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Summary: Is this erotica?
Review: Yes it is! A woman who rediscovers her sexuality and allows the many layers of herself to merge, has to be an erotic tale. However, MJR weaves in psychological elements that may put this novel in the sub-genre of Erotic Thriller. I eagerly await Ms. Rose's second novel _Living the Questions_.
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Summary: A confident tale!
Review: Lip Service, the first novel from M.J. Rose, is an unusual book for two reasons. While the first, the fact that this book is self-published, is drawing media attention, it is the second that is drawing readers. In her debut, Rose has written a confident tale of a woman trying to discover who she really is and the risks she takes on her journey. Rose tells Julia¹s story in the first person, giving Julia an added layer of rawness. She¹s a contradictory woman: open and free with other characters in the novel yet unable to communicate in the same manner with her husband. After a lifetime of playing parts for others, Julia slips into her research for her book on phone sex with a surprising ease: it¹s just another role that she¹s trying. She¹s adopts a new personality, and while the woman who takes calls and guides men through their fantasies may not be her, the character is much closer to the person Julia thinks that she really is. Julia¹s exploration of herself leads to necessary changes in ther elationships with the men in her life: husband, son, her best friend, a doctor who functions as her mentor while she conducts her research. Each of them has profound influence on her world, and Julia uses her new found strength to put each relationship into proper place as she redefines herself. She also realizes that her exploration of the sexual side of her nature gives her more insight into the people around her. Lip Service is not an easy book to read, nor is the character of Julia always sympathetic. She is frequently a victim of her own making. Throughout the book, Rose uses the analogy of orchids being cut off from their light; just like the orchids, if Julia doesn¹t find her own light, she will stop growing and thriving. Luckily, when she decides to take control of her life, she is so sincere in her efforts that you want her to succeed.
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Summary: I began to read and couldn't stop.
Review: Lip Service is a masterpiece. Intelligently written, this novel takes you on a long journey through a woman's psyche exploring it through sex and being. It begins with a gritty phone sex scene and then segues into one of the neater flashbacks I've read in recent years. Lip Service is not a romance. Not in the traditional sense of romance but there is romance in it as well as many other things. Conflict. Human fears. Sex and attitudes toward sex.Speaking of sex, the sex scenes are hot. That is all I am going to say about them. They are very very hot. Rose is a very strong writer, evoking the scent and sound and texture of each scene. The reader can feel the claustrophobia of Julia Sterling, the good Julia who is the perfect wife, and the exhilarating fear of the other Julia, the one who discovers things about herself. Good things such as her own strength. This is a novel of understanding and discovery
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Summary: Women read this book and take another look at your life!
Review: Reading LIP SERVICE in one day I was able to get the full impact of this well written book that entertains, challenges, arouses, haunts, shocks, and just down right makes you take another look at your life. Once you get into this novel, which to me is a story within a story, I couldn't put it down until the end. There is an underlying tender love story woven in as well as a psychological thriller rolled into one to get your senses reeling. In fact, I wouldn't have missed reading this book. It is very thought provoking and hits you on many levels at once. It's about a woman who is a prisoner trapped in her life and doesn't realize it until she is requested to write a book about phone sex. As she gets a glimpse into others fantasies she is appalled at what she encounters; the evil side of her clients, eroticism, and her sexuality is challenged so that she is a woman in turmoil with her emotions. She is the daughter of a psychiatrist and married to one who is handsome, renowned and has a Pandora's box of his own. Julia Sterling seems to have a perfect life, a well-respected husband, a loving stepson, pursuing her degree in journalism, the best of everything, or so it seems until she starts training as a phone sex operator, and then the world she once knew is turned upside down. Ms. Rose is simply wonderful and I predict she is headed for stardom!
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Summary: Editors dream of discovering an author like M.J. Rose
Review: Lip Service is the once in a lifetime novel editors pray will land on their desks. I predict it will be the sleeper hit of the new century. MJ Rose has leapt into my list of top five favorite authors with her first published novel. Though the erotic scenes are extremely powerful, they are not included for shock value but instead play an essential part in the tale. The five story threads of the heroine's life are masterfully intertwined in an ever tightening plot that leads to a wonderfully satisfying ending. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Lip Service should be on the NYT Bestseller list!
