I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review and here it is: 3 stars.
I did not read the preceding novel in this series, but narrative in this novel was sufficient to understand the backstory of this erotic romance.
When Glenna O'Donald, a research assistant at a college, is at the bedside of her dying and beloved great grandmother, known as Great Glenna, for whom she was named, she is handed an envelope. In it Great Glenna tells her to go out and enjoy every moment of her life, to do all the things she's dreamed of and wished for. Shortly thereafter, after Great Glenna's funeral service has ended, she notices a bag containing some papers blowing away. Since she's unsure of which grave they were blown from, she takes them home. Once home, she discovers 30 sex cards, all with different erotic instructions/suggestions.
For the past year, she's been lusting after one of the Professors at the college, Eric Morris, but she's been afraid to so much as speak with him. Her life and work at the college is mundane, the professor for whom she works treats her like a doormat and she accepts it. The one good part of her job is that she works and shares an office with her best friend, Jasmine. When she tells Jasmine about her find, Jasmine tells her to go for it, that she's got no life outside the office, and what life she does have is dull, boring and routine. What she soon learns is that Eric has overheard the conversation, and is interested, for reasons of his own, in helping her enact those 30 sex cards--and do they ever.
The opening of this novel moves very slowly, and the relationship between Glenna and Eric is supposed to be 30 days of sex only--no emotion, no relationship, just sex. While these two characters are engaging in a variety of sex games, the sensual eroticism they appear to be enjoying didn't engage this reader. It was strange to read these scenes and yet feel not a single degree of heat between these characters, and quite frankly, I'm unsure whether the fault lies in the author's description of these numbered sexcapades or in my lack of empathy for these characters. I think the missing piece was the lack of emotional attachment between Eric and Glenna. Eric is very closed off emotionally, mentions that his problem is with a previous relationship, but gives Glenna no details. This on again, off again, far too pre-planned sexual deal, turned me off completely, as did the instant love that magically appears after Glenna calls off the assignations mid-stream.
Although it's not a badly written novel, I think it's poorly paced--too slow in the beginning and too fast to be believable at the end, and also that it's lacks the emotional depth that draws in the reader.