Rating: 
Summary: Smooth seducer meets the "girl next door"
Review: Jake and Mimi
by Frank Baldwin
Little, Brown and Co. 2002 Jake and Mimi is a dark, twisting tale of sexual obsession; not just the physical act, but the very idea of sex itself. Mimi Lessing is the quintessential twenty-something professional--a cultured, reserved young woman just weeks from marrying her safe, stable college sweetheart. Jake Teller is an enigma--an attractive young man with a somewhat troubled past but a bright future at the same company as Mimi. A year earlier, he had begun a series of intense, temporary seductions, choosing his partners carefully each week or so and never looking back, after he's given the woman the night of her life. He's decided it is time to end his year of seductions with a few last well-chosen dates. When Jake and Mimi finally meet at a work-related social event, an explosive chain of events is set in motion. In Jake, Mimi finds a way to set free her repressed thoughts and urges, but she is afraid of the way he makes her feel. Her conflicting emotions cause her to have second thoughts about her impending marriage. Jake sees Mimi as a new and inexperienced player in his elaborate game of seduction, like a sculpture he can shape into what he wants. At the same time the strange seduction begins, another man is watching Mimi's every move, listening to her breathe, following her every step. He watches Mimi, and Jake, and plays his own very dangerous game with them as pawns. Women Jake has known begin to disappear, and after he takes off, worried that the police would connect him to their disappearances, Mimi is left alone..and very vulnerable. Jake and Mimi is not a story for the faint of heart or the sensitive reader. The novel is filled with explicit descriptions of sexual activity, interwoven into bits of genuine dialogue and characterization. The only thing lacking in this novel is a more thorough explanation for Jake's motivation to play the "dark prince" and gigolo. A few sexually charged teenage episodes are juxtaposed with family tragedy, but that doesn't feel like enough information. Character analysis aside, however, Jake and Mimi is a shivers-down-your spine literary seduction.
Rating:
Summary: Smooth seducer meets the "girl next door"
Review: Jake and Mimi
by Frank Baldwin
Little, Brown and Co. 2002 Jake and Mimi is a dark, twisting tale of sexual obsession; not just the physical act, but the very idea of sex itself. Mimi Lessing is the quintessential twenty-something professional--a cultured, reserved young woman just weeks from marrying her safe, stable college sweetheart. Jake Teller is an enigma--an attractive young man with a somewhat troubled past but a bright future at the same company as Mimi. A year earlier, he had begun a series of intense, temporary seductions, choosing his partners carefully each week or so and never looking back, after he's given the woman the night of her life. He's decided it is time to end his year of seductions with a few last well-chosen dates. When Jake and Mimi finally meet at a work-related social event, an explosive chain of events is set in motion. In Jake, Mimi finds a way to set free her repressed thoughts and urges, but she is afraid of the way he makes her feel. Her conflicting emotions cause her to have second thoughts about her impending marriage. Jake sees Mimi as a new and inexperienced player in his elaborate game of seduction, like a sculpture he can shape into what he wants. At the same time the strange seduction begins, another man is watching Mimi's every move, listening to her breathe, following her every step. He watches Mimi, and Jake, and plays his own very dangerous game with them as pawns. Women Jake has known begin to disappear, and after he takes off, worried that the police would connect him to their disappearances, Mimi is left alone..and very vulnerable. Jake and Mimi is not a story for the faint of heart or the sensitive reader. The novel is filled with explicit descriptions of sexual activity, interwoven into bits of genuine dialogue and characterization. The only thing lacking in this novel is a more thorough explanation for Jake's motivation to play the "dark prince" and gigolo. A few sexually charged teenage episodes are juxtaposed with family tragedy, but that doesn't feel like enough information. Character analysis aside, however, Jake and Mimi is a shivers-down-your spine literary seduction.
Rating: 
Summary: To Die For
Review: Jake is an effortless seducer. He can have any woman in less time than it takes another man to watch a movie. His conquests get more screaming orgasms out of him in an hour than they will with their husbands or lovers in a lifetime. Jake has torture down to a silken art form - his women don't just have sex with him, they totally submit...and love it. Mimi works at the same financial firm Jake just got hired onto. She's less than a month from marrying the man she's gone steady with for six years. In a single moment, she's seen in Jake's eyes the power he has over women, and he's sensed her vulnerability - and need. Jake invites her to watch one or two of his overnight conquests, just so she knows what she's getting into. Mimi's weakening. Because she wants to. She can't believe how skilled Jake is. He's to die for. Problem is, before it's all over, someone will. This is a very clever, extremely well-written erotic thriller - with the emphasis on "erotic." It's been called a cross between 9-1/2 Weeks and Silence of the Lambs, though it's actually more reminiscent of David Lindsey's Mercy and some of Anne Rice's or Laurell K. Hamilton's works. The story is pretty straightforward, and Hitchcockian - very voyeuristic, and suspenseful. What elevates it - again, like Hitchcock - is the author's style, employing multiple first-person viewpoints to craftily play with the reader's perceptions. The only real flaw with this book is that it takes a little too long to really get cooking - aside from the sex, that is. But that's a minor flaw, for the ultimate satisfaction.
