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Hinky Chicago #3
The Hinky Bearskin Rug
A live-in sex demon sure keeps a girl up at night. But for Jewel, a fraud cop leery of commitment, Randy could be too much of a good thing.
Then hinky cases and kinky cases dovetail as Jewel and her hot partner Clay investigate an office orgy, a lockerful of pin-up ghosts, and an erotic film studio...and Randy goes undercover.
Now she's got two hotties and a hard decision: if Jewel is the luckiest girl in Chicago, how come she's sleeping alone so much?
______________________________________________________________
Wonderful and lovely. I loved this book. These characters really came into their own in this book…
-Clayton B. Johnson
I wish Randy would visit my rug…best in the series…brought tears to my eyes… If you want some indepth sex scenes involving what women really want in bed these are the books for you. I cant wait for the next one in the series.
-Melhaf
I will definitely be re-reading all three of these books while I wait impatiently to see where Stevenson takes her hinky Chicago folk next.
-Elaine McCarthy “ECM”
I simply love this book. The rest of the story is also a must buy ('The Brass Bed' and 'The Velvet Chair').
-Maria Cardosa
lighthearted Jewel urban fantasy…erotic weirdness…fast paced
-Harriet Klausner
Then hinky cases and kinky cases dovetail as Jewel and her hot partner Clay investigate an office orgy, a lockerful of pin-up ghosts, and an erotic film studio...and Randy goes undercover.
Now she's got two hotties and a hard decision: if Jewel is the luckiest girl in Chicago, how come she's sleeping alone so much?
______________________________________________________________
Wonderful and lovely. I loved this book. These characters really came into their own in this book…
-Clayton B. Johnson
I wish Randy would visit my rug…best in the series…brought tears to my eyes… If you want some indepth sex scenes involving what women really want in bed these are the books for you. I cant wait for the next one in the series.
-Melhaf
I will definitely be re-reading all three of these books while I wait impatiently to see where Stevenson takes her hinky Chicago folk next.
-Elaine McCarthy “ECM”
I simply love this book. The rest of the story is also a must buy ('The Brass Bed' and 'The Velvet Chair').
-Maria Cardosa
lighthearted Jewel urban fantasy…erotic weirdness…fast paced
-Harriet Klausner
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2008
3 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Stevenson
66 books59 followersI started swimming at 40, riding horses at 42, roller derby at 52, speed skating at 54 ... something's backward there. Read about my latest bruise at https://www.facebook.com/JenniferStev...
I've been writing since I was four, and didn't publish a story til I was 34 ... something's backward there too. Read about my latest books at http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php...
Living my life backwards means I get to eat bacon every day and goof off all summer. Don't be fooled. Writing is still a job.
I've been writing since I was four, and didn't publish a story til I was 34 ... something's backward there too. Read about my latest books at http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php...
Living my life backwards means I get to eat bacon every day and goof off all summer. Don't be fooled. Writing is still a job.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 24, 2015
The Bearskin Rug is the third book in the Jewel Heiss series by American author, Jennifer Stevenson. Jewel Heiss is an agent for Chicago’s Department of Consumer Services. With her partner, Clay and her sex demon, Randy, she is sent to check out reports of pockets of magical activity. The first seems to be a false alarm, but the second, in a building housing a bakery and a porn magazine and film studio, rings all Randy’s bells. While touring the building, Clay finds a shrine to a sort of porn fairy, while Randy gets trapped in a bearskin rug used in filming.
By now readers will be getting a bit fed up with Jewel’s double standards, her unending self-analysis and the slow pace of events. The three books could easily have been condensed into one to reduce the boredom. This instalment sees plenty of self-analysis by Clay and Randy as well. Occasionally funny, there is lots of sex in this final book, including a foursome in “demonspace”. It is essential to read the first two books if the reader wants to have any idea at all of what is going on. Readers who have stuck it out this far will probably not be sorry to reach the end. Tedious.
By now readers will be getting a bit fed up with Jewel’s double standards, her unending self-analysis and the slow pace of events. The three books could easily have been condensed into one to reduce the boredom. This instalment sees plenty of self-analysis by Clay and Randy as well. Occasionally funny, there is lots of sex in this final book, including a foursome in “demonspace”. It is essential to read the first two books if the reader wants to have any idea at all of what is going on. Readers who have stuck it out this far will probably not be sorry to reach the end. Tedious.
