Author: Allison Dobell
ISBN: 978-0-06-227311-6
RRP: $4.99 (US)
I received my copy of Alice’s Wonderland courtesy of the author to help promote the book, it was released as an e-book last year and has recently been released in the US as a Target exclusive paperback. I was fortunate to get an exclusive copy of the paperback but if you read my review and want to get you some of what Allison Dobell is selling then you can head over to Amazon for your e-copy.
Let me also mention right here from the outset that yes, I did receive a copy courtesy of the author, in exchange for an honest review and that’s what I intend to give you.
Allison Dobell is the pseudonym of two Australian writers named Allison and I usually wouldn’t say much about the author in the review but I think this is worth mentioning because it really does intrigue me how a book is written in collaboration. Especially a book like this and one that is only written from one point of view.
Alice’s Wonderland is set in the not-so-tawdry Sydney world of specialised Internet shopping. We join the story when the ‘Man About Town’ blog of Flynn O’Grady goes live in all its unsubtle derision of the business Alice Mitchell has built. The two have very different opinions on relationships and spicing things up in the bedroom.
Alice is all about offering her customers a discreet, luxury service that offers elegant and classy bedroom props for those wanting to ‘change the routine’ and put some excitement back in their love life. Flynn is one who prefers to change the partner to keep the spice in his life so Alice sets out to teach him a lesson.
The cover is striking and eye-catching which would have been enough to grab my attention. It is in the same vein as a lot of the genre, black background with a simple design. The difference with Alice’s Wonderland is the simple design is a hot pink feather and it’s gorgeous.
This is also a volume with ‘If You Love Fifty Shades…’ on the back, well I still haven’t read Fifty Shades so will not be comparing.
I went in expecting lots of spice, lots of detailed scenes and a lot more nudity than I found, and I think that’s a good thing. What I did find that I wasn’t expecting were well-developed characters who we got to know well enough to know their motivations. Motivationally speaking I think we got to know Flynn a little better than Alice but that’s because Alice’s desire to keep her past protected was always foremost in her mind and kept her from sharing too much, even with that omnipresent narrator that tells third person stories. I enjoyed watching the growth of these characters as they got to know themselves better.
Don’t get me wrong, the sex was hot and the scenes flowed without jarring terminology that turned me right off. It was sensual and intimate, even when it was hard and hot in unusual places. It was about learning how much more there is to good sex than just the sex, and about learning to know yourself so you know what will work for you.
Teaching Flynn O’Grady was not the only major storyline as Alice was receiving threatening letters, and not the usual sort from the crackpots and the religious fanatics spouting demons and hellfire, these threats were of a much more personal nature so we came along for the investigative ride and learned quite a bit about some of the smaller players in the narrative.
I found this to be an enjoyable read offering much more than I expected. If you like a little more than hot and heavy wham-bam-thank you-mams in your steam then this just might be for you.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!