ST. BART'S
by Emme Cross
Released: March 13, 2014
Published by The Writer's Coffee Shop
St. Barts.
Sunny O’Hara hopes to call the tiny slice of France her new home. Her parents met and fell in love on the Caribbean island, but she and her dad left after her mother’s death. Sunny is back on St. Barts hoping to build rental villas on some family land and finally have a social life after nursing her father until his death. Sunny hasn’t dated and sometimes feels as though she’s wearing a scarlet “V” on her chest.
Enter Sven Larsen, a Hollywood bad boy, a movie star in the making. He’s on St. Barts for what could be a career-changing role. He’s also antsy. His steady diet of booze and eager bed partners has left him feeling empty. He wants something more, something real. He’s intrigued by the strange woman he meets cooking after hours at a local restaurant. When she turns up on set as a translator, he gives in to temptation and asks her out.
Sunny turns the table at dinner and propositions her date. Will he be her sexual mentor? Sven is shocked, intrigued, and ultimately enthusiastic. The lessons proceed in scorching secrecy, but word leaks out, and soon the tabloids are hunting for Sven’s latest lover.
Not everyone is pleased about the liaison. Sunny’s friend, Mimi, worries that she’s in over her head. Sven’s friend, Clyde, worries the actor is getting too attached. As lust flares into love, someone decides to take drastic action and the romance between the virgin and the movie star takes a tragic turn.
St. Barts is a novel about the allure of celebrity and fame, about the enduring need for roots, and ultimately, about love. It’s also a love letter to a beautiful island.
ST. BART'S
by Emme Cross
ARC Review
Release: March 13th, 2014, Writer's Coffee Shop
My rating : 3 of 5 ⭐️
Returning to St. Bart's is bitter-sweet for Sunny O'Hara. Losing her father recently after spending most of her life traveling the world with him, she is now officially without roots and is hoping to find some in the place she was born. Her long term plans are to convert family property left to her into a few rental villas, to provide her with income. In the meantime she wants to catch up on all the things she has missed out on for years, namely a social life.
On the island to film his latest movie, actor Sven Larsen is starting to get fed up with his partying and filandering lifestyle. When he meets a girl alone in the kitchen of a restaurant, who seems to be quite innocent and unassuming, but takes care of him and feeds him despite of his inebriation, he is intrigued by her open and direct nature, but scared of her innocence. When she turns out to be working on the movie as a translator for the director, he approaches her again.
Methodical as she is, Sunny has a list made for every experience she feels she is lacking and decides it is time she gain some sexual experience. Of course she will need someone trustworthy to guide her and decides Sven might fit that bill. Initially not willing to 'soil' an innocent, Sven tries to stay away, but when he sees the sharks circling around Sunny, he steps in and ends up being an enthusiastic tutor.
Of course, constantly being in the public eye, it doesn't take long for someone with nefarious intent to leak some damning information to the tabloids. Just as the enthusiasm of the tutoring sessions has started warming up with the heat and passion of feelings. Too many people would be put out by a love connection between Sven and Sunny, and more than one is working hard to put a stop to their relationship. Even if they have to resort to violence.
****
Beautiful scenic setting!! Absolutely makes you want to visit.
I loved the character of Sunny, whose name was very appropriately chosen by her father. A tad naive, although not stupid and certainly well-educated. Young but not immature by a long shot. And inexperienced, but eager to learn and open to new things. She also doesn't seem to judge and has a good instinct about people, never having lived in a world of smoke and mirrors like Sven.
Sven is the more complex of the two with the greater development arc. He starts off as another typical Hollywood playboy weakling, who, in his thirties, finally is starting to figure out that this wild and messy lifestyle is not one he can perpetuate his entire life. Nor does he really want to. But the life of a star is a spoiled one and even though he doesn't consider himself as such, he realizes he has come to take too much for granted. Sunny opens his eyes to the simple pleasures, without the glitz and the glamour.
The story was an interesting one, and well written. But I am not a fan of overly descriptive novels, and this would certainly count as one. And tend to appreciate 'common' language in books, and this novel was written in a style a bit too refined to feel entirely natural to me.
Perhaps this is why it may have felt slow to me. I found myself almost skimming over the last chapters in my determination to finish it, because I did want to know the outcome of the story, but had no more patience for anything but the pertinent information.
I don't think this is a true erotic novel, it is too mild for that by far. It is however a very interesting novel with a few subplots one of which is sexual exploration, described very sweetly.
St. BART'S is an interesting book with compelling characters and a good storyline, set in a little piece of paradise.
✨An enticing and touching story of coming home.✨
**Copy provided in return for an honest review.**
Sven knew he was a good actor, but he also knew his European background meant he wasn’t always considered first for the best scripts by the best directors. It was an uphill climb to establish himself in the Hollywood pecking order. This was the market that mattered. Being number one in Norway meant nothing. Being number one in America meant everything.
This new movie could change that. Paradise Lost was the story of two estranged brothers who were reunited after the death of his character’s child. Sven’s role was a real departure from the sexy roles he’d played in the past. He knew and trusted the director. He was also excited to be acting opposite Jerry Cain. Despite his checkered past, his costar had been in a number of wonderful movies over the past few decades. Sven hoped their collaboration would help him rise to the top in the minds of casting agents and directors.
Blond, blue-eyed, and gorgeous, Sven was also intelligent enough to realize his appearance would only get him so far. Well over six feet tall, he had the best genetic material with which to work—his mother’s Swedish background for looks and his father’s Norwegian practicality to prevent him from getting too stuck on himself. This combination of traits also helped him consider what he would do when his looks faded, and they would fade. His solution was to mix sex symbol parts with ones that displayed his acting ability.
Introducing Emme Cross
Emme Cross is a veteran journalist who has worked at the biggest media outlets in Canada and has met everyone from politicians to rock stars. She writes for and reads the news on the most popular radio station in the entire country and researches and writes for the largest radio news station as well. She is an avid reader, gardener, world traveler and foodie. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and their English Bull Terrier.
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