Review Tuesday: The Shrink by Larry Archer -- #Erotica #Swingers #ReviewTuesday

The Shrink by Larry Archer

Self-published at Amazon and Smashwords, 2023

The Shrink is another provocative installment in Larry Archer’s outrageous House Party series. The novel follows Foxy, the lascivious queen of swingers, on her quest to understand her own desires and to repair possible damage done by her impulsive sexual behavior.

In the first House Party book, Foxy leaves her husband Larry, running away to Hollywood with a guy she meets at a swingers gathering and joining a porn film studio. I think the author, a self-declared pantser, was pretty shocked when his heroine took off this manner. He has spent a couple of hundred thousand words and four (or is it five?) books since then, trying to figure out how to draw Foxy back into the marital fold. This has given him the opportunity to write a lot of steamy sex scenes as well as some introspective bits featuring the usually somewhat oblivious big-haired beauty.

In The Shrink, Foxy sets up an appointment with a psychiatrist, determined to get a hold on her uncontrollable impulses. Unfortunately that determination evaporates almost immediately when she meets the highly attractive, generously endowed therapist. Dr. Ziggy is married, more or less happily, to a fellow psychological professional, but he can’t resist Foxy’s charms. (Who can?) Foxy is equally enchanted by Ziggy’s luscious receptionist Candy, with whom she shares a special passion.

When Dr. April, Ziggy’s wife, learns about his infidelity, she’s initially shocked, but soon, with some help from Foxy’s husband Larry, she gets sucked into carnal adventures of her own. Regular characters from Archer’s tales – Chrissy the Amazon, Sherry the TV anchor, MILF Pam and her voyeur husband Jack—as well as initially timid newcomers Dixie and Ross join in the orgiastic proceedings. It’s all hot, dirty and deliciously arousing.

Foxy doesn’t really figure out how to exercise greater self-control, but she does fall in love with Candy, an unexpected development for a swinger who normally treats sex as recreational only.

Meanwhile the fictional Larry Archer plays a larger role in this novel than in many by this author. I love him. Even when he’s drilling the lights out of some woman, he’s the perfect gentleman.

The Shrink was a lot of fun to read. The author’s female characters typically fall into two categories: free-spirited hedonists who are ready for anything and initially repressed or innocent women who need to be brought over to the dark side. The Shrink gives us both. Candy has no inhibitions whatsoever. It takes no time at all for her to fall under Foxy’s spell (and vice versa). April on the other hand starts out as an uptight, judgmental academic. At first she resists her desires, but before long she’s being unbelievably filthy and loving every minute.

I enjoyed Foxy’s moments of reflection. To be honest, I wish there’d been more of them. I’ve always wondered what was going on in Foxy’s head when she’s not having serial orgasms.

One complaint about the novel; its conclusion comes quite abruptly. I was totally unprepared for “The End”.

All in all, though, The Shrink is a worthy entry in Larry Archer’s erotic oeuvre.