Archive for the ‘erotic book review’ Category

ISBN: 9781426890703
Publisher: Carina Press

Mandy is content with her job as a librarian, her longtime boyfriend, Martin, and the lovely home they share. So what if their sex life is vanilla? She’s not the wild type anyway.

But when she wakes up one morning-unsatisfied-from an erotic dream starring her favorite movie star, Mandy starts to crave sexual adventure in real life. Too bad Martin won’t oblige, because it’s not Tuesday or Friday. Then Mandy finds out what Martin’s been doing the other days of the week-or rather, who. And suddenly she needs to prove to herself that she’s not boring in bed.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of smoking-hot men willing to help her on her sensual quest: a nameless library patron who could be Brad Pitt’s twin, a coworker she suddenly sees in a different light, and the neighbor who usually rubs her the wrong way wants to show her he can rub her the oh-so-right way, too! Lucky for Mandy, her lovers are more than willing to share…

Overdue for Pleasure by Shelley Aikens is a book that I received for review from NetGalley.

As you can read from the blurb, Mandy, the main character of this book wakes up one morning and her whole life changes. She goes to work at the library, only to be tempted by a stranger. This encounter leaves her so unsettled that she decides to head off on a buying trip, only to have a fantasy encounter with another stranger on the bus. At this point, she is so unsettled that she decides to abandon her day and head home, only to find her long time boyfriend, Martin, at home, obviously having recently had sex with someone. In a fit of anger, she throws Martin and all his possessions out of the home they were sharing. What a horrible day!

This book is written from the point of view of Mandy and written almost as a dreamy fantasy. It seems that Mandy feels out of control of her life and she is drifting from one fantasy encounter to another. She goes from being a person who has her life all set for her at the beginning of the book, through a period of uncertainty and exploration, to finally a more settled state at the end of the book. This book is quite graphic; it is billed as Erotica. As such, there is alot of sex in the book, but there is also a good story line. The life of Mandy over the short period that the book covers is well conveyed. Her character goes through alot of change. Although some of the characters are a bit inconsistent, the character of Mandy is well fleshed out.

The pace of the book is good and this book can serve as some nice light, spicy reading for a few hours. Not for the faint of heart!

This review was originally posted on Sugarbeat’s Books

ISBN: 978-0-373-60543-9
Publisher: Spice Books

In Victorian England vice of every kind can be purchased, and Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford, makes certain he avails himself of every possible pleasure. Bored and jaded, he is as well known for his coldness as for his licentious affairs with beautiful women.

While these numerous daliances fulfill Matthew’s every physical need, they secretly leave him numb and emotionally void. Until one night when he finds himself beaten, eyes bandaged and in the care of a nurse with the voice of an angel–and a gentle touch that soothes the darkness in him and makes him yearn for more.

Yet Jane Rankin is a lowly nurse, considered shy and plain by most. There is no place for her amongst the lords and ladies of aristocracy–despite Matthew’s growing craving for the fire that burns behind her earnest facade. And then there is Matthew’s secret. A secret so humiliating and scandalous it could destroy everyone he loves. A sin, he fears, not even the love of a good woman can take away…

Here’s another book that I chose to read because of the partially naked, well-buffed man on the front cover. Amazing how shallow I can be! This lovely picture, however, led me to one of the most heart wrenching books I have read in some time.  Sinful by Charlotte Featherstone is an amazing book!

Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford, engages in every vice that he can. He is truly a dissolute character! He is being persecuted by his father, a Duke, to marry and start producing heirs. Matthew isn’t interested in getting married, but is interested in opening an art gallery. Since his father is restricting his money, he decides to hold an auction for one of his more erotic paintings to raise the funds. After the auction, he is beaten and robbed and left for dead in a rough part of London. He wakes in hospital tended to by his nurse, Jane.

Jane Rankin works as a companion to an older woman and is working off the cost of her employer’s medical bills by working at night as a nurse in London College Hospital. She is on duty the night that Matthew is brought in and manages to sooth him so that he can be treated. His eyes are bandaged so he can’t see her but he uses his other senses and seems mesmerized by her voice and her touch. Once he is sent back to his father to finish his recovery, he continues to obsess over Jane’s identity; desperate to find her.

