La Mirage by Jennifer Colgan

TITLE: La Mirage
AUTHOR: Jennifer Colgan
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: Short Story (roughly 14k)
GENRE: Paranormal Erotic Romance
COST: $2.50

Journalist Savanna Blaine and her photographer Ben Lantano are on their way to an assignment, when Ben’s aging pick-up breaks down in the middle of Nowhere, Nevada. When roadside assistance says they’ll take three hours to arrive, Ben talks Savanna into walking the mile to the next gas station. That’s not what they find. What they find is an oasis of a hotel that is too good to be true, one that seduces them into letting down their guards for a night and indulge the attraction both feels for the other.

I picked up La Mirage because it’s part of the Midsummer Night’s Steam series that Samhain is doing this summer. Other shorts that I’ve bought so far proved entertaining, so I thought I’d give this one a go. This one represents the series well. It’s frothy, and for a short, relatively thorough. The hero and heroine already know each other when the story starts, so it’s a lot easier to invest in their relationship because the author doesn’t have to try and convince me that one can grow.

That’s not to say it was a perfect read for me. The major sex scene is portioned into distinct segments, flipflopping between the hero’s and the heroine’s perspectives. I, for one, don’t like emotional/intense scenes that do this. Just when you start to get into a scene, it breaks, and you find yourself in a new head and you have to start all over again. For an erotic romance, that’s usually the kiss of death for me. Thankfully, the author’s style and clean prose keeps me into her scene enough so that I kept reading without getting too annoyed.

Calling this a paranormal erotic romance is probably generous. I’m not going to spoil anything, but the story’s open ending is another weak point. If Ms. Colgan was attempting a Twilight Zone feel to it, I’m not sure she succeeded. The gotcha just wasn’t strong enough, nor the characters’ reactions.

The strongest part of the book by far was the detail in establishing setting. I could picture the La Mirage, I could feel the heat coming off the Nevada highway. A lot of erotic writers gloss over those details in favor of getting straight to the sex, but Ms. Colgan doesn’t cheat any portion of the story by taking shortcuts with description.

A pleasant enough distraction for some spare time on a Sunday afternoon. I’m not sure I’ll remember the characters a week from now, but I know for sure I’ll remember the hot Nevada sun.

Readability	8/10 – Mostly easy to read, though the occasional run-on sentence disrupts the flow. Easy enough to keep reading, but also easy enough to put down again.
Hero	7/10 – I liked him enough, though the story length shortchanges the reader from getting to know him too well
Heroine	7/10 – Again, I generally liked her, though I’ll admit I got stuck on the blue bra underneath a white top as just insanely stupid.
Entertainment value	7/10 – A pleasant enough diversion
World building	9/10 – By far the best part of the book. Lots of gorgeous detail making it easy to visualize.
TOTAL:	38/50