December 22, 2008
The Third book in the Jewel Heiss series.
I can see why these books aren't popular. The writing is very slap dash, the plots kind of loose, and the situations lack some of the satisfaction we seem to require from our romance books. And yet I have to say that I like them! I feel like you need to take a running start at each book - that the first 40 pages feel like you should be slipping into a hot tub and instead you find yourself in the middle of a pool with strange currents that you fight for a little bit and then you realize if you just swim with the current you will enjoy the swim and get somewhere you didn't expect but you might enjoy anyway.
In this book Jewel has to come to terms with her relationship with Randy (The sex demon she rescued from the Big Brass Bed in the first book) and with Clay (the con-man who has wiggled his way into Jewel's life.) A nice little love triangle with a little mystery and some fun magical occurrences too boot.
One of my favorite parts of the book was actually a conversation with Jewel, Britney and Lena over margaritas in a bar. They were talking about women and sex and how hard it is to not feel shame and yet do what you want, and judgement not only from men but from other women, and escaping one's own judgement and training regarding sex. I am writing this description poorly - but the essence is that they grapple a little bit with image and stereotype and the issue of empowerment in this book and I really liked it.
I am hoping there is a fourth book in this series. Although there was a lot of wrapping up or progression of the relationships in these books I feel like there is definetly room for more development here. And I liked the books well enough that I will keep reading them to find out what happens next.
I can see why these books aren't popular. The writing is very slap dash, the plots kind of loose, and the situations lack some of the satisfaction we seem to require from our romance books. And yet I have to say that I like them! I feel like you need to take a running start at each book - that the first 40 pages feel like you should be slipping into a hot tub and instead you find yourself in the middle of a pool with strange currents that you fight for a little bit and then you realize if you just swim with the current you will enjoy the swim and get somewhere you didn't expect but you might enjoy anyway.
In this book Jewel has to come to terms with her relationship with Randy (The sex demon she rescued from the Big Brass Bed in the first book) and with Clay (the con-man who has wiggled his way into Jewel's life.) A nice little love triangle with a little mystery and some fun magical occurrences too boot.
One of my favorite parts of the book was actually a conversation with Jewel, Britney and Lena over margaritas in a bar. They were talking about women and sex and how hard it is to not feel shame and yet do what you want, and judgement not only from men but from other women, and escaping one's own judgement and training regarding sex. I am writing this description poorly - but the essence is that they grapple a little bit with image and stereotype and the issue of empowerment in this book and I really liked it.
I am hoping there is a fourth book in this series. Although there was a lot of wrapping up or progression of the relationships in these books I feel like there is definetly room for more development here. And I liked the books well enough that I will keep reading them to find out what happens next.
Read
October 21, 2011Early on, protagonist Jewel Heiss fondly looks back on a relationship she'd had at seventeen with the family's septuagenarian lawyer. He said to her, The world runs on sex. There's no life without sex. Make sure you have fun at it.
If you can read that and smile, the chances are pretty good you will enjoy this book. Jennifer Stevenson, whose first book, trash sex magic, garnered critical acclaim, appears to be offering fluffy chick lit with a side of sex in this last book of her trilogy, but under the wacky goings-on, she comes to grips with a surprising range of issues relating to sex: age, emotional damage, the cost of love, the cost of what one thinks is love, self-knowledge, mother-daughter dynamics, commitment, sex for pay, sex for play (porn).
The Bearskin Rug finishes the story began in The Brass Bed and The Velvet Chair. The Bearskin Rug stands alone; Stevenson interleaves the developing plot with flashbacks that not only illuminate Jewel's early life as a Wisconsin teenager inheriting her grandmother's failing farm, but paints in the relationships established in the previous books.
Jewel is torn between two men. There's Clay, a con man she met when he was posing as a therapist who happened to possess what seemed to be a magical bed. Clay, whose morals have been as adaptable as his vocations, has fallen hard for Jewel. He wants a permanent relationship, but because he's a con artist, he has no idea how to win her except by manipulation.
Then there's Randy, who in 1811 was an arrogant Regency earl regarding women as "use 'em and lose 'em" sex objects -- until he tried to seduce and dump a witch. She put a spell on him, binding him to a brass bed until he could satisfy 100 women. Nearly 200 years later, Jewel turns out to be the hundredth, and Randy has undergone such a radical change that he is sincerely attached to Jewel. Thus he's coping with their relationship, which is stormy everywhere except in bed -- and with modern Chicago.