I’ll leave the rest of the story for you to enjoy. I will say, I continue to be surprised how much I enjoyed this book! I tend to be drawn to glittery Ton romances, filled with balls and alpha males! This book absolutely doesn’t fit in this description! I have read other books with “tortured” heros but they weren’t as tortured as Matthew! We find out through the story that Matthew was sexually abused as a young lad. Jane is also a somewhat troubled heroine. Her mother was a mistress to a peer and they were thrown out into the streets when Jane was young and her mother turned to prostitution to survive. Lady Blackwood rescued Jane from the streets and offered her work as a companion. She has served as a mother figure throughout the years and has helped Jane come to terms with many of the issues of her childhood.

I was impressed by how outstanding Charlotte Featherstone’s writing is! She skillfully weaves Matthew’s memories from being abused into thoughts that come out while he is with Jane. She doesn’t really write about the abuse, but Matthew’s thoughts lead us through the stories. Throughout alot of this book, the story isn’t pleasant. Matthew isn’t a likable character! After he did something appalling, I would put down the book and walk away. I was always drawn back to see what would happen next.

Sinful is by no means a “formula” historical romance. It is written bluntly, and is not a typical “happy ending” kind of a story. I was continually drawn in by Jane and Matthew’s interactions and developing love for one another. I appreciated (after the fact) that the author didn’t turn this story into a more conventional happily ever after. It is a skillfully written erotic, historical romance and I will seek out more by this author!

This review was originally posted on Sugarbeat’s Books

Loving Laney

by Lorna Jean Roberts

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

Buy Link

Synopsis:

The absolute last thing Laney wants or needs is an Alpha werewolf. She fled a life of abuse and neglect at the hands of one, so there’s no way she’s interested in letting another into her life. Not even a sinfully gorgeous specimen. Uh-uh, not interested, not in this lifetime…

Then she meets Cooper Brady—and the man is delicious. Good sense is overwhelmed by the need to touch him, taste him, and perhaps a night of hot, melt-in-your-mouth sex is just what she needs. It’s just a one-night stand after all, no strings attached, no messy goodbyes. Perfect.

Well, it would have been if he wasn’t her mate. Mated life has its upsides, like sizzling, addictive, overwhelming sex—yummm. But lust can’t help her convince Cooper not to wrap her in cotton wool, it can’t help her tame or avoid bitchy packmates and it definitely can’t help her figure out who’s trying to scare her with nightmares from her past.

But hey, it sure does help.

Loving Laney by Lorna Jean Roberts

Review by Manda Kay

4.5 Whips/5 Whips

When I saw that this was a werewolf story, I of course had to read it.  After the whole phenomenon that is Twilight, I am hooked on all things werewolf. I love to see how authors will take such a popular genre and put an interesting spin on it. I do have to say this was interesting.

From page one, I was hooked on the main character, Laney. She was witty and tough and exactly how I like my leading ladies to be. I was drawn in immediately and I had a hard time tearing myself away.  Not long after falling for Laney, we meet Cooper. If I thought Laney was great, she was almost overshadowed by the man that was Cooper.  Immediately I knew he was melt worthy and I couldn’t wait to see their relationship take off.

So, on top of Laney and Cooper being a hot couple who were hot for each other, they are BOTH werewolves. Talk about icing on my swoon cake.  This book took me on a wild ride of hot to trot werewolves, mystery and as I like to call them, the fun bits.

All together, Lorna Jean Roberts hit this one out of the park. You’ll feel for Laney as she learns to love not only Cooper, but herself. You’ll swoon for Cooper’s tough side, but also feel for his soft side.  If you’re like me, you’ll also get side tracked by the other male werewolves and wish they were in the story more.  That reason alone is why this one is .5 away from a full 5 whips. I really loved the pack and wanted more of them.

This book is full of loving and Laney is definitely loved by Cooper, if you know what I mean.

I hope this cast of characters is brought back in another novel by Lorna Jean Roberts. Sequel? I say yes!

Hurt Me So Good

by Joely Sue Burkhart

One sub to please the Master…in any way he wishes.

Victor Connagher is no stranger to the Dallas BDSM scene. As CEO of a risqué cable channel that caters to adventurous adults, he ensures the lifestyle is portrayed in a positive light. He even supports a local bondage club. Yet behind the cool, confident mask, Victor lives in fear.

Once, and only once, he lost control of his inner Dom—and it cost him his fiancée. Now, no one knows how hard he works to keep his darker appetite for pain buried. No matter how much his saucy, confident associate producer makes his fingers itch to once again take up his riding crop.

