Rea’s erotic-fiction series entry finds its middle-aged protagonist battling tougher personal demons.

This provocative sequel to Nights of Alice (2021) resumes the story of sensual, resilient Alice Hightower, who, as she nears 50, finds herself in a multifaceted conundrum. Her standing as CEO of medical device company Excellcardia is suddenly in jeopardy due to an industrial espionage incident. However, that development pales in comparison to the discovery that she’s eight weeks pregnant, after which her love and former assistant Jonathan immediately abandons her, right in the gynecologist’s office. Desperate for fun and bored of dating disappointing men, Alice regularly partakes in the nocturnal fantasies afforded her by a time-traveling portal and vintage costumes in her guest-room closet. Her career problems resolve themselves as co-executive and former lover Bradley James assumes her CEO position, but he finagles another job for her as leader of the business’s osteopathic arm. He also rekindles their torrid affair. This sequel is as unfettered as the debut, and it doesn’t shy away from putting Alice into a wide range of vivid, sexually explicit escapades. Included are dalliances involving a polyamorous genie and Japanese geishas, and colorful locales include a 13th-century battlefront, a Samoan tropical island paradise, and an orbiting space station that offers some titillating zero-gravity lovemaking. One question lingers throughout: Could Alice’s adventures be hallucinations? Only her best friend, Susan, and new cat, Dolly, know for certain. Overall, Rea is an entrancing storyteller who’s in fine form again in this series installment, effectively embellishing Alice’s character with enhanced maturity, responsibility, and more self-awareness than ever. It results in a book that’s entertaining, notably sexy, and eventually uplifting.

Another steamy, sex-positive jaunt involving career challenges and steamy fantasies.

A magic portal transports an overworked entrepreneur to a fantasyland in a loose, erotic spin on a classic tale.

In this steamy, contemporary reimagining of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—the first in a planned series—Alice Hightower was abandoned as a child and now, at 49, insists on controlling every aspect of her life. As the ambitious CEO of Excellcardia, a revolutionary biomedical company about to launch a breakthrough cardiac device, she’s found great career success. However, her cynicism toward love has kept her single, and she regularly discusses her anxieties with her psychiatrist. As with Rea’s rousing second novel, Conjuring Casanova (2016), the author doesn’t waste much time on narrative exposition. Instead, she quickly sends her protagonist through a time-travel portal, located just behind Alice’s balcony door, through which she visits bygone eras and fantastical dimensions. Alice dons outfits that mysteriously appear in her mirrored closet at home, dressing in 1970s bell-bottoms to tour with a British rock band, satin lace to attend a Roman orgy, and a formal ball gown to enjoy a Venetian carnival. Everywhere she goes, her sexual desires are described in meticulously detailed scenes. Leaving behind “the serious, conservative CEO that was Alice in the daylight,” she revels in her new, secret persona. Running alongside these adventures are clinical notes from her psychiatrist, who suggests that Alice may be suffering from inherited, high-functioning bipolar disorder, which has a sobering effect on the novel’s hypersexual fantasy. Still, the vast majority of this work is lavishly embellished with descriptions of historical locales and sexy, insatiable characters, making it an explicit, erotic treat for adults. Whether Alice is tickled by the affections of twins named Don and Dan or washed ashore with swashbuckling pirates, open-minded readers will appreciate and savor Rea’s literary creativity. The author’s fresh, flirtatious take is provocative and lucidly described; eventually, though, reality catches up with and even surpasses Alice’s imagination, forcing her to reevaluate her career and her capacity for love.

A creative and sensual novel that doesn’t disappoint.

A lonely doctor conjures up a famous lover in Rea’s time-traveling romance.

Dr. Elizabeth Hillman has an obsession with the past. She immerses herself in the 12-volume memoir of the legendary Italian lover Giacomo Casanova in an attempt to escape her memories of devastating breakups and a stressful job as an ER doc. In the wake of a tragic death, Lizzy escapes from Chicago to modern-day Venice for some needed time off. Somehow, her tears manage to summon Casanova through the centuries, and he appears on her hotel rooftop in 2016. What follows is an entertaining—and often steamy—update for the infamous lover boy. Casanova seems to take the trappings of modern society in stride. Lizzy helps him update his wardrobe, arranges for a thorough teeth cleaning, and doses him with a course of antibiotics to clear up any lingering STDs. Casanova lives up to his reputation, offering Lizzy comfort and support while seducing any female within sight. Despite her best efforts, she finds herself falling for Casanova’s smooth moves, sharp intellect, and, eventually, amazing talents in the bedroom. Though Casanova might not be able to stay, he teaches Lizzy a thing or two about life and love. Rea offers a small spin on the popular time-travel trope by bringing the past to the very near future. The narrative is full of the practical—and often humorous—problems that arise when one meets an 18th-century libertine; his predilection for young girls, for example, was more acceptable in the 18th century than in the 21st. In addition, Rea sprinkles bits of well-researched history amid the romantic tension, working in specific details from Casanova’s life, such as his appreciation of intelligent women. A trip to Paris provides some of the most satisfying parts of the book. Casanova reminiscences on the Paris of old are entertaining, and the city provides a satisfying romantic conclusion after all of the flirtation. Though falling in love with an infamous playboy may be ill-advised, Rea makes it seem like a wonderful idea.

A light, enjoyable romp through time.