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Summary: Lip Service is sexy and erotic and intelligent
Review: LIP SERVICE by M.J. Rose can be seen as highly intelligent erotica or as a novel with elements of the erotic. Either way, it makes for fascinating reading, not so much for the erotic scenes (although they are certainly well written) but for the psychological insight into a troubled woman's behavior and identity. The main character disobeys her overbearing psychiatrist husband first, by not taking pills to help (read: control) her, and goes on to conceal her phone sex activities from him. She finds her strength (and escapes her helpless self into her real self) by asserting her feminine power during phone sex. She learns she has the ability to take a male caller "from one place and help him arrive at another." The activities she is engaged in eventually lead to her involvement with depravity and with the police. LIP SERVICE is sexy, erotic, and intelligently explores the sexual fantasies of the main character and her customers. The juxtaposition of upper ! class dinner parties and scenes of sexual awakening add to the book's interest as well. I highly recommend the novel.Dean Barrett Author, Hangman's Point Village East Books, NYC Publishers of Fine Fiction on Asia HANGMAN'S POINT - A Novel of Hong Kong
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Summary: Lip Service is very hard to put down!
Review: Lip Service is a fine debut work from a very talented author. In her first book, MJ Rose manages to give readers a compelling, likeable heroine - who has flaws that we can all identify with - and a nicely plotted, surprise-filled storyline. Julia Sterling, the heroine of the book, is respectably married to a prominent psychiatrist and the loving step-mother of a wonderful son. During a writing assignment, she is exposed to the world of phone sex, albeit in a theraputic setting, and awakens to her own sexuality. After quite a few plot twists - that will always surprise and delight - she discovers herself as a whole woman. This is not a book for the younger set. There are some graphic scenes that the faint of heart may not enjoy - but this is not a book that is consumed by sex. Julia's inner life and her mental health are the main themes, sex is just one way that she takes control of her identity. If you are the type that likes a little sizzle in your book! ! s - this book is for you. It has the elements of a number of genres - namely romance, suspense, mystery, and pyschological drama. It should appeal to anyone who appreciates a good, dramatic read. I will warn the reader, however, set aside a good chunk of time to read this book - it's very hard to put down! From that crazy book lady, Robin H.
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Summary: A genuine Talent
Review: Lip Service is both seductive and sinister. M.J.Rose is a genuine literary talent with a flair for creating memorable characters in an uninhibited narrative that hooks the readers imagination and won't let go, even after the novel is finished and set back on the shelf.
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Summary: A Chapter out of Red Shoe Diary!
Review: I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into after reading the opening prologue. I felt like a minor trying to peak between the curtains blocking the Over 21 section at a video store. And then I got snagged. I wanted to find out more about Julia and her life, and how her past and present were on a collision course. The writer makes you despise the self-grandizing Paul and feel Julia's despair. And more importantly, to wait in anticipation for the next phone call. This is a seductive read that lets you delve into the psyche of its characters and every once in a while let's you come up for air.
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Summary: Lip Service is this Summer's Hottest Sizzler!!
Review: Lip Service by M.J. Rose, is by far the best book I have read in years! The housework and laundry will have to wait!! I usually give my books away after I read them, but this book will be on my shelves forever so I can read it over and over again!!
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Summary: Lip Service is a great read!
Review: M. J. Rose's "Lip Service" is a slick, elegant odyssey into the darker corners of erotic fantasy, and a first-rate read. Submerged in a loveless marriage to a successful psychiatrist, Julia Sterling has become increasingly dissatisfied with her role as trophy wife and helpmeet. Against her domineering husband's stated wishes, she begins a comissioned book about a controversial sex clinic. The clinic's charismatic director persuades Julia that she needs actual experience as a therapist to validate her conclusions, and before she knows it, he submerges her in the steamy world of phone sex for pay. With each succeeding conversation, Julia loses more of her inhibitions and is drawn further and further into the sex clinic's shadowy activities. In the course of indulging her callers' fantasies, she becomes increasingly addicted to her newly discovered power over men. Only after she learns that nothing is as it appears, does Julia find the courage to contront th! e truth about herself and to take control of her life.
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Summary: Pretty Good!
Review: Lip Service is a very interesting book. The author draws you into the world of phone sex in a concept that I didn't expect. The conclusion of the story seems abrupt and could have used a bit more detail. However, it's an interesting story and is very enjoyable.
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Summary: NOTE from the author - I've not written any reviews:
Review: The reviews that you see with my name on them were sent to me by honest to God real readers who asked me to post for them. This was done becuase these folk were not very savvy with the net and I have all their origninal notes and emails to me. I wasn't aware that the posts would appear with my name on them as well as the readers. I'm sorry if it is misleading. And the only reason I've given the book four starts is that I couldn't submit this note without stars.
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Summary: Interesting...
Review: What an interesting concept for a book. I picked this book up at a bargain price thinking it might be an interesting read and I'd get around to it when I had nothing else to read. I'm glad that I finally picked it up! It was such an intriguing tale of sex, lust, love, and maybe even crime. I could feel Julia's pain as she struggled to find the truth in her seemingly loveless marriage and her confusion of feelings with her best friend. I found the book to be very erotic, until the story got embroiled in a possible crime. It was a very strange feeling going from erotic to disgusting and/or criminal. Total paradox. I enjoyed the book and the plot was one that I had not previously encountered. I definitely found this book intriguing and was glad that I finally picked it up to read!
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Summary: Dial 1-900-NOT-SO-HOT
Review: I was really disappointed in this self-published novel by M. J. Rose. Although it's regarded as an erotic novel, I found the use of sex in the story quite unimaginative. The sexuality itself pretty stereotypical, almost in caricature, and it really is not used in a creative way to advance the plot. The characters in this story are drawn one-dimensional. This is quite ironic given that psychiatry/psychology plays a heavy role in the story (the protagonist (Julia) works in the sex clinic run by a psychiatrist). The characters are rendered no more complex than cartoon characters, rather than the richly complicated beings that psychiatry/psychology shows us all to be. The real drama in life is that within ourselves, and how our own complexity interacts with others' - not the simplistic relationships of narrow characters that Rose has written. My guess is that the author tried to do too much in this novel and ended up short-circuiting her purposes. There are too many subplots for a short novel: Julia's journalistic project to write about the sex clinic, her concern about her loveless marriage, something fishy going on with her husband's business, Julia's ambiguous relationship with an old flame, and her stepson's relationship with his girlfriend. With all these subplots going on, it's no wonder the author couldn't sustain erotic tension as well. My own personal beef: I was severely disturbed by the ethical transgressions by proprietors of the sex clinic and the suggestion that Julia really could become a clinical paraprofessional with only a few hours training. Perhaps I should have suspended disbelief, but as a licensed counselor, I am quite bothered when the profession is portrayed as simplistic or unethical. Rose lost a great chance at showing how Julia might discover her own sexuality while being caught up in the intrigue in the sex clinic...and show how her own sexuality played out in the various relationships in her life. She might also have tackled the thorny issue of whether "phone sex" really is sex...but no, in the end we are left with a rather thin story with neither substantial dramatic or erotic tension. Pity.
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