What do you think?
Rate this book
The Channel #1
Private Pleasures
When her husband leaves her for a younger woman, devoted housewife Nora Buckley finds solace in the company of her friends, the women of Ansley Court, who introduce her to The Channel, which allows every woman to live out their most intimate and sensuous fantasies. Reprint.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Bertrice Small
167 books1,149 followersBertrice 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
August 20, 2009
Bought this in an airport to read on the plane... not a book that you want someone to read over your shoulder.
November 21, 2017
This was a very interesting story. I will be reading the next one.
June 1, 2015
I know some of you are a bit shocked right now: Aurian, reading erotica? Nooo, that can’t be? But yes, you see, this is Bertrice Small, my most favourite author of all of my favourite authors. And face it, her historical romances are often steamier than erotica. And have you read her fantasy series, The World of Hetar? Wow. I love everything she writes, and this series is not an exception. Her books are like comfort food to me.
This series has all older women as heroines, so no virgin meets millionaire thing, and I enjoy that even more. Normal, every day women.
After 26 years of marriage, Nora Buckley’s husband Jeff is throwing her away for a younger woman. This would not really be so bad, as they have grown apart over the years and Nora is no longer in love with him. But he intends to leave her and their children penniless and homeless. Nora has nothing in her own name, the house is on his name, and she doesn’t even have her own checking account. Jeff gives her a weekly allowance to pay for the household, and that is it. Her friends and her mother are appalled of course, that kind of behaviour was normal in the fifties, but not now!
Jeff expects her to roll over and meekly sign the divorce papers, but for her children Nora can fight. He won’t support them through college any more, and even defrauded them of the college funds he started as soon as they were born. He will not get her house! Her best friend Carla’s husband is a lawyer, and he will help her fight for a fair share. Even though Jeff has hired one of the most famous divorce lawyers out there to make this go fast, he will not give up easily.
And to help Nora through the stress and problems of it all, her friends tell her about The Channel. It is an interactive tv channel, that will allow them to live their fantasies from 8 p.m. till 4 a.m. in the morning. At first Nora doesn’t believe in it, or understands how it works, but it is very real. Jeff was a lousy lover, never wanting her to do more than lay on her back and close her eyes, as that is how a wife should behave. And now she can have all the sex she has ever imagined ... all free of consequences. And Nora sure has wanted to be adventurous in the bedroom. A bit of spanking, a threesome, oral and anal sex, and more. What she does not intend to do is fall in love with her imaginary partner, Kyle. Or for him to fall in love with her, after all, he is not real, or is he?
And spending time in the Channel, gives Nora an idea of how to fight Jeff ... But of course, everything has its price, but for Nora, it is worth it.
I do love this story. How Nora finds herself, and from an insecure mousy housewife becomes a confident woman. She stands up for herself and her children, she starts taking classes so she can get a real job, something she has never done before as she married right out of college and Jeff did not want her to work. I love how she takes her revenge on Jeff, who is a really spoiled and narrow-minded man. Through it all she becomes prettier as well, but that was never the goal, just a side-effect.
I love Bertrice Small’s writing style, and her sense of humor, but above all, the strong heroines she creates. They are never doormats, they are survivors.
And I for sure would love for The Channel to be real and live some fantasies of my own ...
9 stars.
This series has all older women as heroines, so no virgin meets millionaire thing, and I enjoy that even more. Normal, every day women.
After 26 years of marriage, Nora Buckley’s husband Jeff is throwing her away for a younger woman. This would not really be so bad, as they have grown apart over the years and Nora is no longer in love with him. But he intends to leave her and their children penniless and homeless. Nora has nothing in her own name, the house is on his name, and she doesn’t even have her own checking account. Jeff gives her a weekly allowance to pay for the household, and that is it. Her friends and her mother are appalled of course, that kind of behaviour was normal in the fifties, but not now!
Jeff expects her to roll over and meekly sign the divorce papers, but for her children Nora can fight. He won’t support them through college any more, and even defrauded them of the college funds he started as soon as they were born. He will not get her house! Her best friend Carla’s husband is a lawyer, and he will help her fight for a fair share. Even though Jeff has hired one of the most famous divorce lawyers out there to make this go fast, he will not give up easily.
And to help Nora through the stress and problems of it all, her friends tell her about The Channel. It is an interactive tv channel, that will allow them to live their fantasies from 8 p.m. till 4 a.m. in the morning. At first Nora doesn’t believe in it, or understands how it works, but it is very real. Jeff was a lousy lover, never wanting her to do more than lay on her back and close her eyes, as that is how a wife should behave. And now she can have all the sex she has ever imagined ... all free of consequences. And Nora sure has wanted to be adventurous in the bedroom. A bit of spanking, a threesome, oral and anal sex, and more. What she does not intend to do is fall in love with her imaginary partner, Kyle. Or for him to fall in love with her, after all, he is not real, or is he?
