Erotic Amusements

by Justine Elyot

In Goldsands, there are many amusements to be had for those willing to give in to their deepest desires…The seaside resort town of Goldsands is a place of dreamers and transients who wash in and out like the tide. But its picture-postcard prettiness conceals some sinister realities. Coldhearted mogul Charles Cordwainer owns most of the local businesses, both legitimate and illicit, and more than a few of its residents. Michelle, Cordwainer's despite her loyalty, he plans to turn her over to another man. Flipp, the new girl in she has a dark past and a penchant for bondage. Rocky, Cordwainer's right-hand a sexy biker with eyes for Flipp. Laura, Goldsands's carnival an über-bitch with her sights fixed on Rocky. Secrets, betrayals, lovers all become intertwined-and when someone starts digging up the dirt on Cordwainer's empire, nothing will ever be the same…70,000 words

Genres: BDSM, Menage

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2011

About the author

I am Justine Elyot. I love to write erotica and erotic romance. Elements you are likely to find in my work include: moustachioed melodrama villains, whips, wisecracks, knights in tarnished armour, damsels under duress, lovers, leather, aquiline features, references to popular songs. I massively overuse qualifiers like ‘really’, ‘quite’, ‘actually’ etc. and can’t resist the temptation to substitute long words for ‘said’. Reviewers either rave or cringe, with very little middle reactive ground (insert Marmite cliche here). Which will you do?

Reviews

[Wollstonecrafthomegirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was recommended by Charlotte Stein who is probably my favourite erotica author and she gave it five stars and raved in her review. I will say this, the writing generally is strong and the sex is well-written. It's a gritty read and very British in a lot of ways, which is to say, if you want your erotica airbrushed with perfect abs and mutliple orgasms and no mess, this is not the book for you.

Evene though the writing was good, for me, for erotica to really sing, I have to be engaged by the characters and/or the plot and those features didn't consistently land for me. This is a multi-stranded, multi-character story, so some of them did work and others really didn't, particularly the main couple around whom most of the action (and the 'action') revolved. So I bring down the rating accordingly. If you're looking for some erotica to try though, and you like Charlotte Stein, Kristina Lloyd and Cara McKenna, give this one a whirl, it might be for you.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

*****Provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley*****

Charles Cordwainer not only controls the businesses of the coastal tourist town of Goldsands, but also its inhabitants…..

Michelle, a submissive, has been controlled by Cordwainer for over two years now. Their relationship started out vanilla but quickly progressed to much more. Cordwainer affectionately names Michelle “Miss Object”, and shows off her impressive skills to all of his local business friends; sometimes, four at a time to be exact. Michelle thrives on her submission to Charles; she loves to make him happy. Over the years, her feelings of devotion and loyalty to him have turned to love and she’s almost convinced that he feels the same until he decides to give her a to his colleague, Laura Trewin’s father.
Laura Trewin is the local carnival queen and picture of perfection. Underneath lies a spoiled woman who is used to getting what she wants and as often as she wants. It’s nothing for men to succumb to her with her beautiful looks and sensual manner. The one man Laura wants she can’t have. Laura will stop at nothing to have Rocky Anderson at her mercy.
Rocky Anderson is a tough sexy biker. He’s also Charles Cordwainer’s right-hand man. Rocky makes sure business deals are delivered and that Charles’ “personal” business remains private. Rocky took on an affair with Laura Trewin several months before, but now his attention is diverted. Rocky now has his eye on the mysterious new-girl in town, Flipp.
Flipp came into town quickly looking to land a job. She was lucky to receive a minimal one at the Goldsands arcade. Flipp is running from an abusive past and is desperate to start a new life. She notices the sexy biker always hanging around the arcade and becomes involved with him. Flipp finds herself trusting in Rocky and wanting more than a fling with him. Soon, it becomes obvious that Rocky is not the only one with his eye on Flipp. Charles Cordwainer has an agenda of his own for Flipp and with the recent dismissal of his submissive, Michelle, he’s got some exciting plans for her.
When a young reporter publishes an article exposing multiple secrets, everyone is left wondering what will happen next.

