Sex and humour don’t usually go well together. I’ve noticed this from personal experience. If I get undressed, and the woman I’m with starts laughing, the sex probably won’t be brilliant. That said, if it’s good enough for me, I seldom complain.
Jeremy Edwards is probably known to anyone who has ever read more than three short erotic stories. Chances are, if someone has only read three short erotic stories, one of them was written by Mr Edwards and it affected the reader both as an efficient piece of erotica and an amusing narrative. Mr Edwards has a panache for blending humour and horny in equal quantities – a skill that few authors can manage with such aplomb.
And this is one of the things that makes Rock My Socks Off such a blisteringly good read. From the opening lines the story is charged with chemistry between the central characters.
Normandie Stephens had Jacob smiling within moments of shaking his hand.
‘Normandie,’ Jacob echoed the introduction. ‘That’s a charming name.’
‘It’s a silly name,’ she retorted with a laugh, ‘and you know it.’ Normandie had no reason to know anything about Jacob or his opinions, but she seemed unshakeably certain of this last assertion. ‘My parents called me Brittany, and when I turned sixteen in a sea of other Brittanys, I said, “Fuck this” and swapped it for the next French province over.’
He liked the way the word fuck had tripped off her tongue.
‘It’s interesting,’ he said. ‘As I understand it, those French provinces don’t have an official meaning any more. They’re culturally and historically significant, of course – but they haven’t been recognised by the French government in centuries.’
She stared at him for a moment, sizing him up. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls,’ she finally replied.
Her hair was a lazy shade of sand blonde. But her eyes, which Jacob later described to her as ‘green-traffic-light-green’, harboured the sort of energetic intensity that could get you out of bed in the morning – and then straight back into bed, if you could catch up with her.
From the outset the reader can understand that there is an enormous attraction between Jacob and Normandie. The fact that this pair will end up in bed together is almost a given. But it’s what the pair do when they’re not in bed, and how they interact with other characters from this novel, that really makes this work sparkle.
The story in Rock My Socks Off focuses on the halcyon relationship between Jacob and Normandie. Edwards introduces a plethora of sparring partners for this central duo – adding to the opportunities for more bonk and banter – but it’s the dynamics between Jacob and Normandie that truly make the pages sizzle with sexual tension.
There are many books out there that treat sex as a serious subject. Rock My Socks Off is one of those rare titles that it’s intelligent, witty and erotic. If you’ve ever found yourself smiling during sex, this is probably a title you’ll enjoy.
Rock My Socks Off by Jeremy Edwards
(Xcite Books, January 2010; ISBN 1907016015)
Available atXcite Books
© 2010 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.
