Asking For Trouble (Black Lace) [Mass Market Paperback]

As a writer of erotica, there are many things I've tried to learn from this book. How to make condoms sexy. How to coarsen my vocabulary. When to let my heroine wear knickers with a gusset. And many other tricks of the trade.

But there's one thing that, for my money, Kristina does better than any other writer of erotica, and that's to use her sophisticated mastery of language to describe quite complex physical sensations. She does it very simply and accurately and the effect is very powerful.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of her language. What she is doing is very difficult. For she doesn't just focus on the physical. She manages to dig out and express the emotional roots of desire.

I recommend this book to every writer. Kristina can be lyrical at times but she is never self-indulgent. And when she needs to be crude she is definitively crude. Above all, she strives to be accurate. Her touchstone is undoubtedly herself, her own body, her own desires, her own responses. For this reason alone the book is very daring. Many writers of erotica fall back on well-worn phrases. They do not make best use of the raw material available to them - themselves.

As an example, here is a description of Beth walking along the beach in Brighton.

"The wind buffeted me and, every now and again, my steps went crooked and drunken because it was so ferociously strong. It was warm and arid too: my eyes didn't stream the way they would do in a chill wind. That rushing air had the opposite effect; it made my eyeballs feel strangely dry."

There are some emotions lying beneath the surface of those stark sentences but even if you are not aware of them, because I have lifted the words out of their context, you get a sense of how clinically accurate Kristina can be.

Stephen King once wrote in one of his introductions to Salem's Lot (June 15, 2005):

"So turn off the television ... and we'll talk about vampires here in the dim. I think I can make you believe in them, because while I was working on this book, I believed in them myself."

Whenever I pick up Kristina's book and re-read her sentences about Ilya and Beth, her vivid descriptions of Brighton, her sharp and swanky dialogue, I believe that what I am reading is real. Because while Kristina was writing this book, it was real.

Not everyone can handle this kind of authenticity. This book isn't for everyone. Beth degrades herself in ways that are sick and disgusting. She does things that no woman should ever do. But I believe in her. I understand her. I care about her. And for that Kristina earns my everlasting respect.

Being a fan of Black Lace, I jumped at the chance to read Kristina Lloyd's Asking For Trouble. I started reading straight away and was impressed by the book almost immediately. The naughtiness starts very early on, and it's really fun. You get the impression that the lead character Beth is a real naughty girl that knows what she wants, and how to get it.

Then when Ilya arrives in her life, things really start get sexy. There's a hot scene where Beth and Ilya (who have apartments across the street from one another) end up exposing themselves to one another through the window. And that's where it starts. Soon they're playing a game of flirtation, which inevitably leads to them sleeping together. However, Ilya has more than just bog-standard sex on his mind. He's tapped into Beth's deepest dirtiest fantasies, and wants to make the most of them.

They begin a game where Ilya will push Beth's boundaries in the bedroom to see how far she will go to achieve her deepest desires. However, as is common ground in BDSM (and similar) circles, they have a word that means stop, in this case - "Cuttlefish." Whenever either of them say the word, their 'arrangement' is off, and there's no going back.

Beth gets increasingly infatuated with Ilya and his sexy games. However, she soon comes to realise she's in a scary situation, as Ilya really wants to see how far he can push Beth... and he's not exactly a savoury character. So when other, much more dangerous, characters arrive on the scene, expecting to be involved in their sordid games, Beth is hesitant. Will she do it, or will she call the 'C' word and Ilya is out of her life forever?

I'm a little torn by this book. The beginning and middle are really hot and fun, and although some of the fantasies weren't my cup of tea, I still found it sexy. However, as the plot progresses and Beth is drawn deeper into Ilya's sordid games I found myself switching off a little. Not because of the quality of writing, which I found excellent throughout, but more because of the subject matter. There was no non-consensual sex involved in the novel, but it was pushing it pretty close and there are scenes which many readers may find disturbing. It's definitely one of the most controversial Black Lace novels I've read. Overall I'd say I enjoyed most of it, but some of it was just too dark for me; but it won't put me off reading more of Lloyd's novels in the future.

The book starts when Beth (the heroine), moves into her new flat in the grungy working class, avant-garde, seaside neighborhood town of Brighton, England. While putting up curtains, she notices a strange man (Ilya, the hero of the story) in the flats across the street staring at her from his window mocking her every move. When the annoyed Beth decides to flash the stranger, she's surprised by his response. Scared and a bit shaken by his actions she decides it wasn't the best move for a woman living alone. Then the phone rings... Guess who?... Right from the start I knew I was going to like Beth and I was going to like this very realistic psychotically dark & dangerous, sexual thriller.

30 year old Beth, not looking for a serious relationship at the moment (she's busy managing a trendy, fashionable bar & enjoying a normal single life) finds her self attracted to the handsome, but mysterious Ilya. After their first intimate (and slightly scary) encounter Beth reveals her deepest darkest fantasies to Ilya. They both agree it might be fun to meet on occasions to fulfill Beth's fantasies with no strings attached. Beth's fantasies roughly have to do with being made to do sexually degrading things and treated like a sleazy slut - nasty, hot, hard sex that involves multiple male partners, being sexually dominated and sometimes rape. However, Beth makes it clear from the start that the rape fantasy wouldn't be part of the game as it should stay a fantasy... Will Ilya play fair? Beth and Ilya agree if they should find the game, at any point, boring or going too far, they are to say the safe word and the game ends immediately and the relationship stops. Beth believes she's the one in control in the beginning (remember, she can stop it any time with one word) but Beth becomes dangerously addicted to these games and especially addicted to Ilya. Beth knows Ilya also has the option to stop the madness and she finds her self less and less willing or unable to extricate her self. She keeps Ilya and their dirty little sex games a secret. Even her best friends and her work mates know nothing about either. Soon the games get more and more hazardous and degrading as Ilya's shadowy past catches up with him and he's determined to use Beth. There is one scene where Beth is called to Ilya's rundown bed & breakfast hotel - it was frightening and I wasn't sure I would be able to read it through...*panting* That was only one of many intense scene in this deliciously brilliant nervy novel. At times I wanted to reach into the book and take Beth by the shoulders and scream, stop it now before it's too late. But, how do you stop yourself when a gorgeous, complicated, mysterious man takes your most depraved sexual secret fantasies and makes them real, exciting and dangerous.

Kristina Lloyd had me believing these characters and their situations were REAL. I mean sometimes I wonder if it isn't based on someone's true experience. It certainly had that element of truth, and the characters could easily be people you meet everyday at work, on the street or in a pub. Beth's reactions were honest and true to most of the scenarios in the book. It's the reactions and emotions I'd expect from a real live woman to have - not like most Black Lace heroines. Ilya is more complicated, but that is what is so wonderful about his persona. He was the perfect bloke to carry out these bold acts. Lloyd had this reader (me) and Beth asking the question - who is Ilya. Is sexy, handsome, macho, working class Ilya involved in illegal activities? Is he running from something or someone? How dangerous is he, and why won't he tell Beth anything about his work, friends or life in general. The secrets, the fantasies, the lies, the danger and the often explosive sex scenes make this one great piece of exciting erotic literature - in fact I thought this book would work even in the mainstream, not just erotica. Yes, the sex scenes were explosive and HOT, but it's not just the sex that keeps this wonderful story going... It's the element of danger too. So far after reading, many, many Black Lace novels, "Asking For Trouble" is the one that stood out from the rest and in my opinion one of the best. It's not like the other Black Lace books... It's more intense, personal and believable. Kristina, give us more, pleeease...