Aphrodisiac
By Allyson Roy
Berkley Sensation, $7.99
ISBN: 978-0425-22323-9

Despite the alluring cover depicting a woman looking over the shirtless back of a man who obviously doesn't believe in belts, Aphrodisiac is all talk and no (graphic) walk when it comes to sex. What it is, though, is a very enjoyable, comical caper with a heroine who is as funny and likable as she is incompetent a detective.

It took six weeks for New York City sex therapist and sex toy representative Saylor Oz to realize that her best friend Gwen Applebee was murdered and not suicidal. It took an attack, a burglary, and a final clue - Gwen wouldn't be caught dead in a fanny pack - backed up by her suicide note that Saylor discovers is a poetic treasure map. The prize; an ancient perfume that could wield power over an entire gender.

Accompanied by her other best friend, Benita Morales, a former boxing champ with a determined weather forecasting ex, Saylor tracks down and interrogates those who may have had a hand in Gwen's death. After she is kidnapped and assaulted by thugs (a scene that is surprisingly brutal) and given seven days to turn over an artifact before they hunt down and kill her family and friends, Saylor puts her practice on hold as she embarks on an investigation armed with a teddy bear cam and a recorder hidden in a Louis Vitton bag.

This contemporary romantic suspense novel is much more of a thriller than a romance, although there is definitely potential for Saylor in the form of boxer Eldridge Mace, an ex-con with a savior complex but who is also not monogamous boyfriend material. Saylor often displays dubious judgment and manages to get herself into more trouble than she gets herself out of, and her merit as a sex therapist are questionable. However, if the reader put logic and realism aside, Aphrodisiac will be a very enjoyable, funny, and escapist read. Written by an actor/stand-up comic and his romantic-suspense writing wife, this is a novel full of a vast array of very unique and hilarious characters and will have readers looking forward to the further adventures of Saylor and her friends.

Review by CINDY CHOW

©2009 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.