CONFESSION

TITLE: CONFESSION

AUTHOR: SELENA KITT

Pages: 226

Date: 29/04/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: No. 2 Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed

            Received from author

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The Blurb:

"With the mouth, confession is made into salvation..." ~ Romans 10:10.

The shocking discovery best friends Leah and Erica have made under Mr. Nolan's bed has them down the wicked path of temptation, both girls veering far from the narrow path dictated by their strict Catholic upbringing, and their sexual transgressions have had unintended consequences.

Erica finds her life turned upside down when Leah falls for Erica's father, but just as Erica is beginning to accept their love for each other, Leah disappears. Bewildered and abandoned, Erica and Mr. Nolan are faced with sadness and confusion at their loss, but while Mr. Nolan spirals into mourning, Erica is determined to find her friend.

Erica can't possibly know why Leah has vanished, but when she enlists the help of Father Michael, her search and the real reason for Leah's disappearance intersect to uncover a multitude of shocking confessions and a secret that will shake not only the foundation of their faith, but the entire institution of the Catholic Church itself.

This was a very good book. Not at all what I expected, but very good indeed. Usually when you read a trilogy, the first book is a pretty good indication of what all three books are going to be like and about. This trilogy is a bit different. Don’t get me wrong; there is no doubt that this is the second part of the same story. There is continuity both in story-line and in character development. However, whereas the first book was a highly erotic description of sexual discovery, be it with a somewhat controversial story-line, this second book is far less erotic. The sexual scenes found in this book are fewer in number, not really all that erotic and far mostly far more shocking and controversial than those in “Temptation”. It is difficult to say a lot about exactly what is happening in this book without giving away too much of the story. What I can say is that there was a lot in this book to break my heart and make me angry. And most of my anger was due to the fact that everything described here was so believable that I had to turn to Google to find what part of the story was based on fact and which parts were purely fictional.

It is impossible to read this book and not think about the recent scandals involving the Catholic Church here in Ireland. It isn’t too long ago that the reports on the treatment of women in the “Magdalene Laundries” were published. With Leah having been sent to Magdalene House, the parallels are strong. Very strong indeed, because wouldn’t you know it, Magdalene House also contains a laundry where the girls who can’t knit or sew are put to work. Though why I thought that those places might have been uniquely Irish is beyond me. After all, the Roman Catholic Church is a worldwide organization and as such its institutions would be too.

I have to compliment Selena Kitt on the way in which she made the journeys of both Leah and Erica realistic and convincing. Separated from each other they discover the same secrets. Alone they have to go through their own personal hells, struggle with questions, secrets and devastating events. Two very young women find themselves in the clutches of a powerful institution determined to have them do as ordered, regardless of what their personal wishes might be. My only, minor, objection is that there was one secret Erica, clever as she is, should and could have figured out earlier.

I’m glad I already have the third book, "Grace", in my possession. The title of that book gives me some indication of what the book will be about, but I have no idea what sort of book to expect. Will there be a return to the erotica of the first book, is the story about to turn into a full blown thriller, could it be a combination of those two or something else again? I like it when an author keeps me guessing, and Miss Kitt certainly does that.

TEMPTATION

TITLE: TEMPTATION

AUTHOR: SELENA KITT

Pages: 160

Date: 01/04/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: No. 1 Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed

             Received from the author

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

"Lead us not into temptation..." ~Matthew 6:13

What happens when you fall in love with your best friend's father?

Leah is a good, Catholic girl, and she and Erica have been best friends since their first communion. Sure, Erica's father is handsome and charming, but Leah spends so much time at the Nolan's--just Erica and her famous, photographer father now, since Erica's mother died--that she's practically part of the family.

Both girls have led privileged, sheltered lives and are on the "good girl" track at St. Mary Magdalene's Preparatory College, Leah pursuing her love of dance and Erica sating her endless curiosity as editor of the newspaper. Neither of them could have ever imagined that one fateful discovery will not only push the boundaries of their strict, repressive upbringing, but the bonds of their friendship as well.

Leah certainly never could have imagined finding herself torn between her best friend and her best friend's father. Sure, Leah's mother had always talked about Mr. Nolan as "a catch," but Leah herself had never thought of him as anything other than just Erica's dad--until the girls discover something darkly erotic under Mr. Nolan's bed, a deep, shameful secret that will not only lead them into temptation, but will deliver them into a far greater revelation than any of them could ever have imagined.”

Set in the 1950’s this is a wonderful and imaginative story of sexual awakening and forbidden love. And, as awakenings go, this is a rather abrupt one. It takes young Leah little or no time to change from an inexperienced innocent into a wanton sex vixen. What starts of as guiltily exploring unknown pleasures soon turns into actively pursuing and creating every opportunity to be intimate with the man she has fallen in love and in lust with.

The sexual tension spills off the page. The writing is so good that you can feel the excitement yourself while reading. It is almost as if, with Leah, you are discovering your own sexuality all over again. I can’t speak for anybody else, but it brought some delightful memories back to me. In fact, I think I enjoyed those early scenes, when the whole sexual experience is still completely new to Leah more than the later ones.

This is definitely an erotic story rather than a romance with erotic overtones. The scenes are well written, descriptive and very easy to visualise. In fact, the whole book is well written. The story is told from Leah’s point of view and it is especially easy to get a good picture of her character. The one thing I did question in this story is the confidence with which Leah interprets Mr. Nolan’s thoughts and feelings. It just doesn’t seem realistic that she would have such a well developed intuition or insight into his emotions. Not only do I not quite believe an inexperienced 18 year old would be so insightful, I have a hard time believing anybody could.

I actually went so far as to google the average age people start college at, and that turns out to be 17 or 18. The fact that these girls seem younger than that is due to the story being set in 1953 when young people were supposed to stay innocent longer – I would love to say when the world was a more innocent place but I don’t think that would be true -. The fact that the two girls in this story are as young as they are and that Leah falls for and gets intimate with her friend’s father may be a step too far for some readers. Just as I’m sure that some people will take offence at some descriptions relating to the Catholic Church and the two priests in the book. I didn’t feel offended or embarrassed at anything described in this book, but I have been told that I’m a bit more liberal than a lot of people around me.

This book is a re-written version of both “Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed” and “Plaid Skirt Confessions”. Since I’ve read neither of those two earlier stories I can’t say how they compare to this one. What I can say is that I enjoyed this book so much that I’m delighted that I already have a copy of the sequel on my Kindle. I’m not entirely sure where this story may be going next but I do know that I’m going to enjoy finding out.