Well, modern Chicago with a difference: sometime recently, it seems, magic erupted into the world. Practical, modern people so dislike the M-word they refer to the phenomena vaguely as "hinky" -- even the people with the job of investigating the phenomena and figuring out how to fix them, which is the true nature of Jewel's job at the blandly named Department of Consumer Services. She also investigates fraud, but her primary focus is on limiting the "hinky" damage in the city, so that Chicago doesn't end up being quarantined like Pittsburgh.
The details of hinky America are vague, because they are not as important as the results of wild magic, particularly the way it affects people.
Jewel is sent as a temp to a Baysdorter Boncil, a real estate investment firm that is cubicle hell, especially for women. The secretarial assistants are dressed in chokingly proper Office Garb, but beneath the quietly efficient order of the office, the male execs have been using these women for far more than their typing and filing skills. Jewel is a fox among the chickens, upsetting the head hen, Ms. Sacker, who turns out to have more secrets than all the other women put together. Events soon lead to a porn production site, where Randy (still unsuccessfully learning to drive a car) soon gets hired to perform as a porn star; meanwhile whenever people in various offices eat the pastries from a certain shop, they inexplicably end up in chandelier -- swinging orgies.
The magic is getting wilder, as Jewel and her cohorts slowly investigate a real estate scam that is far larger than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, Jewel is also trying to cope with the emotional fallout of her past habits of bouncing from guy to guy without giving them a second thought (in an interesting parallel to Randy's early life), and her emotional attachments (she avoids the L-word) to Clay and Randy.
How do sex and magic relate? How do sex and emotion relate? The two -- sex and emotion -- are pole stars revolving around the story. The reader experiences a romp through a crazy Chicago as well as an exploration of humans as sexual beings. Stevenson's complex characters, her eye for detail, her 52-pick-up style of magic and her roller-coaster plotting all combine in a complex tale that is both warm and wise.
If you can read that and smile, the chances are pretty good you will enjoy this book. Jennifer Stevenson, whose first book, trash sex magic, garnered critical acclaim, appears to be offering fluffy chick lit with a side of sex in this last book of her trilogy, but under the wacky goings-on, she comes to grips with a surprising range of issues relating to sex: age, emotional damage, the cost of love, the cost of what one thinks is love, self-knowledge, mother-daughter dynamics, commitment, sex for pay, sex for play (porn).
The Bearskin Rug finishes the story began in The Brass Bed and The Velvet Chair. The Bearskin Rug stands alone; Stevenson interleaves the developing plot with flashbacks that not only illuminate Jewel's early life as a Wisconsin teenager inheriting her grandmother's failing farm, but paints in the relationships established in the previous books.
Jewel is torn between two men. There's Clay, a con man she met when he was posing as a therapist who happened to possess what seemed to be a magical bed. Clay, whose morals have been as adaptable as his vocations, has fallen hard for Jewel. He wants a permanent relationship, but because he's a con artist, he has no idea how to win her except by manipulation.
Then there's Randy, who in 1811 was an arrogant Regency earl regarding women as "use 'em and lose 'em" sex objects -- until he tried to seduce and dump a witch. She put a spell on him, binding him to a brass bed until he could satisfy 100 women. Nearly 200 years later, Jewel turns out to be the hundredth, and Randy has undergone such a radical change that he is sincerely attached to Jewel. Thus he's coping with their relationship, which is stormy everywhere except in bed -- and with modern Chicago.
Well, modern Chicago with a difference: sometime recently, it seems, magic erupted into the world. Practical, modern people so dislike the M-word they refer to the phenomena vaguely as "hinky" -- even the people with the job of investigating the phenomena and figuring out how to fix them, which is the true nature of Jewel's job at the blandly named Department of Consumer Services. She also investigates fraud, but her primary focus is on limiting the "hinky" damage in the city, so that Chicago doesn't end up being quarantined like Pittsburgh.
The details of hinky America are vague, because they are not as important as the results of wild magic, particularly the way it affects people.