Shiloh Holmes is a sub, but she’s no doormat. She’s always suspected Victor has the skills to feed her insatiable need for pain, and now she’s found the perfect way to crack his formidable control. Develop a new reality show, America’s Next Top sub…and dare him to compete.

Week after week, as Shiloh fearlessly challenges the real Victor to come out of hiding, he realizes his past mistake was only a blow to his pride. If he loses Shiloh, he could lose his heart.

Warning: Explicit sex, BDSM, reality television, a very reluctant Dom, an audacious sub willing to do anything to win for him, and one very wicked riding crop.

Hurt Me So Good by Joely Sue Burkhart

Review by Armenia

4.5 Whips/5 Whips

I admit I don’t watch much reality television but with the first paragraph of Hurt Me So Good I was hooked. Joely Sue Burkhart grabbed me by the collar and lead me down a path I could not stray, and I gladly followed. To my fascination this super-length novella overflowed with sexual tension that seem to increase with each page. I found myself at the edge of my seat as I “watched” Victor and Shiloh’s story unfold before my eyes. As contestants on a television show called America’s Next Top Subthe chemistry between them sizzled “on” and “off” the stage. The sex is hot, the foreplay edgy, and lots of dominant/submissive action got my total attention. Although Victor’s reluctance to unleash his intensely dark desires had me wondering if he could satisfy Shiloh’s need for painful release. I had to admire Shiloh for her planning and persistence to help Victor realize he was her true Master; that only her offer of surrender and challenge could bring him total completion.

As a warning, the story leans heavily towards intense BDSM play, quite edgy for a typical romance book. Readers wanting a quick glimpse into the power play of Domination and Submission will not be disappointed. Hurt Me So Good delves into the psche of two very complex individuals with very dark needs. They truly are two halves of each other, requiring the strength of one another to complete themselves.

Joely Sue Burkhart did a beautiful job of portraying this lifestyle in a positive light. I highly recommend Hurt Me So Good for the romance reader who wants an edgy romance.

Fortune

By Annabel Joseph

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

Kat doesn’t know whether or how to end her six-night-a-week party habit, not to mention her unhealthy addiction to meaningless sex. Then an accident lands her in the hospital. She wakes to find a menagerie of origami figures—and a gorgeous neurosurgeon—beside her bed. The complexity of the paper creations is nothing compared to the complexity of dark-eyed, authoritative Ryan, who seems determined to give her life some direction. Trouble is, Kat’s just as determined to resist his efforts to tame her wild side.

With persistence, Ryan draws Kat into his world of dominance and submission, where quiet commands and lengths of rope awaken needs and desires she never knew she possessed. But Ryan’s intimate, erotic shibari sessions frighten Kat as much as they excite her, for each simple knot requires infinite trust and inspires complicated emotions.

Then a family crisis tests their love and threatens to snap the fragile ties that bind them. Will fortune ever smile on this unlikely couple, or will fate tear them apart?

Reader Advisory: For those who subscribe to a “more the merrier” philosophy (*cough* we do *cough*), this story contains a scintillating m/f/f/m scene.

Fortune By Annabel Joseph Review

Review By Jasmine

4.75/5 Whips from the Backseat

Fortune by Annabel Joseph is an emotional read.  Be prepared.   Ryan and Kat are two people making a journey to come together and it is no easy road.  Kat is complicated.  Kat is confused.  Kat is trapped by modern life, or maybe just trapped in her life.  Ryan is a sexual Dominant who steps in and forces Kat to look at herself, to evaluate where she is in her life.

The emotional development Annabel Joseph incorporates into this BDSM Romance raises the bar for other authors within the genre.  So why not a 5/5?  Ryan.  He is a sadist more then just a dominant and there is the element that detracted from the intimacy for me as a reader.  There is paddling, spanking, whipping, and more in a lot of BDSM books.  In previous reads the submisive partner may not have at first enjoyed a certain activity, but rarely was an item used that the one on the recieving end did not enjoy, or at least not hate.  The scenes in the book where it was just an enjoyment on the Dominant’s part of inflicting pain made me uncomfortable.  Nowhere near uncomfortable enough to stop reading.

