★BOOK REVIEW★ Delta of Venus by Verena Vincent

This novella was very sexy. Every now and again I like to swerve away from romantic-fantasy reading and just indulge in straight-up sexual fantasy. That’s just what our heroine, Kayla, is attempting to do. Except she’s going to make her fantasy a one-night-only reality, with help from an agency called Delta Of Venus, Inc.

Though reluctant at first, Kayla goes through with the appointment because since the tender age of 15, she’s had a consuming fantasy revolving around a voyeuristic episode she had with a young cowboy. The “scene” and the “scene facilitator” end up blowing her youthful fantasies out of the water. It’s SMOKING HOT!

The story is told in 3rd person from the heroine’s perspective. We’re not privy to Nick’s feelings or motivations until the end–there is a deleted 3rd chapter included. It seems as if this was originally planned to be a dual-POV story, but that the author decided to let Nick remain a sexy stranger to Kayla and to the readers. I think that was a good call. I’m usually pro-hero POV, but this worked. The thing that is making me sort of wish she had done it the original way is because that deleted chapter didn’t just clue us into Nick, but into another character with past heartbreak that seemed to have a story worth telling, too.

Holly Chambers has been through a nightmare…and it continues to torment her dreams months later. Her near-miss with a home intruder bent on rape has left Holly traumatized. She’s lost weight and cannot sleep. When she does sleep she’s plagued with nightmares of being attacked in her bed. Often these nightmares turn erotic, which disturbs her even more.

Nearly at her wits-end, Holly finds she’s been slipped a card for Delta of Venus Inc. Therapy hasn’t worked, medication hasn’t worked, so Holly decides a reenactment–a safe reenactment–of her dreams might be her ticket to healing.

Though reluctant, Miss Bright, Vice President of DOV, takes pity on Holly and allows the fantasy to be set up with one of her skilled Scene Facilitators.

At this point in the story I was a little concerned that I wasn’t going to enjoy the rest because dub-con and non-con–even in a role-playing scenario– is not something I care to read about.

But as with the other DOV stories, there’s always a turn, a twist that alters the original plans–that takes something hot and dirty (or in this case scary and dirty) into something sexy and sweet.

Like with the first Delta of Venus story, we are given a bonus, hero-POV chapter at the end of the book. Because these stories belong to the heroines, the ones with the fantasies, it fits that the motivations of the Scene Facilitators aren’t included in the flow of the story. But it is nice to get a glimpse (afterward) of his feelings and take on the situation. We also get to know a bit about a former Scene Facilitator and also Miss Bright who will both have their own DOV stories in the future.

If I enjoyed this one less than the others, it was only minimally and just due to the fantasy-as-therapy idea which seemed all kinds of wrong and full of potential disaster.

*Though this deals with sensitive subject matter there is no rape or simulated rape scenes in this novella.

If you’ve read the previous 2 novellas in the series, you know to expect a heroine with a need to enact a particular fantasy–and the surprise at the end for the heroine. They are erotic (smoking hot) and end on a sweet note that makes the whole “paying for a man” thing seem less distasteful than it normally would.

In this installment we have Mona, a 40 year old virgin and former fat girl, who, after a cancer scare decided to get into shape and start really living her life. But her virginity is holding her back. Once a date knows she’s a virgin, they want no part of that. Plus, she figures that she deserves to have it lost on her terms and in just the way she wants since she’s hung onto it for so long. This is where Miss Bright, Delta of Venus Inc. and the Honeymoon Fantasy comes into play.

On an island resort, with her new husband desperately in love with her, Mona wants to have the most romantic and beautiful de-flowering a woman could have. She just needs to get on a plane and rendezvous with her “groom”.

Only, the temptation to throw the whole scheme out the window comes 30,000 feet in the air and from a man who is very interested in making their long flight a memorable one. Sam isn’t anything like her imagined or handpicked lover would be, nor are the scandalous and dirty things anything like she would have said she wanted in her first time, but damn, if all he was and all he wanted turns out to be exactly what she needed.

I loved that this DOV was a bit different than the rest. I don’t really want to spoil anything, but the bonus chapter at the end of the first 2 books wasn’t in this one–instead the motivations of the hero and of Miss Bright were just seamlessly integrated into conversation at the end. True, we don’t get hero POV, but this way of writing it made it flow better.

The writing is great, the heroines are likable (no small feat in my opinion) and there’s always some funny to go along with the sexy:

I’m not the sexy one here. Look at you, dangling off the side there like a mermaid. And not the wholesome Disney type either. We’re talking Ariel’s nymphomaniac cousin. The one who never closed her legs once she finally got them.

I can’t wait for new installments. I’ve never really been a huge fan of short erotica, nor do I usually like stories without the hero’s perspective, but these are great and I’m totally on the hook!