Rating: 
Summary: New book .. New publisher ... same great Emma
Review: After her libertine, wealthy and well connected mother's untimely death, our young heroine, Beatrix, decides that she absolutely must find out what her mother really saw in that young man she married. More than being a 'trophy' husband Beatrix also had to find out if the company of exclusive boutiques will survive in his control and hands. As in real life, keeping a thriving business profitable after suffering such a catastrophe of the founding "mother's" death, the author manages to weave a plot of secret relationships, intrigue and insecurity that keeps the reader more than interested in the outcome. As with Emmas other works the author continues to surprise by bringing up new pictorals of real world erotica that are interspersed in the novel exactly where and when they should be. Simply delicious. The scene and description in the back seat of a taxi ride home between Philip and Beatrix was so real that the reader actually feels that they are vicariously part of the sizzling action .. Yummie yummie ...
Rating:
Summary: Loved this book!
Review: Although I am less a fan of contemporary novels I always seem to like Emma Holly books. She has a great blend of hot steamy reads and good plots. This book was no exception - these characters were deep and very complicated and all pretty adverse to commitments - but they all through their various sexual escapades actually show the intensity of the true relationships developing. Holly just does a great job with a good plot, actual romance and hot sex! Really really great read!
Rating:
Summary: Delicious and insatiable erotic romance!
Review: I am officially hooked on Emma Holly! Having read Menage, a rather spicy Black Lace offering, I couldn't wait to get my hands on another book from this author. Personal Assets is one of the steamiest, insatiable and wonderful erotic romance novels ever written. Parisian boutique Meilleurs Amis exudes elegance and eroticism. Beatrix trusts that her young and hot British stepfather Philip will look after her late mother's business. Bea has always loved Philip and she seizes the opportunity to seduce him. But in the midst of seduction, her best friend Lela falls for Simon, a powerful and good-looking businessman who threatens the future of Meilleurs Amis. Will carnal and heart desires get in the way of the aforementioned dilemma? There are various twists throughout the novel. The erotic scenes keep the juices the flowing and your senses in full alert. I loved the scenes that centered on Bea and Philip. The sex scenes between Lela and Simon are also wonderful, but the sexual tension isn't as palpable. The man-woman-man menage a trois in Italy is my favorite scene. The romance in the novel is also wonderful. Emma Holly sure knows how to write erotic romance without the formulaic bells and whistles that accompany said genre. Her writing is sharp, the sex scenes downright sinful and the story is memorable. I shall read her other novels with gusto. Are you in the bargain for a book that contains pure animalistic passion? Pick this one up!
Rating: 
Summary: Emma - you're the BEST!
Review: I couldn't put this down, because I loved the story of Simon & Lela -- that's why this book gets 4 stars. The story of Philip & Beatrix -- eeh, maybe 3 stars, tops. But Simon & Lela are wonderful...I wish Emma would rewrite this book & just expand on THEIR story, jettisoning Philip & Bea (what a terrible name for a [attractive] heroine). But I recommend it for Simon & Lela & enjoy it for their story!
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough plot, not enough hot!
Review: I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have Emma's books for Red Lace. The plot didn't engage me much at all, and I didn't find the erotic scenes to be up to Holly's previous levels of 'hottitude', though of course this is a highly personal call. :-) Good characterizations, but it wasn't enough to compensate for what I feel were other weaknesses in the book. I'll read other Emma HOlly titles, but this one didn't do it for me.
Rating:
Summary: Emma Holly at her very best!
Review: I have wide tastes in reading. A non-fiction history book that is well written excites me as much as good fiction. It's the power behind the writer's vision, their voice that sees the prose come alive. When you get into the Romance genre, it's voice and vision, but it's also a headier mix - romance, anticipation, and an understanding of human nature. The best romances are written by someone who appreciates men and women, their indocincrosies, and relishes that indefinable magic, which makes a person individual, special. Often, I see writers writing men as they want them to be, rather than appreciating the male animal as he really is. No matter how beautifully written a tale is, if the writer does not have a good understanding of men, it shows. One thing you can say of Emma Holly she has the knack. She knows men, warts and all, yet adores their intricacy, understands them, and is able to put that into crafting savvy tales with characters so strong they come alive. Personal Assets is Holly at her very best. It shows Holly's understanding of women and men. She breathes life into her characters so when you finish reading this book, you just did not enjoy these two men and two women, you feel you know them. They are your friends! It's hard to think of Bea, Phillip, Leta and Simon as just fictional characters.
