AUTHOR: Cara Bristol
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 44k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $5.99
Dana Markus is in the middle of a divorce. Her husband left her for a woman barely older than their daughter, and now she finds herself wondering about her own desirability at the age of forty-five. During an evening skinnydip in her pool, she fantasizes about her neighbor’s twenty-eight-year-old son, only to have him show up in the hot, living flesh only moments later. Attraction flares from the start, but Dana isn’t looking for a relationship, and especially not one with a younger man. But their desire for each other is combustible. Is it so wrong to want some of that passion for herself for a change?
I have to admit, I’ve been curious about this author. I hadn’t read anything by her before now, because the titles I’d seen were domestic discipline in nature, and while I understand it’s purely fantasy and escapism, that’s a no-go area for me, no matter what. So when I saw this older woman/younger man story come up, I decided to take the plunge and try her. I learned something very important. Her erotic style and sense of humor don’t mesh with what I enjoy.
It’s a straightforward contemporary. Dana is forty-five and in the throes of a divorce. Her husband cheated on her and left her for a woman only two years older than their daughter, and Dana is feeling less than desirable. She fantasizes about the neighbor’s hot son, a twenty-eight year-old doctor with a body like Adonis. The night they actually get to meet face to face – in her backyard after she’s been skinnydipping – that fantasy becomes reality. Lon has been lusting after his parents’ hot neighbor for months, and now that he has got a taste of her, he wants to have a go at dating. She’s a little hung up on the age difference, but he quickly takes care of that. With lots and lots of sex.
Buying from LI is a lot like buying from EC 90% of the time. The focus tends to be on the sex in the romances, which isn’t always a bad thing. It only gets in the way when the erotic style doesn’t work for me, and unfortunately, that was the case here. Much of it has to do with terminology, and that’s a preferential thing that varies from reader to reader. What bothered me – like having cocks and pussies referred to as “weeping” – might not bother others. I did debate early on if I should keep going once I realized I was going to have issues with it, but because it’s such a recent release and because I’ve been so curious about this author for so long, I stuck it out.
It wasn’t just the erotic style that didn’t work for me. Attempts to lighten the mood with jokes and banter fell flat as well. Humor is so subjective, though. Lines like, “I plan for you and my cock to get to be best friends,” are obviously meant to be funny (within the context of the story), but just made me roll my eyes and wonder if I was reading about teenagers instead of adults. I ended up feeling rather indifferent about the whole experience, from the characters to the romance to the sex. I don’t regret buying this book, though, because my curiosity has finally been satisfied.
| Readability | 6/10 – Purely based on the author’s humor and erotic scenes not working for me |
| Hero | 4/10 – So much was spent on the sex there was too little time to learn what he might actually be like when he wasn’t |
| Heroine | 5/10 – At least she didn’t whine about the age difference for half the book |
| Entertainment value | 3/10 – I learned the author’s erotic style and sense of humor does not mesh with what I enjoy |
| World building | 5/10 – Everything felt skimmed over in favor of all the sex |
| TOTAL: | 23/50 |
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