fearing/hating Søren in book one, to falling in love with his sadistic self in book two.
We have three storylines occurring in The Prince, which I’m going to break down and give my thoughts on each one.
Søren/Kingsley – Past. We go deep into Søren and Kingsley’s past in this one as Tiffany Reisz gives the story of Søren and Kingsley meeting and falling in love as older teenagers. At least, Kingsley falls hard in love with Søren. At this point in Søren’ s life, Kingsley is the first person he has let touch him since his sister raped him when he was eleven. Due to his very dark past, he needs pain to get aroused. He not only gives his trust to Kingsley with his secrets, but his body too. Kingsley soaks in this pain, getting off on fear himself. He lusts after Søren and becomes addicted to him. They sneak off together as much as possible, to sate their lusts. Søren, always in control of the entire situation, and Kingsley loving every second of it.
I really enjoyed getting their back story. In previous book I didn’t realize just what hold Søren had (and still has) over Kingsley. This back story is imperative as we need to know how they met, so we can understand their relationship in present day.
Søren/Kingsley – Present. Søren married Kingsley’s sister, to only have her die in a horrific accident a short while later. This changed the course of their lives. Kingsley leaves and Søren takes vows to become a priest. This ended their physical relationship, but as we learn, Kingsley still loves Søren more than anything in this world. While Søren can wear a mask of complete indifference, deep down, he still craves Kingsley too. We see such a vulnerability between them in this book. Especially Kingsley, who wears his emotions for Søren on his sleeve. Søren has Nora now though, and when she leaves him for Wes, Søren leans on Kingsley a little harder, which he doesn’t mind at all. There is still more to explore in their relationship, because I don’t feel like it has wrapped yet. I was disappointed not to have Juliette in this story (Kingsley’s love). She seems to be very precious to him, and I would have liked to see him think about her more, or interact with her, as he deals with his feelings for Søren.
Nora/Wes – Nora and Wes have a difficult relationship. Nora can’t quite get Wes out of her system, although she tries. When Søren in essence hands Wes over to her, she goes to his Kentucky home to see if she really wants to be with him. She discovers he is ‘The Prince of Kentucky’ , deep in the heart of horse country and an heir to more money than Nora can ever fathom. Wes is now 20, and still a virgin, and still deeply in love with Nora. And still ‘vanilla,’ something Nora is not. Can she be happy with him, and no kink? The story starts to answer that question, but I feel like we didn’t dive super far into their relationship. There is the pull and tug between Nora needing and wanting kinky sex and Wes a virgin and trying to show her he loves her without inflicting pain. There is a side suspense story that I got tired of related to horses.
Nora and Wes’s page time in this book is…forgetful. It didn’t impact me at all and I feel there is no resolution to their courtship. The story does end abruptly related to the two of them and I can only assume we will get definite answers in book four. But I didn’t love their page time together.
The ending – The ending is a big cliffhanger. When you read this sentence:
As a small child Wesley had heard the phrase “the wrath of God” in church, and sat and wondered what that meant, what that sounded like.
Now he knew.
You will shiver. I’m still shivering.
There is a big suspense part in the present day of the book involving Søren and Kingsley. I had it figured out before it was revealed, yet I didn’t realize the ramifications until they were spelled out for me. I also am not sold on this yet. Right now (and we really haven’t dived into this storyline yet) it feels a little – too out there to be believable. Too silly. But I’ll withhold judgment until we get all the details in book four. Also at one point, Kingsley figures it all out but decides not to tell anyone, which then leads to disaster. This bothered me..why wouldn’t he immediately tell the people who this concerned?
I need the Mistress to not only directly solve the cliffhanger in this book, but I want to see where all of these relationships are going. Wes/Nora, Nora/ Søren. Kingsley/Søren, Nora/Kingsley – will we end with some definite combinations or will they all still be flitting back and forth to each other? I’m very curious to see how this all plays out.
The Prince didn’t hold the same impact as The Siren or The Angel. We spent a lot of time in the past, which I enjoyed, but I feel present day stalled out a little bit. I was expecting more from the Nora and Wes storyline and I’m not sold on the cliffhanger ending. I suppose I need to be patient and see how it all plays out in book four. The emotions between Søren and Kingsley are what will stick with me from this book, as they are very well done.
