Customer Reviews

All She Wants: Ellora's Cave

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Adam & Evil - by Jaid Black - Julia wants nothing to do with Sam Adam, the man her father has chosen for her to marry. But when their plane crashes on a deserted island, she discovers that first impressions aren't always what they seem.

Holly - by Dominique Adair - After meeting Holly in the French Quarter a year ago, Ethan has finally found his opening into her life. He will have 3 days to convince her that his love can heal her, if only she is willing to let him into her heart.

His Christmas Cara - by Shiloh Walker - Eben Marley is haunted by his memories of a woman from his past, but it takes 3 determined spirits to make him realize that he has enough love in his heart to win her forgiveness.

These 3 novellas are written by 3 of my favorite Ellora's Cave authors. I have been waiting for a while for 2 of them to be released in print, and could not be happier that they were released together in this anthology. All 3 of these can be found seperately in e-book format on the Ellora's Cave website.

I absolutely LOVED these stories, and this book (like most Ellora's Cave titles at my house) has found a permanent spot on my keeper shelf. All 3 novellas are very steamy and in the case of the Adair title, also lovingly tender. The Adair story was my favorite of the three, but be warned: "It does contain one scene of non-consensual bondage that may be considered disturbing to some readers." The hero of the story does not have a part in this scene, but the reader is shown why Holly needs to be healed emotionally. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys erotic romance. 5 Stars!

After reading an excerpt in Comso mag I knew I had to check this book out. To be honest I must admit i was very surprised that the stories more or less involved S&M. Though I do not find that very arousing the stories in themself are very well written. The descripions very beautifully written that i couldnt help but enjoy each story. I think i check out some other books in Ellora's Cave.

I love Jaid Black's and Shiloh Walker's writing but this anthology went right to the book store for trade-in credit...And I keep most of my books.
It was okay, but nothing special. Hate to say that, since as a newspaper writer I realize your stories are like your children: NO ONE better mess with my Baby/Story :) But the truth shall set you free. Wait and get this one from the used bookstore or here at Amazon if you wanta pay the shipping and handling.
Shiloh Walker's story was the best and it was a nice turn on the Ghosts of Christmas Present, Christmas Past and Christmas Future. That said, still not worth full price.

I highly recommend this anthology of 3 erotic stories, with the last one being a gem and particularly suited for the Christmas season. All are well-written, with decent plots and highly indecent sex scenes :-)

Adam & Evil - 5 stars
The shortest at 50 pages, this shows Jaid Black's trademark humor and D/s sex. Julia is an alpha woman who despises her father's match-making attempts. She puts on the nasty to scare away daddy's latest robot. Sam however is no robot, he's unfazed by her rudeness - her curvy body fazes him fast though. When their plane goes down near a deserted island, Sam wastes no time putting on the moves and finds out that feisty Julia is delightfully submissive when it comes to sex. But will what happened on the island stay on the island, once they're back to their real lives?

Holly - 3 stars
This story features explicit BDSM, with a woman who's been hurt by a previous Dom and needs to heal. This should have been right up my alley, but it left me cold for a reason I can't quite put my finger on. Ethan is rich, well-built, dominant, so why aren't I drooling over him? Maybe Holly's past requires him to pull his punches too much, so to speak, and the BDSM scenes fall flat for me as a result. Maybe it's because Holly is an experienced submissive, she's done it all before, and I prefer a couple to experiment together. Who knows? The writing is good, although the dialogue gets a bit stilted at times.

His Christmas Cara - 5 stars
The longest novella here, this shows Shiloh Walker's special mix of sweet and sexy. Based upon A Christmas Carol (of course) Eben Marley is the corporate jerk who's visited by spirits. Cara is the woman he's hurt in the past - they had sex one night and he transferred her into another division the next day so he wouldn't have to see her. He now resolves to go after her. Cara is sweet but no pushover, she loves Eben but she's wary of getting hurt again. The sex scenes are erotic but full of feeling too. A warm read for Christmas :-)

(Note: there are no menages/infidelity/abuse except for Holly - the story opens with her being abused by her former Dom).

A really GOOD read, like the first and second story. For the second story their is another story about her friend Katie who is also part owner of the bookstore.
****************

The first story was fine, a nice sense of humor.
Holly - was a good intro to BDSM.
The third was a chore to say the least.

The best thing about this book is the cover art. Makes me chuckle every time I see it and it reminds me of the classic video from SNL - Dick in a Box!

Save your money. I agree with another reviewer who said this book is not a bookshelf keeper like many of mine in this genre. I love Jaid Black and like Shiloh Walker but these stories were lacking in what I have come to expect from these authors.

I bought this book to read around Christmas and because my very fav writer Shiloh Walker has a story in it. All in all it was a fun book fast and interesting but I do have some comments;

The Jade Black story could have used more length. I thought it was a waist of two strong characters to squeeze the whole plot in 50 pages.

The second story by Adair gave me a nasty jolt at the start. You don't want to read what to me sounded like a rape scene right in the start of a story (male lead not involved in this one). It made up for it later on but still it was nasty.

Walker's is my fav, sorry I cannot help it. It was smart and sexy and I loved it. Also, I like the Christmas Carol story and this new take on it was real fun.

All in all, a fun book, whether you want to buy full price or half off; it's a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon :)

This book contains three short stories, described below.

4 stars for ADAM & EVIL by Jaid Black.
Fun and stimulating. Sam works for Julia's dad. The dad asks Sam to go to Costa Rica and bring his daughter Julia back to the US. On the way they are stranded on a deserted island.

Data:
Story length: 47 pages. Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: four. Setting: present day Costa Rica, a deserted island and the US. Copyright: 2005. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

Other Books:
For a list of my reviews of other Jaid Black books, see my 5 star review of "One Dark Night" posted 4/2/08.


3 stars for HOLLY by Dominique Adair.
Mostly master/slave situations. It was imaginative and erotic. Holly dates Greg who abuses her so she breaks up with him. She avoids men until she meets Ethan who offers her a financial deal she can't refuse if she'll be his sex slave for one weekend.

Data:
Story length: 77 pages. Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: five. Setting: current day US. Copyright: 2005. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

Other Books:
To date, I've read one other story by Dominique Adair. I gave 4.5 stars to "Blood Law" Copyright 2003, which appears in the anthology "Lady Jaided's Virile Vampires." My 4 star review for the anthology was posted on 9/11/08.


1 star for HIS CHRISTMAS CARA by Shiloh Walker.
This was a retelling of the Ebeneezer Scrooge story and not well done. It was not interesting for me. Cara works for Eben's company. He has sex with her one time but avoids her after that. One night, he is mysteriously drawn to a soup kitchen and sees Cara there. He does not make a move for Cara. She is the one who comes to his home after that. Not recommended.

Data:
Story length: 93 pages. Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: seven. Setting: current day US. Copyright: 2004. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

Other Books:
For a list of my reviews of other Shiloh Walker books, see my 4 star review of The Missing posted 11/12/08.

This was a good read of three different stories. Very good for short stories! I'd definitely read something from these writers again!