Novel Review: What She Needs by Lacey Alexander

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Erotica

Publisher: Heat (Penguin)

Release Date: 2009

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The author of The Bikini Diaries now invites readers to an erotic hotel where sensual satisfaction is the main amenity...
Mild-mannered Jenna Banks never considered sex a recreational sport-until she wins a two-week stay at the notorious Hotel Erotique, where every sexual fantasy comes true-in room after room, with stranger after stranger. Even more unnerving for Jenna is Brent Powers, her wildly sensual personal guide who can't wait to put his degree in sexual psychology to work. But with the steady seduction of Jenna come feelings that neither expected. Where will the ultimate fantasy take them?

The Cover:

I actually kind of like this cover. It fits the book really well--the colors, the feel, the background matches the setting, the models represent the main characters well, and it's clearly showing the type of book it is. I rather like this cover, surprisingly.

Review:

·         “‘The way I see it,’ he said, ‘is that wherever you go, you’re still you. Some places allow a person to…find new parts of themselves. Yet…new is not the right way to say it—no—because I believe all the parts were already there. So I should say that some places allow a person to…release parts of themselves.’” (Paperback, pg. 270)

This was a very, very good book. It was hot, and sweet, with a lot of sex but also a lot of character development.

Jenna wins a stay at a sex get-away, but she doesn’t want to go. And then she decides she’ll go, but forgo the sex part. Her guide Brent, though, convinces her to go through with all of it.

I liked how Jenna slowly came around to the things around her, and her own feelings about sex. Before, she wasn’t a big fan of sex, or at least she didn’t care that she didn't have very much of it. She thought that was fine. And then she has some really good, sometimes kinky, sex, and realizes that she does likes it. At first, she’s really reluctant, but I like her progression toward accepting her feelings about it.

Her growing relationship with Brent was really nice, too. I liked her revelation that she liked sex, and she even like it kinky, but that she still needed the closeness of someone special. There was a lot of kinky, exciting sex, (there was some roleplay, light spanking, orgy, male on male, to give an idea) but there was also a lot of sweet, tender moments between her and Brent, and I really liked those. Their relationship felt realistic and believable, and honest. It worked really well for both of them.

I really enjoyed this book. It was hot, tender, sweet, fun. I will definitely be picking up another of Alexander’s books when I get the chance.