Rating: B-
Review: The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz
July 31, 2013 By Mandi 18 Comments
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The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz (The Original Sinners #4)
Released: July 30, 2013
Erotic BDSM
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
And we come to the end of The Original Sinners (well kind of). When I first picked up book one, The Siren, I was blown away. Then I read The Angel and that still remains my favorite book of the series. The Prince cooled off for me though. I got bored Wesley and thought the end felt like a soap opera. So where does that leave The Mistress?
I don’t know. I have mixed feelings. My main disappointment is that I feel like so many things are rehashed in this book. There is a lot of talking. Nora may be kidnapped, but all she does is tell story after story to her captor. We have flashback sex scenes and more stories. It felt slow and like there was a lot of filler in this one. I was anxious to have Nora escape and the story to move forward without her captor. Here are my thoughts on each pairing:
Spoilers!
Nora/Søren – Overall I was happy with their outcome. As I said, I wanted to see them together more (Nora doesn’t get released from her captor until the end of the book). While I initially did not like Søren, I think the author does a really nice job with showing us his “human” side. His past is done well and I really felt like he belonged with Nora at the end.
Marie-Laure – While I was annoyed that she became a character at the end of the last book, I did come around and like her as a villain in this one. I didn’t like that she was in the book so much or that most of the time was spent with Nora telling her stories, but her hate for Søren was done well. I believed in her want for revenge.
Kingsley – While I appreciate his love for Søren (and Nora) my only complaint about him as that we never get to see Juliette and him together. I felt so bad for Kingsley because he really, really loves Søren, it would have been nice to see him with Juliette to experience his love for her.
Wesley – I got bored with Wes in the last book. His relationship in this one with Laila was predictable. I’m glad he didn’t end up engaged to Nora though.
Michael/Griffin – Adore them.We don’t see them a lot in this book but adore their HEA. I want them to have their own book.
Grace – I did not enjoy Grace in this book. The scene with her and Søren at the end did not make sense to me. I felt it wasn’t in her character to do what she did (nor in Søren’s character). This was the most disappointing part of the book for me.
I didn’t dislike this book, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t like Nora being held captive for so long. I wanted her out of there and back with her men. I got so tired of the constant stories. I’m not sure if I’ll read The Priest (a prequel to this series) because I feel like we know so much about Nora and Søren’s past already. If another book is written in present day, I’ll be all over it.
Rating: C
The Saint by Tiffany Reisz
by Guest Reviewer · Jul 24, 2015 at 2:00 pm · View all 6 comments
The Saint by Tiffany Reisz
The Saint
by Tiffany Reisz
JUNE 24, 2014 · HARLEQUIN MIRA
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B-
GENRE: Romance, Erotica/Erotic Romance
This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by ReneeG. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Erotic Romance category.
THE SUMMARY:
In the beginning, there was him.
Gutsy, green-eyed Eleanor never met a rule she didn’t want to break. She’s sick of her mother’s zealotry and the confines of Catholic school, and declares she’ll never go to church again. But her first glimpse of beautiful, magnetic Father Søren Stearns and his lust-worthy Italian motorcycle is an epiphany. Suddenly, daily Mass seems like a reward, and her punishment is the ache she feels when they’re apart. He is intelligent and insightful and he seems to know her intimately at her very core. Eleanor is consumed—and even she knows that can’t be right.
But when one desperate mistake nearly costs Eleanor everything, it is Søren who steps in to save her. She vows to repay him with complete obedience…and a whole world opens before her as he reveals to her his deepest secrets.
Danger can be managed—pain, welcomed. Everything is about to begin.
Here is ReneeG.'s review:
The Saint is in the middle of Reisz’s series, Original Sinners, and is billed as the prequel. I haven’t read the books before this one, so I read this as a newbie to the series, and as an amateur to the themes in the book. As an introduction to her world, it was frustrating at times to only get the surface of the story or miss the nuances of a picture. But it was doable, although I definitely will reread this book if I get this far in the series, just so I can get the backstory of the little vignettes that teased at something below the surface.
So, about the book. This is the story of how Elle/Eleanor/Nora met and loved Søren/Father Stearns and met Kingsley/the King. The book not only shares the beginning of the triad but also the shift in the relationships, as Reisz uses Nora (the adult) to tell her complicated history to Kingsley’s son, Nico, as a Grimm-style fairy tale. The flashback story worked much better for me than the current lovefest in the cottage with Nico – it seemed more real, until it didn’t.
So this is a story of new love. It is the story of choice – of choices taken and abandoned, and of living with the choices you select. It is, most importantly, the story of domination, sadism and submission. It is also, nominally, an erotic story, although there is very little sex in the story of Elle and Søren.
