Control

Stein (Deep Desires) serves up a sizzling combination of BDSM and voyeurism. Madison Morris owns a bookstore dedicated to titillating fiction. She’s looking for a shop assistant, and not just one who can fulfill the usual retail duties. When straitlaced Gabriel Kauffman walks in the door and catches Madison in flagrante with forceful Andy Yarrow, Madison knows she’s found her newest employee—not Andy, who would never take direction, but Gabriel, who longs for a firm hand on the reins. At first, Madison enjoys teasing shy Gabriel, trying to see how quickly she can fluster him with naughty tasks such as circling his favorite bits in the erotica lining her store’s shelves and staying naked in her apartment. Then something altogether unexpected happens: she falls for Gabriel, despite still lusting after Andy. While the plot is a bit flimsy and Stein often skims the surface of deep emotion in favor of graphic description, readers will tear through the book in anticipation of the next scorching sex scene. (Jan.)