This was a very good story. Often when stories have multiple pov’s, it’s easy to get lost and mixed up, wondering who’s narrating and from what angle. In “Erotic Amusements”, each character had their own individual “voice” that was easily identified. The author did an excellent job of intertwining all of the main characters and bringing them all together towards the end.

The title of this book suits its elements. This is an erotic read with some toe-curling, sizzling-hot moments. For lovers of erotic fiction, there’s something for everyone; ménage, BDSM, back door action, you name it, it’s in here.
Not only was the erotic element evident, but I was generally interested in how the end of this story was going to play out. There are moments of suspense and unveiling that are truly engaging and nail-biting.

This, by far, has been one of the best stories I’ve read from Carina Press. I would highly recommend this to any fan of erotic fiction. There’s not a whole lot of romance in here, but there’s plenty of steamy goodness!! Four stars!!

[Charlotte Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic book. Sexy, effortlessly cool, gritty, interesting, filthy, atmospheric...there aren't enough adjectives. I could smell the seaside of my youth, and feel the intensity in every encounter. And oh God, the heroes! They're cool, they're hot, they're passionate, they're aloof...I usually don't like stories that feature such submissive female characters, but there's something about the combination of steely calm and underlying care in Elyot's heroes that makes it easy to enjoy the eroticism. I never feel uncomfortable, because there's always that connection and a sense of an elaborate and entirely consensual arrangement. You know these people love each other (or at least, love the scenarios they play out together) and that's important to me as a reader.

Plus, of course, the writing is first class. I love Elyot's crisp, clean style - she truly is the best of British erotica. Hell, she's the best in any country!

[Polly Yeston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really, really, really erotic but it's all very well written and totally, unbelievably hot. And I don't know what the other reviewers mean about the rape and things because I just didn't see anything like that. I am really pleased I read it, despite the undeserved low rating.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was nearly incomprehensible. Too much happened in it, and while trying to provide decent erotic romance and compelling mystery, Ms. Elyot really provided neither. What was the deal with Flip and Rocky? I get that they liked to have sex with one another, but I never really believed in their romance. I read this entire book, and didn't come out of it liking even one character. Well, maybe Flip. Rocky seemed irredeemable. He was the enforcer for a thug, and we're to understand that he did some awful things in the name of work, so how was he better than any other crook in this novel? I don't believe in love as redemptive, so to me, he's just the same scum, only with somebody who knows and (possibly) loves that scumminess. Um, yay?

Also, regardless of how much I didn't like this book, I do not see how this title was chosen for it. There was an amusement area in the town, but I wouldn't say that it really factored hugely into what happened in this book. And what happened in other parts of this book is so far away from my idea of amusing that I'm having trouble reconciling the discrepancy. A woman with low self-esteem who allows herself to be owned and traded by men is not something that I find erotic or amusing. So why the title? This may be the only mystery related to this book that I would like to have solved.

Plus the cover is stupid.

Ugh.

[I ♥ Bookie Nookie (bookienookiereviews.blogspot.com) · Rating 2 out of 5]

✳✳ Reviewed on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews


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[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed reading this book. the storyline flowed through out the book. the introduction of the different characters threw me for a minute. but as i kept reading i understood why they were introduced the way they were.
i couldn't stop reading once i started it. the scene, i thought, could be a little more detailed and drawn out. for this type of erotic book, i was a little disappointed by how those scenes were written.
overal, i do recomend the book if you are looking for a quick read.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seemed cluttered. There was definitely a lot going on and I felt like there wasn't a steady pace. There were a few things that I could not stand behind, no matter how steamy a scene could be.

Honestly, I could not finish it. It didn't keep my interest within the first 50 pages. I could not relate to the heroine, nor could I relate to any of the situations in the storyline. I tried to continue on to see how it progresses, but once I hit a certain scenario, I had to stop.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, took a while to get into the whole of it though. I enjoyed it but it's not on my list to re-read. I want to give it a 3 star but the style of interducing all the charactors didn't flow well for me. In the end it was good but it took time to get there.

[D · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like kink, but rape written as erotica I just can't do. The story outside of that just was not interesting enough to keep me reading.

[315 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow... I had no idea you could put that many crazy people and crazy situations into one book. It was different... I'll give the author that much, but I don't know if I liked it or not.

[Donnajo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much. Nook read. takes place at a amusement pier.