Sudden Pleasures

The Channel #3

by Bertrice Small

Ashley Kimbrough has everything a woman could want. Not only is she wealthy and successful, she has a more than satisfying sex life in The Channel , a secret network that allows women to live out their wildest fantasies. But if she doesn't find herself a husband she could be in danger of losing it all.

Then multi-millionaire Ryan Mulcahy enters Ashley's life. With that Celtic warrior's body and drop-dead gorgeous face, he makes her fantasies run wild. Although their marriage is one of convenience, Ashley is starting to wonder whether she can use everything she learned from The Channel on her unsuspecting husband.

Genres: Romance, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2007

About the author

Bertrice Williams was born on December 9, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, the daughter of Doris S. and David R. Williams, both broadcasters. She studied at Attended Western College for Women and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. On October 5, 1963, she married George Sumner Small, a photographer and designer with a History Major at Princeton. They had a son Thomas David. She lived on eastern Long Island for over 30 years. Her greatest passions were her family; Finnegan and Sylvester, the family cats; Nicki, the elderly cockatiel who whistles the NY Mets charge call; her garden; her work, and just life in general.

Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.

Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps the worst book I have ever read, I chose this for my book club's "trashy novel" reading. Terrible dialogue, awful characters, completely implausible plot, and an inexplicable obsession with raspberry vinigrette. I suppose the multitude of sex scenes serves a purpose. The author's description of society and culture is so simplistic and naive that I described the book to John thusly: "It's like a seventh grader explaining how the world works to a six grader."

[ABookAddictHere]

Kind of a boring story until the last few chapters where it started picking up.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kad sam izabrala ovu knjigu da citam,ocekivala sam nesto u stilu Dzeki Kolins i njenog stila pisanja.
Medjutim dobila sam pornjava pricu iz "Vroceg kaja" ili "Starta"i to jakoooooo losu,mislim da su i tamo bolje izlazile.😒😏
I dalje sam u cudu i pitanju "sta ja ovo procitah"???🤨🧐🤔🤔😳😳🤯
"Njegova velika siroka alatka"ce ostati kao sinonim za ovu knjigu.😳😳🤯
Nakon 23-eg puta- sam prestala da brojim koliko je puta pisac tu recenicu ponavljala kroz tekst.
ISKRENO-NESTO LOSIJE NAPISANO ODAVNO NISAM PROCITALA!!😒🤯🥺😤🤯

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Bertrice Small's historical romances, and I thought I had read one of these "Channel" books a long time ago and enjoyed it...that said, either my tastes have changed a lot, or Ms. Small should have stuck with historical romances. This one was pretty dull - the tension between the main characters was resolved very quickly and easily and there was nothing very interesting about either one of them. The sex scenes were tepid. Oh well, can't win 'em all I guess!

[JustAGirlWhoLovesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing!!! Love the story, sex and characters!! I definitely will continue on to the next book in the series!!! Loved it and savored every single page! 😍🤩🤓⚖️📚📚

[Greyland Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars
Better than the first two.

[Aurian Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this blurb is not really conform the book. Or not at all. Ashley Kinsbrough is a rich heiress, but she has also created her own successful business from scratch. Unfortunately, as she started it with some capital from her grandfather, it is considered part of his estate. And if she does not get married before she is 35, she will lose it all to his last girlfriend and her idiotic cause.
She has tried to get married three times before, but three times before the wedding was cancelled at the last moment. Her first fiancée was gay and ran off with the best man, her second fiancée was a famous sportsman and a a sex addict, who died while having sex in Las Vegas, and her third fiancée was a con man, only after her money. So no wonder Ashley lost her trust in herself in finding a good man to marry. She clearly has no taste in men.
Her lawyers have tried to get rid of the clause in her grandfather’s testament, but to no avail.
But her lawyers cousin has a client with the same problem. Ryan Mulcahy needs to marry before he is 40, or the business he has build goes to his 5 sisters. They have already lined up a buyer for it too.

So Clara (Nora’s friend) suggests that bringing them together in a marriage of convenience will solve both their problems. And when Ashley and Ryan meet, they are immediately attracted to each other. They like each other, they have a lot in common, having both build up their own business, and they are both workaholics. And it is nowhere stated that they have to marry for love, or stay married. So they agree to a marriage of convenience for two years, and then they will see what happens.

But they both like each other, and quickly fall in lust. But Ashley refuses to give in to that lust until after the marriage. After all, she has the Channel as an escape. She also really likes Ryan’s mother and his youngest sister. And so they plan their wedding together, but Ashley refuses to go through with another big white wedding. The previous 3 disasters were expensive enough.


