Tag Archives: Lingerie

Review: Queen in Lingerie (Lingerie #4) by Penelope Sky

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Title: Queen in Lingerie
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 6/6/18
Length:  167 pages
Series:  Lingerie #4

Overview

Muse told the world how she felt about me.

Instead of feeling joy, I felt terror.

This isn’t what I want.

This isn’t how our relationship is supposed to be.

I end things because I have no other choice.

But I struggle to cope with my misery, to sleep in an empty bed without her beside me.

My Thoughts

Again, i think that the summary doesn’t do the book justice. What’s alluded to here is just one snippet of the greater story that we’re really immersed in. In this 3rd book, we see what Sapphire and Conways relationship has truly become. There are real feelings and real emotions, and while sapphire is more honest with how she feels, Con is never going to admit it. He does things for her, and protects her in ways that he would never have before, but that makes him uncomfortable on a different level.

The journey in this installment takes us on some amazing adventures. We see Conway and Carter’s participation in the Underground evolve, with an after affect that hurts their family and uncovers something that they never expected. We see adventures taking us to romantic locales, Sapphire getting to experience the luxury that Conway can give her in Greece and beyond. We see Sapphire finally decide to admit her feelings and that’s where the story takes a sharp left turn.

Conway is a man who NEEDS control and won’t survive if someone else tries to take it. When Sapphire takes things into her own hands, she finds herself thrown out of Conways house in the middle of the night with nothing, no money, no assets, and no where to go. Thankfully she had that offer from Andrew Lexington to be his model for years, so she uses that as an opportunity to rebuild her life.

This bit of the story seems very reminiscent of Pearl and Crow- when Pearl went back to America because things just weren’t what they should be. Here, Sapphire has a job, she crafts a new life in the hopes of getting past the heart break, and starts to build a new friend ship with a successful man named Nox who helps her realize that she’s worthy and should be cherished. Conway realizes the error in his ways, tries to make things right by chasing her to NYC, but when he can’t offer her what she needs in ‘forever’ – he goes back to Italy with his tail between his legs.

The path that this story takes is so moody and sad. Sapphire can’t seem to move past Conway and how she feels about him, even when she tries to live her life. He’s always in her thoughts but she also knows that she deserves better. It’s only when Conway’s world crumbles, his work suffers and he’s unable to design anything, all he does is drink and starve himself…Crow talks to him and gives him the kick in the pants that he needs. Crow shares with him a bit of his experience with his mom and we see that maybe it lights a fire and there’s hope.

If only that’s where our story ends right? Seeing Conway come to his senses, but we also know that regardless of what Sapphire feels for him, she’s not going to back down for what she believes she deserves and their journey continues to get complicated, even with unexpected twists and turns in both their professional and personal life. That bit of the story i won’t go into, but know that it’s compelling and intriguing.

We have all the romance and chemistry layered into this story as we have in the others- the connection here with these two as something that’s super symbiotic and it adds a dynamic that we haven’t seen with the other couples.

What does come as a surprise (but maybe not?) is what happens with Knuckles here. I think that we were all jaded if we thought he was going to disappear and well, he comes back with a mission and that’s to get Sapphire back somehow, putting the entire Barsetti clan on alert and presenting a show of force that would make anyone cringe

The story doesn’t stop there, and i’m happy to say that the version of the book that i have gives me the next installment and i don’t even need to go searching for it! Enjoy!

Review: Beauty in Lingerie (Lingerie #2) by Penelope Sky

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Title: Beauty in Lingerie
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 4/17/18
Length:  165 pages
Series:  Lingerie #2

Overview

Conway Barsetti doesn’t want me to be a model anymore.

He wants to keep me all to himself.

I inspire him in ways no one else does. 

Now I’m living with him in his beautiful mansion, and I don’t feel like a prisoner anymore. I’m free to do what I want, with some limitations. But he treats me so coldly, seeing me as an object rather than a person.

His family comes by for lunch and he tells me to stay in my room so they won’t see me.

But I have a better idea. I’ll make them believe I’m his girlfriend, that we live together and we’re in love. Unless he treats me better, I’ll tell his parents and sister what our arrangement really is. 

And humiliate him.

My Thoughts

This second book in the series takes their relationship to a new level. While we know that Sapphire was strong and smart and was not going to let her situation define her, Conway didn’t know that and we have an interesting story from here on out. She’s the one person who’s able to challenge Conway, who’s about push him and get him to begin to admit things to himself and that benefits both of them.

