I think that with most of the authors who started out with 'naughty' publisher Ellora's Cave, when they go more mainstream with larger and more well-known publishers, in order to sell more, they tend to sex/dumb down their books, and it disappoints. This has happened to EC legends such as Shiloh Walker (have had to stop reading her) Rhyannon Byrd (read her for the story, not the spice), Lisa Renee Jones, Lisa Marie Rice and even Lora Leigh, though the latter remains the most daring to date.
I recently read and reviewed Hot In The City, Sin City, which was REALLY hot, a tale written just for the sex, and expected this to be the same. Well, the tale was set in Las Vegas i.e. Sin City, again, but it was ...far tamer and a bit boring.
I'm not even going to go into the synopsis, but here's the blurb: A sizzling novel about seven steamy nights in Sin City, each one hotter than the last...Brenna Cayton doesn't need a man. At least that's what she keeps telling herself. Then her boss sends her on a business trip to Vegas to make sure Damon Andros--the sexiest man in the entire music industry--doesn't live up to his bad boy image. But before she knows it, business turns to extreme pleasure as Damon brings out her naughty side, fulfilling every one of her wildest fantasies. Now, she has just seven sultry nights to commit every sin in the book. Because once Damon discovers her dirty little secret, he'll surely never indulge their lust again...
Why didn't it work? Well, the good-girl-turned-bad wasn't really bad, nor really good, but a boring vanilla female. The 'bad' boy sounded like one of those greasy, smarmy 70's guys, and even wore a chain, though not one as tacky as in the 70's. The sex was tame, and of course, he knew she was a 'good' girl, so he didn't need or want to use protection for this reason, as hey, he was ok too. There was an orgy menage scene that just felt included for the hell of it, and which perhaps was meant to cement Brenna as a GGTB, but just made her look cheap and tacky and out of character. Yet, she was meant to have morals and feel remorse when Damon discovered her treachery, and she turned all good and pious when trying to make amends. And as for him, he had a girly hissy fit when he found out what her mission was, then apologised to her for not giving her a chance to explain? Where was his macho, Greek-American backbone and arrogance?
Overall, really pretty disappointing.