The Siren

by Tiffany Reisz

Published by: Mira

My Rating: 

Notorious Nora Sutherlin is famous for her delicious works of erotica, each one more popular with readers than the last. But her latest manuscript is different—more serious, more personal—and she’s sure it’ll be her breakout book…if it ever sees the light of day.

Zachary Easton holds Nora’s fate in his well-manicured hands. The demanding British editor agrees to handle the book on one condition: he wants complete control. Nora must rewrite the entire novel to his exacting standards—in six weeks—or it’s no deal.

Nora’s grueling writing sessions with Zach are draining…and shockingly arousing. And a dangerous former lover has her wondering which is more torturous—staying away from him…or returning to his bed?

Nora thought she knew everything about being pushed to your limits. But in a world where passion is pain, nothing is ever that simple.

My Review:

Before I picked up The Siren, I had heard so many good things about the book.  Reviewers have been raving over it, and my curiosity was piqued.  As a book lover, I just couldn’t resist and dove right in.  Despite all the reviews I read, The Siren took me by surprise.  The writing is excellent, the characters complex, and I fully engrossed in the story from the first page, but I was also left a little disturbed.

There are quite a few different aspects and characters to the story, with Nora being the commonality.  Nora is hard at work writing her latest erotic novel, trying to get a major publisher to sign her.  Zach is her demanding editor dealing with personal issues and hurts.  Soren is Nora’s ex and he proved to be more complicated and disturbing than I ever imaginged.  Wesley is Nora’s friend, assistant, and possible love interest.  However, Wesley does not fit into Nora’s dark world.  There are more characters, each with their own intriguing quirks and roles to play.  The Siren is much more than an erotic book, it is a complicated, provoking, thoroughly developed and extremely well-written novel that pulled me in and left me thinking over everything that happened.

I have to be clear here, The Siren is not a romance read and is not for every reader.  Yes, the book is erotically charged, but there is not a happy ever after or the sweet, romantic feeling.  The Siren is heavy on the BDSM and the relationships are very complicated.  I did not like Soren, his character got to me.  He has a whole underground BDSM lifestyle that conflicts with his everyday life and I just can’t wrap my head around love that hurts as badly as his love hurt Nora.  Their relationship was disturbing on quite a few levels, and throughout the book things take place that are taboo and difficult to understand.  I don’t want to give everything away to you readers, some things need to unfold the way the author lays them out.

Even though I found some of the relationships and events disturbing, I still really liked this book, it captivated and intrigued me.  I would categorize this book as erotic fiction, literary fiction with a dark, sexual edge.  The depth to the characters and complexity of the story is amazing.  If you are a reader who likes dark, gritty, provoking reads, you really need to give The Siren a try.  I am hooked on this Original Sinners series.  I already bought book 2, The Angel and I am eager to find out what Tiffany Reisz does next with the story and these characters.

You can find The Siren at: