Mini-Reviews: More Short Erotic Reads

I had the laziest Sunday in recent memory.  How lazy?  I did nothing but read all day (OK, hold up - I did a load of laundry).  Part of the binge were three short, erotic stories.

First up is Flinch by L. Setterby, whose full-length erotic romance, Breathe, was one of my best reads in 2018.  I downloaded this story right after reading Breathe because I had to have more and...well, it was short and free (it's still free as of this posting - at least on Amazon).

David still isn't over his ex, so much so that she's a favorite topic of conversation when he sees his therapist.  David is a masochist and Ann-Marie...well, let's just say she's sweetness and light and David is filled with just enough self-loathing that the thought of corrupting her bothers him.  So because he can't talk about what he wants and needs from her, and she's annoyed that he doesn't trust her enough to open up to her, their relationship withers on the vine.  So it's complicated when he runs into her at a business conference.

This is a very short story - clocking in around 30 pages.  For that reason, it works as erotica.  As a romance?  It's hard to say.  I have no doubt David and Ann-Marie care for each other and are miserable apart - but in the long term can their relationship work?  I'd like to think so - but there's not enough of a word count here to definitively convince me.  But heroes like David aren't exactly thick on the ground in Romancelandia, so for that reason I'm calling this one successful. Plus it gives a good introduction to the author's voice if you've never read her before.

Final Grade = B

Under Her Uniform by Victoria Janssen is one of the slightly longer Spice Briefs and while I dug the setting, this is an instance where author "voice" didn't really click for me.  Isobel Hailey has disguised herself as a man ("Bob") to serve in the British Army during World War I.  Why?  The money is apparently good and she has a mother and younger sister to support.  She's having an affair with two men (one is bisexual, the other gay) who know she's really a woman, but otherwise it's secret.  So her lusting after Corporal Andrew Southey is really pointless.  But it all gets complicated when she's assigned to a top-secret mission and Southey is named her partner.

This one just didn't flow for me.  After I finished it I realized why.  Isobel was a secondary character in the full-length historical erotic paranormal, The Moonlight Mistress.  There's a number of characters on the page and it took me a while to settle in.  I think this is an instance where this short will work better as a companion piece to readers familiar with the full-length novel.  For me?  Janssen writes the setting very well (oh man, the trench scenes are really fantastic) - but otherwise it left me feeling pretty meh.

Final Grade = C

Ritual: Shibari by Saskia Walker was originally published by Spice Briefs in 2012 under the title Forbidden Ritual (which is the edition I had in my TBR).  Imogen is a high-powered executive having a torrid affair with her younger colleague, Giles.  She's submissive to his Dominant, but he knows she's holding back.  When Giles suggests shibari (rope bondage) she's initially hesitant, but ultimately succumbs - only to have her world rocked.

This story has been in my TBR for 7 years and a lot has changed in 7 years.  Namely female sub + male Dom = Wendy snoozefest.  I mean, it's been done.  Ad nauseam.  I'm bored with it.  Let's move on.  But....

Walker can write y'all.  She's probably one of the most under-appreciated, under the radar writers of erotic romance and she writes the hell out of this story.  Imogen is a powerful woman who loves her job and she's 40 (oh thank you baby Jesus!).  Giles is 8 years younger, totally smitten with her, and while he is a Dom, I never felt like he wanted to "break" her.  He wants her to soar - and he knows her holding herself back will keep that from happening.

Look, this still isn't my thing and I'm still pretty well over female sub, male Dom BDSM erotic romance, but this was a very well done short, erotic story.  It also reminds me why I tend to one-click Walker's books.

Final Grade = B

Retro Review: Double Dare

This review of Double Dare by Saskia Walker was first published at The Romance Reader in 2006.  Back then I gave it a rating of 4 Hearts (B Grade) with an MPAA sensuality rating of NC-17.

+++++

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect about the recent erotica boom is that many good authors, previously published by small presses, are cracking into the more mainstream, American marketplace. Such is the case with Saskia Walker, whose first full-length novel debuts under the Berkley Heat umbrella. While a little thin on conflict, it’s easy to see that this is an author who has earned her stripes writing for respected erotica publishers like Virgin Books’ Black Lace line.

Abby Douglas is a beautiful, sexually aware investment advisor working for a prominent firm in London. While standing at the reception desk one day, a drop dead gorgeous courier comes in to drop off some documents. He thinks Abby is the receptionist, and she doesn’t correct him. This is one guy she would love to spend time with, and a lot men turn tail and run when they find out she’s a high-powered career gal. No harm, no foul, why not have some fun?

Except that sexy courier is club owner, Zac Bordino who just happens to be the son of Abby’s new client. His mother is in failing health, and has urged Zac to oversee the family portfolio. It’s when Zac gets a look at that portfolio that he realizes that Abby Douglas is no secretary. But why would she lie to him? Is it innocent enough or is she hiding something more nefarious? To find out, he begins to spend more time with her, and while he wants to find out what she’s truly about, he finds it might not be soon enough to guard his heart.

While the conflict sounds like it’s ripe for miscommunication and a big misunderstanding, Walker doesn’t write it that way. Abby’s little white lie is innocent enough, but Zac doesn’t know that – and given his playboy past and family money, he’s a little slow to trust. That doesn’t mean though that the characters sit around brooding in their internal angst. Anything but! Abby and Zac are immediately attracted to each other, with a sexual combustion that leaps off the pages. These two cannot get enough of each other, and the love scenes are sexy, erotic and imaginative without being silly and weird.