And spending time in the Channel, gives Nora an idea of how to fight Jeff ... But of course, everything has its price, but for Nora, it is worth it.
I do love this story. How Nora finds herself, and from an insecure mousy housewife becomes a confident woman. She stands up for herself and her children, she starts taking classes so she can get a real job, something she has never done before as she married right out of college and Jeff did not want her to work. I love how she takes her revenge on Jeff, who is a really spoiled and narrow-minded man. Through it all she becomes prettier as well, but that was never the goal, just a side-effect.
I love Bertrice Small’s writing style, and her sense of humor, but above all, the strong heroines she creates. They are never doormats, they are survivors.
And I for sure would love for The Channel to be real and live some fantasies of my own ...
9 stars.
August 19, 2015
I was beyond disappointed with Small's novel. Not only did the ending make little to no sense at all, but the whole work was obviously overlooked by an editor. There were plenty of spelling errors, not to mention horrible exposition and a tremendous problem with redundancy. If you somehow skim over an event, don't worry: It will probably be explained three more times. (Por ejemplo: The main character--Nora--does something or other. She calls up her best friend to tell her what happened. Her best friend tells her husband. Nora calls both her children and her mother and tells them what happened. And so on.)
And granted: I'm aware that this is fiction, even fantastical fiction. But the novel is written so poorly and so unrealistically that I keep being drawn out of the story by the characters' unbelievable conversation and ways of speaking, especially the men in this story--aside from Jeff--who speak somewhat femininely and are all wrapped up in interpersonal relationships. Small knows her audience is primarily women, but that's no reason to be sloppy about it.
As a previous reviewer mentioned, Nora is not even likable. Her blind trust and naivety is nauseating, and will annoy many modern readers. The only reason readers may experience any sympathy from her is because she's a foil to her husband Jeff, who has not one likable characteristic to his name. I kept turning the pages in hopes that Nora would kick him in the crotch or something to that effect. Alas.
And granted: I'm aware that this is fiction, even fantastical fiction. But the novel is written so poorly and so unrealistically that I keep being drawn out of the story by the characters' unbelievable conversation and ways of speaking, especially the men in this story--aside from Jeff--who speak somewhat femininely and are all wrapped up in interpersonal relationships. Small knows her audience is primarily women, but that's no reason to be sloppy about it.
As a previous reviewer mentioned, Nora is not even likable. Her blind trust and naivety is nauseating, and will annoy many modern readers. The only reason readers may experience any sympathy from her is because she's a foil to her husband Jeff, who has not one likable characteristic to his name. I kept turning the pages in hopes that Nora would kick him in the crotch or something to that effect. Alas.
October 21, 2019
LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!!
This story deserves a much higher rating than the five I am giving it here. Wow just WOW and I have to say I am still shocked and I am still sad and I am still angry at all the Jeff's out there that can and do stuff like this to their wives and kids. To the Heidis out there stop being shores and work on not stealing other women s lives. But most importantly thanks to the Carlas out there who are the real meanings for the word friendship. Again I loved this story.
This story deserves a much higher rating than the five I am giving it here. Wow just WOW and I have to say I am still shocked and I am still sad and I am still angry at all the Jeff's out there that can and do stuff like this to their wives and kids. To the Heidis out there stop being shores and work on not stealing other women s lives. But most importantly thanks to the Carlas out there who are the real meanings for the word friendship. Again I loved this story.
January 29, 2013
This book was terrible. The story was shallow, the characters were annoying. The sex was raunchy and rushed, grammatically incorrect. Not a romance at all. Ugh.
September 10, 2014
Just not my kind of book. Woman goes into her TV for fantasy sex.
February 19, 2017
2.75 stars
I don't know how feel about this series... Magical realism...her bluntness of using "vagina" and "penis" instead of other genitalia jargon kinda threw me through a loop.
I don't know how feel about this series... Magical realism...her bluntness of using "vagina" and "penis" instead of other genitalia jargon kinda threw me through a loop.
May 22, 2018
Loved it!!! So freakin sexy and a fantastic twisty story!!
June 4, 2025
DNF. Poorly written. Very amateur writing.
