Hi there and welcome to my stop of the SEDUCTIVE SECRECY blog tour organized by AToMR book tours. For other stops on the tour, click here. Today’s book are a two-for by Marni Mann.
Two erotic romances, two reviews and two giveaways!
DOUBLE REVIEW
Seductive Shadows (book #1)
Charlie is a passionate, sensually-inspired art student, seeking an escape from her abusive mother and the pain of a long lost friend. Scarred and unable to love, her yearning for physical pleasure leads her into a tantalizing, dangerous world of power and seduction in the Mansion. Here, she earns her financial freedom and the Madam is the mother figure she longs for.
But the thrill of the Mansion and its arousing dominance quickly fades when she meets renowned-artist-yet-mysterious Cameron Hardy. Cameron is sexy, and not in a subtle way. He stimulates Charlie’s art, her intellect, and her desires. As he breaks through her emotional boundaries, Charlie discovers her ability to love, and wants to leave the tawdry Mansion behind. Unfortunately, the powers there never intended Charlie to leave…alive. In a dramatic twist, Charlie’s escape is masterminded by the one man she never expected to help.
**This book is for mature audiences. It contains explicit language and sexual content.**
My review of Book 1:
SEDUCTIVE SHADOWS is a bit like a platypus. A bit erotic, a bit mystery, a bit tragic, and a bit suspenseful. There was a lot of teasing–some fulfilled, some not. What comes through the page is a deep and unrelenting pain experienced by Charlie. She has never known her father. Her mother has been an irresponsible parent, one who thinks nothing of getting drunk or high and bringing home random men. Her one true friend was killed in a car wreck that Charlie survived. In fact, Charlie has been a survivor her whole life and now she is surviving her mother’s protracted demise to cancer.
Through it all she seeks escape for her pain in her art and in sex. Dallas, her sometime lover, wants more of a connection than she can give, but work as a call-girl for a well-paying fantasy brothel-the Mansion-is fit to the task. There are many trysts related, some rather satisfyingly, and Charlie is feeling like life may just turn out fine until She meets Cameron Hardy–a handsome and talented rising art scene star. Together they find comfort and Charlie would like to make it physical, but can’t knowing that she’s contracted to the Mansion.
She wants out, but these things aren’t that simple. In a horrifying twist we learn that the girls never leave the Mansion. Human trafficking is a common theme in many NA erotic stories, but this spin is far beyond what I had previously read. To say Charlie’s life is at risk is far too mild. We go cloak-and-dagger at the end, hoping that it will all turn out…which it does.
Because, hey, would you lookie here? By Jove, there’s a sequel!
Seductive Secrecy (book #2) 
Following the public airing of the Mansion’s nefarious activities, Charlie maintains a very low profile–fearing that the escaped Madam may one day find her. She takes to her art like never before fueled by the passion she, and the insatiable Cameron, make. Throughout this self-discovery Charlie struggles to forgive both herself and her savior–a man who, by all rights, is generally despicable.
Cameron’s acceptance of Charlie’s call-girl past assists her transition into an actual adulthood–one marked by companionship and affection like she has never known. It’s new for Cameron, too, having grown up in and out of foster care with his brother, Jared.
Can she and Cameron overcome the destruction of their pasts and rebuild their future? Or, will the revelation of painful, shocking secrets pull them back into the darkness?
**This book is for mature audiences. It contains explicit language and sexual content.**
My review:
SEDUCTIVE SECRECY is a book about forgiveness. In order to heal, Charlie has to to learn to forgive her mother’s abusive behavior, her father’s absence, and her own mistakes in life. She wants to leave behind the shame of the Mansion, but it lingers in her reticence to give her love to Cameron. As their relationship grows stronger, Cameron’s possessiveness escalates. He wants every part of Charlie, including her battered heart, and makes all efforts to embrace her schizophrenic sexual desires. Just as that emotional breakthrough occurs, one of Charlie’s former Johns shows up, and he’s the last person Cameron can accept as a rival.
The way Charlie’s art changes throughout their rough patch really defines the emotional disarray she experiences. In this book I got a strong sense of hope, something Charlie had previously lacked, and that hope was conceived and nurtured in her acts of forgiveness. Where the first book teased emotionally and erotically, the second book delivered. We get all the rawness, all the passion–for good or bad–that comes with a fiery relationship. The love-triangle added sufficient tension and awkwardness without going past the limits. Of course, when we think the worst is past, we’re wrong. And, like any good horror flick the bad guy will rise at the end to do something nearly catastrophic to the main character. Same here, and there (thankfully) is no cliffhanger.
I favor SEDUCTIVE SECRECY, but I really think you need to read both novels in order to fully understand the second book.
Interested? You can find SEDUCTIVE SHADOWS on Goodreads or Amazon and likewise for SEDUCTIVE SECRECY Goodreads AMAZON
About the Author
A New Englander at heart, Marni Mann is now a Floridian inspired by the sandy beaches and hot pink sunsets of Sarasota. She taps mainstream appeal and shakes worldwide taboos, taking her readers on a dark and breathtaking journey. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop, she’s scouring for chocolate, traveling, reading, or walking her four-legged children.
Find her on Pinterest – Facebook – Twitter – Amazon
DOUBLE GIVEAWAYS!
(7) eBook copies of Seductive Secrecy – International
Click this Rafflecopter link to enter!
– Grand Prize: $100 Victoria’s Secret eGift Card
– $50 Total Wine eGift Card
– 5 ebooks Seductive Shadows
Click this Rafflecopter link to enter!
Book Description:
Now: Emmaline Carson is a sharp, settled graphic designer who loves painting, cooking and girls’ night out with her older sister Layla. But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.
Summary from 
V's Reads... 