Barbara Elsborg - Something About Polly

The blurb of the book got my attention, And surprise, surprise its contents are worth a mention. Let's just say this ain't your momma's Price is Right, For the next item up for bids is more naughty than nice!

An offer she should refuse When Polly reluctantly attends a charity auction she doesn't expect to win, she bids on a sealed offer made by a devilishly handsome marquis. From the look on the auctioneer's face as he reads out "three wishes", Polly's sure he's lying. The marquis snatches the envelope before she can read it and invites her to take a risk on the contents or accept three wishes. He's as shocked as her when she accepts his offer of WILD SEX. An offer she won't refuse. If trouble had a name, it would be Adrian, Marquis of Shoreham. Tall, dark and magnetic, and everything Polly wants except he's lusting after her best friend. Adrian's one of the pampered elite Polly despises who uses his privileged position to gain every advantage. Polly knows she should walk away and go about her boring, abstinent life. Instead, she finds herself walking towards Adrian on London Bridge, with nothing but wild sex on her mind. An encounter that will lead to -- The offer she never expected.

The book starts with Polly Smith who is being talked into attending a charity auction by her friend Tara. The auction is comprised of two parts:

"The first involved bidding for “donations” given by businessmen and friends of the Duke and Duchess of Bedlingham, which were listed in a catalogue. The second half of the evening would be the auction of more lighthearted, hopefully cheaper items in the form of numbered envelopes donated by those attending."

Tara is mainly going because she wants to hook up with this guy named Jonno by winning whatever items he has put up for bid. At the auction we meet Adrian, the Marquis of Shoreham, who is attending the auction because his brother Jake and Jake's fiancé, Daisy, are the hosts. When Daisy approaches and nags him about getting his auction item in, Adrian hurriedly scribbles something on his sheet of paper and hands her the envelope so she can get off his back. By now, Adrian has seen the beautiful Tara and after getting a glimpse of what he thinks is her envelope number, he decides to win her auction thus getting one step closer to having her in his bed. When he misses bidding on Tara's auction item due to his mistaken glimpse, he decides to bid on Polly's envelope thinking that helping Tara's 'boring sidekick' would give him a second chance with Tara. By the end of the night Adrian has won Polly's envelope and Polly takes a shot and ends up winning his. Jake, the auctioneer, opens the envelope to read what his brother donated but upon seeing Adrian's x-rated offer, Jake covers up and announces to the crowd that Polly has won 3 wishes from the Marquis. Polly sees the look on Jake's face when he opens the envelope and knows that the offer of 3 wishes is not what was written. Later, she reaches for the envelope to read its true contents just as Adrian grabs her hand to stop her. When the true offer is revealed as "Wild Sex", Polly and Adrian have an "I dare you" type exchange and thus, the fun begins. This book is hot, sexy and funny. Yes that's right, I said…er…typed……funny. I've read a few erotica books over the years and I don't remember any having a natural sense of humor to the dialogue like this one does. There are several instances where Polly will crack a joke and I never felt like it was silly or trying too hard. It just flowed in the conversation and felt right for that moment. In one instance after a hot round of sexy lovin' Adrian notices Polly's collection of frog figurines:

“We appear to have an audience,” he said. “What?” Polly tried to move but he tightened his hold. “Frogs.” He leaned up to look at her collection—three shelves of plush toys, windup models and porcelain beauties. Some were tinier than her little finger, the largest as big as her arm. “You can have a prize from the middle shelf,” she said. Adrian laughed so hard his cock slid out of her. “Only the middle shelf?” “Well, I have to give you something to aim for.”

That line about the middle shelf is clever, funny and flows perfectly in that scene. There are some things that were off for me like how Polly and Tara are BFFs but Polly has no hesitation in admitting (more than once) that her friend is dumb. It just seemed mean and unnecessary to me. Also, early on in the book Polly admits to her expertise as a wallflower yet later on takes Adrian to a pretty spicy dress-up party. How is Ms Wallflower so open and free about dressing up and attending such a party? Then we have Adrian's super fast transfer of lusty thoughts from Tara to Polly after all his boohooing about how boring she is when he first meets her. Polly also jumps to the wrong conclusion one too many times but in the end, none of these things were major enough to stop me from enjoying the book. The subplot of Polly's true identity wasn't a big mystery but the main storyline of Adrian and Polly's adventure was a good and fun ride. This book also has something that I've never read anywhere else: the heroine using a technique to prolong the hero's climax during oral sex. I have to say it was nice to read about the hero hanging on the edge for a change. Admittedly, I do not read as much erotica as I do historical or contemporary romances, paranormal or urban fantasy books so while it may not be a breakthrough in literature it is a first for me :). That particular scene in the book shall forever be known as the "Stop 'n Go BJ". Go forth and find out the details for yourself :). Final Grade:

Is everything I hoped it would be and not a pinch more. Better than average, it hit the spot like a tall drink on a hot summer's day. While it didn't quite dazzle me with unique or transcendent content, in no way is it a stale retelling.

Buy it Now: Something About Polly Around the Net: Dark Angel reviews : 5 out of 5