Hold Me Close

October 19, 2015
This contemporary erotic romance opens with lovers Effie and Heath relishing a few moments of steamy, kinky fun—literal slap-and-tickle. Thirty-something Effie both loves and hates Heath for the violent sex they both enjoy. She yearns for a long-term committed relationship that’s a little more vanilla. Heath really loves Effie, and he’s certain that vanilla just can’t happen, due to their shared history of captivity and abuse at the hands of a malevolent kidnapper. Heath believes their need to link passion and pain can’t be overcome. Effie isn’t so sure, and she wants to be a better role model for her 11-year-old daughter, Polly. If this all seems complicated, that’s because it is, but Hart does an admirable job of sustaining readability. Some grisly child abuse flashbacks serve as backstory for complex yet sympathetic adult characters seeking normalcy in a world that has dealt them a bad hand.

December 1, 2015
As teens, Effie and Heath were locked in a basement by a crazy man for three years. Hart's (The Favor, 2013) latest follows their difficult relationship and lives as adults. Now the mother of a preteen, Effie makes her living selling art, often to people who are fascinated by her past. Her mother has long wanted her to move on from Heath and date other men; no one seems to understand their bond except her daughter, Polly. Effie still has a secret sexual relationship with the man who fathered Polly, while everyone believes that her captor or Heath is the father. She has sex regularly with Heath, too, even while she tries to have a more normal dating relationship with another man. Effie and Heath may belong together, but their journey is painful. In a darker turn for Hart, the book moves from visceral, erotic scenes from Effie's current life to disturbing memories of her time in the basement. This has a powerful effect that will stay with readers long after they finish reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)