Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: I could not put this book down for 2 days until I finished the last page. I feel as though I witnessed something so primitive, so incredibly forbidden, that I wasn't sure how I would ever stop thinking about it. Absolutely well written; I'll be on the lookout for another book in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A book I could not put down until I finished it!
Review: I was drawn into this book much like the character, Nora was drawn into the world of "M," the man she believed murdered her sister, Franny. I wanted to stop, but I had to continue to see what lied ahead. My girlfriend and I read it together, guessing at what might happen next and at who really murdered Franny. I felt like I knew these characters. And what an ending! BRING ON THE MOVIE VERSION!
Rating: 
Summary: Superbly written, a wonderful 1st novel!
Review: This is not the "erotic thriller" it is billed as. Make no mistake--there is explicit sex. However, it's in context and keeping with the incredibly sinister, yet believable, character Reese creates for the book's villain; "M." Her ability to intertwine non-fictional people and places with fictional scenes is a sophisticated tool in developing a plot that is quite real. The book left me wondering if the story were, in fact, true. More please!
Rating:
Summary: A psycho-sexual excursion
Review: This one stayed with me for a long time after I had finished it. An all cards on the table narration of an intelligent woman who gets close, too close, to the man she suspects of killing her sister. The most fasinating part of the book was to see Nora slowly being drawn into this man's dark and perverse world. It is a very erotic and troubling journey to behold.
Rating:
Summary: Murder mystery for perverts
Review: Yes it was erotic, if you can take it. Not the airbrushed mainstream softcore of Playboy, et al, but something much more dangerous and visceral. A plot as twisted and compelling as the desires of the main characters keeps you reading as new facets of both are revealed page by page. But Reese seemed at a loss as how to tie it all up at the end and left us with an unconvincing finale. Recommended overall if you like your kinks the way I like my coffee/beer/women: dark and strong.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a must-read book.
Review: Topping from Below holds your attention from the very first page. Once you start reading, you can't put it down. It's full of mystery, romance, suspense and creates truly erotic scenes that are so descriptive you feel that you are there. Never have I read a book so entertaining. Truly a must-read book
Rating:
Summary: Psychological "whodunnit" blending Poe with Nabokov
Review: This is a surprisingly poignant "whodunnit" that blends the slippery darkness of Poe's "The Raven" with an edge out of
Nabokov's "Lolita." Ignore the blurb on the cover - this is
NOT "The Story of O" for the 1990s. It is, however, very well
observed and quite compelling. Reese plays with her readers'
expectations, and while the book has several technical flaws,
they detract only a little from the careful pace and tension
she achieves. Not erotic at all, but haunting and sad.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking account of the darker side of human sexuality.
Review: Not in many years has a book so carefully crafted kept me up to all hours reading. I simply could not put it down. Laura Reese certainly captured me with her tell all of a sister's murder and sexual experiences with a creative, allusive madman. Blinded by the nuance of love, slipping into realms of unspeakable sexual acts, she captured the sadness to a depth that pulled me deep within the charecter's burdened life. Her main charecter's own account of the undeniable and brutal sexual attractions to her sister's murderer proved to me that a provacative, forbidden sexuallity is hiding in all of us. Lurid details of bondage, humiliation and shameful sex caught me off guard, but could not deter me from seeing 3am flashing in my weery eyes each night until I finally reach the intensive orgasmic conclusion
Rating: 
Summary: thriller, yes; erotic, no
Review: As a psychological thriller, this book would get 5 stars. It has a great plot, lots of twists and suspense, and the characters were well developed. I really felt Franny's pain. As an erotic novel, I would give it 1 star. Now, i'm no prude, I like a good spanking scene as much as the next girl, but parts of this book made me want to vomit. If bestiality (sp?) is your thing, read it, if not you may want to stay clear. So depending on what you are looking for, you may enjoy it, but it was a bit too hardcore for my tastes.
Rating:
Summary: Houston HPEP Reading Group Raves!!!
Review: Yes, you've heard from me (vixen) before - but i just wanted to say that the HPEP Reading/Movie S.I.G.that Master and i host recently finished our own discussion of "Topping From Below" and it was one of our best meetings yet!!! All the folks who read the book found something compelling to talk about - be it the issue of consensuality, the culpability of the Dominant in the death of Fran, or the realism of the S/M scenes...all who read the novel were somehow moved, (my Master says i am prejudiced because i fell in love with the character 'Michael" - but i remind Him that it was only because He bears such a striking similarity to "His truly" - i have to admit when Master dressed for the meeting in the unpretentious debonair fashion of 'M' - right down to the silky shirt with rolled-up sleeves, i found myself in such a state that i could barely conduct the group)... But then, my friends, that just helped to illustrate the powerfull evocative nature of the characters described, and how intensely "genuine" the experiences of the heroine were presented. (*sigh*)By the way, the Doms loved it too, and were almost unanimously defensive of M's relative innocence. To reiterate, "Topping From Below" is a tremendous book, on many levels, and a very special BDSM literary find. Read it alone, or with your Dom/or sub... MWvixen
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