Review: Reviewed by Jove- editor Satin Sheets Web site:Lip Serviceby MJ Rose. I normally steer clear of stories in the first person, with the exception of Diana Gabaldon, but MJ Rose will be the second author for whom I'll that make an exception for. Lip Service is a phenomenol narrative of erotica and astounding insight into the human psyche that's on this side of frightening. I was hooked from page one and didn't put it down until I finished it just as the first rays of sunlight were penetrating my curtains. That's something that hasn't happened to me in a very, very long time. And there's a great twist at the end that brought a small, satisfied smirk to my lips.The detail MJ Rose has poured into this book makes it sensuous--appealing to the senses. The reader is there; the reader is more than just an detached observer--a feat all writers try to accomplish and few succeed. Her transitions from past to present are smooth and extremely well done, not jarring the reader into confusion. And, yes, Lip Service is highly sensual, too. Downright hot, in fact.It surprises me that Lip Service is self- published; a work of this calibre should've captured the attention of editors at any major publishing house. Other than a few minor punctuation errors that are easily overlooked, this novel deserves a few weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Hopefully, this review can help do MJ Rose's work some justice.I highly recommend this book for anyone who's seeking a satisfying read for soaking in the bathtub, reclining in bed, or curling up on the sofa. Just don't expect to get up anytime soon. :-)
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Summary: A Page Turner
Review: For years, I heard the phrase "phone sex" but never knew exactly what it meant. Then I read "Lip Service". If you're like me, and want to know what having "phone sex" is really all about, this alone should be reason for you to read this book. Of course, like all good books, this one has a highly engrossing "Klute-like" plot which revolves around "phone sex" and builds with every page. Once you get halfway through, you won't be able to put it down. Not only is this book about phone sex and mind games and one woman's breaking away from a self-centered husband, it is a very suspenseful book as well. I like books that have me caring for and rooting for the main character more and more with each turning of the page. .. (in this case, her name is Alice). If you do too, you'll truly enjoy this book.
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Summary: Daddy¿s good girl turns bad girl ¿cause he¿s playing remote
Review: Julia, a Fifth Avenue has-it-all "somewhere between 35 and 50" (probably closer to 50) has become an unhappy privileged empty nester after stepson Max has left for Princeton while husband Paul faces an IRS investigation. So far the most exciting things in Julia Sterling's life were shopping with mom (always at Bergdorf's) and hiding in tears under the desk in her college dorm. After a nervous breakdown she drops out of college and starts a career as therapeutic patient and student of psychobabble. She is handed down from her father -a psychiatrist- to her husband Paul -who happens to be another psychiatrist-. Paul was daddy's supervisee and uses his wife as a guinea pig for trendy tranquilizers. He provides his new patient with a comfortable 10021-lifestyle, a four year old stepson and the opportunity to pursue an Ivy league-degree in journalism. During these terrible times she doesn't bring herself to rebel against the sexual neglect of her patronizing husband: Paul prefers the/to be remote at night and masturbation in the morning. But she admires him for his social graces, good looks and the ability to charm men and women alike. Julia spends her days and his money between shopping, swimming and therapy sessions during the day, limos, dinner parties and charity events at night and dreaming about a career as a journalist in between. Certain worries remain: "What should I be wearing?" (p. 72) and "I wasn't sure what to put on ..." (p. 82). Things change when her stepson leaves for college. Middle aged Julia experiences a sexual awakening complete with the urges of a male teenager. "But maybe the flowers know their hours of sunlight are numbered and they are nervous." (p. 152). Marital sex is rare and ridden with dangers ("... I made the mistake of opening my eyes. When I saw my husband's face I lost my orgasm.", p. 159). Phone sex gives her a first hand experience of lust and desire ("I never did anything like that before.", p. 105). Julia won't tell hubby or stepson, but she decides to write a book and tells junior on the phone: "I'll let you read the book, okay?" (p. 154). "Lip Service" is the autobiographic account of the amazing transformation of "M. J. Rose" from plain Calvin Klein