Rating: 
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!
Rating: 
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.
Rating:
Summary: SOMEONE PLEASE STOP HER BEFORE SHE WRITES AGAIN!!
Review: Utter pap. Characters pathetic, situations ridiculous. Unbearable, burnable, sophmoric, unpickupable. After reading the earlier glowing reviews, I am amazed at how little taste in fiction the reviewers have. There are so many far better soft porn books out there, but few worse authors. M.J. Rose should be using her negligible talents to write cereal boxes.
Rating: 
Summary: great book!!
Review: I would highly recomend this book,to anyone looking for a great story with just enough "spice" to keep it intriging. I also read " infidelity"which I loved also. I passed this one on to my sister. I hope M.J.Rose writes more and soon!
Rating:
Summary: Sensitive subject written about with compassion
Review: In Lip Service, MJ Rose has written about a sensitive subject with compassion and understanding. Her characters are realistic, quietly playing out the charades they feel there is no escaping from. It is troubling...yet riveting...a real page turner, holding the reader in it's gentle grasp, as we hope for a happy ending to such a tragic, hopeless situation.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the beach...
Review: All of my book club buddies have been raving for months about M.J. Rose's first novel *Lip Service*. I'd been debating about whether or not to buy the book due in part to the fact that my library didn't own a copy. But with all of the great reviews, I finally bought it. And read it in less than a week... Rose has given us a detailed, engrossing novel about a woman who is, to all outward appearances, a happily married woman. Julia and her psychiatrist husband, Paul, live in a beautiful condo in New York City and divide their time between caring for their college age son and fundraising for Paul's non-profit organization. At one of these fundraisers, Julia meets the founder of a sexual therapy organization, Sam, who offers her a job writing a book about his foundation. Julia gets much, much more than she bargained for when she finds herself participating in phone sex daily and with clients who may or may not be "harmless." And to add fuel to the fire, Julia is doing this without the knowledge of her overprotective husband! Not wanting to give too much away, it's enough to say that this novel is intriguing, exciting and a perfect vacation read. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I must admit to being fascinated by this book. Lip Service delves into a world that is totally foreign to me, the netherworld of phone sex. Combined with suspense and yes erotica, I found myself reading until all hours of the morning as I was drawn into Julia's world. Julia's life has been totally dominated by the men in her life, first her father and then her husband. She is perceived as a weak and breakable spirit by her husband Paul, a prominant Psychiatrist. Encouraged by her friends to rid herself of this misconception, Julia goes undercover to write a book on the phone sex industry. She not only discovers a sinister and dangerous world but also the courage to stand alone and face the consequences of her actions. Excellent story telling by M.J. Rose.
Rating:
Summary: Not just about phone sex...
Review: Before you buy this book, you must be aware that it is not a dirty, sexual fluff piece, and readers who are wanting to read bodice-ripping erotica will be extremely disappointed. The phone sex is only one part of this highly intellectual, mature novel. So read it and become totally submerged... Thirty-eight-year-old Julia Sterling is stuck...stuck in a miserable marriage with her psychiatrist husband who can't stop treating her like one of his patients, stuck in a sex life that's a billion stars short of being stellar. Times have changed since Julia was a wild college student in the midst of a breakdown and her four years of therapy. But even so, her husband takes his role as protector to the breaking point, not letting go of the frail Julia that he met and married. Julia is desperate to prove she's healed. Then along comes the miracle... A book. As a journalist, getting the opportunity to write a book is a dream come true. The topic? A new form of phone sex therapy. Julia decides to do research the old fashioned way - by becoming a phone sex therapist. What happens to her afterwards...well, you just need to read the book to find out. A mix of psychology, passion and pain, Lip Service will take readers on an emotional journey. M.J. Rose adequately fleshes out the characters with expertise. An admirable debut that is explosive, surprising and delicious - a fabulous look into another world.
Rating: 
Summary: Rose is readable
Review: M.J. Rose's first novel, "Lip Service" found its way into my hands almost by accident.... Julia, the protagonist in "Lip Service" is perhaps a bit stereotypical in what our culture imagines a middle aged wife to be. An emerging strength combined with a past psychological problems can make for a more rounded character. Julia is the child of a psychologist who also marries a psychologist, so there is almost a saturation of lore in the bulk of the novel. Why women close their eyes to reality and allow themselves to be swept through life instead of walking through it on their own could be a symptom of our society and time. Julia marries Paul and serves as the perfect wife, undemanding and the ornament he needs for the facade he presents to the world in his business. The premise of the novel is almost consequental. When asked to write a book, Julia is drawn, willingly, into performing phone sex for first hand experience to compliment her research. When she finds herself not only enjoying the service she provides, but allowing it to give her a clarity envisioning her own marriage, she begins the inevitable shift to the whole person she's longed to be all her life. What follows is a strangely believable set of incidents that ultimately have revelations and repercussions, but somehow the triteness of the subject is overridden by the honesty the author brings to her novel and its characters. I hope Ms. Rose continues to write because I suspect her next novels will be much better than her first. Don't forget her name...
Rating:
Summary: Lip Service
Review: M J Rose has, without a doubt, created a new genre of fiction. No wonder that traditional publishers 'didn't know where to put Lip Service'. This is an intelligent, fascinating book with serious erotica at just the right places in the plot, for just the right length and never 'just to take up space'. Deliciously naughty, tantilizing novel about Julia discovering a very real and honest side of herself that was never released (until...?), a smug psychiatrist husband needing one himself, 'The Institute' and a real page turner of a plot. Buy it to find out more. This novel will make for a much appreciated gift as well. An exciting read, I highly recommend this for readers of both genders. I await with anticipation 'In Fidelity'.
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