One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Series: Unbelievable, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 1110 Locations
Formats: Kindle


Getting soul mates together is tough work, and for guardian angel Tori Chambers, it's also been long and unfruitful on this case. She's been stuck in the roll of town gossip for a year - geriatric town gossip, at that, and it's getting as old as her appearance to humans. Regardless, her client the fireman is interested in his soul mate, but she's not having any of it and her guardian angel is getting exactly nowhere. It isn't surprising, really, when that angel is replaced. No, that's not surprising at all. What is surprising is the identity of the guardian angel who takes over the reluctant client's case.

Jericho.

The one man - angel - she'd hoped never to see again after he betrayed her over one hundred years ago during the fight for Texas independence. The man she'd loved with all her heart. Her soul mate. But a century ago, he broke her heart and then he died. So did she. She still's as wildly attracted to him as ever, but refuses to trust him with her heart ever again. And Jericho refuses to let her keep it from him. He's a guardian angel of soul mates and getting them together is what he does. When it comes to Tori, it's never been more important to succeed at his job.

Crystal Jordan has a gift for penning nifty stories with a tight plot and a nice balance of character development and exposition, delivering them with a smooth narrative and realistic dialogue, liberally adding delicious helpings of mouth-watering sex, and imbuing it all with a depth of emotion that's startling and impressive given the erotica theme and the length of the story, which in this case is definitely that of a short story as opposed to novella. I enjoyed the guardian angel theme in this series, and I was impressed with the characters' history. It added nice depth to their relationship and maximized the potential for its development. Jordan continues to impress me and reading her stories always provides entertainment. This story may have been shorter in length than If You Believe: Unbelievable, Book 1, but I think it had better balance between the characters and definitely packed more of an emotional wallop.

In fact, my only complaint with the story is one I'm becoming familiar with in relation to stories by Jordan - I wish they were longer, but only because I don't want them to end. Personally, I hope there's more to come in this sensual, sexy, emotional series. One word of caution for sensitive readers: this story contains sexual scenes of anal penetration and light bondage.

Genre: Erotic SciFi-Futuristic Romance
Series: Wasteland, Book 1
Rating: 5 Stars
Length: Novella
Formats: Kindle


I feel utterly compelled to mention that I am not a huge SciFi fan and I actually dislike (and usually avoid) post apocalyptic, futuristic stories. I'm also not a huge fan of multiple partner erotica. Oh, yeah - I'm not all that crazy about novellas, either. I read so fast that I burn through them way too quickly, and they're usually not as satisfying as full length novels. So, now that all that's out of the way, I have something else to say: Wasteland: The Wanderer Blew. Me. Away. It's a SciFi-futuristic, post apocalyptic erotica novella featuring multiple partner sex scenes and I loved it.

Yes, it's a novella, and the first of four novellas by four different authors written in the same "world" with the same overall setting - post apocalyptic earth following the solar flare catastrophe of 2012. In this bleak and barren future, women are in vast minority and are often segregated from men, classified by the goddess as Wanderer, Whore, Priestess, or Breeder.

In this first book, Crystal Jordan introduces us to Kadira, the Wanderer shaman, and gives us a glimpse of her tragic past and the brilliant carnality of her present. Ezra, chieftan of his people and brilliant inventor, carries the scars of battles on his body and the wounds of shame on his soul. He has been captivated by Kadira for years, but she has never lain with him during any of the spring or fall celebrations that unite clans for the duration. This time, this year, he will have her. No matter the cost.

Jordan has penned a tightly woven plot full of breathtaking sexuality in just about all its forms and pairings and combined it with a captivating love story and personal journeys of acceptance and trust. What impressed me the most was the sense of fullness the story provides. With such limited space, novellas often have to sacrifice some aspect of full storytelling to pull off the story arc, and while it's true that Wasteland: The Wanderer did condense the build of the relationship between Kadira and Ezra, Jordan still somehow managed to encapsulate in very realistic fashion the evolution of her main characters and the triumph of their unity. I haven't seen a novella of any genre pull off such a feat in quite some time. I was very impressed.

The sex in this novella is also remarkably well done. Graphic, yes, but written with a passion and sense of culture that impressed and amazed me. This futuristic world is vastly different from our own and in no other way is that evidenced more clearly than in the orgiastic rituals and relationship structure of the Wanderer people, and yet, at no time did I feel that such graphic sexual displays were strictly for the readers titillation, and in truth, they were written with a sense of respect and joy for the participants that is unmatched. I can't imagine a more satisfying read on any front in the format and concerning the subject matter that Jordan offers here. It's exceptionally well done and I highly recommend it...even if some aspects just aren't your thing.

One more mention: I have never included commentary on cover art in a story review before, because frankly, it has nothing to do with the story, but I want to commend the graphic designer who covered this book. It's beautiful artistry that reflects the bleak world of Wasteland and the character of Kadira perfectly. Kudos.

Note: This novella contains graphic scenes of M/F, M/M, F/F, M/M/F, and M/M/F/F sex.

Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Series: Unbelievable, Book 1
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Formats: Kindle

Sizzling

With a length that skirts the boundaries between what I would consider a short story and novella, If You Believe introduces us to Aubrey Mathison, owner of the coffee shop Bean There, Done That, and Chief of Police Price Delacroix. Aubrey is still damaged from the betrayal of her now ex-husband, and since their divorce she doesn't have relationships with men. She dates and has sex. That's been working out well for her until her life takes a bit of a turn. Suddenly the homeless man across the street is spouting predictions that come true, her coffee shop goes up in flames, and Price Delacroix meets her, wants her, and refuses to be just one of her other men.

There's no doubt that the heat between them is incendiary and the sex scenes smoking hot. The story is tightly compact, but due to the length, we get a much better idea of Aubrey as a character than we do Price, who never seems to develop much beyond superficial eye candy. I've read other novellas of this length that focused more on both character's definition, and realize that my preference lies in that area. I'm not criticizing this story, don't get me wrong. I think it was comprehensive, given length-constraints, in detailing Aubrey's character enough to lend her believability, and I enjoyed seeing her interact with her friend the hairdresser and the guardian angel. In fact, had Price's character been given just a bit more definition, I think this I would have really liked this story. As it stands, I think it's better than okay, but just lacked a bit for me to make it truly enjoyable. The sex, though, was stellar.