Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Alluring Tales
Alluring Tales. Erotic romance.
- *** "Lover's Locket" by Cathryn Fox.
Caira has always been fascinated by the portrait of Zarek that's been in her family for generations. Then an old gypsy woman gives her the Lover's Locket--if she recites its incantation, her true love will be revealed... and she'll also wake the Keeper of Darkness, and unless she can defeat him, she'll die.
Of course Caira recites the incantation (people in stories always do, no matter what the warnings), Zarek comes to life, and they have a lot of sex. Turns out, Caira is the reincarnation of Zarek's love.
I'm thinking this story could have done with an extra 50 pages or so, because as it is, Caira goes directly from fantasizing about a picture to a marathon sex session to ****spoiler, but only if you've never read any stories before **** being willing to die for him **** with no pauses in between. It's kind of the epitome of good sex = twoo wuv.
I wasn't all that impressed with the sex scene, though it was certainly long. I wanted some more emotion in there, not just detailed slot A/tab B descriptions. It gets boring.
And because I wasn't really invested in the story, the dialogue started getting to me. Things like "Zarek, let me love you as I've longed to do." From a modern woman? And by the time I got to "Wiggle your backside for me, Caira" it gave me a serious case of the giggles. But like I said, it wouldn't have bothered me if I'd been more into the story in the first place. - ****½ "Kili's Ice Man" by Delilah Devlin.
Kili has long had a thing for gladiator "Ice Man" Gunnar Thorsson. So when she has to give a marketing presentation to the gladiator executives and the "Ice Man" is there, she's beyond nervous. So her friend Willa convinces her to do a quick virtual reality vacation before the presentation to calm down.
Unfortunately, Gunnar overheard her conversation with Willa, where she describes him as just what she wants: not too bright, but with a great body. So he bribes the tech to put him in the same VR vacation with her--and if she wants a caveman, he'll give her a caveman.
Except it worked all too well, and he can't even communicate with more than a few grunts.
I absolutely loved this story. I was initially irritated with Kili--I can't at all relate to the idea of preferring pretty and dumb. If he's got a brain, he can be a troll for all I care. (of course, that's coming from the smug position of not having to choose!) But she surprised me. It's the best kind of romance story, where the hero and the heroine are exactly what the other wants and needs, although they don't quite know it yet.
In addition, it had science fiction elements and a healthy dose of humor. Gunnar's frustration with being a caveman was too funny. I'll be looking for more stories by Delilah Devlin. - **** "The Hottest One-Night Stand" by Lisa Renee Jones.
Assistant D. A. Jessica Montgomery is a divorced workaholic. She sees a man in a bar and is instantly attracted to him, but he leaves before she can work up the courage to approach him.
Then her car breaks down, it's stormy, and the only motel in the small town is full. She's intending to spend the night in her car, when the same man comes up to her car and invites her to share his motel room. Where, of course, they have hot sex--it's a romantic erotica anthology, after all.
Up until this point, I was a little dubious about the story. I'm not wild about stories about people doing dumb things and then getting lucky and things working out okay. But then there was an amazing, excellent twist that I'm not going to tell you about, but it was very cool.
And the ending was just perfect--**** general spoiler **** a decision to give a relationship a try. I wouldn't have bought a marriage proposal at this point, or a declaration of forever love. ****
One little quibble that cost this story a half star--I thought the "Latin lover" thing was a wee bit overdone. Particularly since that just consisted of reminding us that he was Hispanic and him calling her "mi hermosa" over and over again. - ***½ "Out of the Shadows" by Myla Jackson.
Vampire-killing cop TJ Evans had a great one-night stand with next-door neighbor Cassidy Jones and thought it was the start of a relationship, but she's been avoiding him ever since. Now a category 5 hurricane is on its way, and he finds out the truth when he tries to make sure Cassidy is evacuating: she's become a vampire.
This could be a classic romance between mortal enemies tale--and we do see a lot of Cassidy's anguished emotions, but TJ goes from "the only good vampire is a dead vampire" to "so you're a vampire--no biggie" in the blink of an eye.
Basically, this is another story that could have used a few more pages. If TJ's emotions had been more fleshed out, if he'd had a harder time accepting that the woman he thought he could fall in love with was a creature he was dedicated to hunting and killing, this would have been an excellent story. - ***** "Tempting Grace" by Sasha White.
Minister's son Lukas Martin has been asking Grace Walters out, but she keeps turning him down. Grace is an ex-stripper who wasn't unlike the troubled teens she works with now. And she's older than he is. If she didn't think so highly of Lukas, she'd probably accept his invitations, but as it is, she doesn't think she's good enough for him.
Then Grace suddenly gives in, on the condition that it's for one night only--she doesn't explain why, but the reader knows it's because she lost one of her kids.
Sasha White was why I bought this anthology, and I wasn't disappointed. The story between Lukas and Grace is rich with emotion and sensuality.
It's mostly Grace's story, as she has the emotional journey of learning that she's more than her past and becoming able to accept love. But Lukas isn't given short shrift, either. He's come to know and love Grace through working with her, and his doubts and frustrations at her repeated refusals are so vivid they brought tears to my eyes.
While reading this, I realized that most times when I've read this sort of plot--a heroine who thinks she's not good enough for the hero--the hero knows she thinks this and basically ends up behaving like a cross between a psychologist and a teacher, doing and saying things for her own good, teaching her to trust herself. Lukas didn't do that. Lukas was more real than that. He reacted the way a real-life hero would, with frustration and persistence. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. It puts the hero and heroine back on an equal footing, even though the heroine has some issues she needs to work through. - *** "A Familiar Kind of Magic" by Sylvia Day.
Familiar Victoria St. John has turned feral after the death of her master, and it's up to Hunter Max Westin to either tame her or kill her.