cotton bras to racy lingerie and finally no undies at all (nobody but nipples notice). What enables Julia to make these remarkable changes in her life? Answer: she finally finds the courage to enroll in a two week training program for phone sex at a therapeutic institute as part of a journalistic assignment. After carefully study of the provided scripts Julia teaches herself four letter words and candlestick games - all firmly entrenched in proper procedure and therapeutic technique. That can be mighty empowering, a call at a time: "At a certain point, usually minutes from orgasm, a man's breathing changes and his responses become shorter and less coherent." (p. 96). Despite these discoveries she is torn between rage at her patronizing husband and pride in her own heroic achievements after her own climax. Her new mentor is Sam Butterfield, who is -you knew it- another psychiatrist and has to listen to the tapes of her phone sex sessions because he is the founding father of the sex therapy institute. Julia is titillated by the possibility that a Martini is sometimes not just a Martini. Other than her Nineties-socialite husband Sam is a sixties person by age and values. Will her taped masturbation sessions arouse free spirited Sam to save her, Julia, Daddy's girl, victim of Paul? Will he protect her from panic attacks and provide her with long and soon lost pleasures despite all the mini skirted grad students working the lines for him? Or will Julia be rescued by Jack, a long distance admirer from Florida, who recently got divorced and is coming to New York the very next weekend? Will it be one of her anonymous phonesex clients who turns out to be a successful advertising executive bicoastally divorced from a boring housewife by the Red Eye? And where does her stepson Max come in? By getting it on with the young stud the insatiable matron might find her true match ... leaving pops playing the remote.
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Summary: One of the most intriguing novels!
Review: Lip Service reviewed by Cindy Beaumont:The fact that 'Lip Service' is a self published novel draws forth muchsympathy. This excellent novel has been turned away by editors at conventional publishing houses and deserves the merit I'm about to bestowupon the content therein. Lip Service is without doubt one of the most intriguing novels I've read in a long while. I know full well that womenreaders will be fascinated when Julia Sterling rebels against her psychiatrist husband and discards prescribed pills. Julia's formerdrug-shrouded wilful streak is afforded relative free flight without his knowledge and leads her into a secret lifestyle of double deceit. Hertransition from therapy to the veiled existence of a sexual phone-line therapist sets the story in motion, and the sexual content is provided viaphone-line conversations. Lip Service has an excellent twist in the tale. I class this novel as erotically minded rather than erotically stimulating in the gross sexualsense as found in the average so-called erotic novel... Well what can I say other than buy it, cause youain't read anything half as good as this anywhere else. Not since The Magus by John Fowle. Lip Service = Great book!!
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Summary: A synopsis
Review: At once a sophisticated love story and a psychological thriller, Lip Service is both seductive and sinister. M. J. Rose has crafted an uninhibited narrative that builds to a shocking crescendo. Not since Erica Jong¹s Fear of Flying, has a novel so successfully examined the relationship between sexuality and identity. On the surface, Julia Sterling¹s life is enviable. She lives on Manhattan¹s tony east side, is married to a renowned psychiatrist, deeply loves her stepson and is forging her career as a journalist. When a writing job exposes Julia to phone sex, she glimpses a world that stirs her erotic fantasies but threatens her carefully constructed reality. As she probes her emotional and sexual connections to the men she knows and several she will never meet, she confronts evil, perversity and her own passions. Rarely have I read such a successful blend of fiction and psychological insight. This is a compelling, disturbing and deeply satisfying novel - Dr. Mara Gleckel, Author of Ego, Image and Success and Director /Founder of the Women¹s Counseling Services of New York.M. J. Rose is the author of the forthcoming Living The Questions and president of Lady Chatterley's Library, a publishing house for fiction written by new women writers, with books available online and in fine bookstores. A former advertising whiz, Rose's commercial for the NYPD is in the broadcasting collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Lip Service is her first novel in the public eye.
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