After some less than successful erotic romance, I picked up Pillow Talk. Originally published as part of the Four Play anthology, it has now been released separately by Penguin as an eSpecial. While Ms. Banks' books don't always work super well for me, I find her a reliable read, particularly in the erotic department and this was no exception. Zoe and Chase are a couple and share a house with Brody and Tate. The 3 men work together as firefighters and Zoe is an ER nurse. During some sexy post (and mid) coital discussions, Chase and Zoe discover each other's fantasies. Zoe gives Chase the birthday present of a lifetime and afterwards, Chase reciprocates with some group sex involving his most trusted friends. As an erotic story it works very well. It's pretty darn sexy and there is definite connection between all the characters (although, sadly no m/m action). As a romance, it was a little less successful for me. The story ends with the foursome deciding to pursue a permanent menage but the main interest in that for me is the mechanics of it beyond the sex - how do they manage the jealousy (if there is any)? how do they each get time with Zoe? How does Zoe not feel overwhelmed and exhausted? How do each of the guys feel, in the longer term, about having to share Zoe three ways? How does Brody and Tate feel in that Chase has had the longer relationship? Is there a "primacy" to Chase and Zoe's relationship? If not, how does Chase feel about that? There wasn't time in a novella for those issues to be developed, but I'd love to read a book like that which dealt with those issues. As an erotic palate cleanser, it delivered the reliable sexy read I was after.www.kaetrinsmusings.blogspot.com ( )