Uncovering Egypt by Ann Cory

TITLE: Uncovering Egypt
AUTHOR: Ann Cory
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 13k)
GENRE: Time travel erotic romance
COST: $2.50

Egyptologist Jasmine Devi is on the dig of a lifetime, unearthing historical treasures in the great pyramid of Giza. When she stumbles upon a beautiful bracelet, she is startled to discover it has called forth King Okpara from the past, intent on protecting his dead queen’s sacred jewel. One look at Jasmine and he is convinced she is destined to be his new queen. All he has to do is convince her of that…

The beautiful cover of this short story convinced me to look at the excerpt, and then to buy it, so it’s really too bad that it’s about the only good thing this particular e-book has going for it. The story is labeled as a red hot, which in Samhain speak is hot erotic romance, but there really isn’t that much that’s sexy about this. When the bracelet affixes itself to Jasmine’s wrist, she is immediately confronted by four men who claim to be the king’s guards. They demand she come with them, and she follows them to a room in the pyramid that has what’s called a body chamber in it. Basically, it’s a mesh cage in the form of a body, with openings for the occupant’s face, chest, and groin. The guards force her to strip and get into it, at which point Okpara shows up. He is convinced she is his new queen, and sets out to seduce her. Except…guess who does the foreplay? Two of the guards start out while the king stands back. He eventually kneels for oral sex, but when it comes time for the actual act, he has them remove her from the cage and form a human cradle for her, and that’s how they have sex. He is incredibly dissociated from the act. It’s not even his touch that finally sets her off. I’m supposed to find this sexy? I don’t think so.

It doesn’t help that Jasmine is an idiot. There’s a fellow Egyptologist named Mason who is introduced in the beginning as having a thing for her. So desperate to get away from him, she sneaks off to the room which has the bracelet, which is outside of the grid they’re expected to be in. She tells nobody where she is going, and yet, when Mason shows up looking for her, she goes off on him for being stalker-y. Because he was worried and couldn’t find her? She’s supposed to be a professional, but I just can’t believe that any professional would be so irresponsible, even if she was trying to avoid someone she didn’t like.

I have problems even believing this as a romance. Okpara never feels authentic, saying things like, “Everything about you turns me on.” The explanation for why he so blithely accepts coming to the future? Oh, yeah, he’d been summoned to the future before. I guess that’s where he learned English, too. He also decides within minutes of seeing Jasmine that he loves her, and then, when some artificial danger is introduced to separate the two, instead of finally getting some real story, there’s a jump cut to, “Oh, look, they live happily ever after.” It’s a completely copout and cheats the reader, but then again, the whole story did that so I guess it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

Readability	5/10 – Clean, but poorly constructed story structure
Hero	3/10 – Everything about him was told not shown
Heroine	3/10 – Annoying and dumb
Entertainment value	2/10 – This doesn’t work on any level
World building	4/10 – It starts out well, but any semblance of place/time in dialogue or setting after she finds the bracelet is gone
TOTAL:	17/50

Into the Blue by Ann Cory

TITLE: Into the Blue
AUTHOR: Ann Cory
PUBLISHER: Total-e-bound
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 13k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: ₤1.69

Samantha Jensen accepts a surprise invitation to a pool party as a means to an escape her frantic workaholic life, but the guests turn out to be more interested in sex than swimming. One gorgeous man takes her eye, but she never expects that he’s as taken with her…

Fantasy fluff. That’s what I call these kind of stories. I don’t mean fantasy in the otherworldly sense of the word, but rather in the daydreaming, never going to happen sense. It’s very hard to take them seriously because they’re so devoted to creating an entirely over the top experience. They have their own niche, however, and I do enjoy them to break up my patterns. There’s absolutely zero thought required to reading them, and this one is no exception.

Any depth of characterization is abandoned in favor of the erotic. Samantha is painted as a workaholic, but in the confines of this particular story, we don’t get to experience it, just hear about it all secondhand. She is too wrapped up in the sensual experience of the party, and taking every ounce of pleasure she can from the man determined to give it, even when it means getting his buddy to help break down her defenses at one point. Cole, the hero, lacks any sort of personality, but honestly, if you’ve bought this story, you’re not reading it to find out what kind of a conversationalist the man is. He’s a hot body – a very hot body – used as a means to get the heroine off. And in that context, it works. It more than works. In spite of mild headhopping, I enjoyed the dip into the daydream pool.

Just don’t forget that’s all it is. Late attempts to add depth to the characters never really work; the description of Cole’s life outside of the pool party made me laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. The strength isn’t in the story; it’s in the sex.

Readability	7/10 – Mild headhopping and definitely a trip into fantasyland, but its erotic scenes more than work.
Hero	4/10 – This isn’t about personality; this is about a hot body giving a woman everything she wants.
Heroine	5/10 – Some of her so-called flaws seemed painted on, rather than integral to her characterization
Entertainment value	6/10 – As long as I never forget this is just about a hot fantasy and nothing remotely real or romantic, it’s fun.
World building	5/10 – I don’t for a second believe any of the exterior set-up for these two, but then again, it’s a fantasy.
TOTAL:	27/50