Book Review: Beneath the Blindfold

Title: Beneath The Blindfold
Author: Nikki Sloane
Genre: Romance, Fiction

What It’s About: Please note, that this is a compilation of three different stories under one book, so it will be broken up in sections based on the story.

Table for Two: Julius gets fitted for a new suit at his tailor and then heads out to work, which is his club. He keeps thinking about Courtney’s date–his ex-friend’s ex-wife, with whom he has been in love since college. He wants to tell her to not go on the date, but also don’ts want to hurt their friendship. He is unable to stop thinking about Courtney’s date, and asks Kyle to give him information, but Kyle ignores him, only telling him that the won’t share anything with Julius. So Julius texts Courtney that they need to talk, but she never responds.

Suddenly, his security guy tells him that there is a girl asking specifically for him. It is Courtney, so he goes out to meet with her, skeptical as to why she is there. Courtney tells him that she heard about this place from one of the player’s wives. He gives her a tour of the place and Courtney asks him to show her what it is like to be one of the girls on the table. Julius turns off the camera and plays with Courtney, who is tied up on the chair. They start a bet going that Julius eventually wins, which is that he gets to take her out on a dinner date in that sexy dress of hers.

Courtney then comes to his office and he shows her how it all works. Julius then comes clean about Courtney’s ex-husband, Tariq–that he had been a client of the club. Courtney is upset with him and she runs away, telling him to leave her alone. Julius is heartbroken that his chance with Courtney is over. He doesn’t know what to do and say in order to get her back. Courtney wallows in her apartment some days later, when there is a knock on the door and Julius is there. He reminds her that they agreed to a date and she begrudgingly gets dressed up in the red dress. They head out to dinner, during which Julius tells her that he hadn’t told her about Tariqu but that he had kicked Tariq out of the club because of how he was treating her during the divorce and even before. He reveals that he has been smitten with her since a party at college, but never made a move because she started dating Tariq. They reminisce about the party, and then return to his place, where they end up having sex.

Three of a kind: Dylan works at Dune, the club owned by Joseph, and is preparing things for the night’s opening, when Joseph texts him to come see him. He wonders whether or not it’s the result of him flirting with Noemi, Joseph’s fiancee. Dylan decides that he will tell Joseph that it is the way that he is–he flirts with everyone.

Joseph does asks him the question about why he flirts, and Dylan tells him that he does it for real–not just for tips. Joseph offers him a night he won’t forget–with him and Noemi. Confused but intrigued, Dylan accepts and that evening while the Club is in full swing, he goes up to meet with Joseph and Noemi in Joseph’s office.

Joseph orchestrates the session, choosing to be in control and telling them what to do. He has Noemi reveal that she was the one who wanted this three some. Dylan ends up having sex with Noemi and when Joseph is ready he begins fucking Dylan, and through Dylan, Noemi.

Once they all come and have a moment to come down from the three some, Joseph offers Dylan a potential role at the blindfold club. Dylan tells Joseph that he will think about it and leaves the couple in the room, after their night together.

Say it first: Anna heads up an elevator when she notices a Facebook notification tagging Annalise Shrader, her original name–not the alias she goes by in Hollywood, Anna Douglas. It’s her former classmate who is now organizing their high school reunion. This classmate, Samantha, makes a dig at Anna, saying that she assumes that Anna won’t be coming because once she got famous, Anna forgot that they existed unlike Jaime Campbell. An exchange ensues between Jaime and Samantha, tagging Anna, which has her heart topping. Jaime has always been friendly and she wonders whether he looks the same. Anna realizes that Jaime knew that she was in town over Christmas, which surprises her and then she thumbs out a response to a group, declining her attendance.

Suddenly, Jaime friends her and they begin to chat in the DMs, forming a friendship as Ana goes on to film the Blindfold Club, then travel to promote it. Jaime goes to his Nascar races, where he gets berated by his boss–the team principal. He goes out and watches Anna’s movie–five times, hidden in the theaters. Jaime is the one to suggest that they make some time off and go to Hawaii, which Anna’s assistant organizes.

They end up meeting in an airport and their conversation is free-flowing. They get on the flight, and when they arrive in Hawaii, one of the other passengers recognizes Jaime. They go to a villa with a private beach, and the first night there, they sleep in separate beds. The next day, they spend some time together at the beach, and Jaime decides to make his move and his feeling known, which eventually leads to sex. They become a couple. A few days later, a picture taken of the two of them in the water by a paparazzi surfaces. Jaime gets a call from his boss, the team principal, who tells him that he is ruining his image by dating that girl. The team principal had previously called her a slut in various comments to Jaime because she did that movie. He tells Jaime that he has to curate a family friendly image. Jaime is anxious about losing his job, but makes peace with the fact that he would rather be with Anna than continue working with this Team Principal.

Jaime and the Team Principal get on a call with the Team Owner, who decides (after hearing what the issue is about) that he disagrees about Anna’s acting in a sex movie being a bad thing for the team. He tells the Team Principal that he is fired because there have been way too many complaints about him from all sorts of people in the team, and he is tired of it. At the Team Owner’s request, Jaime drops off the call, in shock that he has retained his job, and tells Anna the news. Then they spend team together as a couple.

My Thoughts: This is not as steamy-except for the one with Joseph and Noemi–as the books, but they are nice stories that continue adding in auxiliary characters to the main books. I find the whole thing with the Nascar racer and the actress to be cute though, and how that turned out for them. Outside of that, these are just quick, easy reads for a flight or a train ride and then you move on. Nothing super special to write home about.