Fortune by Annabel Joseph is a highly recomended read if you like BDSM and it ranks in the top 10.  There is a lot to say about this book and its approach to realistic characters.  That is the best compliment you can give a book these days.  A lot of them are good and enjoyable reads, but there is not much to say beyond that.  This is the type of book you tell others to buy so you can talk to them when they finish reading it.  So please comment if you have read it – there is so much to discuss.
- Jasmine

Find out about Annabel Joseph and her other titles at her website – http://annabeljoseph.wordpress.com/

Hot Wired

by  Betty Womack

Publisher: Siren-Bookstand

Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Multiple Partners, Romantic Suspense

After a bad divorce, being on her own is exactly the life Carol Bell wants. She is careful to form no permanent relationships as she travels from place to place. She’s a sketch artist for several fashion magazines and cosmetic firms. Her love life is active. She likes sex, content to let that be all that comes from her affairs. Until the day two hunky electricians arrive at her apartment to repair her air conditioner.

Her apartment is warm, but she soon finds herself in a high voltage situation with Baron and Sham, professional bounty hunters posing as handy men. Her life changes instantly from solo to a trio.

Hot Wired by Betty Womack

Review by Pepper

2/5 Whips in the Backseat

After the really good books I’ve gotten from Siren-Bookstand, I have to say that I was very disappointed in Hot Wired by Betty Womack. The storyline is extremely thin and reminded me of a porn movie—all sex and no plot. The storyline is also very inconsistent, filled with the kind of mistakes I would not have expected from an author with at least seven other books to her name.

For example: Hot Wired starts out with Carol calling electricians because the air-condition is off and the ceiling fans aren’t working. That’s okay, as far as it goes. But it’s only after the first guy shows up, that we find out the power is out. Now come on! This is supposed to be an intelligent, independent woman, and she doesn’t even realize her power’s out until an electrician arrives so they can have hot, fast, down-and-dirty sex—and oh, by the way, have you got any fuses? Then a little later on, she is having sex with both Baron and Sham, the bounty hunters posing as electricians, and they’ve already asked her to move in with them and be a threesome. Yet here she is feeling foolish because she wants to be a threesome with them, and doesn’t know if they want that, too. Jesus, wasn’t she listening when they asked her? I was. So I found her concerns over being foolish, a little…well, foolish. And hard to swallow.

Now by page 53 Carol, a freelance artist, is moving in with her men. Again, nothing wrong with that. I can dig it. But before she leaves her house to go to theirs, she checks her art supplies—which are, in her own words, her most important possessions— HOWEVER, ten pages later, (pay attention now, there may be a quiz) Carol decides to work at the men’s house and discovers she has only two artist pens and nothing else to do her art work with. Excuse me? If this intelligent, independent woman checked her art supplies before she left—these are her most important possessions, don’t forget—then how the hell did the fact that she had only two artist pens to work with come as a complete surprise? Sorry, but I couldn’t buy it. The whole scene felt like just a device to get Carol out of the men’s house and back to her own, where the author needed her to be so she could discover her ex-husband had broken in.

I also can’t buy most of the dialogue in Hot Wired. Some of it was okay, but a lot just didn’t ring true. It felt unnatural and stilted. I mean does a man having sex with a woman really say, “Ride me, Carol, girl.” And if he does, should you repeat it, even in fiction. All right, maybe that’s a little harsh. But to me at least, most of the dialogue didn’t sound like natural conversation.

So is there anything to like about Hot Wired? Yeah, the sex is hot and there is plenty of it. So if you like your sex straight without a lot of plot to muck it up, this may be just the book for you.

A Demon’s Kiss

by Sable Grey

Publisher: Breathless Press

Patricia Weaver has always loved Jack Avery, but when she finds out he’s a soul-collecting demon, everything changes. Drawn to him despite the darkness that surrounds who and what he is, Patricia finds herself swept away by his sexual heat but in the end must decide if she can accept and love him…talons and all.

(Synopsis: Breathless Press)

Genre: Erotic Romance (mild), Light Paranormal, Historical

A Demon’s Kiss by Sable Grey

Review by Jasmine

4.5/5 Whips in the Backseat

A Demon’s Kiss by Sable Grey is a solid short read.  It is not every author that can this scillfully pack a punch of paranormal demons and sweet romance.  Sweet is the only way I can think to describe the interaction between Patricia and Jack.  She has pined for him as he runs the general store, he has been listening to her thoughts, that are anything but innocent when it comes to him.  The question is, when the Demon wings come out will she stay or will she run?

What I found very interesting is that the book is a historical set in 1837 Roscoe, Colorado.  Really as I read the historical setting slipped away which I found rather nice.  It would have hung up a story this short if the author had dwelled to much on the setting and distracted from the boy likes girl, girl likes boy aspect.  All in all this is a nice read, that warms the heart, as we see that courting between the hero and the heroine brought to a head by her discovery of Jack’s Demonic side.  Otherwise they likely would have been going on carriage rides and picnics for quite a while in their chaste road towards marriage.

