The Lemon Grove

One hot summer. One week in a villa on the outskirts of Deia, a village nestling in the rugged, mountainous west coast of the island of Mallorca. One family for whom the carefully laid jigsaw of life is about to be broken.

Jenn and her husband Greg holiday each year in Deia, enjoying languorous afternoons by the pool. But this year the equilibrium is upset by the arrival of Emma, Jenn's stepdaughter, and her boyfriend Nathan. Beautiful and reckless, Nathan stirs something unexpected in Jenn. As she is increasingly seduced by the notion of Nathan's youth and the promise of passion, the line between desire and obsession begins to blur. What follows is a highly-charged liaison that put lives and relationships in jeopardy, and a taut narrative which percolates with enough sexual tension to make it impossible to put down.

My opinion: I was attracted to this book by the cover and have read loads of good reviews of it. I thought it sounded like a perfect book to read on holiday with an exotic location and a sexy storyline.

Jenn and Greg have rented the same villa they do every year in Mallorca for when their annual opportunity to relax and unwind in a beautiful location. This time their 15 year old daughter Emma has asked to bring along her 17 year old boyfriend Nathan, and her parents agree. From the moment Nathan arrives at the villa, Jenn is attracted to him, and he soon makes it clear that the attraction is mutual.

This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be. I was expecting something that was a bit more of a chick lit style novel, but the style was more like contemporary fiction. This made the book feel a lot more formal, and less fun, which of course, suited the storyline perfectly. I liked the way it was written, although it took a few pages for me to get used to it. Unfortunately though, I wasn't overly keen on the rest of the book.

The book contains a number of graphic sex scenes, which due to the way the book was written, weren't what I was used to in a book, but didn't offend me or shock me in any way. The thing which I really wasn't sure about in the book was the relationship between Jenn and Nathan. It just didn't seem right and made me feel quite uncomfortable. I also didn't feel that Nathan seemed to be 17 as his experiences - both life and sexual - didn't seem to ring true for a boy his age.

All in all, I'm glad I read this book and was able to satisfy my curiosity about it, but I won't read it again, or recommend it to my friends.

My rating: Three stars

I was sent a review copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This week I am taking part in the #SexMeUp readathon - join in the conversation on twitter using the hashtag