The Affair (Weeks One to Eight) by Beth Kery
In this steamy eight-part serialized novel an innocent nurse, Emma Shores, finds her life turned upended when she meets the man of her forbidden dreams and begins a no-holds-barred liaison. From Chicago to Europe, the lovers’ passion binds them tighter than either could have imagined.
Reviews
Kara’s Review…
This was an intriguing story line about a nurse (Emma) sent to a rich man’s (Vanni) home to care for his dying stepmom. An “arrangement” of sexual nature is made as they both set their limits. The most exciting part of the story for me was the armoire scene because I thrive on angst in a novel and this was the epicenter of that angst for me. I felt The Affair was lacking in character build-up regarding Vanni. Vanni was a mystery and I think the weekly separations in the story drug out our ability to connect with him. I was pleased with how Beth showed Emma and Vanni’s growth as they didn’t remain stagnant in their self-exploration and forgiveness. Vanni was stubborn in this regard until the end of the book, so this was frustrating as we didn’t what I felt would’ve been his “prime” without those burdens weighing him down. It was also pleasant to see that Emma is a strong, independent, and courageous woman as she was a crucial aspect in Vanni’s growth, instead of the typical struggling girl meets rich man and rich man turns caveman. The break up into weeks also had me feeling a climax of sorts in the storyline didn’t come till near the end of their “arrangement”, which was then resolved followed by the completion of the series being nearly over. (Please keep in mind I read this with the complete series in hand and did not experience the “break” between Emma & Vanni’s weeks). I was overall pleased and it was a HAWT read, but the mystery without angst left me with a lacking feeling. Give this a try and find your next book crush! Rating: 3.5 stars
Caryn’s Review…
Have The Affair of a lifetime. A beautifully written gem of a love affair you will effortlessly lose yourself in…..from the first page until the very last, Vanni and Emma will captivate you.
~ Emma ~ “The door closing behind him sounded hushed and mysterious, like a lover’s secret whispered in the darkness.” “She had the strangest feeling when she was with him that anything could happen. Anything would. And that it could be heaven…or scary as hell.”
~ Vanni ~ “Sinking into Emma was like piercing heaven….or a particularly salacious part of hell” “But Emma, that innocent, unlikely fey creature that stood at the gateway between life and death, had tempted him. She’d jerked him, raw and exposed, into the bright, blinding light of the living.”
An affair that’s beautiful, yet haunting. Captivating, yet a little mysterious. Beth Kery’s words flow effortlessly through the pages and seem to wrap around your soul as you travel to both heaven and hell with Vanni and Emma. Submit to an Affair with Vanni and discover your next book crush
~ 4.5 ~ “Because your eyes make me want to do things I shouldn’t” ~ Stars
Week One
You’ve Tantalized Me
Innocent yet unconventional hospice nurse Emma Shore has secured a new position at The Breakers, the sprawling mansion of enigmatic and dangerously handsome racecar billionaire Michael Montand. Hired as caretaker for Montand’s stepmother, Emma expects few complications. But one night, lost in the mansion’s maze of corridors, she comes upon a woman and a man she can’t identify engaged in a raw, naked interlude of sexual subjugation. Silently, from the shadows, Emma watches—shocked, appalled, and unnervingly aroused.
But Emma wonders… if this mysterious stranger is not Montand, then who is it? And what other surprises are in store for her? Night after sleepless night, she’s considering the possibilities. And for the first time in her life, she’s not going to run away from them.
Week Two
Soon
Emma is unlike anyone he’s ever known, fresh and surprising, sweet yet intensely sensual. He knew he shouldn’t touch Emma but he’s a Montand, after all. Strong sexual appetites and selfishness run in his blood—no matter how much he’d wish otherwise…for Emma’s sake.
Emma can’t help but feel somewhat compromised by the impulsive sexual tryst she shared with her billionaire employer but Emma has to admit…she wanted it. Besides, working in Montand’s sprawling mansion as a hospice nurse to Montand’s stepmother, Emma anticipated a few surprises. Still, she never expected what came next: an exquisite gift, an apology and a proposition—a sexual affair that promises to fulfill every fantasy Emma ever had. And a few she never dared imagine.
But a deathbed revelation from Montand’s stepmother is about to shatter every illusion Emma had about her position at the Breakers, her future with Montand, and her own innocence.
