Rose's Food & Book Blog: The Domino Effect Tour Stop: Review & Giveaway

Title: The Domino Effect (The Domino Series)

Author: Jill Elaine Hughes

Genre: Erotic Thriller

Publication Date: March 24, 2013

Event organized by: Literati Author Services

Twenty-one-year-old college student and aspiring journalist Nancy Delaney’s nose for news smells a hot story idea when it comes to international playboy and artist Peter Rostovich. But as she works to get her story, she soon becomes intimately entangled with the mysterious Rostovich, who finds her irresistible. He becomes Nancy’s ticket to sexual awakening, and she soon discovers she has an appetite for bondage, too.

And there’s far more to Rostovich than just his art — he’s involved in a strange, violent criminal underworld that kidnaps Nancy and spirits her halfway around the world, where she’s held prisoner and made to serve as private Dominant-for-hire somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Will the sexual powers Rostovich helped awaken in her be Nancy’s only hope for escape?

When I first started reading this story and found out it was revolved around Art I almost, and I mean almost turned my Kindle off. It just seems that there are so many stories out there that revolve around artists. I'm glad I didn't turn it off let me tell you because as this story went on, it just drew me in deeper and deeper into the story. By the very end of it I was left wanting more of the story and anticipating book 2. Quite a turnaround from when I first started reading this story let me tell you.

21 year old Nancy Delaney is a freelance college reporter. She has a real nose for catching that big break in a story but little does she realize what she is about to walk in to. Nancy's roommate Hannah is always handing off her jobs to Nancy to handle especially if she feels they are not important. This just so happens to be the case at an art show at a local art gallery within minutes of entering the gallery she is intrigued by the art on the walls. All are by an artist named Peter Rostovich who to Nancy appears to be a struggling artist that has to stoop so low that he has an art show in Cleveland. As Nancy explores the art work she sees models in various stages of bondage and stops when she gets to a photo of a woman wearing cable ties. While Nancy is studying the photo she is approached by a man and within 30 seconds he has her hands tied in cables. Of course as luck would have it, Nancy passes out and awakens on a bench unsure of what happened. The owner of the gallery directs her to a room where the artist will be revealing a work of art and tells her he probably has her press bag which has mysteriously walked off.

When she locates the man she discovers that it is none other than the artist himself Peter Rostovich. Nancy sits and has a conversation within Peter, one that according to her roommate is priceless since Peter hates art critics and reporters. When it's time for the big reveal I kid you not I stood there for a good minute starring at my Kindle in shock. (No joke, true story.) The reveal is so racy that the art gallery gets shut down by the police. Left outside the gallery without so much as a review to write for Art News Now, Nancy calls a local paper and sells the story of the art gallery being shut down and is given the opportunity to write a story about Peter and the rumors that surround this mysterious man. Peter locates her they get to talking and he agrees to do an interview with her at his private suite at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The interesting thing about Peter is that he's very secretive. He uses anonymous email addresses, encrypted cell phones, and whenever possible land lines. Based off of the information the paper gave her and what she has seen of Peter so far she wants to see more. But Nancy is at a crossroads while she wants the interview, shes fighting a growing attraction to this man, feelings she's never felt before. Because you see, Nancy is still a virgin. She never understood what all the fuss was about with sex and men, but the more time she spends around Peter she begins to realize what they were referring to.

Nancy goes to the hotel but instead of getting her interview she falls right into bed with Peter, and he shows her a side of sex she only ever read and dreamed about. It was an intense evening for Nancy to say the least and very HOTT. The next morning Peter finally lets her see some parts of him that he keeps hidden. Where he grew up, a little about his business ventures that have made him so much money, and photographs that no one has ever seen. Peter has a former client and friend that wanted photos done in the old town where Peter grew up, Sevastopol. Peter shows her some strange items that have shown up in some photos and wants her help digging up information. Little does she know that there is another that is watching her, Viktor Bluschencko has his eye on Nancy and wants her for his own. Peter has a lot of secrets, a lot of which still have yet to be revealed but one that he does is that Viktor is big on human trafficking. He takes hold of both Nancy and Hannah and from there they are kidnapped landing Nancy on Bluschencko's property to serve his wealthy clients. Up until this point I couldn't figure out what the title meant then Domino came out of nowhere and it all made sense. Will the skills and fantasy's that Peter gave to Nancy help her to survive the situation she has found herself in?

This story was brilliant especially towards the end when Nancy was kidnapped. This story was well written, well thought out, and best of all the story was not rushed to get to the end and be done with it. This story was 100 percent unique and enjoyable. I really look forward to the next book to see what happens to Nancy and Peter, 5 stars!

Book received in exchange for an honest review

JILL ELAINE HUGHES is a professional journalist, playwright, memoirist, and fiction author. She has written for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Washington Post, Cat Fancy magazine, New Art Examiner, and numerous other media outlets. Her plays have been widely published and produced by theaters in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, the United Kingdom, and Australia. She is also the author of several New Adult fiction books. Ms. Hughes also writes erotic fiction under two pen names: Jamaica Layne and Jay E. Hughes.