Definitely a fun read for those that are partial to the genres of paranormal or historical and even for those that are not.  The relationship between these two characters drives the story like the most enjoyable reads do.

- Jasmine

Buy the Book at Breathless Press – http://www.breathlesspress.com/erotic/a-demon-s-kiss.html

Visit Sable Grey’s Website to Learn more about this and other titles – http://sablegrey.net/home/

Bound By Trust

by Lila Munro

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press – Torrid
Genre: Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60313-869-7

The Widow:
After her husband Gage is killed in combat, Madi Melbourne finds out just how hard being a widow can be. She’s been left destitute piecing together a life she never knew Gage was living, and as the puzzle takes shape she begins to fall apart.

Her Savior:
Rafe McCarthy has always been known as the unit playboy. Having never married and childless he finds himself examining his life and looking at the what-ifs, then a beautiful widow moves in next door and he begins to discover something he never knew existed inside of him.

Learning to trust…
How can he convince her to trust again and place that trust in him? Will he be able to live up to the responsibility he has taken in teaching her love again?

Rating: Erotica – Controversial

Bound By Trust by Lila Munro

Review by Pepper

4.3 Whips in the Backseat

Bound by Trust by Lila Munro is a heart-wrenching story of love and betrayal. It focuses on both the dark and the light side of being the wife of a man in the military: the extreme loneliness faced by the wives of men deployed overseas, the fierce loyalty and camaraderie of men serving together in the military, and the ample opportunities for betrayal of marriage vows by both husbands and wives when separated for long periods of time. Being a military wife myself, I thought Munro handled these issues with honesty and sensitivity. Yet she didn’t downplay the emotional and financial devastation that one spouse can cause another when betraying the sacred trust of marriage.

Bound by Trust gives an insider’s look at the effect military life can have on married couples, though deception and betrayal are certainly not limited to military spouses. And while the story centers on Madi, who discovers her late husband led a secret life filled with lovers and unpaid debts, Munro makes it clear that there are as many stay-at-home women who betray their deployed husbands as there are deployed men who betray their stay-at-home wives. Munro also points out how easy it is to be betrayed when you are young, naïve, and willing to let your spouse handle all the finances. As Munro makes abundantly clear, “Check, Don’t Trust” is a motto that shouldn’t apply to marriage, but too often does.

Bound by Trust has a few plot surprises, which I enjoyed immensely. Though it started out with the cliché of two people who have a one-night stand and try to build that into a relationship, it quickly expanded into a much more complex plot, filled with conflict, tension, and suspense.  These plot twists, coupled with Munro’s intriguing and enchanting characters makes Bound by Trust time well spent.

Night Ranger’s Moon

by Tara Nina

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

ISBN: 1-60154-800-1

-

Synopsis:

Weylin Anthropos is a Lykoian with anger issues and a demon in his past that haunts his soul.  He’s a Night Ranger, one of the elite protector’s of the Lykoian clans. Without the backing of the council, Weylin sets out to find his brother. The trail leads him to Mississippi and a village that many Lykoians would rather forget.
-
Ghosts of the past linger on these hallowed grounds but are disturbed by an intruder…an enemy from his ancestry. One he must face and defeat if he is to survive and find his brother.
-
Long and lethal, a charcoal gray wolf from an unfamiliar clan interferes in his surveillance. Her presence toys with his mind, body, and soul. Where did she come from? How did she find him?  And most of all, what did she want?

—–

Night Ranger’s Moon by Tara Nina

Book Review by Pepper

3.6/5 Whips
-

Night Rangers Moon gives a different slant on the wolf-shifter genre, bringing together two Lykoians who are both an elite type of wolf cop. One a rogue and the other by the book, they are forced to work together to complete their missions. It’s an interesting premise, and Tara Nina handles the plot well, giving us lots of twists and turns, suspense and excitement, and hot steamy sex.
-
I had only one problem with Night Ranger’s Moon. While I enjoyed the sex scenes, after the first one I didn’t really feel they moved the story along like they should have. It was almost as if they were inserted to fill space. That said, the plot was really first class, and the villain more than a match for the hero and heroine. There were enough twists and turns and interesting characters to make Night Ranger’s Moon worth reading.

