Velvet, Leather & Lace: An Anthology

by Jill Shalvis, Suzanne Forster, Donna Kauffman

Book Overview

Velvet, Leather & Lace by Suzanne Forster\Donna Kauffman\Jill Shalvis released on Jul 12, 2005 is available now for purchase.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373836546
• ISBN13: 9780373836543
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Harlequin Anthologies
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

A MAN'S GOTTA DO ---- ME!! *eg*

Ms. Forster, I love your voice and writing style! Great characters, great storyline and sense of humor, WONDERFUL sexual tension. I'm so not foot-kissing here, either, but I have to tell you, too, that pov switching within scenes usually makes me batty, but even though you did it now and then, it was just as smoothly and seamlessly as La Nora. (Roberts) *G* On my way to shower, and then jump hubby. And that's also something a book, in and of itself, hasn't inspired me to do since Betina Krahn's THE PRINCESS AND THE BARBARIAN! *blushing* Ahem. Thanks for a marvelous read, Suz! I can't wait to dive into the other two stories...a little later. : )

Three hot and sexy stories

Velvet, Leather and Lace is a sensational anthology by three hot authors. A Man's Gotta Do by Suzanne Forester had designer/finance man Jaime Baird in a jam. Everyone thinks that all women run the lingerie company Velvet, Leather and Lace. He searches his little black book for a woman to pretend to be him for an interview. Jaime gets more then what he bargained for when Lorna Sutton takes the challenge and Jaime on. Lorna has a score to love `em and leave `em Jaime but neither was prepared for the feelings to grow. Calling The Shots by Donna Kauffman has another partner in VLL Samantha Wallace. Samantha is all work and no play. Things have always been on her terms in love and in life. Her current lover Marshall Conley wants more and how. He turns the tables on Samantha and brings out a steamier side to them both. Baring It All by Jill Shalvis has partner Mia Tennario up a creek when her contractor quits days before the big fashion show. She turns to her best friend Jake Holbrook for help. Jake is willing to help but he wants more from Mia then just a thank you. He wants her to be willing to explore that they can have it all. Velvet, Leather and Lace is wonderful anthology. Each story flowed into the next. It's a very hot and steamy read.

2 out of 3 isn't bad

This is an anthology about three partners in the lingerie catalogue company Velvet, Leather & Lace. The first story is "A Man's Gotta Do" by Suzanne Forster. This is the first book that I've read by the author and I have to admit that I was disappointed. It could have been that I just wasn't in the mood, you know, where you go back later and read it and actually like it. But whatever it was, it did not keep my attention. I found myself drifting off and thinking of other things and having to practically drag myself back to the story. That isn't good. Furthermore, I kept checking the number of pages to see how close I was to the ending. There isn't any one thing that I can name that was wrong with it. It had humor, which is important to me. Great sex, which I like in my romances. I just couldn't connect with the characters. Jamie Baird is the lone male in of the partners. He designs the lingerie and, up until now, his identity as a man has been kept a secret. But now as they are about to hit the big-time with a fashion show, the press is clamoring for a look at the mysterious Jamie. In desperation, Jamie goes to his "little black book" and picks out a woman he thinks could pass herself off as "Jamie Baird, lingerie designer" for a big interview. He picks Lorna Sutton, a woman he went out with twice, had combustible sex with and then never contacted again. Lorna agrees, but only to bring Jamie down a peg or two. Of course, passion ensues and they fall in love. I did like the fact that Lorna, the heroine, was not a size 3 supermodel, but rather a curvaceous full-figure woman. Otherwise, I was not impressed. Okay, Donna Kauffman's "Calling the Shots" was next and I like Donna Kauffman. But wait, this is dark. No humor. I just can't get into men ordering woman around and degradation, even simulated S & M. Again, agony to get through and I can't think of anything I liked about this one. A shame, because I do like Ms. Kauffman's work a lot. Partner Samantha Wallace has issues with intimacy - not the sexual kind, but letting people close to her. Marshall Conley is a horse trainer who has been her lover for a while and has now fallen in love with her. As I sit here trying to describe this story, words elude me. It's too convoluted. Something about making her give up her need to control things and trust him, and finally give herself to him completely. Sight deprivation, a rider's crop (which he never uses to whip her - I must point that out), etc. I wish I had skipped this one. Now we are 0 for 2. I began reading this anthology on a Sunday night, reading approximately 1 ½ hours a night - and it took me four nights, 6 hours on two short stories. Wasted hours for me, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I turned to "Baring It All" by Jill Shalvis. By the end of the first page I was transfixed. This is the gem of the book, a lovely romp through the intricacies of falling in love. Mia Tennario and Jake Holbrook

three steamy Velvet, Leather & Lace romances

"Red Velvet" by Suzanne Forster. Several months ago playboy Jamie had the night of his life with Lorna, but stupidly walked away. Now, the CFO of Velvet, Leather & Lace needs someone built just like her to pretend to be him with the media as everyone wants to meet the "women" behind the successful "Hot at any age, sexy at any size" lingerie catalogue company. As he tries to persuade her to masquerade as a female him, they fall in love, but she does not trust him with her heart and he does not trust him with her heart either. "Black Leather" by Donna Kauffman. VLL partner Samantha is a control freak at work, but also uses her acumen in her sex life needing to always be in charge. Her lover Marsh wants her to let go and let him be in charge in bed even some of the time or else he will leave in spite of being in love with Sam. "White Lace" by Jill Shalvis. VLL graphic designer Mia needs help when her set is not right so she turns to her best friend Jake to fix her problems. Jake agrees but wants more than gratitude from the woman he loves. These three steamy VLL romances heat up the sheets as each well written tale makes the case that mixing business with pleasure with the right person is hot and sexy. Harriet Klausner