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Pleasure Games #1
Pleasure Control
Cathryn Fox kicks off her Pleasure Games series with the erotic romance Pleasure Control , in which a most unexpected couple discovers their hidden desires are about to be exposed. In Pleasure Control , straight-laced scientist Laura Manning works to create a drug to calm the libidos of men who've overdone the Viagra, only to find herself swept up in unexpected sexual adventures with a coworker. Laura’s colleague Jay Cutler agrees to be a human test subject for the potion she’s developing, but they’re both titillated to discover that it has the opposite effect intended: Jay's sexual desire goes through the roof, and Laura becomes a willing participant in the sexual adventures that come next... Spicy and provocative, Pleasure Control is an erotic romp that’s sure to entice fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Sylvia Day.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
13 people are currently reading
446 people want to read
About the author
Cathryn Fox
273Ìýbooks1,362ÌýfollowersNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cathryn Fox is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, aunt and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. Cathryn lives in beautiful Nova Scotia with her husband, who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. When not writing, Cathryn can be found Skyping with her son living in Seattle (could he have moved any farther away?) shopping with her daughter in the city, watching a big action flick with her husband, or hanging out and laughing with friends.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
June 6, 2014
Two scientists, Laura Manning and Jay Coulter, are developing an anti-libido drug. During testing, using themselves as subjects, they inadvertently use a libido increasing drug. A competing company tries to steal the anti-libido drug.
Sounds good, right? Wrong! There is no romance, intrigue or mystery; the dialogue during sex is downright corny. The characters aren't well developed. All-in-all it's a mess, at least IMHO. I would be demanding a refund if I didn't borrow Pleasure Control from my local library.
If you want to be bored or tortured, then by all means read this book; otherwise stay away. "No, no, no" *Kevin Hart voice*
Sounds good, right? Wrong! There is no romance, intrigue or mystery; the dialogue during sex is downright corny. The characters aren't well developed. All-in-all it's a mess, at least IMHO. I would be demanding a refund if I didn't borrow Pleasure Control from my local library.
If you want to be bored or tortured, then by all means read this book; otherwise stay away. "No, no, no" *Kevin Hart voice*
January 15, 2011
Q: What hibernates snubbing the imposed sporadic euthermic arousals?
A: My libido after reading this book.
A: My libido after reading this book.
July 11, 2024
4 Stars for Pleasure Control (audiobook) by Cathryn Fox read by Erica Bell.
Things get kind of spicy when scientists that are working on libido suppressants and antidotes end up experimenting on each other.
Things get kind of spicy when scientists that are working on libido suppressants and antidotes end up experimenting on each other.
March 2, 2009
"I didn't like it" may be too harsh - I didn't like this as a piece of erotica, but it was amusing in how poorly written a lot of it was. Lots of purple prose and euphemisms for body parts. And what a ridiculous, thin plot.
May 4, 2024
Spicy book about scientists testing out a drug and then hooking up.
March 8, 2011
Pleasure Control was a dud for me. Too abrupt. Not the prose- the story. Suddenly we were in the midst of a culmination of apparently years of secret lust between the hero and heroine, Jay "Wildman" Cutler and Laura Manning, and I just couldn’t get into it- despite the loaded sex. (Yeah, I didn’t buy that either.)
It has potential, but a few things held it back.
First, "Wildman" Jay didn’t seem all that wild to me. Oh, he supposedly knew how to pleasure the women, but other than that, I couldn’t see much craziness to warrant the nickname. Plus he was a beta-although I don't think the author knows that. My guess is, by tacking on "Wildman", she was shooting for Alpha. She missed, and I just can’t get into beta men. 'Nuff said.
Second, dammit, the story wasn’t developed enough! We needed a longer beginning! Something, ANYTHING, that would have let us get a better feel for the characters.
The heroine was cool with her smarts and looks, and I did like her, but she couldn’t hold up the rest of the book.
And finally, the price of the book. I truly despise Trade Size pricing. It's bad enough that you lose $7.99 if the Mass Market PB is a stinker, but when you have to pay $13.95- you just feel like you're getting it up the ass if the book bombs, and THAT really ticks me off. I never buy HB anymore, because of feeling like I've been screwed too many times. I may be doing this with Trade also.
So, I’m giving this one 2 out of 5. A story with potential, but isn't quite ready for Prime Time.
It has potential, but a few things held it back.
First, "Wildman" Jay didn’t seem all that wild to me. Oh, he supposedly knew how to pleasure the women, but other than that, I couldn’t see much craziness to warrant the nickname. Plus he was a beta-although I don't think the author knows that. My guess is, by tacking on "Wildman", she was shooting for Alpha. She missed, and I just can’t get into beta men. 'Nuff said.
