Nolan Trilogy: Temptation, Confession, Grace (Under Mr. Nolan's Bed) Paperback – May 15, 2013

I really am glad that these three books have been grouped together so that I could continue reading and reading.Book 1 – Selena did a great job introducing us to the characters and making their world come alive. I felt that I really could see the warehouse/home of the Nolan's. The discovery the Ladies made in the dark darkroom plus within themselves. The joy of discovering their own sexuality was very well described. Leah falling in love with Rob was so beautiful. I totally was able to see her becoming pregnant but did NOT see the coming shocker that her mother dropped on Rob!! Well done!Book 2 – I understand why Leah felt that she had to hide. Personally, I would have confronted my mother for her lie from all those years. BUT Leah was raised in the Catholic faith to respect your elders and believe that they never lie to you. So she goes into hiding like any other unmarried mother until the baby is born. She also believes that her mother will give Rob the note explaining where she is. Though we are a reader know that will not happen! I feel bad that Erica and Rob have no idea why or where Leah has gone. They are left searching and trying to go on. But both are mourning for her. Erica has discovered that there is a secret society and being the detective type person that she is...she has to investigate it. She is asked to join and does so with the idea that she will expose them. Until she learns that it will be harder to do because of the others who are also involved. While on this path, Erica falls in love with Father Micheal but nothing can come from that. Selena does a wonderful job getting the readers emotions involved with the characters!Book 3 – Grace has been born and taken away. Leah is heartbroken that she doesn't have her baby. But she is back in Rob's arms. Rob tells her that he will find their baby and bring her home. In the meantime, he wants to get married so that they will never be apart again. Father Patrick will not allow them to be married in the Catholic Church but that will not stop their love for each other! Erica & her new boyfriend come up with a plan. I feel for Erica – not knowing who her real parents are, finding out who her mom really is & that she has a twin!, falling in love with two men, working the system to get rid of the secret society...she has a lot on her plate!I would recommend getting this box set because you will want to see what happens next. Setup a crock pot so that you don't have to stop to make lunch or dinner! I read this entire set over a three day time frame and loved every moment of it! Thank you Selena for writing this wonderful story!!

TEMPTATIONI've actually read the original (unedited) Under Mr. Nolan's Bed several times and loved it! I did have a few issues with some things, so I was eager to see how Temptation differs from it and if it would change my mind about those minor issues. Well, yes it did! I think the author's decision to rewrite the story and set it in 1955 just added to the experience. My only real problem with the original was that Leah seemed too innocent for an 18 year old, but I think having it set in a time where sex wasn't a topic discussed out in the open made her naivety and innocence much more believable. There are a couple of scenes that were left out--which I think was also done in the edited version--that I missed, but as a whole, Temptation is even better and still has that amazing shock ending!One day Erica decides to share what she's discovered in her father's bedroom with her best friend, Leah. Hidden away in his dark room are books full of nude photography and there are even some shots that Mr. Nolan had taken himself. Leah had never seen anything like it before, so of course it changes her whole viewpoint on sex. She also starts thinking about Mr. Nolan as a man rather than as just her best friend's dad. From there the girls frequently head into the dark room to view these photographs and then fool around with each other. Then one night Leah enters on her own and discovers yet another room down there and catches Mr. Nolan watching a video. Leah is transfixed by the sight and soon enough she's moved on from her best friend to her best friend's father.Yes, Temptation has a lot of sex. It is an erotic novel after all, but there is also a love story here. I'm sure plenty of us have had crushes on a friend's parent before, but for Leah and Mr. Nolan it becomes much more than that. Of course this does cause a strain on Leah and Erica's friendship, especially since they were at one point sexually involved with each other. But love does conquer all, at least for a moment...That ending...just woah. I knew it was coming, but it was still shocking since it was in a new context. I have no idea how the original edited version ends, but it could not be better than Temptation! Unless it was the same, obviously. Leah and Mr. Nolan have dug themselves in too deep, so I can't wait to see how they get out. Or if they just go deeper...CONFESSIONAfter the shocking conclusion of Temptation, I had no idea where this story would go next. It turns out Mr. Nolan's loft isn't the only place harboring secrets. The church may have the most shocking secrets of all. At the beginning of Confession, Leah is being transferred from the nunnery she's be hiding at to The Magdalene House: a place for unwed mothers to be. If finding out that her first love may also be her father seemed bad, discovering she's pregnant by him is a fate worst than hell. But despite everything, Leah still loves him and loves her unborn baby. Meanwhile Erica and her father are heartbroken at Leah's disappearance, and Erica stumbles upon more secrets in her mother's diaries. Her inner journalist wants nothing more to bring the church's dark secrets to light, but she doesn't realize just how involved she really is.Confession is very different from Temptation. For starters, the focus is on the actual story. There is very little sex involved, but what is included is even more shocking. I don't want to give away too much, but if you think you'll be offended by priests and nuns behaving in ways that are not wholesome in any way, stay away from Confession. Erica learns about a secret society that meets below her church and uses her amateur sleuthing skills to find out more. She definitely learns more than she bargained for. A whole of secrets involving her, her parents, Leah, and her mother are revealed. One more shocking than the next.I didn't enjoy Confession quite as much as Temptation, but I still liked it a lot. It's dark and twisted, just how I like it. There's some seriously depraved stuff happening, and there's some heartbreak at the end. I was a little disappointed in some of the things revealed, but I think they'll be necessary to move Leah and Mr. Nolan's story forward. And hopefully get them their much deserved happy ending.GRACEAfter the twisted, wild ride that was Temptation and Confession, Grace is underwhelming. The story had gotten so insane, and then just fizzled out towards the end. Leah is out of the hospital, but she's still stuck in her nightmare. She wakes in the middle of the night to a baby crying, before realizing that her daughter isn't there. Erica is rebelling now that she knows part of the truth about her parentage, but it brings her to Clay, a very sweet young man. There's even more secrets revealed in Grace, but I knew one of them was coming. Most of them, however, seemed to come out of nowhere and failed to shock me. Perhaps I've been desensitized?While Grace does provide the happy ending that I was hoping for, it was kind of a boring journey to get there. I did feel sad for Leah. What she's been through is horrific, but once the legal action started up, I zoned out. The story just felt...too normal? I'm not really a fan of weddings, married people problems, or babies, so I'm sure that hindered my enjoyment of this conclusion. There was still the plot involving the secret society beneath the church, but nothing much new was revealed about it other than just how depraved Father Patrick is. When a random Nazi connection was brought up, I just rolled my eyes. It suits the time of the story, but I didn't feel like it fit the story as a whole.I absolutely loved the original Under Mr. Nolan's Bed, as well as the newly revised Temptation, but I think I could have gone without the sequels. Sure they're dark and twisted, but they didn't pull at my emotions as much as the first book. They didn't really make me consider that fine line between right and wrong like UMNB/Temptation did. I do have to say that while I enjoyed the series over all, the original is still the one I'd choose to reread. It's certainly the most taboo of them all, so I'm not sure what that says about me...

