"Not the best from any of these authors."
The subtitle "Tales of Erotic Romance" is a bit misleading.
Although the level of sensuality varies in the four
stories, they aren't any hotter than one can find in many a
Harlequin Temptation or Blaze. Straight, monogamous sex;
nothing steamy enough that I would label it "erotic". "Satisfy Me" by Lori Foster Three female friends watch their male coworkers visiting
the new adult sex shop that just opened across the street
from the company where they all work, and they come up with
a crazy dare. Each of the three has to reveal a secret sex
fantasy, then go visit the porn shop and wangle a date with
a man who matches their fantasy. Erica, who is recovering
from a bad marriage and not dating anyone, reluctantly goes
first -- she announces she'll find a man who is interested
in spanking. Their conversation is overheard by Cameron, a
manager at the company, who has been getting nowhere in his
efforts to get better acquainted with Erica. He isn't
interested in spanking, but is willing to try anything to
get Erica to go out with him. Unfortunately, Cameron
doesn't hear Erica explain to her friends her theory that a
man who gets his fantasy satisfied by porno books or tapes
or gadgets, would not need to play out that fantasy in
reality. She actually is appalled by sexy spanking and
wants to be sure the guy she picks up would not try that
with her. So when Cameron arranges to be standing in the
shop aisle with a spanking video in his hand when Erica
drops in, they are at cross purposes on what the other
person really wants. Will their very hot mutual attraction
overcome this little misunderstanding? (Well, yes, of
course we know it will; the story is about the fun of
reaching that point.) Asia's rapid conversion from being unwilling to get
involved with a man to wild lust for Cameron is the weakest
part of the plot, but within the limited length of a short
story it is necessary to be able to accept an
unrealistically fast development of emotions and actions.
Both Asia and Cameron are sympathetic characters, and it is
easy to like them. I found this the best story in the book,
although not as good as Ms. Foster's previous short
stories. Note: The related stories for Asia's two friends
will be appearing in future anthologies. - - - - - - - - - - - It took me a while to figure out what bothered me about the
other three stories in the book, and what it was they all
had in common -- besides the fact that I didn't like them.
Then I realized that the heroes in them were not heroic to
me. These men were psychologically and by their
actions "stalkers". If I'd been any of these heroines, I
certainly wouldn't be falling in love -- I'd be dialling
911, reasearching the state's stalker laws, and filing for
a restraining order. But then, I was standing in line with
a gallon jug when they were giving out intelligence, and
these three heroines must have been holding thimbles. "Stranger In Her Bed" by Suzanne Forster Kerry used to be a hot-shot software designer. Now she's an
agoraphic, hiding out in her house, wanting no interaction
with the rest of the world. Why? Well, she was mugged in
her deteriorating neighborhood. And she doesn't want to
face her coworkers after an embarrassing incident where she
made a pass at the man she didn't know was the company's
reclusive owner. So does she do anything sensible like find
a new job, move to a new house, or even start a
Neighborhood Watch program? Nope, she refuses to leave her
house and switches to a low-paying job at the same company,
one that allows her to work from home testing new
interactive software. (Clearly, her lights are on but no
one is home.) Her only contacts are with the company's
Human Resources guy who keeps calling her and trying to
talk her into coming back to her old job, the guy who has
rented the apartment over her garage and seems concerned
enough to keep checking on her -- and the seductive
artificial intelligence in the new sexual fantasy game
software she is testing. The last is the weirdest one:
Kerry is practically hypotised by the computer voice, the
game turns itself on whenever it wants, and the AI
personality seems able to actually see her and know what
she is doing and thinking. Eew, the whole thing was just too creepy for me. None of
these male personalities were at all attractive, although
the AI was very sexy. The plot was too messy to make sense,
Kerry was a flake, and the resolution was totally fake. "No Mercy" by Thea Devine Regan and Bobby fell in instant lust when they were
teenagers. Despite the fact that she was from the wrong
side of the tracks and he was a spoiled rich kid whose
parents hated Regan and thought she was just after his
money, they got married. Didn't last long, of course. Bobby
was obsessively possessive and jealous, followed her
around, couldn't tolerate her talking to another man. Plus,
he was lousy in bed. All Regan asked for from the
acrimonious divorce was enough money to go to college.
Bobby moved to another city to run the family businesses
far away from his memories of Regan. Angie, Bobby's sister,
managed to stay best friends with Regan through the whole
debacle. It's now seven years later. Regan is a very successful
commercial real estate dealer. Her boss Tony has been in
love with her for years. Angie is still good friends with
everyone (or so we think). But now Bobby is coming back to
town -- supposedly to buy and take over running the local
newspaper, but everyone knows it's really because he wants
to see Regan. He comes to Tony's company to help him find a
new site for the business, and insists that Regan be his
agent. They spend a lot of time in verbal sparring and
physical groping. Tony is jealous, Angie is furious, Regan
is snotty and confused (her elevator does not go all the
way to the top when it comes to her relationship with
Bobby), and Bobby is still possessive and jealous and
controlling.He tells Regan that he's spent the seven years
they were apart "earning" her -- for example, he's gotten a
lot more practice and skill at sex. Oh, boy, wouldn't you
feel flattered that a man would do that for you? These two
people display every symptom of teenage lust (including
some pretty raw language), but I didn't see one sign of
love or affection or respect or caring or . . . "Something Wild" by Shannon McKenna Annie is broke, out of a job, and escaping from an abusive
relationship. She has her barely functioning old truck,
camping gear, and a few dollars left when she decides to
drive for days to get to a casino and try her lucky coin.
(Already we can tell this heroine is a few fries short of a
Happy Meal.) She notices a motorcycle following her on her
trip -- the guy has been on her tail for several days,
although she hasn't seen him at night when she pulls into
various parkgrounds to camp. Jacob is taking a vacation -- riding his $50,000 Harley
across the country makes a nice change from running his own
company. He doesn't know why he's become obsessed with the
pretty lady driving the truck, but he keeps following her
and eventually approaches her in a restaurant. No, he
doesn't tell her who or what he really is. Yes, of course
they end up traveling together and getting sexually
involved. Before you know it, Jacob is telling her what to
do, controlling her every move, has thrown away her camping
stuff and dragged her to a motel. Does it make sense that
Annie decides she's in love with him, even though she knows
she has to escape him? Is there ever any explanation for
Jacob's Jeckyl and Hyde psycho behavior? Is there any plot
to this story? No, no, and no.
Reviewed by Raelene Gorlinsky
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted January 6, 2002
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