Jewel is sent as a temp to a Baysdorter Boncil, a real estate investment firm that is cubicle hell, especially for women. The secretarial assistants are dressed in chokingly proper Office Garb, but beneath the quietly efficient order of the office, the male execs have been using these women for far more than their typing and filing skills. Jewel is a fox among the chickens, upsetting the head hen, Ms. Sacker, who turns out to have more secrets than all the other women put together. Events soon lead to a porn production site, where Randy (still unsuccessfully learning to drive a car) soon gets hired to perform as a porn star; meanwhile whenever people in various offices eat the pastries from a certain shop, they inexplicably end up in chandelier -- swinging orgies.
The magic is getting wilder, as Jewel and her cohorts slowly investigate a real estate scam that is far larger than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, Jewel is also trying to cope with the emotional fallout of her past habits of bouncing from guy to guy without giving them a second thought (in an interesting parallel to Randy's early life), and her emotional attachments (she avoids the L-word) to Clay and Randy.
How do sex and magic relate? How do sex and emotion relate? The two -- sex and emotion -- are pole stars revolving around the story. The reader experiences a romp through a crazy Chicago as well as an exploration of humans as sexual beings. Stevenson's complex characters, her eye for detail, her 52-pick-up style of magic and her roller-coaster plotting all combine in a complex tale that is both warm and wise.
August 11, 2013
What an unexpected pleasure! The light-hearted erotica is a glossy veneer over what ended up being a surprising look at emotions, at sex, at the porn business, and at sexual harassment of the worst kind. This won't be everybody's cup of tea, but if you like it funny and bawdy with a nice side dish or emotional depth, this one's for you!
July 13, 2019
Be advised, there is a lot of very erotic scenes that are described in titillating detail. Prudes should stay away. But this is also a love story, full of relationship-angst and introspection. It's a fun, fast read, with lots of humor among and between the sex. You will get the most out of this book, which is the third Hinky Chicago Book, if you read the first two (The Hinky Brass Bed and the The Hinky Velvet Chair) before reading this. The characters are complicated, and much of this book's story continues to develop on what has happened before.
Jewel, Clay and Randy are back to investigate some hinky goings-on, along with the Consumer Services group. A billion-dollar scam is going down, and the Hinky team is trying to figure out the who, what, and how. Clues pop up as erotic nude poppets; Jewel goes undercover at Baysdorter Boncil, finding evidence of a culture of sexual harassment; then an investigation of Artistic Publishing Company, a porn producer, where Randy gets sucked into the eponymous Bearskin Rug. There, he is at the tender mercies of porn star Velvita Fromage, a relative of several employees at BB. The plot thickens, more of Randy's history is revealed, Clay has strong feelings for Jewel, and Jewel starts feeling guilty and jealous. Interesting developments at the office as an orgy takes place. The Consumer Services office busts a major scam with the help of a self-proclaimed sex goddess - and she has power you'd expect of a goddess. Jewel, Clay and Randy are still struggling with their relationships, which get even more confused by the porn star and the sex goddess.
Jewel, Clay and Randy are back to investigate some hinky goings-on, along with the Consumer Services group. A billion-dollar scam is going down, and the Hinky team is trying to figure out the who, what, and how. Clues pop up as erotic nude poppets; Jewel goes undercover at Baysdorter Boncil, finding evidence of a culture of sexual harassment; then an investigation of Artistic Publishing Company, a porn producer, where Randy gets sucked into the eponymous Bearskin Rug. There, he is at the tender mercies of porn star Velvita Fromage, a relative of several employees at BB. The plot thickens, more of Randy's history is revealed, Clay has strong feelings for Jewel, and Jewel starts feeling guilty and jealous. Interesting developments at the office as an orgy takes place. The Consumer Services office busts a major scam with the help of a self-proclaimed sex goddess - and she has power you'd expect of a goddess. Jewel, Clay and Randy are still struggling with their relationships, which get even more confused by the porn star and the sex goddess.
September 9, 2017
A reasonably light hearted read with a fair amount of humour
The writing style of the author keeps improving with each book and this third installment is much more readable than previous books. The characters are good if not a bit emotionally mixed up. The storyline is effective and interesting with a few twists for interest. Overall, this is a good humorous read although, some of the plot can be a little monotonous especially for a 3rd in series book. There are some plot developments though so thankfully it hasn't stagnated just going a bit slow.
