Book Binge

Riley Carson Connors is yanked out of Pittsburgh and coaxed to New York by two tall, sexy strangers. Nicholas and Damian are the only people in the world who know anything about her mother and father, and what they know is terrifying. She must face a powerful enemy who killed both her parents, who were the best at what they did.

But while the truth about Riley's family history is a powerful magnet, Damian and Nicholas prove to be even more compelling. Former lovers brought together because they gave their word to Riley's mother, the two powerful vampires play erotic mind games with her, each hiding a sexual agenda that Riley can't begin to guess.

But it seems to involve driving her out of her mind with the sort of pleasure only a centuries-old lover would know how to give.

This was a neat paranormal vampire ménage story. Damian and Nicholas show up on Riley doorstep with information about the parents she never knew. She goes with them to help them in their quest to defeat the wizard and gargoyle that killed her parents and have returned to find and destroy her.

The only thing that bugged me about this story was the timetable and her training. Her mother had trained since childhood to fight bad paranormal things and she trains for about 10 hours, with no previous training, and then is ready to face the bad guys. Even Buffy took longer than that.

Besides that I really liked the story. The characters were interesting, the storyline was pretty fast paced to keep me interested and the love scenes were hot. All that equals a good story to me. I give it a 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora's Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

Judith's review of Invitation to Decadence by Nadia Aidan.

Trent and Nia Connelly have been married for nearly a year and already their marriage is falling apart. Trent finally files for divorce when his wife continually pushes him away, denying them both what they need secually.

Nia discovers too late what her fears and deceptions have wrought and now must fight to prove to Trent that they still have a marriage worth saving. When she offers herself, body and soul, as the obedient submissive he's always desired, Trent is forced to reevaluate everything he knows about himself, his wife, and the entire marriage.

This is a very intense novella that deals with the overt needs of Trent as a true Dominant and Nia as a genuine submissive. He thought she understood that bondage et al would be a part of their relationship from the very beginning, but Nia's fears and her shame in her own sexual needs erected barriers between them and the marriage appeared to be on the road to slow death. Now, with divorce papers having been served, Nia recognizes that she is on the verge of losing the one man she loves, and she has to choose between admitting both to herself and to Trent the true nature of her sexual desires, or hanging on to her fears. Trent is the owner of a pleasure club that features BDSM and is a master dominant. Yet Nia has to decide if she can put herself into her husband's hands. It all comes down to trust.

It matters not if the reader enters into this lifestyle or whether this is a preferred way of interacting with one's lovers. This story is really about trust and honesty. Trent loves his wife but is no longer willing to live with her distrust and fear. If we were all really honest, we would recognize that all abusive relationships are rooted in fear. It is often thought that BDSM is abuse, and I am not convinced that it is without its dangers. But I know many spouses who suffer many years of abuse and unhealthy control by their husbands or wives that is rooted in a pathological insecurity and a need to isolate for the purpose of possessing the partner. Such a relationship is far more abusive than careful and caring BDSM relationships. That being said, I think that the real themes in this novella are important for a reader's consideration and I think it takes courage for an author to deal openly with such subjects.

On a negative note, while I understood Trent's deep and all-consuming anger at feeling betrayed by Nia, I felt that it went on just a bit long. I think in addition to trust and honesty, forgiveness is possible far more than most people are willing to practice. On the other hand, such a sense of betrayal is often difficult to let go. I think Ms Aidan handled that issue with literary expertise as well. So I have to say that all in all, I liked this story, and while BDSM is not me, I found the back story and underlying themes to be instructive and of great interest. I give this novella a 3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora's Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

Judith's review of Having Patience by Debra Glass.

Throughout their long engagement, James Camplyon, Earl of Somerset, has fantasized about Patience Hadley Mims' silken skin and voluptuous curves. He expects his witty, beautiful bride to be timid on their wedding night. But Patience is far more than shy. She is terrified!

James presents his reluctant bride with a box of risque novels, ordering her to choose a passage each night for them to act out. Despite her fears, Patience thinks being bound and blindfolded will undo the hard-learned lessons of a lifetime. But she doesn't count on her husband's patient resolve to strip away the dark secrets threatening to prevent her from giving herself to him completely.

This is the first novella I have read by this author and I have to say that as a historical romance it was somewhat impressive. I am always just a little disappointed that writers do not expand their plots and story development and that this particular publisher features novellas more than the longer works. However, Ms Glass certainly puts a great deal of story into this shortened form.

I is well known historically that 19th century women came to the marriage bed with almost no real useful informaton about the intimacies between husband and wife, and if they knew anything at all, the information was fraught with the prevailing cultural opinion that there was no joy to be had in the sexual act. Most were not even informed as to the physical nature of that act--some even believing that women became pregnant if their husband's kissed them. Patience wasn't quite that ignorant, but because of her mother's death when she was 4 years old, and having only a spinster governess to instruct her, she was truly unprepared for the loving attentions of her husband. She was fortunate, possibly not even knowing, that her husband wanted her to experience true joy and authentic intimacy in their marriage, so Patience's terror of sex was a puzzle and a great frustration to him, not only physically but endangering the future of their relationship.

I came to appreciate James' creativity in addressing Patience's phobia. Of course, he was unaware, as was her father, that her terror stemmed from her brother's accidental death from falling down the stairs, and her mother's subsequent early labor which resulted in not only her death, but the death of her unborn child. Patience was made the brunt of this happening by this same governess. Nasty and unprincipled lady!! And so she became afraid, to the point of emotional shut-down, of all loving relationships, believing that anyone she loved would die in a terrible way. Her response to bondage was, in truth, a self-punishment for the damage she had caused in the death of her brother and mother. Only in mild BDSM could she find any genuine passion.

I don't know why people project their own anger on to others, especially innocent children, and this story is really about the fall-out from such projection and the ripple effect on the lives not connected with the original incident. It is also about the power of genuine love to overcome adverse circumstances, a love that will not rest until all barriers between lovers are resolved and desolved.

I liked these characters and enjoyed seeing the progress of their journey of discovery. I liked James' determination to relieve Patience of her deep fears. I truly appreciated the way this story brought all the various threads together into a really lovely romance that I think is well told and has true literary merit. I look forward to reading other works by this author. I give this novella a rating of 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora's Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J's Book Place.