Duchess Loves Books

4.5 Stars
I loved this BOOK!!! I'm going to say right off...this was far from perfect. I had a couple of things that bugged me. But I'm rating this purely on my enjoyment of the story. And I enjoyed the hell out of it!
I read...
and read...
and read...
and I just never wanted to put it down!

Often, even with a good book, I'm checking the percentage, checking the time left until I finish reading. Just to see how late I have to stay up, or how much time I have left before I have to get up and do dishes or run errands or whatever. Not so with Diamond Girl! I didn't give a hoot how long I had to go...I was gonna keep reading until I passed out or finished this story!!

What I loved:
The premise...
A woman in her midthirties, stuck in a loveless marriage. She loves her daughter, and she does her duty to her demanding and absent husband. They married very young (Samantha was seventeen) and her father, the owner of a successful pharmaceutical company, basically gifted her husband with an extremely lucrative and stable career. So Samantha has been a stay at home mom to their daughter. When her husband's business trips begin to take over more of his life than his home life does, and their daughter goes away to college, Samantha decides to do something to make herself feel better. Something for just her. She begins to take some exercise classes and eventually a pole dancing class to try to spice up her sex life.

When it becomes clear that sex with her philandering, ass hole husband is no longer a viable option, Samantha gets a job pole dancing at a gentleman's club. She doesn't strip...she strictly dances. She loves the music and the mood, the dancing, and of course...the male attention.

"My feelings had to count for once. If they didn't then I hadn't learned anything from the past nineteen years of marriage to the mannequin. I was done being that person that allowed someone else to define their existence."

All of this info is handed to the reader very quickly, with little detail added. I LOVED this part of Smith's "intro" to the meat of the story. I was really not looking forward to pages and pages without the sexy biker that I'd been promised. Believe me, you don't have to wait long to get to the goods.

Slate:


Hot biker dude, comes into "Diamond's" establishment to watch the show. It's apparent from the start that Slate feels a bit partial to Diamond. However, I WILL say this: he is not exclusive with his Diamond...but there is NO infidelity. Just a friendly heads up...Slate is very much a biker dude...at first **evil laugh**

One thing I really loved about this story is that it didn't romanticize the biker lifestyle. In fact, it sort of shows the seedier side of life as a biker's old lady. These guys are rough stuff, and in my opinion, only someone with very low self worth would voluntarily be involved with one of these guys. That's not at all what Samantha, or Diamond Girl, gets from Slate, however.

"Did we make love today, Slate?"
"We fucked baby. That's what you and I do. We fuck. And today we did it damn well."

Slate gives Samantha back her sexuality. He makes her feel like a woman, he makes her feel protected and sexy, an object of lust and an person to be taken care of all at the same time. And THAT'S what I loved about him. Sure, he's a douchecanoe a couple of times, but he's never anything but himself. (Which is ironic, considering...) Ole Slate is of the mind that he will never let any woman take control of his heart. Until Diamond starts to mean more to him than she should.

I really, really, REALLY loved Samantha. She's a woman who's been in this ridiculous sham of a marriage for soooo long. This is a woman that should be beaten down and feeling so low...but she really doesn't. Sure, she gets a little bummed. But she doesn't turn into some sniveling, whiny woman, running after Slate and begging for scraps of attention. In fact, when he gets too pushy with her about keeping feelings out of their relationship, she fights back...she flat out doesn't call him or contact him. She's the least clingy chick EVER! I LOVED HER!!!

"If nothing else, I now knew that I was capable of enjoying great sex. I knew that I yearned for intimacy and clo9seness. That was something that neither Jack nor Slate was willing to give me."

My dislikes:
The sex scenes...I just cannot connect with the sex scenes from this author. The word "very"...gah! "Very erect shaft", "very muscular butt", "totally exquisite". These qualifiers detracted from the intensity of the sex scene. Take out very, and I'd believe the sexiness more. As it is, I feel like I'm trying to be convinced that it's hot. And it ends up being...not...hot :(

There are some twists and turns in these here hills as well. One that slowly sneaks up on you. I had it somewhat figured out by the time it was finally revealed, but boy...it's a big'un!!! And it was well placed...it kept the action going and kept my interest piqued for the entire book.

The biggest thing that I took from this book was to never settle. Even something that seems permanent doesn't have to be. In relationships in particular, it takes TWO people to make it work. It's not worth it if the other person has given up. YOU are worth more as a person. And you only regret the chances you don't take.