The device used for the book, that of older Nora telling much-younger Nico (which, excellent!) of how her teenage self (Elle) stepped into the world of the Underground by falling in love with a priest. The chapters are prefaced by the name of the narrator, either Nora (the adult and experienced woman) or Eleanor, the name Søren calls her as a teenager but not the name she self-identifies with (Elle), but it quickly became apparent who was talking (or not talking – Nora and Nico have a lot of sex in their few chapters).
Taken as a whole, this device worked well, especially in the beginning as we meet Nora who has arrived at a cottage in Germany’s Black Forest to fulfill a self-imposed duty. Towards the middle, Nora’s story turned from her feelings about her duty to various sexual positions with Nico. Perhaps this was to show the juxtaposition of the accomplished woman to the virginal girl (although, as Elle mentions, never an innocent), but I wanted to push Nora out of the way while I discovered more about Elle, who is very interesting and intelligently snarky for a teenager. It was Elle’s growth that caught and held my interest for the majority of the book.
For a book describing the love affair between a priest and a girl who is two weeks shy of 16 when they first meet, the tone is not salacious or prurient. Elle is up front about wanting to sleep with Søren and damn the consequences. He is the one who brings up the roadblocks – she is 16, he is a priest, he is a sexual sadist (he brings this up right away and repeats it throughout the book), she is 16, you get the picture. Søren also bottom-lines it for her – the women that he plays with are adults, they have life experience and fully understand what they are getting into with him. We see snippets of Søren’s backstory of how he developed into the man he became and how much being a Jesuit priest means to him as we delve into Elle’s story. Every one of Elle’s decisions has consequences and watching/reading how she grows from these choices is fascinating.
Each consequence brings Elle closer to a fuller understanding of what being with Søren will mean to her. This is one of the best parts of the book and shows the love Søren has for Elle in the best possible way. Søren believes in true consent and, in a Jesuity way, educates Elle so she has the opportunity to understand with her mind what is required of her body. Each lesson was interesting and compelling. Unfortunately, toward the end of Elle’s story, as she balances her college education with classes about submission and sadism from Kingsley, Reisz just tells us that this erotic education is occurring without describing the curriculum. The story pulls back from the intimate details of the first two-thirds and goes big picture with a corresponding loss of intimacy between Elle, Søren and me. It was a rush to finish without the immersion of the earlier part of the story.
This is an erotic novel and my preference for erotica is that the sex is hot and keeps me in the moment. There are two scenes that sparked my interest, a couple more where I was interested in a “hmm, never thought of that” way, and then I was bored. BORED!! With an erotica novel!! So sad.
Primarily I had issues with Nora and Nico’s scenes. When Nora isn’t telling her story, she and Nico were having sex. And for a dominatrix, it was pretty vanilla sex. Bored now. Want some good stuff.
There are two major scenes with Elle and Søren, and both scenes deal with pain. The first was layered, passionate, interesting, in the moment, “Wow!!” scene, even without penetration. It fulfilled a purpose to the story and it totally engaged this reader (have to dip into third person for just a bit, whew). The second scene, the culmination of the story and Elle’s personal first time was . . . not passionate. I felt neither the pain she was experiencing as she was introduced to Søren’s sadism and sex in general or nor any erotic tension from the pain. It felt like a checklist – whip (check), flogger (check), three sentences to describe the bliss of accepting the pain (check), cane (check), etc. Some checklists can be very sexy, but this wasn’t one of them. I tried reading the scene again, later. Nope, still bored. That is not the purpose of erotica, people. I chose The Saint to experience the eroticism of domination and submission and pain, but it just felt like the acts should hurt because, you know, whipping, flogging, caning.
I also got a whiff of magic va-jay-jay, in that Elle’s amazing acceptance of the pain Søren dealt out was all that he needed, and all this during her first time out of the gate.
The ending, surprisingly, brought me back into Nora’s corner – the performance of her duty, given Elle’s story, was fabulous and made me cry. Her final choice was surprising, but logical to the character as depicted in the pages I reade. And none of it was sexual. Hmmm.
So, a grade. The clear explanation of choice and what consent is, especially in the context of the play Søren needed, was highly appreciated, as was the story of the 16-18 year old Elle and the bit around the task Nora had assigned herself. Definitely A level. But the oddness that was the sex scenes was so not good. But I’m boosting the grade to B- because I enjoyed the writing.