Second, dammit, the story wasn’t developed enough! We needed a longer beginning! Something, ANYTHING, that would have let us get a better feel for the characters.
The heroine was cool with her smarts and looks, and I did like her, but she couldn’t hold up the rest of the book.
And finally, the price of the book. I truly despise Trade Size pricing. It's bad enough that you lose $7.99 if the Mass Market PB is a stinker, but when you have to pay $13.95- you just feel like you're getting it up the ass if the book bombs, and THAT really ticks me off. I never buy HB anymore, because of feeling like I've been screwed too many times. I may be doing this with Trade also.
So, I’m giving this one 2 out of 5. A story with potential, but isn't quite ready for Prime Time.
June 7, 2012
Pleasure Control is book one of Cathryn Fox's Pleasure Game series. Laura Manning is a scientist working on discovering a potion to inhibit a man's libido. For a long time she has had a crush on her lab partner Jay Cutler. With a deadline for the potion hanging over them, Jay suggests Laura try the potion on him and then seduce him to see if it works. Against her better judgment Laura goes along with the plan.
Pleasure Control was an okay read for me. This book kind of gets the kiss of death I guess since there is not a lot that sets it apart from other books, nor is there anything that really stands out in my mind about it. It was neither good nor bad but somewhere in between. The characters, the plot and the execution were all just mediocre. What else can I say?
The good things Pleasure Control has going for it are that is it short and sweet. There is not a lot of conflict. It's a relatively fast read at only 228 pages. Unfortunately, I can't really recommend it, unless there is not much else to read, or you want something short.
Pleasure Control was an okay read for me. This book kind of gets the kiss of death I guess since there is not a lot that sets it apart from other books, nor is there anything that really stands out in my mind about it. It was neither good nor bad but somewhere in between. The characters, the plot and the execution were all just mediocre. What else can I say?
The good things Pleasure Control has going for it are that is it short and sweet. There is not a lot of conflict. It's a relatively fast read at only 228 pages. Unfortunately, I can't really recommend it, unless there is not much else to read, or you want something short.
June 10, 2015
I bought this one from kobo.
I'm all for suspension of disbelief. I'm really good at it. But this book defeated me. The behavior by these so-called scientists was beyond unethical, it was dangerous and stupid. The sexy times were awkward between hero and heroine. There was an overwhelming amount of clunky inner monologue and saying-not-showing between the hero and heroine. I'm not going to read anything by this author again. This is the third book by her I've read and I'm done.
I'm all for suspension of disbelief. I'm really good at it. But this book defeated me. The behavior by these so-called scientists was beyond unethical, it was dangerous and stupid. The sexy times were awkward between hero and heroine. There was an overwhelming amount of clunky inner monologue and saying-not-showing between the hero and heroine. I'm not going to read anything by this author again. This is the third book by her I've read and I'm done.
December 27, 2016
1.5 stars
Picked this up on a whim at my local library, and oh boy, is this book ridiculous. I hesitate to use the word "novel" because it really didn't seem to have much depth other than: geeky scientist with suppressed high sex drive + playboy turned by geeky girl... that's it. If it seems like this plot is missing something, that's because it is.
I can't rate this 1 star because I firmly believe that at least for me, unless a book makes me angry, it's a 1.5 star or above. And this did not make me angry in the least bit. It did made me a little disappointed that with some good editing and an epic writer this could've been really, really cool. But mostly it made me bemused at the simplicity of the characters and the story arc, and was kind of entertaining. I was often snorting at certain phrases (and especially exclamations of surprise!), and rolling my eyes at the set ups for expected lines,. Suspending your disbelief becomes a habit while reading, and the clichés are plentiful. If you ignore all these imperfections and read it for what it is (basically a read-in-a-few-hours stereotypical "trashy romance") can it do it's job? Yeah. But if I'm writing here a review on this overall, then yeah, no way is this even getting near a 2 or above.
Picked this up on a whim at my local library, and oh boy, is this book ridiculous. I hesitate to use the word "novel" because it really didn't seem to have much depth other than: geeky scientist with suppressed high sex drive + playboy turned by geeky girl... that's it. If it seems like this plot is missing something, that's because it is.