Rating:
Summary: To Die For
Review: Jake is an effortless seducer. He can have any woman in less time than it takes another man to watch a movie. His conquests get more screaming orgasms out of him in an hour than they will with their husbands or lovers in a lifetime. Jake has torture down to a silken art form - his women don't just have sex with him, they totally submit...and love it. Mimi works at the same financial firm Jake just got hired onto. She's less than a month from marrying the man she's gone steady with for six years. In a single moment, she's seen in Jake's eyes the power he has over women, and he's sensed her vulnerability - and need. Jake invites her to watch one or two of his overnight conquests, just so she knows what she's getting into. Mimi's weakening. Because she wants to. She can't believe how skilled Jake is. He's to die for. Problem is, before it's all over, someone will. This is a very clever, extremely well-written erotic thriller - with the emphasis on "erotic." It's been called a cross between 9-1/2 Weeks and Silence of the Lambs, though it's actually more reminiscent of David Lindsey's Mercy and some of Anne Rice's or Laurell K. Hamilton's works. The story is pretty straightforward, and Hitchcockian - very voyeuristic, and suspenseful. What elevates it - again, like Hitchcock - is the author's style, employing multiple first-person viewpoints to craftily play with the reader's perceptions. The only real flaw with this book is that it takes a little too long to really get cooking - aside from the sex, that is. But that's a minor flaw, for the ultimate satisfaction.
Rating:
Summary: Quite erotic, but also a little redundant.
Review: The story was pretty good and the mystery/suspense side of this book was good. But the sex seemed to get very repetative. How many times can you describe the same sex act?! I also felt the ending left a big question...THE question anyone reading this book would want to know...DID they or DIDN'T they???
Rating:
Summary: Quite erotic, but also a little redundant.
Review: The story was pretty good and the mystery/suspense side of this book was good. But the sex seemed to get very repetative. How many times can you describe the same sex act?! I also felt the ending left a big question...THE question anyone reading this book would want to know...DID they or DIDN'T they???
Rating: 
Summary: "9-1/2 Weeks" in a book
Review: This book is horrible. I must admit i only got 1/2 way thru, and HAD to quit reading it, it is so bad. It is a like the movie 9-1/2 weeks, but instead of 1 Kim Basinger character, there are many. So, it is about the many conquests of this one guy. But it is so fantastical and the women are so weak and stupid, it is agonizing. There are SO many other quality books out there, don't even bother w/ this one.
Rating:
Summary: Hot! Hot!! Hot!!!
Review: This is one of the sexiest thrillers I've ever read. The sex scenes are so vivid that I felt like a peeping tom just reading them. But the book is way more than that to me. I found both Jake and Mimi to be very compelling and believable characters. I think every woman will identify with Mimi's struggle between marrying the man who offers her security vs pursuing her attraction with the dangerously seductive Jake. After I'm finished writing this, I'm going to get my search engine roaring to hunt down Frank Baldwin's other books.
Rating: 
Summary: Jake & Mimi, oh darn it - I was almost there!
Review: This was a pretty good book, which could've been a great book if the characters had been fleshed out (no pun intended). Jake's a master of seduction, yet we're never told how or where he's been trained or what kind of training? Kama sutra or tantra - inquiring readers want to know. Mimi's character was really underdeveloped. Considering what she's risking readers should know what motivates her. The author misses opportunities to draw us deeper into Mimi and Jake's minds. I wanted to feel the passion that rules Jake and the desire that has Mimi risking her fiancé. Mr. Baldwin gets high marks for all else, especially his handling of the scenes between Jake and the ladies. They were arousing without being explicit or uncomfortable (for me). Unfortunately the ending just didn't hit my spot, it left me unsatisfied, unlike the women who'd been with Jake! More detail and development next time!
Rating:
Summary: So-so
Review: Twenty-five year old Manhattan accountant Mimi Lessing is going to marry dependable logical Mark, but would like some excitement in her life before she settles down into the mundane. At the office, senior partner Abe Stein assigns Mimi to work with newcomer Jake Teller. They are to develop a financial strategy for Brice, a client whose family has been with the firm from the start but for decades until now only for simple tax preparation.
Jake is a stud who enjoys bondage games with his female conquests. He thinks he is lucky that he, amidst ten Jewish male junior accountants, has been assigned to work with the pretty Mimi. Jake plans to seduce the very competent Mimi in his sadistic style even if Miss Lessing is soon to marry. However, as Jake begins his campaign, a third party sets in motion a deadlier game because no one will mess with that individual's worship of the staid and proper Mimi.
Though there are thrilling moments, MIMI & JAKE wastes way too much time on the hunk's sexual proclivities at the expense of the chilling aspects of the plot. The story line grabs the audience, but needs ropes to keep fans bonded because too much detail into Jake's bedroom process overwhelms the novel. Jake's women that he shows off to the magnificent Mimi to further bind her to him contain the emotion and vocabulary of a corpse. Still Frank Baldwin's tale is for those readers who enjoy graphic bondage over character development and action-packed plots. Harriet Klausner
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