“Desire is not a sin. . . . Fantasy is not a sin. Sins are acts of commission or omission. Either you do some act you’re not supposed to do[,] . . . [o]r you fail to do an act you should do. . . . Finding someone attractive is no more a sin than standing on a balcony and enjoying a lovely view of the ocean.”
Review: The King by Tiffany Reisz – The Original Sinners Series- Book 6
Posted on 11/30/2014 by shellbellereads
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The King
The Original Sinners Series – Book 6
By Tiffany Reisz
57761-addtogoodreads
Synopsis
Cunning. Sex. Pure nerve. Only this potent threesome can raise him
to his rightful place as ruler of Manhattan’s kink kingdom.
Bouncing from bed to bed on the Upper East Side—handsomely paid in both bills and blackmail fodder—Kingsley Edge is brilliant, beautiful and utterly debauched. No carnal act or chemical compound can relieve his self-destructive apathy—only Søren, the one person he loves without limit or regret. A man he can never have, but in whose hands Kingsley is reborn to attain even greater heights of sin. He plans to open the ultimate BDSM club: a dungeon playground for New York’s A-list that’ll change the scene forever.
The club becomes Kingsley’s obsession—and he’s enlisted some tough-as-nails help. His new assistant Sam is smart, secretive and totally immune to seduction (by men, at least). She and Kingsley make a wicked team. Still, their combined—and considerable—expertise in domination can’t subdue the man who would kill their dream. The enigmatic Reverend Fuller won’t rest until King’s dream is destroyed. It’s one man’s sacred mission against another’s….
“Reisz’s Original Sinners series just keeps getting better!” —RT Book Reviews
Buy: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes
4 star
Robin’s Review
Tiffany Reisz has established a name for herself in the erotica genre. Reisz quickly captures the interest of readers in the first pages of The Siren, a compelling tale about erotica writer Nora Sutherlin. In each novel that follows, Reisz continues to weave an entertaining story about larger-than-life characters, practically guaranteeing that readers will continue to be eager for more. The King is the second novel of the White Years portion of The Original Sinners series. And now, after five novels full of clever dialogue, we are finally able to learn more about the illustrious Kingsley Edge.
The King is set in England, where Kingsley pays an unexpected visit to Zach and Grace Easton to meet Soren’s son, Fionn. The novel is told from Kingsley’s point of view, as he recounts a portion of his life story to Grace. King is very specific about what he shares with the mother of Soren’s son. He reminisces about his relationship with Soren while he was in school. We learn more about what came after high school, including the years Kingsley spent in the French Foreign Legion, but the bulk of the novel details how Kingsley came up with his idea for his kingdom, the Eighth Circle, a BDSM playground, and how his dream came to fruition.
We meet several new characters in The King, but Sam undeniably is my favorite. King shares an unusual relationship with Sam, and I found what they have between them is intriguing. She passes his scrutiny and strict standards, so Kingsley hires her as his assistant. He values Sam’s friendship and respects her past. With her help, King hires several employees and scouts for a location for the Eighth Circle. I loved meeting Sam, and I sincerely hope that we see more of her in the last two novels planned for this series!
Mistress Felicia. Mistress Irina. Lachlan. Blaise. One of the best parts of The King was meeting and learning the story behind each of these characters. We also have the villains of this story, Reverend Fuller and his wife, Lucy. Kingsley and Reverend Fuller are each fighting for a cause, and both are determined to win. Just like in the previous novels of The Original Sinners series, you should expect some mystery thrown into the mix to keep you guessing what will happen next.
There were parts of The King that I found delightful, but there were also moments of the story which, for me, fell flat. I had a difficult time embracing the storyline about televangelist Reverend Fuller and his church. However, I found the dialogue between Soren and Kingsley to be fascinating! Most notably, I loved the conversations about their shared past, continuing love for each other and what they had to say about Soren’s Virgin Queen, teenager Eleanor Schreiber. The brief glimpse we get of Eleanor is fantastic – one of the best parts of the book! In fact, I found it incredibly interesting to get their perspective of Eleanor and who she will become. There were moments spent with Kingsley Edge that were touching, and I thought the ending of The King was just perfect! Overall, I feel The King is a solid 4-star novel.
Author Bio:
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Tiffany Reisz lives in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats (one good, one evil). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing BDSM erotica under her real name.
When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher. Her first full-length novel THE SIREN was inspired by a desire to tie up actor Jason Isaacs (on paper). She hopes someday life will imitate art (in bed).