From what I can surmise, Familiars need a master. They can shapeshift, and they act as foci for their masters' magic.
And of course (see above, re: erotic romance anthology) the taming takes the form of sex.
I had a real love/hate relationship with this story. On the one hand, it was probably the most steamy story of the anthology. The sex scenes were hot and inventive, but they were also extremely sensual with lots of sensory details. There was also a very strong emotional and plot component to the sex scenes, as Familiars are by nature submissives, and Victoria's been fighting that part of her nature. I suspect if I'd been... heh... familiar with Familiars, with this world, I'd have absolutely loved this story.
But I was squicked almost beyond bearing by the childlike way Victoria was portrayed, and the nearly-parental feelings Max seemed to have for her. It's probably an eye-of-the-beholder thing, but every time they weren't having sex and he was tending her like a child, I got squicked all over again, and I just couldn't get over that. - **** "Quick Silver" by Vivi Anna.
Sangria Silver is a freelance conveyer, delivering packages that are probably mostly illegal, given the rates she charges--but she can't be certain, because she has a rule to never look inside a package.
That rule gets accidentally broken when a car accident opens the shiny metal case, revealing sex worker Vance Verona. Sangria had known this assignment was bad news from the beginning--her contact knew far too much about her, and was offering far too much money. And when Vance mentions that it's the First Lady behind it, Sangria realizes she's as good as dead.
I really, really loved the premise for this story, and the near-future setting. But once again, I wished it were longer. So much more about Sangria's job and the future world could have been explored. In fact, I'd love to see this as a movie. It's got such a fun plot that you could even tone the sex scenes down to an R-rating and still have a cool movie.
It also suffers from the problem you find in a lot of romantic suspense books and movies: the bad guys are after them, but the hero and heroine find time to grab some nookie anyway.
Also, the ending was a little abrupt.
Really, though, a very fun story. Futuristic action-adventure. I've just spent way too much time trying to cast the movie in my head--I suck at the casting game, by the way, because I didn't come up with a couple I liked. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments.
Categories: Books, 5stars, 4.5stars, 4stars, 3.5stars, 3stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 3 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 4.5 stars, 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Friday, March 28, 2008
Secrets, Vol. 13
Secrets, Vol. 13. Romantic erotica.
- ***½ "Out of Control" by Rachelle Chase.
Event planner Astrid Thomas thinks she's being interviewed after answering an ad for event planning placed by wealthy businessman Eric Santos, but when she arrives, it turns out that the ad was for a submissive weekend "trophy wife," and she's been set up by her best friend, who's also Eric's brother's girlfriend.
Astrid intends to leave, but Eric talks her into admitting she has submissive fantasies and she agrees to stay and explore them with him for the weekend.
I suppose the main thing this story suffers from is being too short. I very much enjoyed the matchmaking aspect and twists, but I'd have liked it to be explored further. And I found both characters' emotional motivations interesting and believable. The introduction of Eric's ex-fiancee Natalie was necessary to understand Eric's emotional state, but I didn't think we needed to meet her in person--that took up space that, in a short novella, could have been better used. I also have to admit that the not-my-kink issue affected my enjoyment of this story. Semi-public sex always just seems sleazy to me, rather than sensual or erotic.
- **** "Hawkmoor" by Amber Green. Paranormal romantic erotica.
This one's about shapeshifters. Darien Hawkmoor is the leader of his people--a position he's holding in trust for the missing Lady Hawkmoor, to whom he was bonded when they were children. But now Mary Alison Hawkmoor (or Mary Alice Enhog-Moore, as she's been rechristened) has resurfaced, and neither of them is happy about it.
To put it mildly. Unfortunately, Mary Alison remembers nothing about her history, knows nothing about her powers or her position, and Darien has very little time to either get her under his control or sacrifice her. And he's not the only one trying to influence or control her.
The only problem with this story was the length--it was a little too short, which allowed not enough detail on some issues. Otherwise, I absolutely loved this one. The shapeshifter society was intriguing and unusual. The matriarchal leadership was a nice change, and I was very impressed with villains who weren't exactly villains--they just had conflicting goals. The romance was refreshing, too, in that instant attraction didn't cause them both to immediately forget everything else.
I've bought one of her full-length novels already, and expect I'll be buying more. Definitely an author I intend to watch.
- ** "Lessons in Pleasure" by Charlotte Featherstone. Historical romantic erotica.
You know, I should have liked this one--Lily Farrington and Damian Westerham, the Earl of St. Croix are reunited lovers, and I usually like stories just for that.
Lily and "Saint" had separated 7 years ago, and now he's determined to get her back. But he has an odd way of going about it. He sets up her friend's husband for a duel which Saint would undoubtedly win unless Lily agrees to spend three nights with him. So far, a little contrived, but not too bad.
During those three nights, he intends to instruct her in the ways of passion. Now my teeth are on edge. I really dislike the "all-knowing man instructing the shy little virgin" scenarios. And he decides that the best way to entice her is to pretend that he doesn't give a rat's ass about her and only wants her body. Uh-huh. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. In response, Lily is a complete dishrag. She goes along with pretty much everything he says, making a few token protests here and there, and then waffling back and forth between guilt and ecstasy.
I loathe paternalistic heroes (and I'm using the term "heroes" loosely). Alpha know-it-alls, sure, I'm fine with them. But manipulative jerks who think they know what the heroine needs and just how to give it to her without regard to her own feelings or opinions in the matter--that's one thing that gets a book tossed across a room.
- **** "In the Heat of the Night" by Calista Fox.
Nick Moretti is Molina Toscano's bodyguard--not an easy task, as Molina's 30th birthday is coming up, and her family is under a curse that kills them on that date. You can pretty much guess where the story goes from here: they fall in love, with the bodyguard resisting so he can do his job; and they solve the curse. That's not a spoiler--there's really nothing else that could happen.
