The Pleasure Quartet

It took years for Giselle to complete the journey from Orleans to New Orleans. Her mother had given birth to her a week or so earlier than her parents had expected, while the family were staying at their country villa in Orleans, in the French provinces by the curve of the Loire river. Throughout her childhood she would hear people, relatives and friends, speaking of New Orleans in America and she always imagined it as a newer, cleaner version of the sleepy regional city where she was born. It was only in her teens that it became evident to her that New Orleans was somewhat different, a city of darkness, secrets and legends. A city of promise...

I always knew I was different from other women… An eminent psychiatrist has established there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When Dominik died, I experienced none of these. I initially found myself reeling in shock, and then all I could do was miss him, miss him and miss him over and again. Missed his presence, his words, the familiar hard warmth of his body in the bed next to me when I awoke on cold winter mornings and, shamelessly, evoked all the many ways he would make love to me, the rawness of his domination and how I opened myself to him and hisdesires like no other man before him…

This erotically charged follow-up to the Eighty Days series deliciously reveals all the ways “desire comes in more shades than grey” (Belle De Jour). Follow the complete erotic odyssey of sexual discovery, abandon, and healing in this boldly sensual and seductive foursome from the author of the Eighty Days series. Autumn: Shaken by the sudden death of her lover, Dominik, renowned violinist Summer Zahova abandons herself to a series of intense sexual encounters—until the organizers of a mysterious ball open up an unexplored opportunity for her to express her pain and her passion, and to achieve new heights of ecstasy . . . “Jackson has set the bar high with this stunning opening of ‘The Pleasure Quartet.’ Darkly erotic . . . Jackson’s arresting prose infuses this sensuous tale.” —Library Journal Winter: Following the end of her dancing career and first love, broken-hearted Giselle Denoux returns to Paris, where she becomes muse and master to a magnetic artist. But when an accident forces them apart, Giselle finds healing by performing for an event of sexual excess and delirium, known as the Ball . . . “Beautiful, arousing writing.” —Publishers Weekly “Recommended for fans of Jackson’s previous works and for readers seeking powerful, introspective erotica anchored by a tinge of tragedy.” —Library Journal Spring: Lonely and lost, Moana Irving feels disconnected from her best friend, Iris, and remembers a night of unharnessed sexual release and exploration at the Ball. So when she has the chance to share the grandest gala of all with Iris, the temptation will prove irresistible . . . “Fans of steamy sex scenes laced with magic realism will thoroughly enjoy this ‘Pleasure Quartet’ addition.” —Library Journal Summer: In Rio for the latest Ball—an erotic fete of the senses—Summer still craves an experience that seems just out of reach. A back alley in the Brazilian city of Recife seems an unlikely place to find what she’s looking for, but in Noah Ballard’s passionate embrace, she may finally give herself over to an ecstatic symphony of exquisite pleasure and liberating surrender . . .

Pleasure is everything. It's what makes life worth living, even when it is just a fleeting thing, a brief moment… Nothing else matters. Moana and Iris are best friends; they share everything together, so when an invitation to the ball arrives, it is only natural that they attend together. Little do they know that the ball will open their eyes to a whole new world of pleasure, from which there is no coming back… When the girls eventually escape island life for England, they are blissfully unaware of the obstacles that will soon stand in the way of their relationship. As Moana faces competition for Iris' affections in the form of Thomas, she finds herself torn between trying to hold on to the woman she loves and a life of pleasure and discovery.

For fans of the Calendar Girl series Summer has followed the ball to Rio, but her time with them is drawing to a close. Relishing in the anonymity of the exotic city, Summer flits between men, determined not to lose herself to her darker nature. But she can't escape the draw of music, nor can she continue to outrun her past... In London, music executive Noah comes across an album Viggo recorded with renowned violinist Summer Zahova. Entranced, he sets out on a mission to find her, but is he looking for the musician or the woman? Even without having seen her in action, Noah becomes obsessed with the emotional undertones and sexuality present in Summer's performances. But Noah will only find Summer if she wants to be found... The spectacular climax to The Pleasure Quartet series by Sunday Times bestselling author Vina Jackson.

Against the seductive backdrop of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh sweeps us into the sensual, enthralling world of four teachers at an elite academy for young ladies. As headmistress of Miss Martin’s School for Girls in Bath, Claudia Martin long ago resigned herself to a life without love. Until Joseph, Marquess of Attingsborough, arrives unannounced and tempts her to toss away a lifetime of propriety for an affair that can only lead to ruin, embarking on a plan of seduction that leaves them both yearning for more. But Claudia knows she has no place in Joseph’s aristocratic world. And now that world is about to be rocked by scanda.…An arranged marriage, a secret that will shock the ton, and a man from Claudia’s past conspire to drive the lovers apart. But Joseph is determined to make Claudia his at any cost—even if that means breaking every rule for a love that is everything he has ever wanted.…

With an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. One did not drink sherry before the evening, just as one did not read a novel in the morning. In 1970s London, Edwin, Norman, Letty and Marcia work in the same office and suffer the same problem – loneliness. Lovingly and with delightful humour, Barbara Pym conducts us through their day-to-day existence: their preoccupations, their irritations, their judgements, and – perhaps most keenly felt – their worries about having somehow missed out on life as post-war Britain shifted around them. Deliciously, blackly funny and full of obstinate optimism, Quartet in Autumn shows Barbara Pym's sensitive artistry at its most sparkling. Its world is both extraordinary and familiar, revealing the eccentricities of everyday life.

A boiling cauldron of emotions was churning inside of me. I had not felt this way or worn anything like this for a long time. Not since Dominik. Shaken by the sudden death of her lover, Dominik, renowned violinist Summer Zahova finds her sadness quickly giving way to anger at being left alone. Distancing herself from friends and family, she embarks on a grueling world tour, alleviating her grief through frenzied nights with strangers. Summer’s heartache finally starts to heal when she meets Antony, a mysterious theater director who casts her in his new play and quickly becomes her lover. But when Antony’s production begins to lose investors because of its explicitly sexual tone, Summer contacts Aurelia and Andrei, the organizers of a mysterious ball, in the hopes of finding a different kind of stage on which to perform. They present her with the opportunity of a lifetime—one that takes her to the heights of ecstasy, where pain and passion meld into a breathtakingly powerful overture . . . Autumn is the 1st book in the Pleasure Quartet, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.