Carly's Book Reviews: Tricks of the Trade by Spencer Dryden: #Review #GuestPost #Giveaway @spencerdryden @GoIndiMarketing

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Tricks of the Trade by Spencer Dryden: #Review #GuestPost #Giveaway @spencerdryden @GoIndiMarketing

Tricks of the Trade

by Spencer Dryden

Length: 69 pages

Genres: M/F, Contemporary, Erotica, HEA, May/December, Romance

Twenty-something, sexually frustrated plumber, Will Last, is fascinated by an attractive age 40+ woman he sees in the plumbing fixtures isle of a big box store. When he casually strolls her way she strikes up a conversation and begs him to do some emergency plumbing repairs for her.

Mitzi Callahan soon has Will wrapped around her little finger. After showing her a plumbers trick for a quick repair, Mitzi reveals herself as a sex trainer and returns the favor by showing Will a trick or two in the bedroom.

Mitzi opens his world to the enchantment of older women and introduces him to one of her students, Lucy Park. Sparks fly between Will and Lucy while dancing at the club where they meet, but they must reach out across age and cultural barriers to find the romantic connection they both seek.

What I Learned About Sex by Writing Erotica And Wish I'd known as a Younger Man

I've always wanted to be a writer, but I never imagined writing fiction, especially erotic romance-which I enjoy reading. I thought I would be writing "important stuff". Well, sex is pretty important, it's the subtext of a lot of the relationship articles that appear here. And the source of endless misunderstanding. I took up fiction writing at the ancient age of 62 (I just turned 65). Although I have fathered two children and have been married for 27 years, I've learned a lot about sex in the last three years, stuff I wish I had known as a younger man.

Fantasy

To begin with, I learned about the importance of fantasy, and more specifically, sexual fantasy. Fantasy helps us set boundaries on reality. By living vicariously though the characters of a story we get to try on different roles and see how they fit. It's acting on sexual fantasies that can be the source of harm. The junk yard of souls is littered with the remains of those who lacked restraint over their sexual urges. There are 100 million copies of Fifty Shades of Grey floating around out there. For all its faults, the book tapped a huge latent interest in BDSM, but at a distance. Fantasy is a safe haven for exploration of our boundaries. Who'd really want to be hooked up with Christian Grey?

More than parts

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that for most of my adult life, sex was something I did in the dark, under the covers with my eyes closed. However, given the guilt and shame over sex in our culture, it should be no surprise. It was in trying to write sex scenes that I came to see the beauty and the intricacy of the female form as well as the sensuality to accompany the mechanics. Ideally, it's a shared experience of physical and emotional connection and not just an act.

It's a wonder that my wife didn't throw me under the bus a long time ago. Despite my life long enchantment with female allure, I never really saw a vagina for its intricacy, nor was I aware of the variety of sensations a woman feels by different touch, and how much her responsiveness is dependent on both the skill and trust in her partner. My wife has always said she is very happy with our sex life and I'm the best she has ever had, but beyond that, details have been hard to extract. We both come from the same repressed sexual background. Still, it makes me wonder about the guys before me. In retrospect, I don't think I've been all that great a sexual partner until recently, as I have discovered the far greater joy of giving pleasure rather than simply taking it. It was the erotic romance I was reading and writing that opened my mind.

The sexual needs, triggers and response times between men and women are so different it's a wonder we ever connect at all.

The Big O

Erotic Romance is obsessed with the holy grail of sex, the female orgasm. A lot of it is over the top and some of it may be pure fabrication. As a guy I really don't know what women feel. I've wondered at times as a species why we even have it. The rest of the animal kingdom seems to have succeeded without it. Not that there isn't lots of energy involved in the mating process, but there doesn't appear to be the same intensity of orgasmic experience. I could be wrong. I'm not Dr. Doolittle. Still it was reading and writing erotic romance that helped me understand the wide variety of sensations and intensity of the Big O. I never knew.

Tricks of the Trade involves a pairing of an older woman and a younger man. It is one of my personal fantasies. I have often wished that as a young man I could have met an older woman who could have taught me sexual technique the way Mitzi Callahan teaches Will Last. I hope your readers will enjoy her character.

Thanks for hosting me today.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TRICKS OF THE TRADE has a little bit of laughter, a little bit of love and a whole lot of erotica. Will Last (very funny, Spencer) owns a successful business but his performance reviews in the bedroom are less than stellar. It takes the guidance of sexually experienced and free loving Mitzi Callahan to open Will's eyes to his own shortcomings. The lessons he learns from Mitzi are life changing and Will is anxious to try out his skills with a woman who is confident enough to learn new lessons right along with him.

The situations Will finds himself in, though slightly stereotypical at first, paired with the lighthearted writing style, make this a breezy story that can be enjoyed in a single sitting. Not particularly memorable, but fun none the less.

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