To architect Jeanette Moore, power is everything. She gains her greatest power surges following successful business deals, and whenever she has a surge, something happens. Something extraordinary. Following one such event, she winds up in bed with long time friend Malcolm McVee, and over the course of the following months on the odd times she sees him – and winds up in his bed for the afternoon – she gives him too much of her power, of herself. Now she has met someone else, someone she could have a future with, but Malcolm is a loose end that needs to be tied up. How does she regain the power she inadvertently gave him?

Power Play is a rather unusual novella in that it seems to jump from one month to another with little warning or explanation of what happened in between, making it at times slightly confusing and difficult to follow. Jeanette is ordinarily a strong woman who owns her own architectural business, but gives too much of herself to a man in exchange for pleasure. She keenly feels the loss and needs to regain that part of herself. She is a fairly well developed character, and is the focus of the story. The other characters in this tale are very much in the background and the lesser character development of them reflects this. Sex is initially not described in much detail, but description of sexual interludes increases as the novel progresses. There is some slight bondage, but other than that sex acts are hot and sweaty, but nothing outside of the traditional. At times the plot flow is a little jumpy, but mostly the reader always has a handle on what is happening, when, and the emotions of Jeanette at that time. Power Play is a good quick read, though not for everyone.

Reviewed by: Elizabeth