Kidnapped for Christmas by Evangeline Anderson

TITLE: Kidnapped for Christmas
AUTHOR: Evangeline Anderson
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 41k)
GENRE: BDSM erotic romance
COST: $5.20

Jillian Marks doesn’t believe it when her little sister tells her she’s paid for someone to kidnap her. Why would any woman have that kind of fantasy? But when she is mistakenly grabbed in her sister’s place, she finds herself thrust into a world her body seems to love. She should probably tell the amazingly sexy man who snatched her that he’s got the wrong woman, but when he gives her the most amazing orgasm of her life, she decides to shut up and play along…

Escapism doesn’t get more blatant than a kidnap-for-pay and mistaken identity plot, and yet, Anderson keeps this one fresh by the genuine chemistry between her two leads. Jillian is the responsible older sister, always cleaning up her skinnier younger sister’s messes, while Kyle is a Dom without a sub, wondering why he can’t find a woman who only wants to be sexually dominated rather than something full-time. They come together out of circumstance, when Sabrina flakes out at the last minute and takes off for the holiday without remembering to cancel her kidnap, and Kyle’s brother – the business’ owner – begs him to take this one job. What happens then is combustible.

The BDSM in this is fairly light stuff, mostly domination/submission, with some candle play, mild double penetration, and spanking. It never feels like it’s crossing a line, though the fact that Jillian doesn’t know the safe word is a tad troublesome. However, the fact that she and Kyle are so clearly on the same emotional page helps mitigate some of that concern. It’s hot and sweet all at the same time, thanks due to the tremendous attraction between the two. Not all heroes and heroines sparkle like this. It was a delight to sit back and enjoy.

Kyle, especially, is appealing as a fantasy figure. Both tough and caring in the bedroom, he has no desire to see that same sort of submissiveness outside of it. Toss in the fact that he’s attracted to larger women (Jillian is a size eighteen), and he’s a little too good to be true. While I can see this within the context of the story, though, I never really care that much, since, yes, I rather want to believe in him. If he hadn’t had such chemistry with Jillian, I might have been more skeptical, but the author succeeds in a little Christmas magic by getting me to believe. At least for the duration of this long, sexy, sweet novella.

Readability	8/10 – Sexy and sweet
Hero	8/10 – I liked him more than I probably should have
Heroine	7/10 – Some of her problems were her own doing, and it got a little frustrating sometimes
Entertainment value	7/10 – Not wholly original, but I liked the chemistry enough between them not to care
World building	7/10 – Immediate surroundings felt genuine, though the rest of it was skimpy
TOTAL:	37/50