Even though the bodyguard romance is fairly standard, this story does shine. Molina in particular is very credible as a woman who's known all her life that she's fated to die when she turns 30. And the way the curse is solved (I'm not going to spoil that) was a clever twist.
Categories: Books, EroticRomance, 4stars, 3.5stars, 2stars
Labels: 2 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, books, EroticRomance
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Cop
The Cop. Erotic romance.
- ***** "Sex as a Weapon" by Sasha White.
Vanessa Lawson is the manager of the O Club, a BDSM club. She's also the Risque Robber: as a favor to their ex-wives, she seduces men into letting her tie them up, then cleans out their safes, leaving them bound for their new wives to find.
Kane Michaels is the cop who's trying to stop her, and to that end he visits the O Club, looking for a woman skilled in shibari.*
The sparks between Vanessa and Kane lead to more, and both of them are challenged by the directions their budding relationship takes them.
This story--or rather, this author--is the reason I bought this anthology, so it's not surprising that "Sex as a Weapon" was my favorite of the three stories. Even in novella-length, these characters come alive and deal with not only the cop/criminal conflict but with the conflicts within themselves. There's a satisfying blend between the erotica/romance plot and the suspense plot, with developments in one affecting progress in the other, and neither being given short shrift.
Sasha White is on my must-buy list, and I'm working on collecting all of her backlist.
- **** "Arrested" by Alyssa Brooks.
Kirsten Montgomery left her ex-boyfriend after overhearing some scary and incriminating evidence. But she knows too much, so he reports the car he'd given her stolen, and Kirsten is arrested for auto theft by sheriff Reid Walker.
The small town's jail is being remodeled, so Reid takes Kirsten home with him for the weekend, until authorities can arrive to escort her back to California.
Kirsten believes her life is in danger, and she keeps trying to escape, but at the same time, she and Reid can't keep their hands off each other.
This is a very steamy story, but I found myself frustrated by some of the non-sex elements--in particular, Reid's refusal to take Kirsten's fears seriously or even listen to them. Of course, a sheriff taking someone he's arrested home with him to await extradition is seriously unrealistic, but that didn't bother me so much--it was just part of the fun.
I very much enjoyed the exciting, action-packed climax--I just hope Reid's learned his lesson about listening and not making assumptions.
- **½ "Detroit's Finest" by Renee Alexis.
Tracey Shane has a job doing filing for the police department and has been lusting after Officer Troy Davenport for a while. She finally gets up close and personal with him when he stops her for speeding.
So far, so good, until Tracey finds out that Troy is married, and not just married, but married to a woman with a gun: Tracey's bitchy boss Daisha.
I have to say, this story would have worked better for me as a women's fiction, because from that point, it was the story of every woman who got involved with a married man and believed him when he kept delaying his divorce. I'd have been so much happier if Tracey had wised up and found somebody new, or just gone on her way happily single. Instead, she did everything she could to entice him, and settled for crumbs. Sexy crumbs, but I was so busy yelling at her to wake up that I couldn't really enjoy them.
I don't often demand social responsibility from fictional stories, but in this case, I couldn't help squirming thinking of women who'd find hope in this story for their relationships with married men.
Categories: Books, 2.5stars, 4stars, 5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 2.5 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Friday, November 30, 2007
All U Can Eat
***** All U Can Eat by Emma Holly. Romantic erotica.
Emma Holly is on my must-buy list for a reason.
Troy, diner owner Frankie's boyfriend of 5 years, breaks up with her directly after sex. A week later, he and his new fiancee show up in her diner. Frankie starts getting over it when young ex-Marine Mike comes by, looking for work. She hires him as a cook, and decides to let him cheer her up, but as they're sleeping upstairs, they hear a noise and discover a dead body in the alley behind the diner--the best friend of Troy's fiancee, and Frankie's the prime suspect.
Police chief Jack West has had a thing for Frankie for a long time, and now that her boyfriend is out of the picture, he has a chance--except the murder got in the way. Both Frankie and Jack investigate from different angles, and find love along with the solution.
All U Can Eat is not one of Holly's more mainstream novels. Just FYI. If you read this expecting a straightforward romance, with the h/h having sex only with each other, and nothing more shocking than some oral, you're going to be... surprised. The sex scenes are many and varied. And they are, every last one of them, integral to the plot, show character development, and are full of emotion and sensual detail.
Take the first scene in the book, with Frankie and Troy, for example. You can tell that they genuinely like each other and enjoy their sex life, but that Frankie's settling, and that there's something Troy needs that he's not getting from their relationship. It's not spelled out--it's there in how they act with each other and in the few words they say. And it's clear before he tells her that Troy's ending the relationship. All that on top of hot, steamy sex.
It's all like that--Emma Holly is not an author whose sex scenes I skip, or even skim: I'd miss a lot of the turning points in her stories that way, besides which, they're never boring or repetitive.
The characters are all vivid and three-dimensional. Nobody's all good or all bad, and they all have believable motivations for their actions. One duo that was intriguing and I'd like to see more of is Dave and Pete, the Team Boys, of Dave and Pete's garage. They'd started out double dating, and end up bisexual. There's a bit of their emotional journey in All U Can Eat, but they're really not the focus of the story, so it's of necessity brief.
The mystery was clever and had a nice twist to it, and the romance was emotionally believable.
I don't know what else to say. It's so much easier to point out the things I don't like in a book. Emma Holly makes every word count. I have all her books; she's on my must-buy-as-soon-as-it's-released list; I'm a huge fangirl.
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Categories: Books, 5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Friday, October 26, 2007
Strictly Taboo
Strictly Taboo by Jaid Black. Erotic romance.
This is an anthology of erotic romance, in 3 different sub-genres (sub-sub-genres?), with the connection of the couples being off-limits to each other in some way.