This is a fun story, how Ashley and Ryan fall in love, and how they thwart his money grabbing sisters. Their father left them enough money in his will, but they burned through it recklessly, and now they want more. They don’t care that Ryan build the business on the modest one their father had started.
Ashley has no family left at all, she has her butler and his wife, who is her housekeeper/cook, and who have practically raised her after her parents died.

Ashley and Ryan are both capable and practical and mature people, and I enjoyed watching them fall for each other. Of course there are hot love scenes in this book, but I really enjoy this story. Marriage of convenience is one of my favourite tropes.

I really do recommend this series.

9 stars.

[Elizabeth Bennet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashley Kimbrough owns Lacy Nothings a successful lingerie shop in Egret Pointe. She has a very old ancestral home and is grand daughter to one of the founders of Egret Pointe. She also has a subscription to the channel and lives any fantasy she wants, nightly. Ryan Mulcahy has his own furniture restoration business and is quite successful himself. The two are brought together by their attorneys because they both must marry to keep their inheritance. Ashley has had several previous failures in the attempt to keep what she has and Ryan is just ready.

The attraction is instant and you can feel the heat coming from both but each try to play it cool.They agree to meet again under a less formal setting and Ryan drives to Egret Pointe to spend some time at Ashley's home. He is blown away and can appreciate the decor of her home and that it just increases the attraction between the two. When they finally agree to marry they do so as a business transaction with benefits and Ryan definitely has benefits. It has disaster written all over it as you see the two agreeing to having sex but making it just that. Ashley lets Ryan know early on in their marriage that shes not cut out for being just in it for sex.

Then there are Ryan's parasite sisters. I like this book its different and fun. Ryan is man worth reading about and Ashley is a woman I think would be easily envied. If nothing else, her house and hometown is reason enough now you add Ryan to the mix. Lets just say she didn't need the channel after she got Ryan he was her every fantasy.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is in the Channel series but there really is little involving the channel in this story, except in the beginning. It is a good story - very romantic and lots of steamy bits. I think that the device of having to marry by age of X to inherit has been overdone - and really, does this still occur in this day and age?? I could buy this in a historical context but not so much in a modern setting. But if you can suspend your disbelief on that point, the rest is pretty fun. Ryan and Ashley are fun characters and the reader easily sees how perfect they are for each other, even if they deny it and just go into it as a marriage of convenience. Overall it was fun and I'll be reading more. I just wish that there was more with the channel.

[Ren Puspita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this just by what I feel after I finish read. Of course I already forget the story, it's been 13 years :'). Also back then, I don't have a habit to review books I'd read and only rated them (by based on what I feel). Anyway, I did remember that this title is one of the few erotica titles that I read based on curiosity. I can tested that the erotic scenes were pretty bonkers, though. And I also didn't know who Bertrice Small then, not realize she is one of big name in bodice ripper era

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding themselves on the brink of financial disaster, Ashley and Ryan enter a marriage of convenience to save their respective fortunes. What starts out as a business arrangement quickly turns into a heated affair between husband and wife. The newlyweds must also deal with a colorful cast of secondary characters and past indiscretions. Small does a nice job balancing out the book with romance, fantasy and back story. An engaging, sexy read!

Recommend: Yes (mature, open-minded readers only)

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Ashley Kimbrough has everything a woman could want: a successful business,close friends , a satisfying sex life in the Channel, a secret life for women only network that allows viewers to live out their wildest fantasies. She isn't interested in marriage until she learns the value of inheritance. She also isn't interested in self made millionaire Ryan Mulcahy a handsome man with the body of a Celtic Warrior and the face of an Italian model.

[Joie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike the first one this one appeals way more to your romantic side the relationship between millionaries Ashley and Ryan is sweet and I found myself smiling while reading this book more then once. Of course you have to love the channel but I liked that in this book she was forced to step away from it. The heat factor on this one was way more then the first book in my opinion

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A saucy book...not for the train (you definitely don't want the person next to you reading it with you!)While it was predictable with a business marriage resulting in the (conveniently very good looking) couple falling into passionate love, i still liked it.

[Erica Poole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Small's historical stuff, but this was just trite and boring to me. Sad.

[Mitzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't care for the story. Did not finish the books.

[Kindaangelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot book.....

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Good strong characters

[Jamie Young-Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way better than fifty!

[Judy Gaston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

Another great book from a great author. I love these books. Sexy yet filled with love. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Baylee · Rating 1 out of 5]

stupid

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok, horny predictable