This series blew me away I stumbled on this by accident but I'm so glad I did cause I absolutely devoured this series.This had such a good story line it always kept me engaged and wanting more I couldn't put it down plus it was filthy as hell.

This box set was the best free read ever 😃 there was so much detailed in it that it had me not wanting to put it down

Three books in one as they should have been in the first place, as the second two are not really 'stand alone' stuff. Selena's usual raunchy style is definitely present in the first book but tapers off somewhat as the tale unfolds in the second two, being replaced by some potentially explosive situations. Many sub plots are carefully woven together to provide a very interesting and quite gripping story that develops at a pace. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of some of the characters and a little disappointed that some of the issues raised were not dealt with more roundly. All in all a good read and well recommended.

Very good read!

Most people buy Selena Kitt material for the erotic content, and this book does not disappoint - although if this is all you want then I recommend the first of the trilogy. The sexual content becomes less frequent as the trilogy rolls on.Selena Kitt has created here what could have been an absolute blockbuster of a novel in the same mould as The Thorn Birds, but there are too many number of problems with the plot and the character building - ultimately making this a dissatisfying read. Without giving anything away at this stage there are a number of key issues which are not resolved, including (but by no means limited to) the following:The girls' awakening sexuality is given the full Selena Kitt treatment, ie full-on sex of Homeric proportions, but much of the action remains unlikely - particularly given that the girls were of a strict catholic upbringing, convent-educated and the book is set in the 1950s when fear of unwanted pregnancy would have tempered their 'enthusiasms'.Given his military background, why does Nolan not challenge Father Patrick's dominance far earlier given the amount of evidence he had amassed? How can it be that he cannot recognise his daughter when she is the principal "attraction" in the key scene where she is playing Mary?The final outcome of the struggle with the church (unexplained fires) is - for me - a case of the author ducking the responsibility of having created a plot line of quite unexpected strength and ending it in the lamest fashion imaginable. Here was a golden opportunity to portray a powerful struggle within Father Michael between his love of the Mother Church and his fundamental decency as a man. This remains an opportunity sadly missed.This book could have been so much better. Kitt is not a bad writer when she sets to it. The scenes showing life at the unmarried mothers hostel are often powerful and harrowing, the courtroom custody battle is gripping and the portrayal of life in small town 1950s USA is reasonably precise and detailed.I suggest the main problem is that it seems Selena set out to write an erotic novel, (which gradually became less erotic and more interesting), with what could have been a gripping story line worthy of any film producer's attention. With substantial rewriting she still has the opportunity to create such a work.