Katie in Love by Chloe Thurlow-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

Katie in Love
by Chloe Thurlow
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic romance
Release Date: March 21, 2015

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca /Amazon.uk/ The Book Depository/ B&N

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 21, 2015

Katie Boyd has nothing in common with Tom Bridge, the volunteer doctor she meets at a party – except in bed she finds a passion to match her own. Tom is intense, puzzling, a man who cares about others and compels Katie to question her own life drifting through the hip clubs and London party scene.

When Tom returns to his post in a Sri Lanka orphanage, Katie isn’t sure if their passion was lit by its brevity, or if love, unexpected and not entirely wanted, has edged its way into her life. Should she go back to being who she always was? Or follow Tom into the unknown?

Katie in Love is a compelling erotic-romance that will grip readers as they follow Katie’s journey to an ending they may have expected – but not in the way they expected it.

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REVIEW: KATIE IN LOVE is a contemporary, adult storyline, written by Chloe Thurlow, focusing on erotic fiction author Katie Boyd and doctor Tom Bridge-a passionate and remarkable man who would turn Katie’s world upside down.

Told from first person point of view (Katie) the storyline journeys between the past and the present; memories and recollections; and flights into the fantastic. KATIE IN LOVE follows our heroine as she struggles in the here and now. We hear her thoughts and her worries as she searches for something or someone; an acknowledgement of who she is and what she has become. And in the end, it is Katie who must recognize and accede to the demands of her heart and her mind. Meeting Dr. Tom Bridge sets Katie onto a different path of self-actualization where comfort and hope are found in the arms of the man with whom she will fall in love. As Tom prepares to return to Sri Lanka where he works at an orphanage for lost and displaced children, Katie must look deep within her heart to make the choice that is right for her.

KATIE IN LOVE is awash in descriptive narration, colorful text and thought provoking ideas and concepts. The reader becomes one with the heroine; we are in her mind as she reflects on, and reminisces about past decisions, choices and opportunities that have shaped the woman, the writer and the person she has become. Discretion and opportunity do not always go hand in hand but have formed the building blocks of Katie’s lifestyle and personality. Katie’s ‘Bohemian’ friends and family wax philosophically about life, love, passion and war, but in the end, it is Katie’s acceptance of who she is, that sets into motion a journey of love.

The intensity with which Chloe Thurlow writes resonates with the reader as the heroine’s thoughts read like a poem. There are many references to authors, poets, novels and the psychology of the written word wherein our heroine makes comparisons to her own life; and yet I can’t help but wonder if some of the comparisons can be found with the author’s experiences as well.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

Love, Porn, Erotica & What It Means To Be Human
Guest Post by Chloe Thurlow

Love enters us like a vague ailment. Your head spins. Your underarms tingle. Love hurts and love has consequences: marriage, babies, separation, longing, human complications.

Porn is dull. Repetitive. Porn is simulated sex removed from the human condition. Porn is addictive because, ultimately, it is unsatisfying. Like good art, good sex never repeats itself. Girls dream of romance, love, tenderness. Sex is like a clear pane of glass. Pornography is that pane of glass shattered into a million pieces.

Erotica is a journey to self-knowledge and sexual pleasure. A rubber doll with a microchip can imitate human flesh without human feeling. Porn leaves an emptiness inside. Erotica sets up a vibration in the mind that sends pulsing waves through the body. Porn is about orgasm. Erotica is about suspending orgasm.

In photography, images of girls with pert butts and melon breasts, the type that figure on calendars in auto-shops, are pornographic, poses that make the guys go oorah like Marines before battle.

An erotic photograph is like a still from an unfolding story that makes you wonder what has already happened and what is about to happen next. Porn shots expose genitalia, male and female. Erotica prefers costume, veils, shadows, masks. Nudity is selective, subtle, understated.

Porn is pulp, endless descriptions of naked entanglements peppered with obscenities and short on story. A lot of porn is composed from the male point of view: alpha cowboys and truckers trapping the bunny and bludgeoning the whimpering creature with its throbbing weapon.

Porn TELLS. Erotica SHOWS.

Erotic fiction is literate, a search for meaning and self; a psychological exploration into the hidden parts of our nature.

An experiment at Cambridge University showed that when numerous metronomes were placed on a stage and set off at different times, they quickly began to beat together. They are not individuals, but herd creatures connected by the rhythms and thoughts of those around them.

We all have a dark side, mysterious places hidden even from ourselves. Once you allow the erotic to sweep away the conditioning, you stop ticking along with all the other metronomes.

In Katie in Love, my new novel, Katie takes Tom to her bed the night they meet. They discover a connection, a frisson. The last thing Katie is looking for is love and, when she feels this curious affliction coming on, Tom has to leave to return to his job overseas. Should she follow him? Or go back to her old life? I won’t give away more, except to say that romance can be erotic and love is the antithesis of porn.

Katie in Love is available at (amazon universal link):

http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00S1SMMIG

After uni, I started working in PR and got bored to tears. It was more fun being a waitress and writing in the dark silent hours from 2am to 6. I managed to complete a novel I called “Being A Girl” and fell over in the street after Nexus published it and the editor gave me a bottle of champagne I drank too quickly. Now, here we are, penning away night and day, five novels and three naughty-shorties on the shelf with a study of EL James called “The Fifty Shades of Grey Phenomena” just out.

My blog is about love, life, sex and me. Blogs are short, dynamic, controversial essays designed to make you angry, happy and eager to leave your views in the comments box. When I’m not writing blogs, I write erotic romance novels. Click on BOOKS and take a peep.

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Chloe is graciously offering a paper copy of KATIE IN LOVE to THREE (3) lucky commenters at The Reading Cafe-and the giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!

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9. Giveaway runs from March 21-25, 2015