Friends and divorcees Cheryl and Laura decide to pool their divorce settlements and make a new start by buying a hotel, but when they see St. Jude's, a former school of Gothic splendour, they admit to each other that they've always wanted to run a brothel. The two women take charge of refurbishing the school into their dream hotel, and Cheryl finds herself attracted to a builder, Felan, who's very dominant.

Meanwhile Laura finds ex-hooker Bronwen and her lover Luke to help with the bordello aspect of the business, and soon Laura is having fun experimenting with her sexuality. Then Laura falls for the hotel manager, and meanwhile Cheryl's hippy mother and her handsome Indian lover are trying to get in on the action, along with sleazy local lothario John who needs to be taught a lesson!

Frankly I thought All the Trimmings was very confusing, with far too many characters trying to muscle in and tell their stories. I read the book over three nights and to be honest I couldn't remember who half the characters were by the third night-there were simply too many to focus on. Also, the cover blurb is completely misleading, suggesting that John plays a major role and that Cheryl falls for him, which is completely untrue-Cheryl loathes John and encourages his timid wife Emily to take her revenge. Emily was the only character I actually liked. The rest were either selfish or unpleasant or both, and because I didn't like any of the personalities, the sex scenes were subsequently quite boring. Fans of Tesni Morgan may enjoy this book, but it didn't do anything for me.

Reviewed by: Maija