December 3, 2025
Someone somewhere recommended this book for the spice. I couldn't find any fun or even sort of nice spice to it. I am a 69 year old American woman who likes books with well developed characters who do interesting things in even more interesting places. This book had the main characters mucking about with each other's anusus. Not an interesting enough place for me to even want to read about it. Suffice it to say this book was a DNF for me. Did not finish. Poorly written, grammar and spelling errors and gratuitous sex with no emotions involved.
April 5, 2025
At first, I thought this book was a little silly... But by the end, I'm ready to get the 2nd book in the series! So happy for Nora and am excited to learn how her role as administrator of The Channel will change her life. Jeff was a total jerk and got what he deserved, but I'm curious if he'll come back in future books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2019
Super bizarre. The ending makes no sense. The book is full of typos. I find Nora kind of annoying.
That being said, I wanted something steamy and this got the job done. I love Small’s books. This isn’t my favorite of hers, but I still enjoyed it.
That being said, I wanted something steamy and this got the job done. I love Small’s books. This isn’t my favorite of hers, but I still enjoyed it.
April 25, 2020
Very different from Beatrice’s historical novels but very interesting. Nora was naive, but Margo played a part in her naivety. Jeff was stupid and blind. He never really saw the person he was married to. And all of that of course was her fault, not his. In the end it’s a cautionary tale .
May 29, 2017
Personal copy, ok
June 10, 2017
Very different. Some of the books in this series are creepy. And others are beautiful and sexy.
February 23, 2018
Wopuld have given it only 1 star, but I liked that Nora got her own back against her nasty husband.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2018
Great fantasy read and really fast paced story. I will be reading the others in this series. They are fun and make a great beach read.
September 15, 2018
Sexy, sizzling....
December 7, 2019
I like the author but didn't like this book.
April 27, 2020
Well written
May 9, 2020
Dated but good.
August 4, 2022
This book was hooooot. Besides the obvious, it had a good storyline and kept me interested throughout. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
March 16, 2023
One of the best erotic romance books I have read yet!
October 3, 2023
It was weird. Like.... idk. Just weird.
November 9, 2024
audio
July 26, 2025
The audiobook version of this book was awful. So many mispronounced words. Wanton and wonton are not pronounced the same. The narration took a weird story and made it awful.
August 18, 2026
Spicy but not overly interesting or believable. I couldn't get into the story. If you want word-pr0n, this is the book for you. If you need a modicum of story, this isn't the book for you.
February 20, 2026
feels outdated.. for me, smut isn’t good when there’s no tension built up. the first spicy scene happened immediately after we (the readers) and the main female character (Nora) met the guy. he has no personality other than being Nora’s sex toy. none of the characters have any depth.
February 15, 2013
(I don't want to seem like an ultra-religious fanatic from my comments. I'm really chill with many issues and topics in religion, but the upcoming issue is the only thing that makes me uncomfortable.)
Nora made a deal with the actual devil himself to be happy?! That and she killed her husband was what soured me to the series and I gave away the book the first chance that I could get.
Just the whole thing with SATAN. A DEMONIC FORCE, that is composed of all the evils of the world, and she ends up working for him willingly.
She must have known what she was getting herself into. She couldn't have been oblivious, the signs were so clear. And yet, she does one of the most horrible things you could ever do to another human being. Sure, he's an ass, but that doesn't make her actions right by comparison.
Why was killing her husband the only way she could get her happily ever after? I know other people may not see this as a problem, but like me there will be those who do.
Its a shame, the idea is SO cool! The idea that theres a magical channel that literally gives you what you desire and gives you the ability to interact with it. My god, if I had one of my own...
And then I think "DEVIL!!!" And I'm glad I don't.
And with the ending note from Mrs. Small, I don't remember it very well but it only made me want to put the book on my shelf and concentrate on something else.
Nora made a deal with the actual devil himself to be happy?! That and she killed her husband was what soured me to the series and I gave away the book the first chance that I could get.
Just the whole thing with SATAN. A DEMONIC FORCE, that is composed of all the evils of the world, and she ends up working for him willingly.
She must have known what she was getting herself into. She couldn't have been oblivious, the signs were so clear. And yet, she does one of the most horrible things you could ever do to another human being. Sure, he's an ass, but that doesn't make her actions right by comparison.
Why was killing her husband the only way she could get her happily ever after? I know other people may not see this as a problem, but like me there will be those who do.
Its a shame, the idea is SO cool! The idea that theres a magical channel that literally gives you what you desire and gives you the ability to interact with it. My god, if I had one of my own...
And then I think "DEVIL!!!" And I'm glad I don't.
And with the ending note from Mrs. Small, I don't remember it very well but it only made me want to put the book on my shelf and concentrate on something else.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews