WHAT CAROLINE WANTS
(Pushing the Boundaries #1)
Release Date: May 18
(Pushing the Boundaries #1)
Release Date: May 18
Caroline and
Jason Stratton have always been hot for each other. Married right out of
college, they’ve had a great sex life. But when they discover that their best
friends and neighbors, Piper and Michael Collins, have experimented with a few
extracurricular adventures during their ten year marriage, Caroline and Jace’s
sexual world is rocked.
The Strattons quickly find that inviting others into their bedroom might be something they want to explore. But getting Caroline to reconcile her Southern guilt is another matter altogether. So they decide to take it deliciously slow, exploring every avenue.
Their adventures lead them to Emma and Pete, and after a fun, sexy dinner date out, and an incredibly hot car ride home, they’re in. But once they decide to scale that mountain, all bets are off. In the end, Caroline must make a decision—and it’s one she’ll have to live with forever.
*This book is ridiculously sexy, filled with high-octane moments between the couple as they figure out what makes them tick. The book contains: explicit sex, voyeurism, and light couple swap. **There is no cheating, everything is consensual between all participants.
The Strattons quickly find that inviting others into their bedroom might be something they want to explore. But getting Caroline to reconcile her Southern guilt is another matter altogether. So they decide to take it deliciously slow, exploring every avenue.
Their adventures lead them to Emma and Pete, and after a fun, sexy dinner date out, and an incredibly hot car ride home, they’re in. But once they decide to scale that mountain, all bets are off. In the end, Caroline must make a decision—and it’s one she’ll have to live with forever.
*This book is ridiculously sexy, filled with high-octane moments between the couple as they figure out what makes them tick. The book contains: explicit sex, voyeurism, and light couple swap. **There is no cheating, everything is consensual between all participants.
Buy Link
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1E5OqtV
Excerpt
What if we just try it once?” Jason Stratton
dipped his razor into the sink and grinned into the mirror. “If we don’t like
it, we can chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.”
“You don’t just move on from having sex with your
neighbors,” Caroline stated from her spot by the bathroom door. Her shoulder
was casually braced against the jamb, her arms loosely crossed as she watched
her husband, clad only in a crisp white towel, shave. “That doesn’t happen. And
I know you’re just trying to mess with me, Jace, but I shouldn’t have to tell
you that even considering that idea
for more than one millisecond is completely insane.”
Jace brought the
razor up and tracked a line down his cheek. “I don’t think it’s all that crazy.
I get why people do it. You heard Michael as clearly as I did last night. He
and Piper are in it for the raw sexual pleasure. They also told us there are
strict rules you have to adhere to, and Piper said no emotional ties are allowed.”
Caroline snorted,
unfolding her arms as she turned and padded back into the bedroom. “Yeah,
right,” she threw over her shoulder as she snatched up an errant shirt and
tossed it into a nearby basket. “Emotions are the only reason anyone would do a thing like that. Inviting others into
your bedroom is not something you walk away from unscathed. It’s the kind of
thing that changes lives forever—and you know I’m right!”
The night before,
during a typical BBQ-turned-late-night-drinking party in their backyard with
their neighbors, and best friends of the past five years, Michael and Piper
Collins, the tipsy talk had turned from casual banter and had entered uncharted
territory. Michael and Piper admitted to having had a few extracurricular
experiences during their nearly ten years of marriage.
Caroline had been
utterly shocked. She couldn’t believe Piper had never mentioned one thing about
it, and she had essentially shut down after the
confession. But Jace had probed them for more than an hour for details, which
they’d given freely.
Once they’d left,
Caroline and Jace had the best sex they’d had in the last two years.
It had been wild,
uninhibited, and totally hot. Caroline was still reeling from the intensity of
it, her toes curling into the plush carpeting as she took a seat on the edge of
their bed. When a very tangible image of last night’s lovemaking flooded
through her—her husband entering her hard and fast—it sent a batch of tingles
racing up her spine. But unlike her bold, seemingly unfazed-by-anything
husband, it had taken Caroline years to get to this point in their marriage—a
point where she felt free enough to let go of her inhibitions during sex.
Through no fault of
her own, she’d been raised in the belly of South Carolina like a proper
Southern belle. And, if asked, she’d fully admit she’d been unwilling to
experiment at the beginning of their relationship. She’d been absolutely
fearful that she would break some kind of unspoken code of behavior if she
actually enjoyed sex. But her
patient, charismatic Midwestern husband had continued to coax her into trying
new things, and over the years she had slowly loosened up in the bedroom and
learned to parcel away that “I’m going straight to hell” moment that always
crept up on her the morning after they did something dirty.
If she was completely honest with herself, once
she’d experienced her first orgasm, her sexual awareness had exploded like a
fire hydrant on a hot June day.
Since then, she’d
opened to trying a variety of things—things she’d never thought in a million
years she’d be okay with. Her handsome, rugged husband was responsible for all
of that. He made her feel safe and happy.
He was the love of
her life.
And now he wanted to
do something crazy that could rock their perfect world forever.
Caroline stood and
headed back to the bathroom, where she leaned against the doorjamb. Jace
grinned at her reflection in the mirror as he finished shaving, whisking his
razor in the sink in between strokes.
“You’re impossible,”
she told him. “A scamp with no morals whatsoever.”
“I have plenty of
morals, but they have nothing to do with this particular scenario,” he replied
with a wink. “You know how I feel about sex, Care. Sex is not love. You just
have to choose pleasure over guilt. If you did that, this could be a gold mine
of sexual happiness for us.” He smiled at her like a fool.
She crossed her
arms. “A gold mine? Sounds more like a minefield of unhappiness to me. And since you’re continuing to push this agenda,
is this your way of telling me that you could share me so easily? Because the
thought of sharing you makes my stomach ache and bile rise in my throat.”
Jace caught her
expression in the mirror and dropped his razor into the sink. He turned,
tugging the towel from his waist, using it to wipe away the rest of the shaving
cream as he strode forward.
Caroline tried to
turn away, but her husband caught her wrists, pulling her close, encircling her
waist, and hugging her tightly to his chest before she could move. “Of course I
couldn’t share you easily,” he murmured near her ear, kissing her neck the way
she liked. She braced her hands against his shoulders and pressed back, letting
him know his advances weren’t entirely
welcome. “Caroline, you dazzle me every time I look at you. From the very first
moment I ever laid eyes on you, I was hooked. Nothing’s going to change that.
Pleasure to me is just that—pleasure.
I’m not looking to find a new connection with anyone. I just want to find what
makes us tick and, from there, make it extraordinary.” He lingered over her
collarbone and made his way slowly to her ear, ending with his lips tugging her
earlobe. “Last night was completely amazing. You have to admit it,” he
whispered in her ear. “We haven’t had sex like that in a long time.” He slid a
hand up and used his thumb to caress a particularly sensitive spot on her neck.
She shivered. “It could’ve been a coincidence, but I don’t think so. What
Michael and Piper told us had everything to do with it. It was like they doused
us with lighter fluid and lit a match.”
Caroline had fallen
for her husband the first time she’d seen him, too.
She angled her head
up. “Fine, I admit it. It might’ve been sexy to hear about someone else’s
indiscretions—in that very moment.” She shook her head. “But what you’re
suggesting is dangerous. I think we tick together just fine without anything
extra. And I don’t believe pleasure can be wrought without an emotional bond. A
person needs to be connected to hit all the right notes. If we did something
like inviting others into our bedroom, there would be a steep price to pay.
It’s not something you just do willy-nilly.”
Jace chuckled. “I
love it when you talk Southern to me.” He walked her backward toward their
king-size bed, his arms still tightly wrapped around her, the towel long gone.
When the backs of her legs touched the end of the bed, he gently untied her
robe. “I agree with you, by the way,” he said as his hands brushed over her
bare shoulders, coaxing the soft terry cloth to the floor. “This isn’t
something we should consider doing without a lot of thought, and I don’t want
to share you either, believe me. But last night the sex was cataclysmic and I
don’t care how we got there. If it took our neighbors to get us that horny, so
be it. You were on fire, and I loved every minute of it.” He eased her back on
the rumpled covers. “You were dripping wet by the time we got to the bedroom,
and I couldn’t get your clothes off fast enough.” He braced himself over her,
his arms on either side of her head. He dipped lower, his mouth sliding over
hers, melding perfectly as their tongues entwined.
She let out a soft
sigh.
The sexy talk last
night with their friends had indeed turned her on.
It had been exactly
like Jace had described—it was like Michael and Piper had poured gas on a
bonfire by spilling their sexual secrets. But in Caroline’s mind, it had been
no different than watching porn or reading a sexy story, something that always
made her hot for her husband and no one else. What she didn’t want to confess
to Jace right now—or even to herself—was that while Michael had been divulging
the dirty details about their extracurricular affairs, his hand had slid onto
Piper’s thigh, and at his touch, Piper had uttered a small moan.
Caroline’s eyes had
been riveted to his hand as it’d crept upward. To her relief it’d stopped a
respectable distance from Piper’s upper thigh and had ended up being very
innocent.
Titillating, but
nothing untoward.
“I was on fire,” Caroline admitted. Jace
kissed her again, and when he finally broke away, both of them were panting
hard. “But it was for you. There’s a
big difference. I didn’t want Michael in my bed, I wanted you.” Michael was a
very handsome man, ridiculously so, but for Caroline, he didn’t hold a candle
to her husband’s natural charm and all-American good looks. Jace lay down next
to her, propping himself up on an elbow, smiling. “I knew it got to you. It
made me hot for you, too. And just like right now, while we’re talking about
it, it’s turning us on again.” He placed two fingers between her breasts, brushing
them lightly down her chest to her stomach…
What I thought about What Caroline Wants
Caroline and Jason have a good marriage but since they've been together for a few years, things have gotten predictable in the bedroom. Then one night their neighbors tell them about how they spice up their ten year marriage. Caroline swings between feeling guilty for even thinking about it and feeling turned on at the thought of what her neighbors have been doing. Jason is definitely interested in indulging some of his fantasies, but he leaves it up to Caroline.
What follows is mostly Caroline trying to resolve her feelings of guilt over wanting to experiment sexually, and her desire to do so. The story does a nice job of not beating this too hard, and gives what I thought was a realistic depiction of all the different thoughts going through Caroline's head in this situation.
I would have liked it more had her husband been more developed. I was curous about what inner conflicts or guilt he might have had. He just seemed a little too much "whatever you want, Caroline" for me. His reactions to Caroline's doubts toward the end of the book seemed a bit extreme, too.
I was very curious how the author was going to introduce the other characters in this and maintain a HEA. I was pleasantly surprised and I liked that the story was more about Caroline exploring her sexual desires rather than her struggling with guilt and other negative emotions.
Overall, I liked this and I'm looking forward to book 2 in the series. It's sexy and deals with a alternative lifestyle with sensitivity and respect. It made me ask myself what I might do in Caroline's situation, and I liked that about the book.
Giveaway
I've got 10 copies of What Caroline Wants to give away! Just leave a comment telling the blog readers what you are currently reading. Giveaway ends May 22, 2015.
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Bio:
Amanda Abbott lives in the Midwest. She's the author of many books, both on her own and some published in New York. She loves traveling, seeing the world, and above all she loves to write. These stories have blossomed out of her pure love of all kinds of romance, but especially humor + sexy combined. Taking the question of "what if" and making it real was an absolute thrill to write. And there's more in the hopper! To keep up with new series and new releases, head to her website http://www.authoramandaabbott.com/ and be sure to sign-up for her newsletter!
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4 comments:
I'm currently reading the new JR Ward.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Shannon
I am currently reading JR Ward the shadows. Love hearing about and reading new authors!
I'll be honest....I'm not currently reading anything so I'm looking for my next great read! The last book I finished was JR Ward's The Shadows. Thanks for the contest! :-D
Kristin P.
Currently reading Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein. Love her works and this one is great so far.
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