THE SIREN was awarded the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Erotic Romance 2012.
If she couldn’t write, she would die.
QUOTE:
The King was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. It wasn’t just about BDSM, although it definitely had its fair share of racy scenes. This book was a chance to get to know a larger-than-life character and have copious amounts of fun doing so.
REVIEW: The King by Tiffany Reisz
Posted December 2nd, 2014 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Erotic Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 0 comments
HJ_TopPick In The King (The Original Sinners #6) by Tiffany Reisz, Kingsley Edge is well known in the NYC underground world of BDSM. As a lover of both men and women, King has always The-Kinglonged for a place to go where he was completely free to be himself without worry of harm from those who are against his lifestyle. When he gets the idea to create his own exclusive club, he finally finds the perfect property to start building his empire. But televangelist Reverend Fuller beats him to the punch by buying the building and refusing to back down when King pressures him to back out of the deal.
“I don’t care who his friends are. I don’t care how big his church is. I’m not going to let him turn this city into his playground, Sam. This is my city,” Kingsley said.
Then one of the most important people from King’s past, his former lover, Søren, reappears after eleven long years apart. A lot has changed in both of their lives, but King is still inexplicably drawn to Søren, just as much as he ever was. Unfortunately there are more obstacles in their way now, keeping them from falling back into the relationship of their youth. As King moves forward with plans for his new club, searching out and hiring people who are part of the lifestyle, he encounters more problems with Fuller’s church. He’s left questioning who he can trust, wondering if he will come out of this unscathed when the dust settles.
‘The gentle touches and kisses hurt almost more than the blows from the belt and the cane did. They hurt his heart, and yet he treasured the ache. It was his favorite pain.’
Vive le roi! Long live the King! Kingsley Edge, that is. For those of you who are fans of The Original Sinners series, and even those of you who are new to it, you won’t believe the wickedly salacious tale we have here for our very own reading pleasure.
“The true test of love is not always ‘Will you fight for it?’ The real test of true love is often ‘Are you willing to give it up?'”
I just have to say that Kingsley Edge is one of my favorite new literary characters. He is outspoken, generous, kinky, extraordinarily loyal, and oh-so much fun. I loved that I never knew what he was going to say or do. It kept me on my toes waiting to see what King’s next scandalous idea would be and who would be involved in the debauchery. Would it be his kick-ass personal assistant Sam? The longtime unrequited love of his life, and Jesuit priest, Søren? His part-time girlfriend Dominatrix Miss Felecia? Or his on-again-off-again playtime partner Blaise? Whoever it was and whatever the situation, it was highly entertaining, while still managing to be heartfelt and full of emotion.
I think author Tiffany Reisz does a wonderful job piecing these stories together so that we can skip around and enjoy the series in any order we wish without losing anything important about these characters. I loved that we got to see the passion King had for those he desired in his life. Especially Søren. Their complicated relationship came alive on the pages, which made me go through the same emotions as King did as I read: the joy, the heartbreak, the longing. For a character that seemed like the ultimate playboy, enjoying both men and women whenever he wished, in reality King was a very complex man hiding a lot of anger and pain. He hid it well, though, with his trademark charm and a good dose of humor.
The King was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. It wasn’t just about BDSM, although it definitely had its fair share of racy scenes. This book was a chance to get to know a larger-than-life character and have copious amounts of fun doing so. Highly recommended for erotica fans.
REVIEW: The Virgin by Tiffany Reisz
Posted April 3rd, 2015 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Erotic Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 6 comments
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In The Virgin (The Original Sinners: White Years #3) by Tiffany Reisz, Eleanor (aka: Elle) has loved Søren The-Virginsince she was a teenager. But being in a love with a priest is not easy. Especially one who is a sadist. Søren brought out the submissive side that was always just under Elle’s skin, but not until he knew she was ready. Over the past several years, she has enjoyed her pain/pleasure experiences with both Søren and their lover Kingsley. Theirs is a strange arrangement to outsiders, but to them it makes perfect sense. Until the day that Søren crosses the line and Elle leaves him. What happens over the next year brings to light Elle’s Dominant side, complicating matters even further.
‘Along with tranquility, Elle felt something else, Power. Another human being had given up control of her body to Elle, had put her life into Elle’s hands. Elle cherished that trust. It honored and aroused her.’
