Novella Serial Review: Pulse by Deborah Bladon

Serial Saturdays: On the occasional Saturday, I review a serialized series (a series that is released in parts that would normally make up a whole novel) to see if the series is worth keeping up with or worth buying all its parts. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Pulse (from Goodreads):

Jessica Roth dumped her boyfriend, moved to New York and wanted desperately to start her new life off with a bang – a literal mind-blowing, soul-shaking night of pure, raw, memory making sex.

She thought her one time chance encounter with attorney, Nathan Moore, in a hotel room would become a jumping point for her exciting, single and adventurous life in the city.

One night turned into two, into four, and into more – always at the same place, always at the same time – no last names, no personal details, and absolutely no complications.

What Jessica doesn’t count on is that in Nathan’s world boundaries are made to be pushed.

He wanted her in ways he promised he never would. She wanted him in ways she couldn’t admit.

When their lives ultimately collide outside the walls of the hotel room, Jessica is forced to face the truth about the only man who has ever made her pulse race and her body ache with unadulterated pleasure.

Series: Pulse

Part of a larger universe. Full reading order found here.

Author: Deborah Bladon
# of Parts: 4

There is a companion novella (#4.5) called Impulse

Complete?: Yes
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Erotica, Romance, Drama
Heat Rating: Hot
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Date: May – September 2014
Source & Format: Own–eBook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I tend to enjoy stories where the leads expectantly fall in love. I just love watching those feelings develop and seeing the sexual tension burning between them. And I’m always on the lookout for solid romance serials so this seemed like a no brainer for me.

The Plot:

What I really enjoyed about this serial is that it kept me guessing in terms of the dramatics. While I knew that there were going to be twists, I rarely guessed them right which is such a treat for me as a reader.

I also liked that it had a good balance between the sexy times, the character development and the plot. These are slightly longer novellas (~80 pages in each) so you do get that extra time to develop everything as opposed to the ~20 page novellas out there. And while there are plenty of sex scenes, I didn’t feel like I was only reading those.

The Characters:

I had a bit of an up and down with these two.

First, Jessica was a good heroine though near the end she started to run a little hot and cold. It was hard to keep track of her actions and thoughts because she seemed to be all over the place. Which made sense given some of the plot developments but sometimes it just seemed unnecessary.

As for Nathan, I really liked him in the first part. He had this great mysterious vibe to him that was alluring as a reader. But then he turned borderline abusive to me. He was suddenly very controlling and demanding–more so than the “typical” alpha male you see in erotica. I didn’t like how Jessica conformed to that either. In part 3, he seems to shy away from that attitude so it made it easier for me to read but it did diminish my like of him.

The Romance:

These two have a great chemistry that is there from the start. And despite the fact that things move fast, I really did like the emotional connection these two had. It isn’t totally apparent at the start but with the series as a whole, you could see why these two are a great match.

Details on Impulse (#4.5):

Impulse is a “companion sequel” to the Pulse series, told from Nathan’s POV. It’s about the total length of all 4 parts together and definitely a solid story.