This story gripped me by the heart. Yes, it`s labeled as erotica and is highly erotic, but it`s so much more too. This is the story about the narrator, Abbie, and her neighbor Ivan. He keeps to himself but so does she and with little side-notes we learn that Abbie has escaped from a violent and abusive husband. Charlotte Stein does not delve on that but it`s Abbie`s back story.Ivan also hides something but when we first "meet" him, he hides nothing. He is masturbating in his living room in the middle of the night with Abbie as his audience. When he asks her to reciprocate, she first can`t, but since Ivan knows why she`s being skittish and does all the right things, she slowly lets herself get closer to him. They have phone sex and they get to know each other.But as I said, Ivan has his secrets too and, combined with Abbie`s problems, this turns into a relationship out of the ordinary.I must say that I am incredibly impressed with Charlotte Stein. This novel will live in my heart for a very long time because she made Abbie and Ivan come alive without resorting to any cheap storyline tricks. She gives us two raw characters who deserve so much more than they had before this story began - and then they get each other, which seems so perfect. The sex in this book is so incredibly well written and never gratuitous even if there is a lot of it. It`s always there to tell the story, to bring us further into the heads of Abbie and Ivan, and to bring them closer to one another.I can`t recommend this story enough. Buy it! Read it!