Review Book

7 Red Roses

@MorganaVille/author

Blurb: Caroline, a stripper, selected to give a private dance for a guest and broke her own rule with a kiss given to the stranger. Temptation of the heart while she couldn't help to add a tiny tease and yearn for love. Then Nial, 1 D member, falls for Caroline; however, a secret admirer pursues her affection, but she flees from them. She is haunted by her past, living the present and uncertain of her future.

Status: On-going series

Category: 1 Direction fanfiction, adult r-18 content, romance, drama, mystery, and suspense

Theme: Sexual manipulation is power for women and men.

Hook: I loved the reunion scene in chapter 2!

"I started to wipe it off before I remembered I should check on the other person. I stopped what I was doing and turned to the guy. And stopped breathing. Niall Fu** Horan right in front of me. I closed my eyes for a second, hoping he would magically disappear, but alas. He frowned while he was looking me over. 'Don't I know you?'..............

'I'm so sorry, I was in a hurry, and didn't see you there. I'll pay for dry-cleaning if that stain doesn't come off." I gestured to the huge coffee-stain on his probably expensive shirt. The shirt was short-sleeved, and I took a second to enjoy the sight of muscular arms. Thank god for sunglasses. I looked up and saw he was staring at my mouth. My heart started hammering, remembering last night. He then smirked at me. 'That's alright, love. You own me a coffee, though." he winked at me." - Chapter 2, "7 Red Roses."

Characters:

Caroline: The protagonist of the story. Employed at the Viper strip club, her closest friend is Lewis and her romantic interest is Nial. She is a clever woman, loves to drink and party, sociable, and seductive, but she suffers from depression due to her traumas.

Nial: 1-D member and love interest of Caroline.

Lewis: He is the best friend of Caroline and a bartender.

Anna: Caroline's co-worker stripper and rival at the Viper Strip club, and everyone is scared of her.

The boy band members of 1 Direction are the side characters.

Writer's style: Descriptive, Narrative and a minor in Persuasive

Review: Caroline suffers from personal PSTD, which impacts her romantic relationships, reforms her morality and at her worst low of herself goes back into the loop of victim mentality. Lewis and Nial are her emotional support, at the worst times giving in to her self-destructive ways so she can find an outlet, but she recoils from her bad decisions, sometimes. The push-n-pull is on point with a victim mentality person, and author, MorganaVille, writes Caroline's morality on topic. The struggle of wanting to control this woman is the slow burn between Nial and the secret admirer.

At times, Nial has to cope with Caroline's hot and cold personality stemming from her unloved environment in family life. Thankfully, he was patient with her self-destructive behaviors, compassionated towards her when she shared her PSTD, and loved her as who she is without being a control freak. I liked that. Their relationship is unique as they connect through songs; they are physically flirtatious and love each other "darkness."

The indie writer, MorganaVille, successfully placed each of her side characters to support the main storyline and prompts up the main characters. Splendid. An example is Lewis, the homosexual friend who provides emotional support but most importantly able to illustrate the compassionate side of men, which Caroline rarely experiences. Secondly, her co-worker, Anna, the rival stripper, models the competition between co-workers and reflects the work environment's hostility. Third, Liam from the 1 Direction boy band is the third love interest for Caroline, and he was the opposite coin of Nial on personality, mentality, and emotion. He propels the main plot sometimes and provides leadership when Nial fails.

In my opinion, I believe the main storyline picked at the last 17 chapters of the story. I liked the setting, narrator's tone, and characters in chapters 1 and 2. The next couple of chapters build up the romance between Caroline and Nial also the sexual tension within Liam. Some of the chapters had minor mention of the antagonist, which is the mystery admirer. Caroline's past and the mystery admirer got me turning the pages. I liked the buildup of suspense in the story. I wanted to know who the mystery admirer was, how and what it would do to Caroline. The red roses are delivered from the mystery admirer and the meaning too.

As a reader, I wanted the author to explore some things in the story: the strip club experiences and the rivalry relationship with Anna. Then Lewis and Caroline solving the case of her mystery admirer instead of Nial, and Liam's resolve with his obsessive sexual tension with Caroline. It's one thing if your boyfriend's friend kept giving the lustful eyes and your boyfriend is around, but it's another thing if you're intentionally flirting with the friend in front of you and behind your boyfriend's back. Caroline and Liam, get your priorities straight. Either both of them are committed friends to Nial or not; after all, the lust from the heart is an act of adultery.

Morganville fixated Caroline to be a sexual and seductive woman with the support of her stripper employments empowers Caroline with sexual freedom and power. The manipulation power of sex never gets old. It is one of the oldest forms of employment in human history but, there are times that Caroline expresses the disgust of being a sexual object. However, she is in a sexual pleasure industry, so that's confusing for me and a moral conflict for Caroline. I liked Caroline being a career woman in her profession, sexually expressive, free spirit, lover of songs, and a low-key bookworm.

Conclusion: In the end, I would recommend it for readers over age of 18 due to the sexual scenes. Young adults between age of 18-25 is easier to relate to Caroline, especially if you're supportive of sexual empowerment through industry or self-sexual expressions. There is a sequel, "Anemones at Night," so if you love her work, please continue onward to the next book, which I shall be there leaving behind comments and votes. Also, if you're a massive fan of 1 Direction boyband, then this fanfiction is for you.

Rating: 8/10