Original Cover

Also refreshing is that when the truth finally comes out in the open, both characters openly admit to what they’ve done. There’s no wailing, stomping of feet, or theatrical screaming matches. These two actually behave like adults, and admit that they both could have handled the situation better. It also gives the author time to explore the extremely pleasing fantasy of hot sex with a hot stranger.

While Abby is a sexually confident woman, once she and Zac hook up readers will find a monogamous relationship. Also, there is a smaller secondary romance between the real receptionist and Zac’s best friend that plays out quite nicely.

While the plot isn’t what one would call complex, and the conflict runs on the thin side, this is a pleasing erotic romance that works quite well. Walker’s previously published erotica consists of several novellas, and her ability in the craft of writing spicy sex shows. Having waded through some less than desirable offerings from the recent erotica boom, this is one of the better novels to land in my lap. It was a pleasant diversion indeed and a good start to Walker’s full-length novel career.

++++++

Wendy Looks Back: Walker had several shorter stories/novellas under her belt when the first big wave of what would become known as "erotic romance" hit.  By the mid-2000s, most romance publishers had some sort of a "erotic romance" imprint and veterans like Walker were getting snapped up.  This was her first full-length book for Berkley Heat and while I did find the conflict a bit on the thin side, Walker writes passion very well and tends to avoid the trap of writing kink for kink's sake.  She's still writing today and still an author I enjoy reading when I want something on the spicy side.

Digital Reviews: Three Steamy Short Stories

Thanks to the Scheduling Gods, I had a glorious four-day weekend where I gorged myself at the reading trough.  In between a binge of category romance, I found the time to zip through three digital short stories, all of which had something to recommend them.

The Mermaid's Tale by Grace D'Otare is an Amazon exclusive that continues on with a series she first started publishing with Harlequin Spice.

Maeve and Devlin are a married couple who 1) still like to have sex with each other and 2) tell each other naughty stories.  This time around Devlin spins Maeve his own version of The Little Mermaid, set against the backdrop of the French Resistance during World War II.  Lorie is a former nurse now singing in a night club.  David and Alex are both owners of said nightclub, with David working undercover as the stage manager/costume/make-up guy and Alex as the mysteriously hunky spy who is gone for stretches of time.  One thing leads to another and the trio find themselves hiding out in a secret tunnel to avoid detection by enemy troops.  Gee, whatever shall they do to pass the time?

I still like the idea of this series (the married couple telling stories angle just flat-out works for me) and the setting is great.  D'Otare does a good job of delivering an actual story here, although I think I would have liked a little more Sexy Times and the writing could have been a little smoother in spots.  But it has great atmosphere, interesting characters, and I'm happy to see the series is still alive.

Final Grade = B-

I tend to really like Saskia Walker's voice, and on that score Forbidden does not disappoint.  It still has her trademark sense of longing (the author writes "yearning" very well) and the Sexy Times are nice, steamy, and blessedly BDSM-free.  Too bad the plot didn't work as well for me.

Emmanuelle Forsythe is 21-years-old and has the hots for her father's estate manager.  Jacob Finch returns those feelings but has already been warned away by Emmanuelle's stepmother.  Turns out Daddy and Step-Mummy have plans for the girl to marry money.

This is a plot that just works better for me in a historical.  I "get" that the rich are different and yes, probably do still marry for reasons other than twu wuv, but the girl is 21.  I mean, she's got options assuming she's willing to toss off the yoke of monied privilege and oh....get a job.  So yeah, it just doesn't work as well for me in the 21st century.  But it's hot, steamy, and if you go for the Romeo & Juliet plot and prefer it when the idiot kids don't end up dead?  This one is worth a look.

Final Grade = C

I don't know where Charlotte Stein has been all of my erotica reading life, but I'm ready to take the "Gone Fishin'" sign off my ovaries and have this woman's babies - that's how much I was blown away by Restraint.  With this, just the second bit of work I've read by Stein, she's managed to knock the wind out of me....again!

Mallory is getting ready to go on holiday with friends when she finds out Artie is tagging along.  Given that Artie treats her like something he stepped in, this is not welcome news.  He flat-out seems to despise her, and Mallory has no clue why.  So imagine her shock when she learns what Artie's problem with her really is.

I've been whining a bit (OK, a lot) lately about how over BDSM I am and how bored I am with every erotic author on the planet playing in that landscape.  What Stein does is so different, so refreshing, that I'm probably grading on a curve but ask me if I care?  A repressed hero.  Truly....A. Repressed. Hero.  A heroine who likes to talk dirty and isn't afraid to make the first move.  Hot, Sexy Times with nary a whip, chain, rope or sex toy in sight.

Dare I say it?  Could this be love?

Stein's writing style here is a wee bit rambling, which fits with the first person narration - but it all works so well in this story.  Especially since, like Mallory, the reader is fairly clueless from the get-go on what Artie's deal is.  There's enough of a positive ending here that I think romance fans will be pleased and now I want to drop everything and read nothing but Charlotte Stein books.  Seriously.  I can't do that, but I soooooo want to.

Final Grade = A