Kingsley decides to leave Manhattan when Søren and Elle part ways. He’s overcome with the changes in his life and the part he’s played in it. Searching for something he can’t quite grasp, he stays on an island paradise and encounters the most beautiful and enchanting women he’s ever met. Juliette is everything King longs for. But she is in a situation that doesn’t allow her freedom to follow her heart and make a life with him. Leaving her will be the hardest thing King has ever had to do. He only hopes it’s not forever.
“I want to rescue you,” he said. “Please let me.”
“You’re not a real king,” Juliette said, looking up at him. “And I’m not a princess in a tower. He’s not a dragon. We’re real people and a sword’s not going to solve this problem.”
“I know.” The two hardest words he’d said yet to her.
For fans of this series, you know that this is almost the end of Eleanor, Søren and Kingsley’s involved story. One more full length novel to go and we will find out the remaining secrets they share. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely not ready for it to end! Especially not after this epic installment.
“Amor vincit omnia,” Kingsley read. He looked at Søren for the translation.
“Love conquers all,” Søren said.
“That’s what we’re a sign of,” Nora said. “The three of us.”
I seriously can’t get enough of this series. It’s hedonistic. It’s full of power struggles and self-discovery. There is pain — both consensual physical pain and unintentional emotional pain. But most importantly, there is an overabundance of Love between Søren, Eleanor and Kingsley. Their journey is so intricately woven and so complicated that even in book seven (there were four full length novels in the Original Sinners series, before the White Years novels) we are still learning all of the ways they have sacrificed for each other, as well as the ways they have been hurt.
In my humble opinion, it takes a skilled author to take a bold and raunchy BDSM erotic novel and make the characters and their struggles so relatable. I could absolutely empathize with Eleanor and Kingsley when they were pushed to the edge and left Søren for that year. It made sense how Eleanor both longed to go back to Søren and yet hated him for what he had done. My heart broke for Kingsley when he met the one woman he was meant to love forever, Juliette, and had to walk away. Tiffany Reisz created these situations where heartbreaking decisions had to be made and every scene was full of the multitude of emotions that one would expect to feel in such predicaments. Even as a reader, it was a definite emotional journey.
I would encourage readers to start this series at the beginning as this is a complex, ongoing journey for Søren, Eleanor and Kingsley. And I think fans of truly well-written erotica will embrace meeting The Priest, The King, and Their Queen.
Happy Release + 6 Star Review: The Virgin by Tiffany Reisz – The Original Sinners: White Years – Book 3
Posted on 03/31/2015 by shellbellereads
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The Original Sinners Series -The White Years – Book 3
By Tiffany Reisz
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Synopsis
The provocative story before the story continues in the critically acclaimed and award-winning series The Original Sinners
For years, Kingsley Edge warned Eleanor the day would come when she, the mistress of a well-respected Catholic priest, would have to run. She always imagined if that day came, she’d be running with Søren. Instead, she’s running from him.
Fearing Søren and Kingsley will use their power and influence to bring her back, Eleanor takes refuge at the one place the men in her life cannot follow. Behind the cloistered gates of the convent where her mother has taken orders, Eleanor hides from the man she loves and hates in equal measure.
With Eleanor gone, the lights have gone out in Kingsley’s kingdom. When he learns the reason she left, he, too, turns his back on Søren and runs. On a beach in Haiti, Kingsley meets Juliette, the one woman who could save him from his sorrows. But only if he can save her first.
Eleanor can hide from Søren but she can’t hide from her true nature. A virginal novice at the abbey sends Eleanor down a path of sexual awakening, but to follow this path means leaving her lover behind, a sacrifice Eleanor refuses to make.
The lure of the forbidden, the temptation to sin and the price of passion have never been higher, and Eleanor and Kingsley will have to pay it if they ever want to go home again.
Buy: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Kobo / Google Play
6+star
Robin’s Review
I would like to express my appreciation to NetGalley and MIRA Books for the opportunity to read and review The Virgin.
When I turned on my Kindle to begin reading The Virgin, I expected a great novel. Tiffany Reisz always writes in a solid and dependable fashion. I agree some of her novels are more enjoyable than others, but I have always found them entertaining. Reisz wholeheartedly captured my attention with this story. My eyes were glued to the pages, and when I finished reading, I couldn’t wait to sit down and begin writing my review. The Virgin has the same magic of The Siren and The Angel, and I absolutely loved it!
For all intents and purposes, I began reading this story blind. I knew we would learn about the year Nora spent at her mother’s convent. I also knew Nora had an affair with a nun while she was staying at the convent, so I expected some sexy time between the two of them. This was, however, the limit to my knowledge of the plot.