- **½ "Barbarian". Historical.
Viking Ivar is attacking Lady Elen's castle. Her father's been killed, and all seems lost, until she takes charge and repels the invaders. So Ivar vows revenge on the woman who dares to defy him, and when he does conquer the castle, he takes Lady Elen, planning on making her his bed slave.
Pretty standard stuff, but then about halfway through, it's a different story, and Ivar's only claiming Lady Elen because her father had promised him her hand and Lady Elen refused the match. WTF? No, it's not a paranormal parallel world story--it's just that Ivar's motivation abruptly changes in the middle of the story. Because a novella is so long it needs more than one plot?
- ***½ "Nemesis". Contemporary.
Failed actress Diane has come up with a way to give herself and her child a new start: a week as a nude waitress/whatever on a cruise ship. Just one week, and she'll earn enough money to get them settled back in her home town, and nobody will ever need to know about it.
Except that her high school nemesis, Garek Ennis, now a football star, is on board. (cue dramatic music)
An injury has curtailed Garek's football career, and even womanizing is getting boring--all those naked women leave him cold, except for Diane, who he's always had a thing for, but who snubbed him back in high school.
Lots of contrived (by the characters) situations for them to get intimate, lots of misunderstandings and hurt feelings on both sides.
Cute story, as far as it went, but I had trouble believing the characters and I couldn't really buy the premise. Plus, the cruise ship is in Germany for no good reason, and the hero complains about weak German beer. The American hero. Complained about weak German beer. Uh-huh. **headdesk**
- **** "Naughty Nancy". Paranormal.
This one was just fun. You really have to suspend disbelief for it, though.
Nancy dresses as Xena for a Halloween party, and a witch ends up whisking her into another dimension. She ends up in a nest that's perched reeeeaaaallly high up on a skinny pedestal (no way to get down).
Vorik F'al Vader is a shapeshifter (sort of gargoyle-shaped and human-shaped), and apparently, screaming "help me!" sounds exactly like the cry of a hungry yenni, a not-very-bright creature whose food is the shapershifters' ejaculate. And coincidentally, they look quite a lot like human women, except they have metallic tails (hence the Xena costume, with its sword that in the dim light, he mistakes for a tail--don't quibble, just go with it).
Unsurprisingly, there's quite a lot of oral sex in this one, but it goes on from there. It's a very nice blend of hot sex scenes and laugh-aloud humor. Vorik's confusion and concern for the poor yenni who was so hungry she couldn't eat cracked me up. The romance part worked itself out quite satisfactorily, too, despite the couple's inauspicious beginning.
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Categories: Books, 4stars, 3.5stars, 2.5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 2.5 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, books, EroticRomance
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
TBR Challenge for September
Tied With a Bow.
I got this anthology because somebody had recommended Madeleine Oh. I don't remember who, or why--just her name was in my little book of recommendations. As is obvious from the title and the cover, this is BDSM erotica.
- **** "Two Days, Three Nights" by Dominique Adair. Erotic romance.
Victoria Brittain has a secret admirer. She receives a gift of lingerie with no name, just the instruction to wear it to the company party that evening. She complies, enjoying the anticipation, and wondering who it is.
It's good news and bad news. The good news is it's William Hunter, whom she's lusted after for the past year. The bad news is, he's a client. He takes charge of an incredible sexual encounter in her office during the party, then invites her to his home for the weekend (the 2 days, 3 nights of the title).
This was my favorite of the stories. It's pointed out that Hunt had known from Victoria's ex-fiance that she enjoyed "kinky sex," so you know his approach didn't just come out of the blue. The romance is sweet, with both of them being surprised by the strength of their feelings for each other, and the emotions are realistic. The sex scenes are hot, clear, and plentiful, while still leaving enough space for a believable story.
- ***½ "Anne's Birthday Bachelor" by Jennifer Dunne. Erotic romance.
Workaholic Anne Logan hasn't had a date in far too long, and because she's responsible for every little detail at work, what she wants most is for a man who'll take charge of everything. So when her best friend Sarah attends a bachelor auction and bachelor Garrett describes taking care of a woman's every need, she knows exactly what to get Anne for her birthday.
According to the rules of the auction, there's no sex allowed on the date, not even a good-night kiss, but between Garrett being completely in charge (he'd even asked Sarah about Anne's food preferences so he could order for her), and the "accidental" touches and friendly flirtatious conversation, Anne's more than willing to have a second, more private date beginning immediately after the official date is over.
This story gets props for having the most fun and unusual description of an orgasm I think I've ever read: "You mean, does playing the game while you make love always feel like someone's opened the top of your head and filled your brain with Pop Rocks?" But that also brings me to my main objection. Despite that great description, the characters remain matter-of-fact, nonchalant, casual. They might as well be discussing the weather or a grocery list. The actions are steamy, but their thoughts and dialogue are tepid. And calling their D/s play "the Game" started bugging me after a while. I appreciate the point that it's a game rather than a lifestyle for them, but it started feeling like I was being bashed over the head with it.
The ending, though, was clever, happy, believable, and fair to both of them--and unusual, at least to me, and I read enough to be thrilled by an unusual ending.
- **½ "Power Play" by Madeleine Oh. Erotica.
Annie's master Mark and Tom's mistress Claudine give Annie the gift of Tom for her birthday. Sub Annie had planned to dominate Tom, but he dominates her instead.
This story is all about the sex. Which is hot, but there wasn't enough emotional context for me to really enjoy it. There's a brief bit confirming Annie's devotion to Mark and Tom's to Claudine, but as Mark and Claudine are perfectly fine with the arrangement, there's no conflict there, and no conflicted emotions from Annie or Tom.
Maybe I'm jaded, but I need more story with my sex scenes.
Categories: TBRChallenge, Books, 4stars, 3.5stars, 2.5stars, EroticRomance, Erotica
Labels: 2.5 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, books, erotica, EroticRomance, tbr challenge
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Voyeur
****½ Voyeur by Lacey Alexander. Romantic erotica.
I admit, I read this book solely for the Cherry Forums Book Club. Voyeurism isn't my kink, and I expected to find it entertaining (Cherry books are always well-written), but not to love it. I should have known better. Voyeurism still isn't my kink in real life, but for the space of this book, I was convinced. By the way, the Cherry Forums Book Club of Voyeur has been over for a while--you can tell how far behind I am--but you can read the discussion here.
Mystery writer Laura Watkins has writer's block. So she jumps at the chance to spend some time in a secluded mountain cabin belonging to a friend of a friend. Late the first night, she's still blocked, and decides to spend some time alone with her fantasies. She knows the owner has set up a webcam to keep an eye on the house, but decides he wouldn't be watching that late, anyway. And even if he is.... well, just the thought of it is tantalizing.
The next morning, she gets an IM from Flyboy, and sure enough, the cabin's owner, corporate raider Braden Stone, had seen her last night. She's simultaneously embarrassed, intrigued, and turned-on, and they begin a cyber-affair.
Laura's getting squicked by the whole thing, but she's also hooked and very aroused, and her writing is flowing faster than ever before. Still, her sensible side tells her it's time to either stop or move on to the next level--in person.
Which ratchets up the heat even more.
Braden pushes the edges of Laura's comfort envelope, but never crosses the line into coercion.
What made Voyeur really stand out wasn't the sexual acts themselves--it was the emotions and how it changed Laura's, and to a lesser extent, Braden's lives. I appreciated Laura's realistic reactions, and particularly the notion that the affair could only go so far online and that to progress, they had to meet in person.
The mystery novel was also a nice part--the events in the novel Laura was writing echoed the events in her life, and illuminated them. Very nicely done.
As for the not-my-kink issue--it takes skill to write sex scenes that will be hot to someone who doesn't share the fantasy. I think the key here is that Laura's character is written so clearly that we know how everything makes her feel, and those emotions and sensations are passed on to the reader.
I'll be looking for more Lacey Alexander books, as well as those by her alter-ego, Toni Blake.
ETA: Oh! I have read a story by Toni Blake, here (#5). I gave it "points for inventiveness in the sex scenes." Heh.
...more
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Monday, June 18, 2007
Natural Law
***** Natural Law by Joey W. Hill. Romantic erotica.
Somebody recommended this to me--I wish I could remember who, so I could thank them.
Mac Nighthorse is a cop, investigating a series of murders connected by a BDSM club. He's also a sexual submissive. When he goes undercover at the club, he meets Violet, who's new to the scene, but a natural dominatrix.
Fem-dom is not my kink. However, Natural Law sucked me in, and I had a terrible time trying to put it down, even for a moment. The characters were just so vivid and the emotions so realistic that it didn't even matter that their kink wasn't mine.
The sex scenes are very graphic, but they're also utterly integral to the plot. Each scene marks a change in the relationship between Violet and Mac and shows emotion as well as mechanics.
I think the main reason why Natural Law resonated so strongly with me was that at its core, it wasn't about fem-dom or BDSM, or even sex. It was about emotional surrender, about a relationship of complete trust. On both sides. At that level, it was easy to relate to the story regardless of the inclinations of the characters.
One thing that I found refreshing and a bit surprising was that both Violet and Mac are portrayed as strong, competent individuals. Mac's struggles with sexual submission--he fought it even as he wanted it--echoed the more usual romantic conflict of emotional submission, and didn't make him seem wimpy or damaged.
The murder investigation did take a back seat to the erotica/romance plot, but it didn't get forgotten, and its resolution was satisfying, surprising, and logical.
I'll definitely be looking for more of Joey W. Hill's books.
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Categories: Books, 5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Secrets Volumes 11 and 12
Secrets, Volumes 11 & 12. Romantic erotica.
This is a book club omnibus of two anthologies.
Secrets, Volume 11:
- ***½ "Masquerade" by Jennifer Probst.
This gets an extra half-star because it's one of my favorite romance plots--the best friend romance.Hailey and Michael are best friends, but Hailey decides to make one last try at shaking up her life and finding the romance of a lifetime, by going to the weekend-long masquerade party thrown by their enigmatic boss. She gets Michael to find out what costume their boss will be wearing and plans to seduce him. Michael, of course, appears in that costume.
Unfortunately, I have the same complaint I always have about masquerade romances--I can't believe she doesn't recognize him. I also have a little difficulty believing the setup of a weekend-long masquerade house party. Maybe in the Regency era, but not contemporary. And finally, Hailey was too simultaneously cold-blooded and credulous for me. Deciding that their boss, who she'd never met, must be The One for her, and setting out deliberately to "catch" him... not a heroine I can relate to.
- **½ "Ancient Pleasures" by Jess Michaels.
This one also gets an extra half-star, because the setting was fun. Think The Mummy, or The Book of True Desires.
Isabella is investigating the tomb that her husband had been obsessed with before his death, when she's separated from her companion and encounters Jake, an American tomb robber. They start out trying to find a way out, but keep being overcome by lust, obviously an ancient curse.
Sadly, the ancient curse sounds like it was written by a hormone-crazed teenage boy, because it mostly takes the form of voyeurism and exhibitionism of masturbation. I'm not sure if my distaste stems from the fact that it's not my fantasy, or if it really did have that juvenile ooh-this-is-naughty tone to it.
The icing on the cake was ****spoiler**** that the curse was against sex without love, and that our heroes were safe because it was True Love between Jake and Isabella after a couple of hours and a half-dozen or so orgasms. **** Please.
- *** "Manhunt" by Kimberly Dean.The hero, Tucker, is a cop unjustly accused of a crime. So far, so good--it's making me think Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli in One for the Money. But his big plan is to seduce A.D.A. Taryn into helping him. And not seduce as in convince with words. He intends to have sex with her until she can't think straight, basically.
Worse yet, it works. She decides he's innocent because a guilty man couldn't give her so many great orgasms, of course. At least there was humor and a mystery to make up for it.
- ****½ "Wake Me" by Angela Knight.
Oh, thank goodness there's an Angela Knight story. This makes the whole book worth buying.
Chloe's long-time boyfriend has just married her newly-divorced friend, and she's not in the mood for romance, to put it mildly. Then a package is delivered, containing a life-sized portrait of a sleeping, naked knight.
The knight portrait is Radolf, and he comes to Chloe in steamy dreams, which she enjoys until she discovers that he's real and cursed to eternal sleep, feeding the witch who cursed him with mortals' passion, and that he needs her to awaken and save him.
I'm not going to spoil it, but the solution is cute and clever. And of course Angela Knight is one of the best at writing sex scenes that are both erotic and fit the story.
- **½ "Good Girl Gone Bad" by Dominique Sinclair.
If I were capable of not finishing a story once I've started it, I'd have quit reading this one.Journalist Reagan gets an assignment to write a series of articles about romance and the independent woman. But she's a bit repressed, so she goes to a book store to research. Where she runs into lifeguard Luke. Who takes one look at the books she's selected and offers to be her teacher.
Again, maybe it's just that it's not my fantasy, but that hit my squick meter really hard. Add that to Reagan being unbelievably naive about sex, and then their penchant for sex in public places, which I find more inconsiderate than hot, and I was gagging.
It picked up a little when Reagan started writing articles about their encounters, but I didn't understand why she got in trouble when it turned out that she was the woman in the articles and not a friend.
- *** "Aphrodite's Passion" by Jess Michaels.
This one starts out really quite interesting. Gavin Fletcher is hired by the offspring of the colonel who died while saving his life to find their stepmother, the colonel's much younger second wife. Selena had disappeared, and they want her back so they can have her committed to an asylum and get their hands on their father's money--of course they tell Gavin that she's insane.Gavin finds Selena in Greece, where she's gone with a friend, Isadora, who's started a cult and temple of Aphrodite, devoted to sensual pleasure. But anyone who discovers the cult must join or die, to keep it secret, so Selena protects Gavin by taking him for her first lover.
Up until this point, I loved this story. Then I started having a lot of trouble understanding Selena. She doesn't like the cult, but even after she falls in love with Gavin, she feels obligated to stay, even if he has to die. I'd understand fear, or if she didn't think he'd stay by her, but...
- ****½ "White Heat" by Leigh Wyndfield.Woo-hoo! A science fiction erotic romance! Not only that, but a very good one.
Raine has been living on an ice planet for two years after the rest of her team had been killed, when Walker escapes from the prison and makes his way to her hideout. Walker is half-alien, a healer whose body requires and generates a lot of heat. Turns out they've both been betrayed by the same villain, so they join forces to escape the ice planet and retaliate, and along the way they fall in love.
The worldbuilding is convincing and natural--impressive in a novella length, and the characters were unusual, but with traits that fit perfectly with their descriptions. Raine, for example, talks aloud to herself quite frequently without realizing it--a consequence of having lived completely alone and isolated for two years, that ends up being at times amusing, or revealing. I'll definitely be looking for more from this author.
- ** "Summer Lightning" by Saskia Walker.Sally rents a cottage at the shore to do her art in peace, and she meets a gorgeous hunk, Julian, who's camping out nearby, doing an environmental assessment. I should have liked this one, with an environmental scientist as a hero, but...
Sally first sees Julian when she's sunbathing. He doesn't see her, and he strips nude, walks out thigh-deep in the water, turns back to shore, then masturbates before going for a swim. Uh, right. Maybe I'm wrong, and this is a usual thing for men to do. Carl thought it was nuts, but he also thinks watching sports is nuts, so maybe he doesn't know, either.
Be that as it may, a lot of the dialogue and characters' actions struck me as unbelievable. There was also too much backstory and authorial intrusion shoehorned into any gap between thought and speech or action, and that kept me from getting involved in the story.
I think this is one of those stories that you have to read very fast to get the gist of and then let your own imagination fill in the blanks.
Categories: Books, EroticRomance, 4.5stars, 3.5stars, 3stars, 2.5stars, 2stars
Labels: 2 stars, 2.5 stars, 3 stars, 3.5 stars, 4.5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Monday, February 12, 2007
Secrets Volumes 9 and 10
Secrets, Volumes 9 & 10. Erotic romance.
Secrets, Volume 9.
- *** "Wild for You" by Kathryn Anne Dubois.
College intern Georgie gets lost in the Congo and is rescued by a modern-day Tarzan (Mark) who's never seen a woman before. Despite that, he's a pro at foreplay. She helps him remember how to talk; he teaches her about sex.
It gets a little more far-fetched when they get "rescued," with a strange interlude with a native tribe, and then when Mark is reintroduced to civilization.
It's a cute story, but required too much suspension of disbelief for me.
- ***½ "Wanted" by Kimberly Dean.
Dani is wanted for stealing computer codes, and Reno is the FBI agent on her trail. Think The Fugitive. She's innocent, but is on the run until she can prove it. She and Reno have been emailing each other during their chase and have formed a connection.
It's a fun, exciting story, but again, there were some things I just couldn't buy. And the scene where Dani ****spoiler**** gives Reno a lap-dance when she's working as a stripper to get some quick cash and neither of them recognized the other **** just seemed gratuitous and hard to believe.
- ***½ "Secluded" by Lisa Marie Rice.
Quick giggle: this story starts with the sentence "I want your daughter." We just watched The Blues Brothers, and I flashed on the scene with John Belushi in the restaurant.
Nicholas is no longer a gangster, but he's got a very dangerous enemy, so he's come to terms with the fact that he can never have a long-term relationship because anyone he might be close to would become a target. So he has a series of short affairs.
Isabelle is different--Nicholas actually feels something for her. He tries to stay away, but when she's mugged, he rescues her, stays with her until she's healed, then takes her to his secluded hideout, fully expecting to give her up after 2 weeks.
It's a very sweet story, but I really questioned the premise. There didn't seem to be any danger when he was staying at her house, and then at the end, when ****spoiler**** the bad guy was killed, it made no sense that they'd have to go into hiding at that point****.
- **** "Flights of Fantasy" by Bonnie Hamre.
Journalist Chloe has been "invited" on a cruise on a yacht, the Fantasy. Her boss essentially told her to go or lose her job, but she has no idea why, as the yacht's mysterious owner "doesn't do interviews." The plot thickens when she discovers two ex-lovers on the cruise, with orders not to talk to her about why they're there.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story--figuring out what was going on, and just who was supposed to be the hero. I'm a big sucker for intrigue. And there was some pretty steamy sex.
But the hero was a pretty major stalker, which spoiled some of my enjoyment of the story. If he'd even talked to her before, I'd have been fine with it.
- ** "Private Eyes" by Dominique Sinclair.
*blinks* Well. That surprised me. My least favorite story of all 8 in this omnibus, and most of the Amazon reviewers cited this as the best story. How very odd.
I guess the story itself is pretty entertaining--private eye Nikki specializes in catching cheating husbands, and between that and her mother's past, she has a low opinion of men and of relationships. But a mysterious man keeps running into her, and there is a pretty clever misunderstanding-type plot between them.
However. I absolutely could not get past the writing. I wanted to take the author's (or the editor's--I'm not picky) thesaurus away and bury it. Seriously purple prose, and some misused words that set my teeth on edge (the heroine thinking that "her body was scintillating after a night of vivid dreams"? I don't think so.)
- **** "The Ruination of Lady Jane" by Bonnie Hamre.
This was a sexy Regency romance. Lady Jane's guardian has arranged a marriage for her with and old, thrice-widowed man, and she, quite sensibly, IMO, has run off. The guardian asks his younger brother Havyn, who remembers Jane as a teenager with spots (zits, for those of you unacquainted with Regency lingo), to go find her.
He does find her, and she's definitely improved with age. What's more, she begs him to "ruin" her so she won't have to marry the old man.
It's a nice story, particularly if you enjoy the Regency period--it's just a little predictable, also particularly if you enjoy the Regency period. The sex scenes were quite sensual, even though I found the Kama Sutra references to be a little self-conscious.
- ***** "Code Name: Kiss" by Jeanie Cesarini.
Wow. This novella pushed every one of my buttons: spies, and friends turning into lovers, plus a hefty emotional punch. It was well-written, and I was on pins and needles through the entire story.
And of course, the Amazon reviewers hated it. I'm seeing a trend.
Lily is a spy, and her mission is to infiltrate a terrorist camp as a sex slave, make contact with a double agent, and through him get close enough to the leader to plant a tracking device on his skin.
Seth is the agent in control of the mission, which he's leading via video feeds back at headquarters. Both Seth and Lily have a thing for each other, but due to their positions, neither has acted on it.
The story alternates chapters between Seth and Lily, keeping track of the mission time, which adds tension. Lily's chapters are in first person and are very deep POV, which is very affecting. Even though Seth's chapters are in third person, his emotional turmoil as he's forced to watch from a distance as the woman he's realized he's in love with has sex with another man is vividly clear.
"Code Name: Kiss" is emotionally wrenching, and better yet, the sex is an integral part of the story.
I was surprised to see in the "about the author" that Jeanie Cesarini = Jeanie London. I guess I'm going to take those recommendations for Jeanie London's books seriously now.
- ***½ "The Sacrifice" by Kathryn Anne Dubois.
Anastasia is about to become a nun, but she has definite ideas about those vows. She believes that for the vows to truly be meaningful, she has to know what she's giving up. For example, she was raised in a wealthy family, so taking a vow of poverty has meaning. However, she has no knowledge of carnal pleasures, so taking a vow of chastity is, to her mind, meaningless. So she sets out to change that by going to the castle of the notorious debaucher Count Maxwell. It's a bit of a goofy premise, but I do rather like her reasoning about the meaning of sacrifice.
The first half of the story is sensual and sexy, but then it turns into something else. ****spoiler**** a secret baby story **** I found myself irritated that the oddly principled, determined young woman of the first half of the story turned into such a coward in the second half. It ended well, but I didn't quite get over that.
Categories: Books, 5stars, 4stars, 3.5stars, 3stars, 2stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 2 stars, 3 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Friday, November 10, 2006
****½ Bond of Blood by Diane Whiteside. Contemporary paranormal erotic romance.
Disclaimer: I'm behind in writing reviews, and I'm fatigued, so chalk up any weakness in the review to me, and not to the books.
This is, if I'm not mistaken, the first in a trilogy featuring the Texas vampires we met in The Hunter's Prey (#15). And boy, did it make me homesick.
It has the same sensuality of the anthology, but this time there's a romance as well. Grania is a wildlife veterinarian at the Texas Hill Country Raptor Center, and Don Rafael Perez is a 700-year-old vampire who controls the Texas territory.
Rafael and his territory are being threatened by old enemies, so when Grania shows up in the woods when he's feeding, his initial response is suspicion. All too soon, though, it seems that they have a rare connection, and his suspicion is replaced by a desire to possess and protect her.
Grania is no less surprised, because Rafael is the man who's been in her dreams since she was a child.
I really enjoy this series (I'm including the erotica anthology here) because it's sensual and well-written, but also in large part because it's unusual. Most vampires in fiction come from northern or eastern Europe. Don Rafael and his oldest compatriots come from Spain. There are Spanish terms for all the positions in his territory--his military commander-in-chief, for example, is the alferez mayor, and a vampire sire is a creador. He also uses Spanish words sprinkled here and there. There's a glossary at the back of the book, but I only referred to it on occasion. It was interesting to get the exact translations, but the terms were easily understandable from the context.
The conflict with the old enemy was tense, and I appreciated the concept that Don Rafael had learned over the course of two centuries of torture at his hands, to lose to him. It added a nice psychological edge to the final battle.
The only quibble I have is that in the beginning of the book, an owl speaks to Grania, and that thread isn't followed up on.
I'm looking forward to more books in this series.
...more
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
**** Entangled by Kathleen Dante. Paranormal erotic romance.
Kiera Stevens is a toy company CEO with a problem: industrial espionage. It's particularly worrying, because her company also deals with defense contracts. So on the advice of her best friend, she hires John Atlantis, a security expert, with the plan to pose as lovers so as not to alert the spy. Sounds like a pretty standard romantic suspense story, doesn't it?
What's unusual is that this takes place in a world where magic goes hand in hand with technology, and Lantis deals with spells, not computers. And the catch is that the security spell entangles the two, with the result that the magic charge raises their sexual desire, and the excess magical energy gets grounded in sex.
I have to say, I was enthralled by the world. I read a lot of urban fantasy that puts magic alongside technology, and a lot of fantasy that uses magic in lieu of technology, but this magic that's used in conjunction with technology in an otherwise contemporary world is new. I loved the spells, and how magic was integrated into everyday life. I loved how high adepts are a sort of equivalent to computer experts.
Unfortunately, there's so much sex in the book that it overshadows the rest of the story. It was great in the beginning, particularly when the result of the security spell became apparent, but after a while, I was impatient to get back to the story. I'd also have liked a little more exploration of what it meant to be "entangled."
Still, there is a decent romantic suspense story in a really exciting world, so I'm not complaining too much.
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Categories: Books, 4stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, EroticRomance
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Captive Dreams. Paranormal erotic romance.
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Oh, boy. This book grabbed me from page 1. I love, love, love the premise: sisters Celeste and Corinne are writers--Corinne writes paranormal romance, and Celeste writes science fiction. Two characters, one from each of their series, get together to bring Celeste and Corinne into their fictional worlds, and they're after revenge. If you've read Angela Knight &/or Diane Whiteside before, you won't be surprised to discover that said revenge takes a decidedly sexual bent.
****½ "Bound by the Dragon" by Diane Whiteside.
This is Corinne's story. Mykhayl has been an ongoing character in her fantasy romance series, and she's found HEAs for all his siblings, but hasn't been able to imagine the perfect woman for him. She's also rendered him sterile to prevent any accidental pregnancies and he's really not happy about that.
Unfortunately, the fate of the entire kingdom hangs on Mykhayl producing an heir. Corinne, as a sorceress in this world, may have the power to cure his sterility, but getting him to trust a sorceress, after what she put him through with the Gray Sorceress, may be even more difficult. And meanwhile, Corinne is worrying about Celeste.
***** "Bound by the Dream" by Angela Knight.
Celeste's story. This one's a little darker. Celeste is divorced from an abusive husband who liked to tie her up, so the bondage Jarred, the hero from her science fiction series, puts her through is more difficult for her. And Jarred is not inclined to go easy on her, because she killed his best friend, and if that's not bad enough, in the last conversation he overheard between the sisters, Celeste was discussing how to kill him off.
Jarred's plan is to tame Celeste, to train her as a sexsub, then give her to his friend, the alien slaver De'Lar. He didn't plan on falling for her, and he fights it every inch of the way. There's a nice twist at the end.
The two stories are linked by a common prologue and epilogue, and by the explicit and very steamy sex scenes. (Where can I get one of those racks from "Bound by the Dream"?!) Both authors are skilled at writing sex scenes--there was no awkwardness or coyness to them, and they actually advanced the plots. Most tellingly, for me, anyway: I wasn't tempted to skim them.
I've probably given each story an extra half star because I enjoyed the premise so much, but then my ratings are all about how much I enjoyed the stories, not anything objective, so I'm okay with that.
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, 5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
bound
***** Bound by Sasha White. Erotic romance.
Wow. What to say about this book? I was expecting steam. Heck, just look at the cover, and you know there aren't going to be fade-to-black or closed-door sex scenes, and you can pretty much gather that said sex scenes won't be same-old, same-old either.
What you might not expect, particularly if, like me, you're new to this author, are realistic characters and emotional depth, but they're there.
Katie Long is a good girl with the soul of a bad girl. She's working in a casino in a small town, where everyone knows her, and she feels trapped. Her overriding goal in life is to save up enough money to escape to the city where she can finally be herself.
Meanwhile, she has her eye on the sexy new security guard at the casino: Joe Carson. In a fit of daring, she gives him a show on the security monitor, and starts an intense, exciting, D/s sexual relationship with him.
At least it starts out as just sex, until they both find themselves falling in love, and their emotional goals and their practical goals start to collide.
Bound does a lovely job of portraying Katie, and showing how a person can be sexually submissive without being weak or ineffectual outside the bedroom--or even inside it. It also does a lovely job of showing Katie's character change--the traditional but no less true plot of discovering what you really want.
The ending is very satisfying. No giving up of one's goals for a new sexual relationship, no inexplicable and convenient character changes. I was happy for Katie and the end, and confident that she'd be happy too.
I'll definitely be looking for more books by Sasha White.
...more
Categories: Books, 5stars, EroticRomance
Labels: 5 stars, books, EroticRomance
