Series: The Gilded Flower Series
Author: Vivian Winslow
Genre: Erotic Romance
Synopsis of Gilded Lily (Book 1): After catching her fiancé Jack in bed with
her sister the day before her wedding, New York socialite Lily Baron escapes to
Rio, her honeymoon destination—alone. There, Marcelo, the dark and sexy hotel
masseur, releases a heated passion Lily had never experienced with Jack. When
Lily meets handsome and powerful Brazillionaire Gustavo de Lima, she can hardly
resist him. There’s just one problem. He’s married. In this uber-sensual city,
will Lily’s reluctance to be with a married man, in light of her own fiancé’s
betrayal, give way to her burning desire for Gustavo?
Lily catches her fiancé in bed with her twin sister the night
before the wedding. Calling everything
off and taking off to her honeymoon destination by herself, she slowly gains
back her confidence and embraces a whole new side of herself.
Feeling sexier than she’s every felt Lily becomes a little vixen
and seems to be horny all the time. She finds not only one but two guys to satisfy
her needs, the masseuse and the hot brazillionaire.
This story had great potential. Even as a short story I found it
difficult to focus my attention on it. It had moments where it was sexy and
steamy, but not erotic. The sex scenes lacked that intensity that you would
expect from an erotic story. I was unable to connect with the characters. Lily
just comes off as a woman who has no idea what she wants and after everything
that happened with her fiancé, Jack, who was also her first, she all of a
sudden wants to have sex with any hot guy that looks her way.
I liked the story line and it does end in a cliffhanger; that
alone made me want to continue reading to see what happens next.
***ARC received in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis of Calla Lily (Book 2): Having experienced a profound personal and
sexual awakening during her solo honeymoon to Brazil, New York socialite Lily
Baron rushes back to New York upon hearing the news that her father has fallen
ill. Now, Lily must take the helm of the Baron Media empire and fend off a
high-stakes hostile takeover attempt. With the fate of the company hanging in
the balance, will Lily be able to resist the advances of the luring, unwanted
suitor in the boardroom as well as the bedroom?
Review:
Lily comes home and rushes to her father’s hospital bed after he
suffers from a stroke. Lily’s steps in as acting CEO to Baron Media while her
father recovers. Throwing herself in work and trying to forget the train wreck
that she got herself in by getting involved with a married man, she welcomes
the distraction.
Again, I found it hard to connect with Lily. All she seems to do
is end up in bed with someone because she just can’t control her desire. Gustavo,
her hottie, married brazillonaire, is back in the picture.
These stories fall short of that emotional connect I want when
reading a story. Also, it lacks that erotic essence. Sure there are sex scenes
but they don’t have enough of that WOW factor for me.
***ARC received in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis of Tiger Lily (Book 3): Weary from battling a hostile takeover attempt
of her family’s company, Lily seeks a distraction in Todd, an erstwhile
bartender with a large trust fund and magical tongue. Meanwhile, a connection
seems to be developing between Lily and Alejandro, a wealthy and gorgeous
Cuban-American, whose brother, Rodrigo, is dating Lily’s twin sister, Dahlia.
When Alejandro unexpectedly rebuffs Lily one night, she is deeply dismayed. But,
after seeing Alejandro’s picture with a gorgeous Latina model in the gossip
pages, Lily thinks it wasn’t just a misunderstanding. When the sisters and
brothers reunite in Aspen for a ski weekend, will Lily’s heart remain frozen or
will the fire between her and Alejandro rekindle and melt away the ice?
Review:
Lily is blind-sided by an unwanted business proposal from
Gustavo and is feeling used. Spending time away and seeking sexual comfort from
Todd is her plan to try and get over this whole ordeal with Gustavo.
A quick read, the last one in this series and I still felt no
connection to Lily or any of the other characters. In fact, I just wanted to
slap Lily for being so damn weak and becoming such a bed hopper.
The only character that I really liked was Alejandro. He was
just genuinely nice to her and didn’t seem to have an ulterior motive. Not
enough steamy sex for me and the ending just left me like ‘WTF!’ It just seemed
unfinished. It seemed Lily was finally finding her footing and perhaps an HEA
but then it just ends.
***ARC received in exchange for an honest review
About the Author
Vivian Winslow was born and raised in Southern California.
Before becoming a writer, she made a career out of moving around the world
every couple of years thanks to her husband’s job. She currently lives in New
York City with her husband and two elementary school age children, and is
grateful to finally have a place to call home for more than two years. New York
is the perfect city to indulge her love of shopping, the arts and especially
food. If she’s not at home writing or running around the city with her kids,
you’ll most likely find her indulging in pizza on the Lower East Side or having
a cocktail at her favorite bar in Alphabet City. That said, she’s still a
California girl at heart and would gladly trade in her heels for a pair of
flip-flops to catch a sunset on the beach.
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