Week Three
Take A Chance
What was it about a man as damaged as Montand that made Emma say yes when she should have fled and never looked back? His intense sexual preferences intrigued her more than she’d been willing to admit. But now that she’s been privy to his secrets—including a long-ago family tragedy, and the true identity of a woman who lurks in the shadows of his mansion—Emma fears she’ll be just one more submissive conquest in Montand’s troubled life. And then abandoned like so many who came before.
She needs to be strong and protect her heart, but her desires won’t let her resist. So, if their affair is to continue it’ll be on her conditions: it will not continue indefinitely, only she can end it, and when it’s over, they’ll part and never speak again of the things they dared to do behind the locked doors of the Breakers.
Week Four
Forbidden Fruit
Five weeks total. That was the limit Emma placed on the affair. No more, no less. And right now it was opening her up to decadent pleasures she never imagined possible. The effect on Montand was equally liberating. Emma was bringing him back into the world of the living, and her buoyant spirit, freshness and lust for life made him ravenously hungry for more. His darkness was being drawn to her light, and for both of them, the experience was electrifying. But for Emma it was something even more.
Lost in the world of Montand’s exquisitely sensual challenges Emma’s beginning to feel something dangerously close to love. And now she fears that five weeks with Montand could leave her deliriously vulnerable, and in far too deep to ever survive.
Week Five
Let Me Spoil You
Emma’s increasingly intense affair with Montand is illuminated when she discovers some revealing and unsettling secrets about his past—about his hell-bent youth, about the tragic fate of his first wife, and about how cursed his seemingly blessed life really is. It leads Emma to wonder …what kind of man is she falling so dangerously in love with? He’s dominating her world with luxuries she’s never dreamed of and introducing her to decadent sensual pleasures, but he’ll soon walk away. When does it go beyond an exquisite sexual control of her body, into a manipulation of her fragile emotions?
Emma is an addiction Montand can’t resist, and he’s learning there’s no rest for his dark soul when they’re apart. At all costs, he must convince her to join him for wicked weeks of jeus sauvages on the French Riviera. She’s promised him that she’s his, afterall, and Montand expects nothing short of total possession of her for their rapidly fading time together.
Week Six
No Reservations
Overwhelmed with worry for the safety of her heart, Emma tells Montand what few women have: No. But as he reminds her, she promised him she’d be his for five weeks, and promised herself she’d never again run away from a challenge. Especially one so irresistible. Now, on the glamorous playground of the Cote d’Azur Emma and Montand indulge in the all-or-nothing pleasures of the rich and famous—from the Cannes roulette wheels, to the most decadent restaurants to the dark challenges and raptures of the bedroom, they’re set on a dizzying, dangerous course…and there’s no turning back.
But when Montand is suddenly faced with his past and his vulnerability, he realizes that the woman he’s come to worship will not be a part of his future.
Week Seven
Can’t Stop Thinking of You
Emma and Montand’s exhilarating vacation in France takes them from the glamour of a luxury yacht to the dangerous thrill ride of the Montand Grand Prix, but it’s the daring new levels of intimacy they share that leave Emma breathless. Their decadent getaway affords Emma insights into Montand she never anticipated when she learns more of the truth about his damaged childhood, his volatile relationship with his father, and the woman groomed to be Montand’s substitute mother. Emma longs to help him fight his demons and end his suffering, but how can she, when his anger and guilt won’t let him forgive his stepmother…or more importantly, himself?
There’s a storm on the horizon, but for now, there’s sun-drenched sweetness and the naked truth in each other’s arms. Their days together are drawing to a close, giving every touch, every kiss, every moment of sensual submission and possession a wild, desperate intensity. They only have the moment so Emma and Montand surrender to it with total abandon.
Week Eight
Never Let Go
Upon her return to the Breakers, Emma makes a bracing decision—her affair with Montand will end, but only to make way for a deeper relationship with the man she loves. But Montand’s aunt Vera has plans, too. Vindictive, obsessive, and unsettlingly territorial, Vera insists that Emma leave the Breakers and never look back. And she has the weapon to make it happen: a final secret about Montand that even he doesn’t know, one with such devastating implications that it would surely destroy him and ruin any chance of happiness he might have hoped for with Emma.
Loathe to plunge Montand into despair, Emma decides to heed Vera’s warning. But as Emma first learned when she arrived at the Breakers eight weeks ago, Montand’s family promised many surprises. And there is one more to come that could change everything.
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