I especially I heap high praise on her Multi-POV (Point of View). I have long maintained this writing style is so much freer, fuller, you get to know the characters, their immediate reactions, then and there, instead of having to wait for the confining "stay within a single character's POV for a whole chapter". Comparing Mutli-POV to enforced Single-POV is the difference between staring at the Mona Lisa and then looking at a painting done with paint-by-numbers! I hear people call Multi-POV "head-hopping" and say it takes them out of the story. Sorry, if you are worrying about "whose head" you are "in" - you were never in the story in the first place! Holly has a strong mastery of Multi-POV, and she uses this so well to bring her characters to life. You are able to become acquainted with her four leads so well. I knew each of them, their quirks, their fears, their vulnerabilities. This style of writing is vital, it's immediate. And Holly shows how it should be done!
This tale is red hot, so know that going in. But it's more than the sizzling sex - it's the people. Holly is simply a master at human understanding, a master of taking that comprehension and being able to put it into words. She is a powerful writer. She evokes, provokes, teases and opens your heart to loving the people she conjures.
Bea Clouet lived in the shadowed of her beautiful, dazzling and powerful mother, and a similar grandmother. Her grandmother founded Milleirs Amis, a small, but exclusive boutique in Paris. Her mother pushed it to the limit, expanding it worldwide. When Bea was 12, her mother married Phillip Carmichael, a beautiful Englishman twenty years her mother's junior. Phillip tried to be a friend to the lonely Bea who never lived up to her mothers expectations. Bea's father was Irish, and Bea favored him. She is a big lass that carries a few too many pounds in a town of half-starved models. Bea generally rebuffed the friendship with Phillip because, as she grew she knew she loved him, and not as a stepfather. Now 23-years-old, she is coming into her own, and since her mother was killed six month before by her latest lover, she decides to push the limit and see if she can push Phillips buttons or at least try to get over him.
Leta her college friend is in town. Leta was orphaned when she was young, and never adopted so she has learned never to trust anyone and to depend only on herself. Bea is one of the few people she has ever been close to, so she treasures her friendship. When trouble arises in the New York store, Leta immediately begs Phillip to give her a chance to run the store. He refuses, but does say she can go learn the store, give him a report of what she thinks could improve it, and if she does a good job, he will consider hiring her as manager. Leta's former boyfriend Andrew pushes his boss Simon Graves and Leta together knowing they will click. And they do! Only, Leta is unaware Simon is starting the ground work to take over Meilleurs Amis, and that it could cost Leta her friendship with Bea. Both romances have so much heart, compassion and understanding. The complexity of the story, the characters - well, it's just brilliantly realized under Holly's marvelous talent. Count me a dyed in the wool Holly fan from now on!
2004 Reviews International Organization Award of Excellence Finalist
Rating:
Summary: Hot and compeling.
Review: I love Emma Hollys books. She is very explicit in her writing but not held back by the usual boundaries of a romance novel. I like how she is direct and bold. I like how she can make those scences just as hot if not hotter then the usual sex scene. This was a really good book. It has the hot sex and a good plot. Although the plot was not real aparent in the begining, it came out and was quite a gripping story. I did not give it 5 stars because it could have used a little more plot in ratio to the sex scenes. In no way a disapointment. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Nasty and Unromantic
Review: I read Catching Midnight and Hunting Midnight. CM was ok but HM was great. I also read Beyond Innocence and Beyond Seduction both were superb. Except, I hated that Nic had previously had some kind of relationship with Sebastian. I like my men to be All Man. This book was gross. Man anal. I stopped reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Emma Holly does it again!
Review: I stumbled across Emma Holly's "Beyond Innocence" a couple of years ago, and since then, I've been hooked! I've bought any older book of hers that I can find, and I always look forward to something new. With "Personal Assets," Emma does NOT disappoint. While so much erotica is all about the sex, Emma manages to deliver steamy sex scenes as well as a wonderful story. Actually, "Personal Assets" has two great stories about people falling in love, despite their insecurities, doubts, and preconceived notions. And again, the sex is HOT! Fans of Ms. Holly will not be disappointed. If you have not read any of Emma Holly's work, "Personal Assets" is a great way to start.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Daring H-O-T
Review: Incredibly erotic writing (read hot s*x) and plot don't generally go together. Emma Holly makes it work. She creates characters we care about who have daring s*x. It's an amazing work of erotica and I highly recommend it -- unless you want your s*x scenes to be completely heterosexual.
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