Scandy novel time!

Honestly, this has been on my to-read list forever. While I don’t often read smutty novels because some of them can just be way to over the top with a ridiculous plot, I’d seen so many positive reviews from GoodReads friends and blog friends alike about Alice Clayton’s novel and decided it was time to give it a read.

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a KitchenAid mixer, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O. Adding insult to O-less, since her move, she has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard.

Each moan, spank, and—was that a meow?—punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has, yep, you guessed it, no O. Enter Simon Parker.

When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has, well, mixed results. Ahem. With walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick…

REVIEW

You have no idea how much I wish that it had been Wallbanger that had achieved worldwide success and had a film adaptation instead of Fifty Shades of Grey. While I must confess I didn’t think Fifty was wholly bad, but I would much rather see Simon and Caroline brought the big screen than Christian and Anastasia.

The first in Alice Clayton’s Cocktail series, I must admit that I was surprised with this book. As I’ve said in the past, most smut novels tend to end up being a miss for me rather than a hit purely because I think the authors are so focused on trying to replicate Fifty‘s success with their book that they end up having too much sex and not enough plot. However, I think that Alice Clayton did a great job of balancing the two. Of course, some may argue that there was too much plot and not enough of getting it on, but each to their own.

As far as scandalous novels go, this was a hit for me. From chapter one, I knew I was going to love it. Packed full of instantly likable characters and witty, hilarious one-liners, Wallbanger was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I don’t think there was a single dull moment.

The will they-won’t they Simon and Caroline story line really kept me hooked. Especially after that unfortunate night in Tahoe I was beginning to fret for this ship’s future. Despite their ups and downs, I adored Simon and Caroline almost as much as they adored each other. Their banter and relationship had me giggling from start to finish. None of their characterization felt forced, nor did Clayton rush them ‘getting on’. I thought that the build up was brilliant as it allowed me time to follow their journey and grow fond of them.

As unfortunate of a title as Wallbanger is, it is an appropriate term to describe Simon. (I can imagine most wouldn’t want to be seen dead reading this in public with that title adorned on the cover. My advice – Find a PDF or buy it for your Kindle if you know smut books are your thing).

Overall, this book was hilarious. Although I enjoyed reading about Caroline and Simon, I don’t think I will be picking up the sequel any time soon. Purely because I love the way it ended. I’m not craving answers and I’m very happy with how I, the reader, left off with Caroline and Simon. I don’t particularly want to ruin that image of them being a delighted new couple and while I’m sure in the next book, their bond and relationship will hopefully remain intact I don’t want to tarnish the way it ended in Wallbanger in any way for me just in case.

RATING
★★★★