DECADENCE

TITLE: DECADENCE

AUTHOR: KAREN STIVALI

Pages: 62

Date: 06/07/2013

Grade: 5

Details: A book in the Spice Rack Series

Own / Kindle

The Blurb:

“In eight years of marriage, Eric Carlson has never forgotten to kiss his wife Jessica goodbye—until this morning. As Jessica runs her errands, all she can think about is the missing kiss.
When Eric calls to tell her he thinks he left the toaster oven on, she rushes home, annoyed and afraid their house may be burning down. Instead of smoke and flames she finds Eric, looking hot and sexy as hell as he prepares fresh waffles.

Eric knows he and Jessica have been drifting apart. He’s bought the hot new product everyone’s talking about—the Spice Rack, guaranteed to spice up your love life. The jar he opens advises them to “Spend a decadent day indulging all your senses.” With the whole day ahead of them, a fridge full of tempting treats and the house to themselves for a change, that’s exactly what Eric intends to do—in the kitchen, on the washing machine, wherever the mood strikes. And Jessica’s got a super-steamy surprise for him too.”

I really loved this novella. It is so nice to read a story about characters you can identify with. A married couple, caught up in their busy lives, juggling kids, home and work; we all know that it is only too easy to start taking your relationship for granted. Too busy during the day, too tired at night, all those important moments of intimacy tend to fall by the wayside and next thing you know you can’t quite remember when the last time was you spent some time together, just the two of you, getting hot and sweaty without worrying about everyday problems or listening to sounds from elsewhere in the house.

This is exactly the situation Eric and Jessica find themselves in. And when Eric also forgets to kiss his wife in the morning it feels to Jessica that maybe they are in real trouble. Finding Eric at home looking oh so sexy and discovering that he has taken the day off to spend a spontaneous Mother’s Day with her in the middle of October more than puts Jessica’s mind at ease. And when she discovers that Eric has invested in the “Spice Rack” containing suggestions to spice up their life, it almost feels as if all her Christmases have come at once.

Eric couldn’t be more delighted with his wife’s reaction to his surprise. The “Spice Rack” more than delivers on its promise while the couple rediscovers old pleasures and indulges in a few new ones. When Jessica mentions that she has to go to her final, mysterious, dance class in the afternoon Eric finds himself wondering. Why is she dancing, is she really taking a class or is it just an excuse for something else?  It isn’t until they are both home again and Jessica shows him exactly what she has been learning during her secret classes that Eric realizes that his marriage is better than it ever was.

Like I said, I loved this story. It is extremely sexy in an everyday sort of way. No billionaires, no antics that you can barely visualize never mind imagine trying yourself and no protracted drama. This story is as wonderful as it is because everything that is described in these pages is something every couple could indulge in. Having that wonderful “Spice Rack” would definitely help when it comes to re-introducing spice into your love life – in fact, I’d pay good money for one of those – but even without that aid, following Eric and Jessica’s example is something every couple can aspire to.

Karen Stivali has written a hot as hell and wonderfully sweet story about real people with thoughts, fears and feelings that are all too familiar. The writing is smooth, the reading is easy and hot and the balance between sexiness and back-story is just about perfect. The only downside I can think of as far as this book is concerned is that I, once again, managed to find myself an author to add to my “must read” list.