If you follow The Original Sinners series, you may have noticed we are missing an important piece to the puzzle. I have read each of the novels in this series, and I have patiently waited for an explanation why Nora would walk away from Soren and Kingsley. Prepare yourself because it’s not just an explanation. You are able to experience what happened between these characters. Tiffany Reisz drops us right into an emotionally charged situation. It could possibly be the crowning moment of this series because what happened between them certainly changed the direction of each of their lives.
Nora and Kingsley and Soren. They have such a rich history together. Throughout the previous six novels of this series, Reisz has sprinkled bits and pieces and segments of their lives, but not necessarily in chronological order. We’ve seen Nora at many different stages of her life. Elle Schreiber in her teenage years. Eleanor as Soren’s submissive. Author of erotic novels, Nora Sutherlin. Professional Dominatrix of the Underground, Mistress Nora. We’ve read about the period of time Kingsley and Soren were lovers in boarding school. We’ve also met Kingsley Edge, the King of the Underground. And my personal favorite is Father Marcus Stearns, Catholic Jesuit Priest.
But in The Virgin, Reisz writes about a period of time we have not yet had the privilege to read about – the events which take place just before The Siren. I finally understand Nora’s state of mind during the early stages of her writing career – when Wes Railey was living with Nora, and she was working for Kingsley as a professional Dominatrix. Nora’s disposition towards Soren during that period of time has always been a mystery to me. And now that I have read The Virgin, everything has become so much clearer. I want to pick up my copy of The Siren and begin rereading the series!
I love Kingsley Edge, but his character has always been more interesting to me when he is with Nora and Soren. So I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Kingsley and Juliette. We have never had the opportunity to read how Kingsley met Juliette before now. We’ve never heard how she became such an important part of his life. The only thing I can tell you is it all goes back to Soren and Eleanor. Kingsley would have never had the opportunity to meet Juliette if the events between him, Nora and Soren had not occurred as they did. Their story is unusual, but I found it lovely.
The Virgin is the seventh novel of The Original Sinners series, and I’m awarding it a 6-star rating. If you have never had the opportunity to read The Siren, the first novel of this series, I highly recommend it. The characters are so compelling, and they each have intriguing backstories. The Original Sinners series is definitely untraditional and erotica at its finest!
REVIEW: The Queen by Tiffany Reisz
Posted October 26th, 2015 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Erotic Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 4 comments
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In The Queen (The Original Sinners #8) by Tiffany Reisz, Eleanor Schreiber knows that The-Queenonce she crosses the threshold into Kingsley Edge’s mansion there will be no turning back. Gone will be the woman who hid in a convent for a year. Gone will be the woman who gave herself, body and soul, to her beloved priest. In her place will be a new creation. A woman who will use her mind and her emotions, channeling them into power over those who long to submit. She will become Mistress Nora.
“You’re in my hands now, in my bedroom. This is the safest room in the world right now. Nothing and no one will harm you here. Your body will be honored. Your desires will be honored. Your trust in me will be honored. Do you believe me?”
“Yes, Mistress.” He whispered the words.
Giving in to her dominant ways gives Nora a feeling of freedom she hasn’t had before. But she is still caught between King, the master of the kink world in New York, and Soren, the Jesuit priest she loves more than anything else in the world. The provocative and risky relationship between the three of them holds the key to either their salvation or their undoing. What happens depends upon the choices they each make along the way.
“I told you there were three ways to be a queen. There are four.”
“What’s the fourth way?”
“You can be born a queen.” He looked up at her. “That’s why you are a queen. Not because I made you one or you stole a throne or a crown. You were born to be the queen and you are.”
What an emotional journey we’ve enjoyed along with Nora, Soren, Kingsley and the rest of their salacious group. The Queen is the final installment. The last hurrah. And as sad as I am to watch these characters go, it couldn’t have ended in a more fitting way.
‘So much for being a queen. In the game between Kingsley and Soren, she was still very much a pawn.’
I won’t even begin to try to explain the magic that is Tiffany Reisz’s The Original Sinners series. I could never do it justice and it is something that has to be read book by book to be completely understood. It is a masterpiece of erotica. Actually, not just erotica, because this series has always been more than that. To me, it’s about the abundance of love, respect, hurt and doubt within every book, every character and every substory we have encountered along the way.
