Customer Reviews

Delighted

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

 

 

I have read all of the pevious three books in this chain. Delighted was...o.k. The front cover says that this is a book of erotic romance, but I only saw erotic--not nearly enough romance. By far, the best story is by Nikki Donovan, about a scarred man who sees a beautiful maiden in the woods, kidnapps her and attempts to seduce her and make her fall in love with him so that the spell can be broken, and he can be made handsome again. Think Beauty and the Beast.
Susan Johnson's would follow second--absolutely no romance in that one--just wild dirty sex. (I guess that can be a good thing?) A man and a woman seeks shelter from a storm and ends up sharing a night of passion. Later they find out that they are related by marriage. The rest aren't worth mentioning.
I love steamy romances. But though this book was steamy, it had no romance...well, not really. Still, if more sex appeals to you than romance--then this is for you.If you like then both equally, then you might be a little disappointed...but just a little.

While previous erotic romance anthology like Captivated and Fascinated blends seamlessly sizzling passion and poignant heartfelt characters, Delighted seems contented only to bombard the readers with sex and... more sex. You begin to wonder why Robin Schone - a frequent excellent contributor was excluded and brought in new entries from Nikki Donovan and Liz Madison.

This is not to say the budding talents are not good. Liz Madison threw in an impressive debut with a medievial romance in England 1250 which tells of Victoria Woodville, a female warrior grappling with the daunting task of protecting her homeland from a despot who craves on territorial expansion. She falls in love with an ally - Stephen de Burgh of Normadic origin and learns to trust him in battling the enemy together. Her style reminiscent of Virgina Henley pleases but lacks the spark of originality and erotic abundance. Nikki Donovan pens "Enchanted" - a surreal tale about the intimidating Beast of Lord kidnapping the lady Esmay to remove his curse through carnal relations. The entry suffers from an overload of sex with a contrived romance between undeveloped characters to whack its flaccid premise.

Veterans Bertrice Small and Susan Johnson scores better, both playing the elements of erotica and romance to a perfect pitch. Particularly Johnson in "Out of the Storm" who proves herself a maverick in creating sensual dialogues and a sizzling couple. She notches up the erotic atmosphere with an unconventional relationship between Lady Darlington and her stepbrother Prince Radovsky through a fateful meeting in the storm. Bertrice Small stretches the boundary with a love story between a courtesan and an enamored customer. It is erotically charged and her female protagonists is particularly strong and cunning though some may be put off by some debauched scenes of threesomes.

The romance element is sadly missing in this erotic anthology which strays towards giving readers a hot sex read. They may be delighted but without a stronghold of memorable romance, it falls below the expectations. Disappointed is the word.

"The Awakening" by Beatrice Small. In 1793 Renee trades her virginity to save the life of her infant niece Marguerite. After the Terror ends, Renee establishes a brothel, but keeps Marguerite away until years later when her niece is forced to become one of her girls. Beau buys solo use of Marguerite for the next few months. Instead of sex, he courts her as best as one can in a brothel.

"Out of the Storm" by Susan Johnson. In 1894, Lulu enters a shack followed by a stranger William. She tells him her name is Sarah. They share an evening of lovemaking. Two weeks later, William, who is Russian Prince Mikhail, visits Lady Darlington who is his "Sarah".

"Enchanted" by Nikki Donovan. The knight abducts Esmay and takes her to the Beast Alexander who wears a mask to hide his disfigured visage. Alexander has seen Esmay and wants her, but also prays that she fall in love with him in spite of his monstrous face in order to lift the curse that ruined his face.

"With His Promise" by Liz Madison. Port's army besieges Victoria's castle until Stephen arrives with help. Stephen offers marriage to Victoria that will enable them to combine forces and stop the powerful Port. Victoria fears the loss of her independence.

Though F is an overused word as if the authors vied to see who could apply that profanity to their writing the most times, each tale is a well written erotica romance. None of the stories provide deep characters, but fans of erotica tales will find each contribution delectable.

Harriet Klausner

Having enjoyed Captivated & Fascinated, I was interested to read Delighted with 2 new authors. As usual, Bertrice Small and Susan Johnson did not disappoint. I can't say the same for Nikki Donovan. Enchanted basically reads as a disjointed, flat, Beauty and the Beast with sex. Very uninspiring, almost didn't finish reading it. With His Promise by Liz Madison, on the other hand, is engaging within the first 2 pages. Her story line is well developed, the characters have depth & personality and her descriptive writing flows so well it pulls you in immediately. The sexual innocence and erotic build up is extremely hot and is coupled with a believeable love story and likeable protagonists which makes the sex even hotter. You don't want to miss this one. Great prelude to your own delights!

I read this book in 1 day! All of the stories were rivating as well as sensous! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoy erotica! I also recommend "Captivated!"

I found two of the stories worth the price of the book. Nikki Donovan's and Betrice Small's stories were interesting and well executed. Like other reviewers, I found the Nikki Donovan's Enchanted tale (Beauty and the Beast) to be delightful and highly erotic. Betrice Small's story on true love not caring about the circumstance of someone's life was enjoyable (and erotic). Unfortunately, I found the editing mistakes in Liz Madison's story to be disruptive to the story. I didn't think women were named Victoria in 1250 AD nor had chocolate been discovered by the English at that time. These editing mistakes seriously distracted from the storyline. Susan Johnson's character arguments over who is in charge detracted from the sex. They don't like each other so why is good sex worth it?

I liked this book less than either of its predecessors, Captivated and Fascinated. The Nikki Donovan story worked best for me; the Bertrice Small really didn't. I don't buy these anthologies for great romance -- I'm looking for a hot, interesting collection of stories. Here, frankly, the stories just weren't hot and interesting enough. I don't know whether the editors have changed since the first two historical erotic romance anthologies, but I was disappointed in both this and the first contemporary anthology put out by Brava.

i'm very delighted with this book. it's very exotic and it's also very sexy, a warning to people who don't like exotic reading stay away from this one but for the rest it is a must read.

Perhaps the major flaw with this anthology is that the authors [and publisher] haven't caught on yet that many women require more than coupling in their soft porn. Yes, I too like the steamy sex and wild ideas I've never personally encountered. That said, I want story with my sex. There was little here. For me, it's not a keeper.

Susan Johnson's contribution to the anothology collection of stories to Delighted impressed me far more than her latest novel, Brava (Again and Again). In Out of the Storm, two strangers seek shelter from a storm in a gamekeeper's hut, finding instant passion with each other. Introduced formally two weeks later they discover a relationship by marriage (his father recently wed her mother). Ms. Johnson did an excellent job describing the characters' emotions: lust, shame, bewilderment, pride and pain. I would recommend Delighted for this story only.