I've always found the idea of humanoid robots intriguing and found the ideas set out in Isaac Asimov's Robot stories interesting and thought provoking. Whilst taking a very different line with the plot, the author Ariadne Tampion has written a science fiction story that examines the possible implications of "intelligent" robots that become sexually implicated with their human owners.

When a young engineer, Andrea, has a lottery win she uses the money to set up her own business and to assist her in this purchases the most advanced robot available. It turns out to be an assistant in all aspects of her life, including sexuality. A robot engineer, Wendy, already established and with her own family, becomes involved in sorting out initial problems that are the basis for the first part of this book, written as a novella. Her daughter Felicity becomes a major character in the "sequel" as she has reached puberty and is challenged by the problems it poses, whilst her mother is leading a team designing robots that will be sex slaves.

Sex is dealt with frankly throughout and the story tackles the issues of how robots may become involved with humans as machine intelligence and associated technologies advance, reflecting the author's involvement with the development of the Loebner prize winning chatbot "Joan".

The twists and turns of the plot are fascinating, making this book well worth a read.