Laura's Review of The Spice of Life (The Transformation, #1) by Jake Furie Lapen

If you have read and enjoyed The Bondage Club by Alexandrea Weis, Bonds of Trust (Wicked Play, #1) by Lynda Aicher, and Bound to Please by Lilli Feisty then you will LOVE this book!

Synopsis

The Spice of Life (or TSOL, to fans) follows Jake Furie Lapin, a 37-year-old sexaholic and loving Dom. As the first book in a three-part series, TSOL explores Jake’s transformation from a submissive, out-of-shape man, stuck in a sexless marriage, to a strong, successful, fit, loving Dom. This first book follows Jake as he describes his many sexual adventures, in great detail, to Kelli, his sex therapist.

Kelli Lemberg is a successful sex therapist who has an office-based practice in Manhattan. Like Jake, Kelli finds herself trapped in a marriage that is lacking heat and passion. Through her sex therapy sessions with Jake, Kelli begins to undergo an amazing transformation of her own, as she uncovers and explores the depths of her own inner sexuality and sensual fire.

What I Loved

            I really enjoyed the character of Kelli, right away it was someone I could emotionally be behind and root for.  I love strong female characters that have confidence, strength, and their shit together.  In many Erotica books female leads are more timid and passive, but Kelli isn’t that all and I absolutely love that about her. 

            I also love that these characters are older and more settled in their lives as opposed to twenty-something’s who are just all over the place emotionally and trying to find their place in the world.  Although Kelli is embarking on a new path in her life, she’s still more established and self-assured.  Jake is definitely the adventurous type which makes me totally love him, he’s been through a lot in life and he definitely comes off as the type of person that learns from all his experiences rather than it weighing him down and not moving forward. 

Not So Much

            This was definitely a refreshing take on erotica and that was great because you don’t come across stories like this often.  But I kind of got bored at times because there were big chunks of this story that felt unorganized and just kind of rambling.  The scenes mostly took place during therapy sessions, and Kelli would ask Jake a question which would spurn this 5 page explanation that had little to do with the question.  They storyline kept on going off into these other tangents that could’ve been shortened to keep the story on track. It was really hard to become emotionally invested with everything because the rambling just kept on getting on my nerves. 

            Plus the details were pretty good when describing Jake’s past, or the kind of clothes the characters were wearing, but that same attention wasn’t paid to the environments around them.  I have no idea what Kelli’s house looks like or her office.  There’s very little talk of Jake’s home or office as well.  It was just inconsistent to me, to have great detail paid in some areas but not in others.

This Book Was…

            Interesting.  I like really liked the overall plot of this story and it’s pretty obvious where this series is heading which is awesome.  I love that the characters in this story are older and have lives.  The plot is really unique which definitely sets this apart from the typical erotica story about two people meeting and the sexual desire sizzling between the two.  Not that the chemistry isn’t there, because it is very much alive whenever Jake and Kelli see each other.  But the story lacked action, you get to hear about Jake’s past and his adventures sexually, but that’s it.  I get that this is a series and it will eventually progress into something more sexual, but I don’t think I have ever read a book where the characters don’t even kiss.  The story at certain points got boring to me because of that and the rambling at certain times became annoying.  I definitely love the character of Kelli and I can’t get enough of Jake.  I am definitely excited to see what happens next.