2.5 stars, ordinary story, no new ideas, nothing really grabbed me.
There were a lot of erotic sex scenes with bondage and current day sex toys. Don’t 2.5 stars, ordinary story, no new ideas, nothing really grabbed me.
There were a lot of erotic sex scenes with bondage and current day sex toys. Don’t look for historical accuracy. That is not the purpose of this book. Other than the sex scenes, the plot and events were predictable and similar to a typical romance novel. It was ok, but I wasn’t surprised or delighted.
Story brief: Viola came from a wealthy family. Her father disowned her when she married Edward. Edward brought her to a small mining town in Arizona. He was killed and Viola washes clothes to make a living. Paul is the local rich man who owns most of the town. He arranges for someone to take all of her possessions in hopes of forcing her to marry him. Viola goes to William and asks to become his mistress as a way to support herself. William agrees and she moves in with him immediately. Paul is furious and continues to be a threat.
Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: seventeen. Setting: 1871 small mining town Rio Piedras, Arizona. Copyright: 2004. Genre: erotic western historical romance.
To date, I’ve read the following Diane Whiteside books. 2.5 stars. The Irish Devil. Copyrt 2004. Review Date 8/31/08. 2 stars. Caught By The Tides (in anthology Beyond The Dark). Copyrt 2007. My 5 star review for the anthology was posted 12/31/07. 1 star. Bond of Blood. Copyrt 2006. Review Date 9/03/08....more
I liked it, but not enough to spend money on it. However, it might be worth buying for those who want a lot of erotic sex.
REVIEWER’S OPINION: I would nI liked it, but not enough to spend money on it. However, it might be worth buying for those who want a lot of erotic sex.
REVIEWER’S OPINION: I would normally give this story 2 stars, but because the genre is erotic I’m bumping it up to 3 stars for quality within that genre. The sex scenes were above average, but I prefer more story and emotion. A couple of times I wanted the book to be over. Outside of bed, Mara is headstrong and stubborn. In the bedroom, Cougar gives all the orders and Mara is happy to relinquish control and to do as he says. He makes it worth her while from a pleasure standpoint. There is rear door activity. Cougar is a softy around Mara. He loves her more than anything. He is a former marshall and a tough guy toward any man who threatens to hurt Mara.
STORY BRIEF: Mara’s father sold her to a bordello. On her first night there, she is drugged. She is a virgin. The owner of the bordello convinces Cougar that she has the perfect girl for him, and he pays for a night with Mara. As Mara comes out of the drug, she wants to escape, and Cougar helps her. For the next two months, she avoids all men including Cougar while she works as a washer woman. Cougar tries to convince her to marry him. She is against it.
DATA: Story length: 424 pages. Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: 13. Total number of sex scene pages: 116. Setting: 1869 Wyoming. Copyright: 2004. Genre: erotic western historical romance....more
2 ½ stars. Intriguing characters. Good first sex scene. Excellent plot, but weak execution - needed more events and action.
STORY BRIEF: Desi and her tw2 ½ stars. Intriguing characters. Good first sex scene. Excellent plot, but weak execution - needed more events and action.
STORY BRIEF: Desi and her twin sister Ari were kidnapped by Indians and raped. Some “respectable” white men paid the Indians for Desi. They kept her naked and chained to a bed as their private sex slave. Somehow a gang of men kidnapped Desi and three ladies. Caine and two of his partners were traveling nearby and heard screams. They saw two men trying to rape Desi. They killed the men and took the women back to town. Caine learns that the territories’ crookedest judge gave Desi to James (a gambler) as her guardian. Caine decides to take her to his ranch for safety, but the local priest says Caine can’t take her from her legal guardian unless he marries her. So Caine marries her on the spot. Caine and his seven partners own the ranch called Hell’s Eight. They are also Texas Rangers, giving them license to kill bad guys. The white men are unhappy at losing Desi. They put out a reward for anyone returning her. Bad guys come to the ranch to try and take her. Meanwhile there are many long sex scenes between Caine and Desi. They are mostly about Caine bringing pleasure to Desi, and Desi being reluctant due to her year of being repeatedly raped. The sex scenes include spanking, rear door activity, torture, and rape.
REVIEWER’S OPINION: There was a lot of potential. Intriguing characters – good and bad. Good first sex scene. Excellent overall plot, but weak execution. Not enough happened. It needed more events and action. At the end, there was an unfinished feel. Some readers will be uncomfortable due to torture, rape and other sexual acts.
The first sex scene between Caine and Desi was intoxicating and memorable. He was giving her a bath, washing her hair and then slowly, methodically massaging her body. Some of the other sex scenes were less interesting and too long. Many of them felt cutoff, leaving you wondering. A couple of times I was tired of Desi’s nervousness and reluctance. I didn’t like her logic on page 315. As she started liking Caine, she decided she was not going to experience sexual pleasure with him because “if she let go she’d lose herself in him and nothing would be the same again” – whatever that means. Several days later she just changes her mind and decides “she wanted to give herself the way he needed her to, but for her pleasure, not his” (page 368). Why did she change her mind? I don’t know. The author didn’t do a good job justifying this conflict or resolution.
I did not like the heroine doing something stupid for the sake of the plot. She knows bad guys are coming to the ranch to try and take her. Sam is her current guard. When he goes to the outhouse for a few minutes, he tells her to stay inside the house. She doesn’t. She decides she wants to gather some eggs to bake a cake. She sneaks out of the house, and of course something bad happens.
My main problem with the book was too much sex and not enough story. I wanted more details about Caine and his partners getting revenge on the white men. There was one scene with Caine and his partners going after some of Desi’s rapists that was unsatisfying. I was expecting cunning, skills, suffering, and revenge but got none of that. It’s like the author couldn’t think of anything interesting to say, so she used a convenient, easy and boring end to the bad guys. At the end of the book, the “worst rapist” (who offered the reward) was still out there. I wanted something to happen to him and learn about his motive, but nothing happened. That part of the story was unfinished. The epilogue conveniently provided some information about him which was told rather than shown.
There wasn’t enough story about bounty hunters coming to the ranch for Desi. I would have liked seeing more of them or groups of them coming to the ranch and fighting Caine and his buddies.
One of Caine’s partners told Desi he would find and free her sister Ari from the Indians. I was expecting something to happen but was disappointed to learn that a sequel will have to do that story. However, to date there have been two sequels and neither one of them is the Ari story. “Sam’s Creed” has Isabella as the heroine. “Tucker’s Claim” has Sallie Mae. Will we ever have closure regarding Ari or the “worst rapist”?
DATA: Story length: 465 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: 12. Total number of sex scene pages: around 102. Setting: 1858 Texas Territory near Los Santos. Copyright: 2007. Genre: erotic western historical romance....more
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