His work has never been so inspired, and he is putting out more product than ever before. There’s more demand for him and that’s all because of his Muse. There’s a downside to this however, they both become incredibly jealous of one another. We know that Sapphire HATES when his models get too close, still not trusting that he’s not with anyone else. Conway on the flip side is beyond protective, and we know that it’s a Barsetti trait that will never go away. Given the threat that Carter voiced regarding Knuckles, there’s a reason that Sapphire gets limited freedom.

And this is where Crow, Pearl and Vanessa play a big role. Now that Sapphire forced her way into the family, and they adore her, she’s able to get more and more from Conway. To push his boundaries, to get freedoms. It’s nice to see what her life is becoming.

Where we find ourselves in this story’s end is that there’s an offer on the table that may take Sapphire away from Conway, and he had been shielding her from that offer. Knowing the type of woman that she is, we’re likely going to see heart break and betrayal at the beginning of the next book because it seems like it’s an offer she can’t turn down.

The other bit that i want to note in this story is that the dynamic between our mains continues to be unique to what we’ve read in all the other series so far. There’s an innocence sure, but there’s a bit of power swapping here that’s different than what i’ve read before. Sapphire doesn’t use the same tactics that Pearl or Adelina did, or any of the other ladies to be honest. She has a different approach and one that’s grounded in the life that she lost, and it’s something that works here….most of the time. So i guess now the only way to see what happens, if there’s a way to come back from the impeding betrayal and at what cost….if Knuckles will find her when she’s out of Conway’s grasp, …we must read on. Enjoy!

Review: Muse In Lingerie (Lingerie #1) by Penelope Sky

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Title: Muse In Lingerie
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 4/3/18
Length:  298 pages
Series:  Lingerie #1

Overview

My brother got mixed up with a crime lord and lost everything he had, including his life.

And now I have to pay his debt.

All I have is twenty bucks in my pocket and the clothes on my back. The bank took the house, and my last living relative was murdered. Knuckles threatened to torture me if I ran. He’s counting down the days until he’ll claim me…making me treasure my final days of freedom.

But I’m not going to wait around. I’m running like hell.

To Milan.

The greatest lingerie designer in the world is looking for new talent for Barsetti Lingerie. I’m not exactly model material, but maybe I can get a job doing something…and get paid under the table.

But when I meet the infamous Conway Barsetti, he has other plans for me.

Did I just run away from one monster into the arms of another?

My Thoughts

I think this was a great segue into the next generation of Barsettis since we just spent so much time with both Crow and Cane. We know that they both had children and that means that the story continues. This introduction to this new series is around Conway at the beginning, Crow and Pearl’s eldest child. He’s chosen to carve his own path, not staying within the family business of the winery, which of course frustrates Crow, but instead, moving to Milan and creating his own empire. One that he’s been afraid to tell his family about, but one that they are insanely proud of. He’s the worlds most influential lingerie designer and that doesn’t shock us at all.

Enter Sapphire – a girl who’s on the wrong end of something that her brother did/didn’t do. We know that this is the way of crime organizations – no one is sacred and if someone doesn’t pay a debt, all family is collateral. Sapphire has to go into hiding, figure out how to pay off all the debts that have been wracked up and make a new life since hers has been completely derailed. When she sees a glimpse of Conway on the TV, seeing that he’s hosting a model search, she takes the last few dollars she has and flies to Milan in the quest to make a new life.

The story from here is expected, yet interesting. We know how Ms Sky, our amazing author writes these things – giving us the anxiety of organized crime that has no qualms about torture and pain, while also introducing a strong female who takes no crap from anyone and who will be the reason for the surly main man to change.

Where we know Crow/Pearl’s story was all about naughty intense heat, and Cane/Adelina had the sweet romance, this is a mix. Sapphire needs the romance and Conway has closed himself off to emotion.

The problem that arises though is that because Conway has the walls up and potentially a false sense of security that his wealth and celebrity have earned him, he’s putting himself directly in the path of danger after paying $100M to save Sapphire’s life. Carter, Cane’s son tries to talk reason into him, the way that we saw Crow and Cane do for each other, and where we are left at the end of this story is on the cusp of a war that’s brewing and we don’t fully know the capacity of the opponent.

This introduction to the Lingerie series shows us restraint, passion, drive and motivation, and gives us hope that there are people who will help put an end to the trafficking problem that was so prevalent in the other series. It comes at a cost though and we don’t yet know who’s going to pay for that with their life and well being. Enjoy!