The writing style of the author keeps improving with each book and this third installment is much more readable than previous books. The characters are good if not a bit emotionally mixed up. The storyline is effective and interesting with a few twists for interest. Overall, this is a good humorous read although, some of the plot can be a little monotonous especially for a 3rd in series book. There are some plot developments though so thankfully it hasn't stagnated just going a bit slow.
July 28, 2017
This series is getting better and better!! It's humorous, sexy, fun and now very interesting. The first 2 books hit on the mystery lightly this one went gung ho and it was really good. We still have poor Jewel trying to figure out what to do with Randy and Clay trying to figure out what to do with Jewel. It's like romance meets comedy meets mystery meets soap opera and it's fun!!! I can't wait for the next one!!
June 18, 2018
Quick read. It was okay.
October 16, 2018
I did not enjoy this book
February 15, 2011
Oh wow this was a great book i liked it best in the series as it brought tears to my eyes as the things that happened in it felt so real between jewel and randy. A real romance but also the sex demon doesn't disappoint. The storyline was terrific making you think what is going to happen next.
The thing i liked about it that jewel and randy really had to overcome a few hurdles in their relationship (well sex demon life) just like life and while this happened they both realised what they really wanted and who. This is a book i have already enouraged my friends to read and i will be reading it again soon.
To me that is a good book. One that doesn't sit on your shelf collecting dust as you only read it once. (Just a figure of speech since its a kindle addition).
This book could be read by itself but i recommend you read the brass bed and the velvet chair first as they are funny, sexy and help the reader to get a big and i mean big insite on randy the sex demon and jewel the mortal.
The brass bed is when jewel first meets randy and its a essential piece of the storyline and man is it hot, i felt very flustered in a good way.
If you want some indepth sex scenes involving what women really want in bed these are the books for you. I cant wait for the next one in the series. I hope you will write more jennifer.
January 14, 2017
Excellent! I laughed so much when Randy jumped in to bear skin rug, lol! This is a learning book for both Randy, Jewel, and Clay. There are other characters that you meet but their story is secondary to what is happening between those three. Clay will be getting in touch with his feminine side. You definitely have action,mystery but the romance is so important. I hope you will read and enjoy this book as much as I did!
September 30, 2013
The last book of the trilogy. Well this was a let down. The storyline gets a little better but there's no real resolution to the whole picture at the end of the book. There's so many strange things happening and nothing seems to make this reader happy with the exception of the fact that tis trilogy is done and I can forget I ever read these books.
January 17, 2017
This series continues to amuse me. I liked the book , with Clay, Jewel, and Randy off on another adventure. This book was a little bit more serious than the other two but it still has its moments. The triangle of love between these three is more apparent in this book . The sex scenes are steamy, and raunchy. All in good fun.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book.
January 22, 2017
I loved The Hinky Bearskin Rug almost more than I liked The Hinky Velvet Chair. In this book, we get to see more of the relationship between Jewel, Randy, and Clay as the guys try to get Jewel to pick them. We also get to see more of the Hinky action hitting Chicago. There was a just a bit of Buzz in this book, which was alright with me.
August 26, 2008
this is the last book in this series; like the other two its super cute. i think it ended with the more likely ending, i was kind of hoping she wouldn't go in the direction she did, but it was still a really cute book!
March 22, 2011
Haha What a story! Very unique, but well worth the read.
July 29, 2011
seems to have more plot and less fluff, for me anyway. so far so good
Finished it a LONG time ago but forgot to close it out here
Finished it a LONG time ago but forgot to close it out here
Read
May 29, 2010YUCK! No more
April 29, 2013
OK. Slow getting into it.
January 24, 2015
Not knowing it was #3 in a series only explains some of my problems. Not into magical stuff, too weird for me and poorly written.
April 13, 2015
Definitely didn't like this one as much as the first two. Hopefully things will turn around in the next?
October 28, 2016
On Again Off Again
This time was more serious and not so much comedy. I actually had a harder time following the story line. It jumped around a lot. Randy and Jewels relationship is still teetering, hence the off again on again reference. There was some weird hinky sexual situations. Let's see where it goes in the next book.
This time was more serious and not so much comedy. I actually had a harder time following the story line. It jumped around a lot. Randy and Jewels relationship is still teetering, hence the off again on again reference. There was some weird hinky sexual situations. Let's see where it goes in the next book.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews