Mini-Reviews: Nice and Naughty Novellas

I spent most of December trying to catch up on the backlog of holiday reads I had on my Kindle.  The quickest way to separate Wendy from her money?  Put the word "Christmas" in the title.  The irony being that most of the "Christmas" books I read prior to the holiday were pretty light on the "holiday stuff."  Figures I'd read Christmas at Evergreen Inn by Donna Alward immediately post-Christmas and it would turn out to the holiday-iest holiday read I read this year.  My timing, as usual, is terrible.

This is a short novella (just under 100 pages) and is part of Alward's small town Jewell Cove series set in Maine.  There is some series baggage in play, but I'm behind in the series and had no problem keeping up.

Lainey Price is a hometown girl who runs the local B&B.  A nor'easter blows into town, filling up all her available rooms, spare cots and sofas.  Local cop Todd Ricker brings a stranded motorist to Lainey's inn, only to get a call from dispatch.  Where ever you are Todd, stay there for the night.  With the inn full up, that means Todd is bunking on Lainey's sofa in her cottage behind the inn.  And since these two have a long-standing crush?  Sparks fly.  Conflict enters in the way of Lainey's broken heart (her fiance dumped her two years ago right before their Christmas wedding) and Todd's reputation as "a player."

This was a completely nice, cozy read.  It's pleasant.  It's cozy.  Did I say it was cozy?  It's the sort of book I wish I had read by my lit Christmas tree on Christmas Eve after the kids (um, I don't have kids - minor detail that) were nestled all snug in their beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.  There was a "jumping to conclusions" moment at the end that I found a little jarring, but otherwise this was a perfectly, pleasant and cozy read (did I say that already?).  If you're a fan of the series you'll definitely want to add this one to the pile.

Final Grade = B-

Let's get this out of the way up front.  Warlord's Captive by Lisa Cach is the fourth installment in her 1001 Erotic Nights serial - which means that it does not stand alone.  You really need to be familiar with the previous installments.  I've read them, but it's been a while, so luckily Cach dropped enough breadcrumbs during this novella for my memory to get suitably jogged.

Former sex slave, Nimia, and her BFF, Terix have fled Gaul for Britannia.  Nimia is hoping to uncover her past and to do that she needs to find a druid named Merlin (yes, that Merlin).  Of course, as happens wherever Nimia seems to go, complications ensue.  They get lost, get captured by a warlord named Mordred, and eventually hook up with Merlin and his half-brother Arthur (yes, that Arthur).

This series has been described as Fifty Shades meets Game of Thrones.  The best way I can describe it is Old School Erotic Romance.  It reminds me of the kind of thing Kensington Brava would have published back in the day.  That's either going to work for you...or it won't.  I'll admit it - it works for me.  I love this kind of thing.  I just do.  It also helps that Cach has a way with sly humor, and trashy sexual shenanigans liberally sprinkled with paranormal elements.

Wine, a prison cell, and an angry, lusting warlord.  What woman wouldn't be swooning with delight?

I'll be honest - you pretty much read this installment for the end when Nimia goes all badass Domme on Mordred.  That alone was worth the price of admission for me.  But alas, once again, just as Nimia takes a step forward in agency and power - she ends up falling prey to a scheming man she should have been more wary of.  But hell, who am I kidding?  This series is ticking off all my nostalgia boxes.  I'm not sure how widely read this series has been, but if you go for that sudsy, soapy, old school erotic vibe (surely I'm not the only one?) - start at the beginning.  There's at least two more installments after this one, and I've kind of lost track of the number of sexual partners Nimia's had.  At some point I'm thinking Cach will end this serialization with a "oh, that's the guy she ends up with" revelation - but we're not quite at that point yet.  Like I said - Old School.

Final Grade = B-

Digital Review: Siren of Gaul

Unlike some romance readers I've never really been offended by the term "bodice ripper."  Why?  Because I truly believe that "bodice rippers" do exist as a genre.  That being said?  I do get massively annoyed when ignorant folks throw the term around free and easy.  Oh, like use the term to describe the romance genre as we know it today.  There may be very, very faint echoes, but the vast majority of the genre today has moved on from that earlier era (for good or ill depending on your point of view).

Which is probably why I'm enjoying Lisa Cach's 1001 Erotic Nights serial as much as I am.  No, it's not perfect.  And, oh yes, I've had my issues with it.  But it's such a throwback, gleefully so, to a bygone era of ripping bodices, heroines overcome with lust, barely housebroken heroes, and general over-the-topness - well, how can I be expected to not have fun with any of this?

Siren of Gaul is the third part of the serial and finds our former sex slave Nimia giving birth to a son.  The fly in the ointment?  She's not quite sure who the Baby Daddy is.  Gah, don't you hate it when that happens?  Even though she came very close to dying in childbirth, and even though she's got a newborn to fret over, Nimia isn't allowed to rest of her laurels.  Clovis, now a king, is worried about Nimia's former master, Sygarius, who managed to escape capture in the last installment and is now taking refuge with the Visigoth king, Alaric.  Clovis devises a plan to send Nimia - thinking that the wrongs done to her by Sygarius will sway the pious-minded Alaric.  And if that doesn't work?  Alaric, now widowed, and sexually repressed thanks to his religious beliefs has no prayer of withstanding Nimia - whose lady parts are, essentially, the most magical of ho-has.

So, once again, Nimia is being used by Clovis who, for reasons that escape me, she fancies herself in love with.  What going to Alaric does for her is to show her another side of men.  Clovis is all ambition, war, and screwing her brains out hoping for one of her "visions."  Alaric, while sexually repressed to the point where I want to pat him on the head and murmur "Oh, you poor lad," is a kind man.  And like most men, once he gets a taste of Nimia and the freedom of her sensuality, our boy is all in (in more ways than one).

What's getting troublesome here is that Nimia seems to be a very slow learner.  I would think that her experiences in the first two installments would have helped her catch somewhat of a clue, but she seems a bit thick at times.  Also, she's easily overruled by her lady parts.  One of those heroines who can't seem to control herself.  I don't know, maybe it's just me, but if Sygarius treated me the way he treated her in the last installment?  I would not get turned on when I saw him again.  Maybe that's just me though.

But, it does get better towards the end.  Mostly because I finally feel  like Nimia is waking up.  Making a choice that will better herself, and not being enslaved by her passion for Clovis.

I was no longer a slave, but neither was I free and in control of my own fate.  Perhaps no one was.  But surely some were more free than this.

That said, it's an ending I don't see everybody being wild about - mostly because that choice Nimia makes doesn't paint her in the best light as a maternal figure.  But, bother that.  I know that Pocket has agreed to publish the next three installments of this serial after the first of the year.  Which means Nimia's saga is not yet finished, and is possibly just beginning.  Because like any halfway decent bodice-ripping yarn?  There are more travels, and presumably more men, in her future.

Final Grade = C

Digital Review: Barbarian's Concubine

But what I'd told Clovis was the truth: for good or ill, I had chosen him.  I was on his side, whether or not I agreed with his decisions, and I knew that I would have to prove my loyalty to him...no matter how distasteful I found the tasks he set me.

That is everything you need to know to judge whether or not Barbarian's Concubine, the second installment in Lisa Cach's 1001 Erotic Nights serial, is your sort of read.  I'm not going to lie, this is turning out to be a problematic serial for me to review, and here we are only on the second installment.  I probably shouldn't like it.  I probably should be offended.  I could very well see how other readers would look at me and question my sanity.  But enjoy this I did, caveats and all.  Why?  Because Cach has gone gleefully, cheerfully, Old School with her story.  So far this serial is reading like a Bodice Ripper that has been dismantled and delivered in serial format, as opposed to a door-stopping 500 page novel.  That is obviously going to work better for some readers than others.

Nimia, our former sexual slave, has escaped King Sygarius.  She had no choice but to escape, having been betrayed by her lover, Clovis.  She's looking for a way to escape Gaul but when that option dries up, she's determined to find Clovis.  Yes, he did betray her, forcing her to this life on the run. Sygarius has, naturally, offered a healthy reward for her return.  But Clovis seems to know something about her people, and having no knowledge of who she is, where she came from, this is information that Nimia wants badly.  Once reunited with Clovis, things get complicated.  Nimia has paranormal abilities, visions, that seem to foretell the future, and naturally (this being an erotic serial after all) she gets these visions while, um.....being pleasured.  Clovis discovers this quickly, and now a King, he is determined to use Nimia's gifts to win a bigger prize - taking down Sygarius.

I'll be honest, right up front - Nimia is not the sharpest tool in the shed.  However I'm willing to cut her some slack, mostly because she doesn't have a lot of options.  If she weren't so desperate to find answers about where she came from, she probably could have just set sail for Britania - but then where would our story be?  However her fancying herself "in love" with Clovis strains considerably.  He's obviously using her, but she's too messed up in the head (and let's not forget horny) to get a clue.

