Review: The Siren (Original Sinners #1) – Tiffany Reisz

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 The Siren Review

The Siren is both quite horrifying, strangely beautiful, enticing, beautiful, scary, hot and delicious all the while making me feel slightly guilty for enjoying it so much! The prose is nothing short of amazing, and I think that is what made me love it so much, because even during a scene that disturbed me a little, the writing was so beautiful I still loved it. And Nora, she is definitely a heroine in every sense of the word!

One thing I really loved in The Siren is that Nora is an author, and Zach her editor. And I have to say I enjoyed the e-mails going back and forth between them, with Zach telling her to cut, cut, cut, and Nora wanting to keep at least some of the sex scenes. And the ‘show-not-tell’ the flow of the writing, it was like a love story with words, and then there was other loves stories as well. And the way Nora had absolutely no fear of going after what she wanted, grabbing onto life with both hands, that made me fall in love with her a little.

Of course, The Siren is a BDSM erotica, however, I never felt really awkward, maybe because Zach was doing that for me. Not familiar with that lifestyle, Zach was properly shocked, and so I was in a sense relieved of my own shock. And as the story unfolded, things actually got more complicated, because Nora really has a heart of gold, and Zach needed her help. He was able to also help her back for a while, and I enjoyed their funny word-sparring, the way they grew to respect each other even with all their differences, and how they both worked very hard to make Nora’s book be the best it could be.

All readers who have heard about The Siren, and The Original Sinners series know the name Søren. And let me tell you, he really, truly scared me! Good thing both Nora and Zach were there to protect me from him. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more manipulative character than Søren, because even though he and Nora weren’t a couple anymore, he somehow managed to be involved in every aspect of her life anyway. And he whispered little ‘truths’ to her, and she almost blindly followed what he told her.

The characters in The Siren are all fleshed out, the four main characters more so than the others, but even Zach’s assistant, and the mean co-worker weren’t one-dimensional, and it was great to get to know them, even those who scared me. And I have to say that the story is quite addictive, which is why my review won’t continue to sing praises to Ms. Reisz, because I need to start reading The Angel…

Some of my favorite quotes

Zach could be merciless to an author about his or her book’s shortcomings. The great writers took the criticism. The hacks couldn’t handle it. If he was hard enough on her, she’d beg for another editor.

Zach looked around the room. Everywhere he looked, he saw eyes glancing furtively in their direction. The most intensive gazing came from Thomas Finley, his leaset favorite coworker. Zach noted that Finley didn’t so much stare at him as he did at Nora. And the look in his eyes wasn’t particularly friendly.

Nora left her chair and went to the kitchen cabinet by the refrigerator. “I’m no optimist,” she said as she opened the cabinet door. “I’m just a realist who smiles too much. And the reason William and Caroline don’t stay together is that while he really is in the lifestyle, she’s not. She’s only in the relationship for him.”

After all, Søren had put her through ten kinds of hell when she was Wesley’s age. And now she was grateful for the discipline he’d taught her, the fortitude he’d instilled in her. Now a guy like Zach could look her in the eyes and tell her she wasn’t worth his time and energy, and she could look back and smile and ask him if that was the best he could do. Søren had made her strong and for that she’d be forever grateful.

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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