I can't rate this 1 star because I firmly believe that at least for me, unless a book makes me angry, it's a 1.5 star or above. And this did not make me angry in the least bit. It did made me a little disappointed that with some good editing and an epic writer this could've been really, really cool. But mostly it made me bemused at the simplicity of the characters and the story arc, and was kind of entertaining. I was often snorting at certain phrases (and especially exclamations of surprise!), and rolling my eyes at the set ups for expected lines,. Suspending your disbelief becomes a habit while reading, and the clichés are plentiful. If you ignore all these imperfections and read it for what it is (basically a read-in-a-few-hours stereotypical "trashy romance") can it do it's job? Yeah. But if I'm writing here a review on this overall, then yeah, no way is this even getting near a 2 or above.
December 2, 2011
Well written, fun, but sexy, lovely connection between the characters. ONly thing I didn't like was the heroine's low self esteem. She was very down on herself. She would see the hero have eyes only for her, notice him flirting with her, etc, then explain it all away. Even after they were intimate, she had all these reasons why he couldn't possibly be interested in her, and after a while, I just didn't buy it anymore.
But, all in all, it was a good, enjoyable read.
But, all in all, it was a good, enjoyable read.
January 30, 2015
Ugh, this book was terribly BORING. That about sums it up for my review. Boring character, boring sex...I didn't even enjoy the writing style. There was ZERO sparkage.. I didn't even waste my time finishing this novel before I deleted it from my Kindle.
April 28, 2013
was lacking a good storyline
May 10, 2013
There was not much of a story line. So I was bored with most of the book.
April 20, 2020
Copyright 2006. This is from a series of books Avon put out called Avon Red. Supposed to be extra sexy I guess. I found this in my TBR pile. I know since it's there I've read it before. Couldn't remember a thing about it.
This is a dreadful story. I mean really bad. Poorly written, the story drags on from one overblown sex scene to another.
Very strange phrases : "His flesh lubricated in anticipation as each footstep took him closer to her door." Huh? Does this mean he's sweating?
"Her liquid silk poured into his ravishing mouth." That actually sounds kind of gross!
"One grabbed her by the arm and mumbled through a face full of donut and coffee." A cop. She's insulting cops! How does a man have a face full of donuts & coffee while on a case?
"He rubbed his protruding stomach and peered inside as though searching for more jelly donuts." Does anyone else think that's funny?
"Her syrupy release dripped languidly over his ravishing mouth." Disgusting. That ravishing mouth. Yuck!
The H/h are supposedly scientists, though they refer to their wonder sex serum as a "potion" I'm guessing witchcraft is not really involved & they're not making this thing in a cauldron.
This author has apparently gone on to write more books. WHY? I wouldn't read ANYTHING else from her!!
This is a dreadful story. I mean really bad. Poorly written, the story drags on from one overblown sex scene to another.
Very strange phrases : "His flesh lubricated in anticipation as each footstep took him closer to her door." Huh? Does this mean he's sweating?
"Her liquid silk poured into his ravishing mouth." That actually sounds kind of gross!
"One grabbed her by the arm and mumbled through a face full of donut and coffee." A cop. She's insulting cops! How does a man have a face full of donuts & coffee while on a case?
"He rubbed his protruding stomach and peered inside as though searching for more jelly donuts." Does anyone else think that's funny?
"Her syrupy release dripped languidly over his ravishing mouth." Disgusting. That ravishing mouth. Yuck!
The H/h are supposedly scientists, though they refer to their wonder sex serum as a "potion" I'm guessing witchcraft is not really involved & they're not making this thing in a cauldron.
This author has apparently gone on to write more books. WHY? I wouldn't read ANYTHING else from her!!
May 24, 2019
Wordy & Predictable
This book is supposed to be a contemporary romance. It is written like a Victorian romance. I had a difficult time believing either Laura or May were real people, as they acted more like plot devices. It took several chapters to describe one scene. This work was drawn out with so much descriptive text, it actually bored me. An example of dialog, "As he inhaled her tang, his shaft ached to plunder her." Seriously ?! The constant use of the word pleasure was ridiculous. His pleasure, her pleasure, etc and on and on, like the author was afraid to describe anatomy. I just finished a fantastic book called Friction by Sawyer Bennett and she managed to write a believable, contemporary romance that was smoking hot without being vulgar or derogatory. She kept it real and believable. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. The major saving grace of this was narrator Erica Bell. Her beautiful, smooth, creamy voice was incredible. If you are offended by more risqué language, than this book is for you. Join the heaving bosom crowd. Otherwise find something else.