—

Find out more about Tara Nina’s other titles on her website – http://www.taranina.com/

READ AN EXCERPT:

Excerpt:

An unusual, erotic scent filled his nose as he caught the surprised and angry heat in a set of sexy cobalt blue eyes staring back at him. He paused and suddenly knew he couldn’t snap the creature’s life vein even if he wanted. The knowledge of who lived within this wolf’s flesh washed over him. Pure need filtered through his system causing him to harden. Intense animal urges thrashed through his veins yet he refused to bow. Never had he taken a female in wolf form, and he wasn’t about to do so now. To do that mated him for life, and he wanted no mate.

Not now, not ever.

On an angry growl, Weylin released the death grip he held to her throat and backed away. He shook his entire being and returned to human form. Naked, he stood before the female wolf and knew he stared at the woman he followed through the village.

She sat upright on hind haunches, held her chin in a regal tilt, and returned his steady gaze. The dilation of her pupils gave the only indication that his naked form affected her in any way. He read defiance in those hot cobalt blues. Good, he decided. It seemed to him, she battled nature’s demands and wanted no mate either.

Though, according to an antiquated Lykoian law, he’d won the right to take her as his own. He’d beaten her. In the ancient culture, that meant he could mount her and mate her if he chose, and she could not resist. But he didn’t believe in the archaic testaments of the old tribal ways. With a sister of his own to protect, he was a true believer in the freedom of choice when it came to a mate. His lip curled as he stared at the beautiful wolf. Desire roared through him urging him to claim his right.

—

Tara Nina’s other titles with The Wild Rose Press

—

Blue Moon Rising

by Tara Nina

ISBN 1-60154-058-2

-

Missing children, werewolves and a mysterious castle in the swamps of South Carolina test Rae Richardson’s version of reality. Strange things happen around her convincing her that maybe werewolves do exist. The sight of a large black wolf in the swamp only fuels her overactive imagination. Crossing paths with a handsome man ignites a fire in her soul she refuses to acknowledge. Something about this stranger raises her suspicions. Did he have a hand in the children’s disappearance? Or was it the over-powering need in her gut to be near him the reason for her mistrust?

-
Nick Anthropos is on a quest, one that does not include saving children or meeting the woman of his dreams, his Lykoian soul mate. Her scent teases his senses and keeps him on edge. It’s obvious to him she doesn’t know her true self. But can he teach her to be the wolf he knows lies within her soul and save her from the very creature he set out to destroy? If he fails she would be lost forever.

-
Lykoian’s get one chance in life to bond with their soul mate forever. Failure is not an option.

Spoils of War

by Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray

Published by eXcessica in an anthology called “Divine Matches.”

-

When Achilleus, the greatest warrior who ever lived, falls before Troy (or Ilion, as it was known), Ares, God of War, stands ready to take his spirit with him to his palace. There, Ares demands that Achilleus yield to him. But can the embrace of a god and the offer of immortality make Achilleus forget his one true love, Patroklos?

—

Spoils of War by Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray

Book Review by Jasmine

4/5 Story 5/5 Whips in the Backseat for Writing

-

Spoils of War is an excellent erotic romp.  A worthy Naughty read and the writing duo Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray are undeniably talented writers!  I love their style, the precision and execution of Achilleus’ tale speaks of their talent with words and the amount of care they put into the mythology and research.  Part of the mythology is what stood in my way as a reader.

-

The opening lines of the book:

When Achilleus, the greatest warrior who ever lived, falls before Troy (or Ilion, as it was known), Ares, God of War, stands ready to take his spirit with him to his palace. There, Ares demands that Achilleus yield to him. But can the embrace of a god and the offer of immortality make Achilleus forget his one true love, Patroklos?

-

Thank you for your research and accuracy to the time and history, but if I had not seen the movie Troy I think I would have been very lost.  It is from that film that I recall that Achilles as I am more familiar with the name being spelled, is the son of a water goddess and makes a prophecy about the two paths in life that he can choose from, a long life, or glory.  Maybe calling Illion – Troy and Achilleus – Achilles the story would have played down the style that those added touches using more accurate names lends the story.

-

The story is a fulfilling read and has a clear style that if you enjoy take the time to go out and look for more titles by these authors.  Spoils of War stands out from the pack.  It is a read that you will not forget.

-

See more of Aleksandr Voinov’s work at his Official Author Web site

Aleksandr Voinov’s Blog

Visit Raev Gray at Excessica.com