Tracy’s review of Telling Tales by Charlotte Stein

Allie has held a brightly burning torch for Wade since college. They were part of a writing group and everything about those days with him and their friends Kitty and Cameron fills her with longing. When their former Professor leaves them his rambling mansion in his will, it’s a chance for them to reunite. But there’s more than friendship bubbling beneath the surface. As secrets are revealed and relationships rekindled, the stories get dirtier and the stakes get higher. And now Allie’s realized that she isn’t quite sure who she wants…fun-loving Wade, or quiet, restrained Cameron. Neither have been honest about their feelings and now they have the chance to act on the tales that ignite their most primal desires.

Allie, Kitty, Cameron and Wade were once friends who hung out at their professor’s house and had a great time together. They would read the stories that they had written and discuss them. It’s been 5 years since college and none have really kept in touch. Allie thought herself in love with Wade in college and is still carrying a torch for him after all of these years. In college they were always close friends but while Allie was around when Wade was chasing tail he never came on to her. She’s kicked herself a million times for never telling him or anyone else how she felt. Now their professor has died and has left the house they used to hang out in to the four of them. He states, however, that they must spend a month there together in order to inherit. Without question the group heads to the house to hunker down for the 4 week period.

Almost immediately the group starts sharing stories but these aren’t like the ones they shared in college. These are highly erotic and sexual in nature and it feeds them all in a way, it seems, that they all need at the time. That night Allie heads to Wade’s room but what does she find? Kitty and Wade together. That same night she finds Cameron in the living room. He’d gone through her bag and found a story she had written and is jacking off to it. This gets Allie to questioning if she knows Cameron at all. He’d always been almost asexual to her – sex being a total taboo where he comes from – and not at all open to hearing stories about sex. Allie takes it upon herself to snoop in Cameron’s room and finds a stack of stories that Cam has written that changes her thoughts about Cam and his sexual nature entirely.

Allie and Cameron start playing together sexually – almost acting out the roles in Cam’s stories. Soon Kitty gets involved and then Wade – much to his dismay. There’s a sexual tension between the four characters that none of them quite know what to do with but it doesn’t stop them from exploring and experimenting.

I think this has got to be one of the most highly erotic and sexual books I’ve ever read. It’s certainly not what I expected when I first started reading the book. While there is love involved it is definitely not a romance and therefore that leaves the characters open to be with others, I believe The story is told in the first person from Allie’s pov. Her thoughts, fears, embarrassments and other emotions are plainly put on the page for us to read. The way that the book is written I could so clearly see Allie writing this – like she wrote as she spoke. I would have loved to have gotten into Cameron’s head a bit more because he was just such an enigma but I think it truly would have changed the flavor of the whole story. During the course of the book Allie comes to terms with the fact that the crush she has on Wade was just that – a crush and that she has stronger feelings for Cameron. Even though they are sleeping together and going places that Cam probably had never gone before (nor Allie for that matter) will Cameron return her feelings when the month is over?

Most of the book deals with Cam and Allie and their sexual relationship. Cam has the need to be dominated. He has his safe word so that Allie knows if she’s pushing him too far, but we never know if he’s going to use it. There’s no bdsm involved (and everything is consensual) but the safe word is there for Cam and I believe he thoroughly appreciated that it could be used if he needed it. The book includes some of the most salacious sex I think I’ve ever read. At some points I felt like I shouldn’t be reading them at all they seemed so private to the characters but then others would just be so incredibly hot and wonderful that I couldn’t put the ereader down.

I honestly don’t have a clue how to rate the book. While I really liked some parts of the book there were others that I didn’t care for but I can’t quite figure out why I didn’t like them. Was it because I didn’t find the sex appealing or I didn’t like the way the characters were feeling? I have no idea. I very much enjoyed the writing style of the book and that was definitely a bonus and a plus in the “pro” category. This is a book that undeniably pushed some of my reading boundaries and I think I’m not sure how I feel about that. I believe this is a book that you have to read and judge for yourself and see how it makes you feel.

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Xcite Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.