SEXY SATURDAYS: BOUND TO BE DIRTY by SAVANNA FOX

Sexy Saturdays with Andrea and Autumn is a weekly meme created to spread the word about spicy reads.


Participating blogs:
The Autumn Review
The Bookish Babe

 

Series: The Dirty Girls Book Club #3

Genre: Erotic Romance

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Publication Date: 2/4/4

Format: Paperback

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher

Rating: 4 stars

 

 

As the women in the Dirty Girls Book Club open each new selection of erotica, they also open up their minds to sexual adventure…

Lily Nyland married sexy bad boy Dax Xavier because he made her dreams come true—in bed and out. But after a decade of marriage, her helicopter bush pilot husband spends more time in the remote wilderness than heating things up in her bedroom. The best sex she’s enjoyed recently comes from the Dirty Girls Book Club’s erotic selections.

Still, when the club chooses Bound to Be Dirty, Lily’s skeptical. As a family practice doctor and a fiercely independent woman, the theme doesn’t exactly resonate with her. But then Dax, home for the Christmas holiday, startles her by spicing up their sex life with naughty tricks that make her wonder if he snuck a peek at her book. Even more shocking, Lily finds herself turned on by their erotic experimentation. Kinky sex may be enough to rekindle the passion in their marriage, but can it restore the deeper bonds of love and trust?

 

When I began Bound to Be Dirty, I assumed it was going to be a fun and steamy story about a couple who wanted to spice up their marriage. Boy, was I wrong, kind of. Bound to Be Dirty definitely had its fun moments, and its steamy moments, but what I found here is a very moving and relatable story about a marriage in crisis, and the lengths this couple will go to in order to save it.

The idea behind The Dirty Girls Book Club series is a book club of four women - strangers- who form a book group. They take turns choosing the selections, then meet once a week to discuss what they've read thus far. Through their discussions, they've gotten to know one another better. Two members, Georgia and Kim, have found their happily ever after in the first two book in the series. In fact, the books the club was reading in the time is partially responsible for that. I have to say, I would love to go back and read those books. To my surprise, the group isn't as large part of the story as I'd imagined. Each book seems to really center on one woman, with their meet-ups interspersed throughout the story.

Lily Nyland joined the book group because she wanted to read and discuss great works of literary fiction. And because she is lonely. After fifteen years together, she and her husband Dax have drifted apart. They'd always led separate lives, with him being a helicopter in the Canadian Forces - now a bush pilot, and Lily running a family practice as a physician. Their individuality is something they'd always prided themselves on, but a lack of connection, communication, and intimacy has led to a breakdown of their marriage. Lily wants Dax home, wants a family, but knows he thrives on being in the wilderness. At the end of her rope, she plans to confront Dax about their marriage when he's home over the Christmas/New Year's holiday.

Lily doesn't realize, though, that Dax feels the same. He misses their connection, the passion. He's tired of being second to Lily's career and family. Due to a rough upbringing, Dax is unsure that he'll ever want children. He's afraid Lily is having an affair, and that fear is heightened when he finds an erotic romance novel, heavy on the BDSM, on her Kindle. Not knowing that this was a book club selection and not Lily's choice, Dax begins to wonder if this type of sexual relationship is what Lily truly wants. He's not comfortable with the extreme tones of the story, but he is willing to see if Lily wants his more dominant side to come out once again.

What happens next, when Dax tries out his theory, sets the story on quite the emotional path. What I love about Bound to Be Dirty is, it's not really about the sex. What the sex does for them, besides the obvious (hee!) is, it forces them to open up to one another. To communicate, find trust once again, and to discover if their marriage is worth saving. The openness, the trust,  is what a strong physical connection is supposed to do. I'm happy the author chose to focus on what that can bring to the relationship, instead of making it into a marriage cure-all.

I found Bound to Be Dirty to be quite an emotionally-hitting story. Lily and Dax had been together since they were seventeen, essentially kids. I can relate to this, in that I've been with my husband since I was eighteen. At the time, you think you know and can handle anything. Dax and Lily begin to realize that though they are no longer the same kids who fell in love at summer camp, that they can still find pieces of themselves and those feelings. After so many years and so many changes and the loss of trust and togetherness, they need a reset. I found myself shedding a few tears for them and because I know what it's like to have those feelings. Dax and Lily's journey was by turns nostalgic, sweet, bitter, and painful. It was not an easy path for them - rediscovering their love. But like all good things, it's worth it.

Bound to Be Dirty did not deliver what I expected when I picked it up. It gave me something better. A well-developed, emotionally gripping story with relatable characters and experiences, I am so happy I gave it a try.



Favorite Quote:
 
Over the years, she'd grown up and stopped playing. He'd forced himself to grow up too, to become responsible, to deserve the amazing woman he loved. He missed the kids they'd once been. The kids who'd fallen so head over heels for each other. Who'd made love with wild abandon, and spun dreams on moonlit summer nights.
 
  

  Lily straightened her back and walked across the restaurant toward her own handsome man. She'd figured out the truth about herself. She was brave and crazy enough to have sex in a restaurant, and brave and crazy enough to love her husband.

 

The Dirty Girls Book Club Series

 

   

 

(covers lead to GoodReads page)

 

Purchase Links

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

 

About the author

I write under the names Susan Lyons, Susan Fox, and Savanna Fox - sexy contemporary romance that’s passionate, heartwarming, and fun. I’m published by Kensington Brava (as Susan Fox), Berkley Heat (as Susan Lyons and Savanna Fox), Kensington Aphrodisia (as Susan Lyons), and Harlequin Spice Briefs (as Susan Lyons). I live in the Pacific Northwest.

My website is http://www.susanlyons.ca.

I keep track of my reading on Goodreads under the name Susan Lyons.