Customer Reviews

Doing It the Hard Way: Ellora's Cave

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

 

 

***WARNING, SPOILERS***
-Miss October, by Madison Hayes,erotica at its best, 107 pages, 4,5 stars.
Story:
Octavia October (no comment here...) has a rule of not picking up hitchhikers.
The sight of a hard, testosterone radiating male by the side of the road with
his thumb up in the international sign of hitchhiking doesn't move her. But
after a flat tire a little further down the road, he catches up with her and
offers her a deal. His help for the ride. Tavia finally accepts under the
condition to take him to his destination the next day since she has a date
back home she doesn't want to cancel. The hitchhiker a.k.a. Bolt Hardin is to
stay in her place overnight and the fun begins. His attraction to sassy Tavia
makes him interfere with her date, seduce Tavia and get rid of the boyfriend,
all sooooooo manly done. The outcome is delicious. And kinky. And totally worth
reading this story.
Impression:
A gem. Half the story I was holding my stomach from the laughter and the other
half I was fanning myself. Madison Hayes's writing is delightfully refreshing
with a generous dose of humor and a keen sense of actual male phychology
truthfully depicted on paper. The chemistry between the two characters is
delicious and the plot rolls in a creative beat. As for the sex scenes... This
is pure erotica. The kind of erotica that makes the reason to buy an Ellora's
Cave anthology of short romance stories. And this story, was totally worth it.

-Jaguar's rule, by T.J. Michaels, shapeshifter's story, 116 pages, 1,5 stars.
Story:
Aaron James crushes into the jungle with his plane and is rescued by Reya,
a female jaguar shapeshifter who defends his injured body from another
rogue male jaguar that shows up at the crash. Aaron while tended in Reya's
place feels drawn to her, an attraction that goes both ways. Amidst Reya's
busy schedule in the wildlife sanctuary, patrolling the jungle for rogues and
Aaron's attentions for her, Reya falls in love with him and Aaron decides he
wants her in his life permanently. But first, he needs to rescue her from the
rogue jaguar that's been attacking females around the sanctuary. Reya's
shapeshifting secret is revealed, Aaron doesn't blink an eye, the rogue is put
down and everyone lives happily ever after.
Impression:
Not a memorable one. The story had the components of a full length novel
only they were patched and compressed within 116 pages. Lots of secondary
characters that did not offer a thing to the plot, undeveloped romance that
could be unfolded much more efficiently had the author paid attention to the
couple in question, rushed out conclusions and shallow leading characters. I
couldn't wait to get it over with.

-One night with you, by Shiloh Walker,contemporary romance,71 pages, 2 stars.
Story:
Logan has been in love with Bo since the first time he laid eyes on her. Bo
has had a crush on Logan for years. After one night together, her fate is
sealed. She is ruined for any other man. But that doesn't consolate Bo.
Terrified of her feelings for Logan she runs away and around the globe for 4
years. Until she comes back, dates another guy and agrees to marry him. But
Logan knows that Bo is meant for him alone and and kidnaps her two weeks before
the wedding in a remote cabin to prove it to her with nonstop mind-blowing sex.
Bo after the shock -and sex- of her life comes to her senses. Wedding called
off.
Impression:
Guess I had high expectations of SW. Scratch that. I guess I had expectations
of her story in general. When it comes to romance stories of "angst", where the
characters get separated out of fear of their own emotions, one night of amazing
sex isn't enough to clear the fog in their brains. Hmmm, maybe more... but
however, in Bo's case there was no clearing of what she wanted. She realized
Logan actually loved her but she kept fighting her acceptance of him to the
very end of the story. In Logan's final question "I've been going without you
for years, Bo, and it 's hell. I don 't want to do it anymore. (...) Come on,
Bo. Tell me.", she murmured something in his ear and that was it. Next page is
the epilogue. And it doesn't even take place between the two leading characters.
Instead, the rejected fiance is in it!
I ended the story with quite a bitter feeling. Though the sex scenes had the
usual SW brand -intense, passionate and explicit- everything else lacked. There
was no decent development of the plot and definetely no decent closure. I fully
understand that it's a short story included in an anthology, but I felt like it
deserved more attention from the author in respect to the readers that pay a
decent amount of money (in this case, 19.80$ in its full price) to get
anthologies such as this one. I 'm almost relieved I got it on bargain price,
but still I feel like I want my money back...

All in all, the selection of this anthology was disappointing, considering 2
out of 3 stories weren't worth spending time and full-price money on. I gave it
2,5 stars in general, but "Miss October" is where the money lies... Guess if it
was included in a more succesful selection it would have had better luck...

I thought this was going to be a great mix of stories.
T. J. MICHAELS and SHILOH WALKER: I found their stories to be just hmmmm.....
average and a little forgettable.
However, Madison Hayes story was sexy, hot, and funny.
The characters in Miss October will blow you away. That story alone
was well worth the price for the book. Miss October deserves 5 Stars.
Even though it's a short story, it contains an explosive one you will not want
to put down. I wanted it to be a full size book!
Madison Hayes also has "Calendar Girls - Flavor of the Month" from Ellora's Cave-Miss February,
Miss April, and Miss December in one book.
But my favorite is Miss October!!