And let's talk about horny for a moment.  This is an erotic serial, so yes - sex.  But like the bodice rippers that I suspect inspired this tale (I could be wrong here - it's not like the author and I have had lengthy chats on the subject), the sex is....not always consensual.  Is it rape?  I didn't necessarily think so.  Not all the time at any rate.  But there's no denying that there is a very lop-sided power dynamic to the sex.  Nimia doesn't have any power in this story - other than her visions.  Clovis or Sygarius are unlikely to truly "harm" her because her visions are useful to them.  But does she always want to have sex with them?  Is that sex sometimes played out in a manner that Nimia might not always "want" it?  Yes.  Especially with a development at the end of this installment.  Is Nimia beaten, bloodied and bruised?  No.  Is she subjected to sex against her will?  Some readers will probably say yes - and I'm not necessarily going to say that they're wrong.

Consider that your trigger warning.

It really does remind me of an Old School erotic romance.  Think, harem story - but with no harem and you'll get an idea of what we're dealing with here.  I am just going to admit it - I'm hooked.  Maybe I should be ashamed of being hooked, but I am.  I'm hoping I'm right when I say I think I know where this story is heading.  I'm hoping over the course of the story that Nimia will come into her own.  Gain power.  Gain agency.  As the mystery of who Nimia is, of what her powers entail, come to fruition, I'm hoping we get a serialization of a warrior goddess.  But time will tell.

It's a bodice ripping soap opera saga delivered in bite-size pieces.  Is it any wonder I'm hooked?

Final Grade = C

Digital Review: 1001 Erotic Nights Part I: Slave Girl

It has been several years since Lisa Cach last released a book with a traditional publisher, and Slave Girl marks the first novella in an erotic trilogy set at the end of the Roman Empire.  I'll admit that this was an instance where the author's name is what persuaded me to give this one a go as the plot description didn't exactly light my world on fire.  In the end, I'm glad I read this - if only because it is filled with great promise of things to come.

Nimia is a slave of King Sygarius.  She was taken as a child when he raided her tribal village and so taken with her lush beauty, he has schooled her in the sensual arts.  Basically what that entails is Sygarius doing years of endless teasing, working Nimia up into a frenzy until finally, ripe and ready as an adult, he will deflower her.  Needless to say, Nimia is just about ready to have a go at it, and the endless teasing, the endless schooling in carnal delights, most of which are done through voyeurism, means Nimia is one frustrated girl.  Then one of Sygarius' allies rides into town.  A group of barbarians.  That king's son, Clovis, has completely twisted Nimia inside out - to the point where she foolishly gives away the one thing meant for Sygarius.  The one thing that will surely get her killed.  Her virginity.

I've been reading erotic romance for a long time, even before it really existed and I sated my own desire by reading "romantic" erotica.  So I feel fairly confident in saying that Slave Girl read Old School for me.  The style, the voice, the choice of language and words that Cach used to tell her story.  It's not the purplest of purple prose I've ever read (hardly), but I wouldn't say it's as frank as some of the language employed by newcomers to the sub genre.  I also think that the time period, setting, and plot of the story has a lot to do with this Old School vibe.  It's not a harem story, per se, but it's pretty close to it.

As a romance, this story alone isn't going to cut it.  The author is setting her stage, plus the added duplicitous nature of all the characters (yes, we have politics!) certainly doesn't instill a lot of trust in the reader for any of them.  It's a soap opera, with more sex and a few light paranormal elements thrown in for added flavor.  Which makes this a hard story to judge on it's own.  Really it's sole purpose is to whet the reader's appetite to keep going, to continue on with the serial.  And this story did leave me with that, mostly because of the promise that Nimia gives to the reader.

This is a heroine who is a slave.  Who has no control of her own person.  She's not allowed to have free will.  But over the course of this story you see her yearning for it, plotting for it, thinking that maybe Clovis is her ticket to finding her people.  Maybe she can escape.  Maybe her life can be more than being some king's sexual plaything.  Where I hope this trilogy will eventually lead is to a heroine who takes control over her own life.  A heroine who takes control over her own sexual desires.  A heroine who, after years of not being her own person, becomes one.

But this is only Part I and it's too soon to tell.  It's the promise of those things though that will keep me going.  As a stand-alone romance, this story doesn't entirely work.  As the set-up to a bigger picture?  The jury is still out.

Final Grade = C+