The characters are absolutely compelling and are so very complex that they have each captured a place in my heart. In the final book, we learn even more about how Nora made her transition from Eleanor Schreiber to Mistress Nora, and how Kingsley and Soren each played their part in it. As was done previously, the story starts off in present day and then flashes back to a particular time, ending with the present day again. In this case, we go back to when Eleanor returns from the convent and ends up at Kingsley’s door.
I thought that this part of their journey was probably the most intense and emotional. Or maybe it’s just because this is the last time we will spend with Nora, Soren and Kingsley. But something about the sacrifices and decisions they made were heartbreaking and yet full of love. Their complicated relationship was one that defied logic in the real world, but was also one that honestly filled me with joy and hope for those who don’t fit in to the ‘normal’ mold of relationships.
This is it Original Sinners fans! The last piece of the puzzle that proves why Nora is the Queen, Kingsley is the King, and Soren is their God. I cannot thank Tiffany Reisz enough for introducing us readers to their crazy, sexy, messed up, wonderful world.
Review: Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz
September 22, 2016 By Mandi Leave a Comment
29095423Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz (Men at Work #1)
Released: September 20, 2016 (paperback)
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
Favorite Quote: “I meant ‘plant a seed so she’ll think of moving back to Oregon.’ I didn’t mean plant a seed in…you know. Her…her lady garden.”
Short review: Super sexy and cute with great banter. Highly rec.
When Jolene, (who goes by Joey) knocks on the door of her boyfriend’s house to surprise him, she is the one surprised when his wife answers. Joey, who lives in Hawaii, had no idea her L.A. boyfriend was married. Extremely angry and devastated, Joey leaves. Her brother is getting married back home in Portland, Oregon, so she decides to go back a day early. Her family owns a run-down cabin not far from where her brother is tying the knot, so she heads straight there.
But when she gets there she can’t believe her eyes. The cabin has been restored – redecorated, furnished, and just made really nice. And then she hears boots moving upstairs. But it’s not a serial murderer, just the carpenter/handy-man who restored the cabin and who also happens to be a childhood friend.
Chris crushed on Joey hard during high school. His best friend was Joey’s brother, and he always tried to woo Joey, but it never worked. But they hung out a lot and although they kind of lost touch, he can’t believe she is standing in the cabin. He was just putting the finishing touches on it when she came in. They start to chat, and reminisce and with some pushing from her BFF Kira, Joey decides some rebound sex might be fun. Chris is up for it too and they start having some epic sex. Joey is set on returning to Hawaii after the wedding to work and regroup her life..but Chris falls hard for her and hopes he can change her mind.
I think the best thing about this book is the banter. It starts with banter between Joey and her best friend Kira that had me giggling. Kira does her best to give Joey a pep-talk and to try to cheer her up after she finds out her boyfriend is a big butt. Kira really, realllllllly thinks Joey just needs to go out and find a hot guy to bang. The problem is, she is in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.
“I’m in the middle of the woods. The next cabin is half a mile west.”
“Then start walking. Bigfoot’s probably out there. He’s probably well-hung.”
“And hairy.”
After Joey hears footsteps in the upstairs part of the cabin, and before she realizes it is Chris, she keeps Kira on the line in case it’s bad guy:
“Okay… I’m going up. If my phone dies and/or you hear the sound of me screaming, hang up and call the cops.”
“What if he’s not murdering you, but you’re screaming because it’s such good sex? Do I still call the cops?”
And after she has sex with Chris, Joey still feels sad about what her ex-boyfriend did. She doesn’t say goodbye to Chris that well:
“You had mind-blowing sex with a hot handyman with a beard and you said, ‘Too bad it didn’t work’ after? Do you know there are over one million words in the English language? There are more words in English than there are in French and German combined. And any of those one million words would have been better than those words. You could have said, ‘I like baconpowered ghost boat parades,’ and it would have been a better sentence than that sentence you laid at the feet of that beautiful man and his majestic cock.”
I adored Chris. First, he wears flannel and has a beard. And he works with his hands. Just let me swoon for a minute. He has loved Joey for years, and his mind is blown that he actually gets to have sex with her, and hang out with her. Although Joey has more walls up and doesn’t want a commitment, they are super cute together. Even with falling in love in only a week – it worked for me.
It’s set during Halloween – Joey’s brother is getting married on Halloween and is having a Halloween-themed wedding – demanding people come in 80’s inspired costumes. I won’t say what Chris and Joey come as, but it made me smile so much.
Highly recommend this! I can’t wait for the next two – Her Naughty Holiday and One Hot December coming soon.
Grade: B+