This book is supposed to be a contemporary romance. It is written like a Victorian romance. I had a difficult time believing either Laura or May were real people, as they acted more like plot devices. It took several chapters to describe one scene. This work was drawn out with so much descriptive text, it actually bored me. An example of dialog, "As he inhaled her tang, his shaft ached to plunder her." Seriously ?! The constant use of the word pleasure was ridiculous. His pleasure, her pleasure, etc and on and on, like the author was afraid to describe anatomy. I just finished a fantastic book called Friction by Sawyer Bennett and she managed to write a believable, contemporary romance that was smoking hot without being vulgar or derogatory. She kept it real and believable. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. The major saving grace of this was narrator Erica Bell. Her beautiful, smooth, creamy voice was incredible. If you are offended by more risqué language, than this book is for you. Join the heaving bosom crowd. Otherwise find something else.
April 27, 2018
This was just okay for me, but I think that I just did not get really invested in the characters or the plot. Yeah, I'm aware that that's not really why you read these books but I really like some other redeeming qualities besides hot action. The action was fine - but even it was just not enough to compensate for the rest. Maybe the rest of the series is better but I'm not likely to find out. Too many other books calling my name
October 22, 2018
Short, steamy read, but why, oh why, did the main characters have to be scientist who ignore safety and ethics? Did they never watch the Incredible Hulk? Or Quantum Leap? These things seldom work out well. And nothing like jeopardizing your entire scientific career, never mind the specific project your working on, to add that edge of excitement to your romance.
If you're looking for a short, steamy read, this should fit the bill. But if you like to watch the romance develop between characters, I suggest you look elsewhere.
If you're looking for a short, steamy read, this should fit the bill. But if you like to watch the romance develop between characters, I suggest you look elsewhere.
January 3, 2025
The story behind is simple and unimaginative, but the writing and description of the smut scenes are pretty good. I didn't choose this book for suspense or storytelling but for direct smut that doesn't use any complicated drama in between. This was it. I'll be reading the second book soon.
May 9, 2018
Geekiness at its finest. Enjoyed the character and the little bit of mystery involved. I would recommend.
October 9, 2019
[audiobook review] 3.4 stars. Likeable characters, a bit too much fluff.
December 1, 2020
I absolutely loved this book, it had a good storyline and definitely steamy scenes, Jay and Laura matched perfectly
December 30, 2021
steamy romance mature contents.
February 21, 2024
Eh, a little slow for smut.
October 6, 2015
This is the first book I've read by Cathryn Fox and I have to say... I like her style of writing. Her books are short, but her ability to make you feel like your there is amazing. Every sentence puts you in the shoes of of the main character. I felt my anticipation level increase with every page. I loved the characters and the development of the characters. How can you not fall in love with a curvy, long dark haired woman who feels like a geek and a man worth drooling over whose in love with that geek.
If your like me and you find yourself with a few hours here and their, but not much time for long lengthy books that take forever to read.... pick up this book. You wont regret it.
If your like me and you find yourself with a few hours here and their, but not much time for long lengthy books that take forever to read.... pick up this book. You wont regret it.
February 24, 2015
Pleasure Control was a short and moderately sexy read with little conflict between two scientists. One is love 'em and leave 'em Jay and the other is "nerdy girl" Laura. Their back stories felt shoe horned in, and never really fully explored although the story relationship Jay had with his mother is mentioned often. I also think there was an overuse of euphemisms for intercourse and the names of body parts. The channel is tunnel where a train runs from the UK to France shouldn't be used to describe a woman's vagina. EVER. Also, wet velvet is ewwwww feeling.
March 15, 2014
I didn't think it was terrible. This is what I call a fluff book. Being a small easy read that I use in between my big series so that I can shift my mind from previous characters that I got attached too. This book specifically was extremely unrealistic and very abrupt. In 2 weeks they went from not speaking out side of work to engaged.... Love the fact that the protagonist was a curvy woman not a "carrot stick"!
June 21, 2012
Un poco de todo
Ciencia, amor, sexo, acción... esta novela aunque cortita lo tiene todo. =)
Jay y Laura, los cientÃficos protagonistas saben llevar adelante una relación que va madurando a lo largo que transcurre la historia, aunque la llama siempre ha estado ahÃ.
Con muchas escenas rescatables, entre graciosas, románticas y demás Placer bajo control no deberÃa dejar de leerse.
Ciencia, amor, sexo, acción... esta novela aunque cortita lo tiene todo. =)
Jay y Laura, los cientÃficos protagonistas saben llevar adelante una relación que va madurando a lo largo que transcurre la historia, aunque la llama siempre ha estado ahÃ.
Con muchas escenas rescatables, entre graciosas, románticas y demás Placer bajo control no deberÃa dejar de leerse.
July 28, 2009
I read this book in spanish while I was traveling Spain....it's erotic, but I wouldn't exactly call it erotica. I think I'll read the next one in the series in english since I don't think it has come out yet in spanish...
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