Customer Reviews

Taken By Surprise

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In this new Brava historical romance anthology, surprises - as well as nasty shocks are dealt by the three veterans of erotic romance. Of the three featured tales, Thea Devine's Her lord & master pales in comparison to the far superior Susan Johnson with From Russia with Love and the sensual mistress Katherine O' Neal with her torrid Erotic Deja vu.

Susan Johnson tones down her usual vulgar sex with a poignant passionate story of the resilient Tatiana who is dictated by Ivan The Terrible to marry the ogre Prince Shuisky to strengthen their alliance in Russia 1570. She meets the suave Stavr Biron who campaigns for Ukraine while being sequestered in Livonia with her child Zoe and falls in love. The danger arrives when Prince Shuisky is consumed with jealousy when his "possession" is taken by his enemy. Erotic and sensual with tender affections, Susan Johnson explores a forbidden passion with empathy and masterful narration.

The second tale by Thea Devine is an immediate turn-off with the unconscionable Earl of Wick taking a fancy to deflower virgin. Jenise, upon seeing her sister Julia being cruelly casted away by Wick decides to teach him a lesson, only to indulge in the rapturous surrender of sex. The sex marathon soon becomes gratuitous, monotonous as the romance element is stripped away by the explicit and crude manhandling, inducing more of a nasty shock for readers.

Katherine O' Neal's tale is cluttered with numerous blatant sex scenes but is starkly original with its surreal realm and a surprising twist. Celia Wybourne, the scandalous erotic romance author travels to Gibraltar and finds that her destiny entwined with a mysterious stranger Royce - in several past-lifes - with tragic consequences. The attraction to the story is not immediate but on a progressive mode.

With excellent predecessors such as Captivated and Fascinated, Taken By Surprise falls short with the romance diminished by debauchery and lack of character development. It is fortunate that Susan Johnson and Katherine O' Neal dishes out enough surprises to neutralise Thea Devine's shockingly bad tale.

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers. Susan Johnson and Katherine O'Neal make this book. Thea Devine's story left my cold.

Susan Johnson has definitely found her muse again. The last two stories (this one and Force of Nature) she has written have been outstanding. This reminds me of her earlier works. There is passion, understanding and love. A young Russian princess is married to a cruel and evil prince by Ivan the Terrible. When she becomes pregnant the evil prince sends her back to her family's estate. She has a daughter and as punishment her husband leaves her exiled in the country. Tatiana is more than happy to stay on her estate.

While out on a ride she meets a young Count that has been given the neighboring estate for services rendered to the court. Stavr Biron is her husbands enemy, but Tatiana cannot help feeling attracted to the Count.

stavr never thought that he would meet such an enchanting young women. He knows that she is virtuous, but she raiss a fierce desire. He finally decides to make a play for her.

This story will make you cheer and cry and wish the evil prince to Hades.

Erotic Deja Vu will leave you breathless and wanting to turn the next page. The story revolves around an ancient curse and the solution that will free the lovers for all time. The journey to that end is explosively passionate and senuous. Celia and Royce are destined to be together, but can it be forever. This story has an Arabian Nights and Scheherazade feel to it.

From Russia, With Love by Susan Johnson***

After losing her parents, Tatiana was made to marry the tsars' man, Prince Igor Skuisky. The couple met for the first time at the altar and we are told that the prince brutality did his duty and shipped her back home as soon as she became pregnant since she was so too frail for one who preferred buxom women. While in exile, Tatiana meets her neighbor, Count Starv Biron and they eventually indulge in a summer affair. The hero is refrained and the heroine is weak, not the usual rake and strong, independent female. There was no in depth supporting characters.

I was definitely taken by surprise when I read this story. It does not belong in a tales of erotic romance anthology; Ms. Johnson has many historical romance books that have more erotica then this story. The title is a warning that this is not the usual Susan Johnson. Having read so many of her other books and being used to that style of writing, well this story just does not live up to her standard.

Her Lord & Master by Thea Devine****

The Earl of Wick who has ravished every woman in London has become bored and is being pressured to marry. Being the rake that he is, he must have only a virgin wife who has to be chosen/tested by his fellow rakish friends. Once the top three are chosen they must then allow certain liberties - sometimes in private, sometimes not, kind of like.... ah.... what's the word? oh yeah, orgies. The things these women do to win an Earl. For this heroine though, she'll do whatever it takes to get revenge, yeah it's payback time.

Erotic Déjá Vu by Katherine O'Neal**

Reincarnation taken to a new level. To be cursed repeat the same disastrous lifetime over and over just because your man did not tell you that he loves you before you turned him in to be murdered. The author actually tells a story within this story.

Summing things up this book is not worth $, save yourself some money. If you want to read it, then get it from the Library.

This book is made up of three novellas by Susan Johnson, Thea Devine, and Katherine O' Neal. All three stories were different in sexual content, style etc.
I have to say while reading the first novella, To Russia, With Love by Susan Johnson, I was alternating between falling asleep and rolling my eyes. Especially when the "hero" Stavr first meets the heroine, Tatiana- If Stavr gets [excited again] thinking about Tatiana and how virginal she was, I swore to myself I was gonna hurl the book out the window. Speaking of virginal, the author NEVER fails to use the adjectives "virginal" or "innocent" in front of Tatiana's name- from the excessive way the words are used, I can correctly deduce three things- 1)Tatiana must be 8 yrs old 2)Stavr is a pedophile, and 3)Tatiana's baby must have came from stork (given she is soo virginal and innocent..PUKE) That was all that stood out to me in the novella..oh besides couple EXTREMELY BLAND sex scenes and ridiculously unbelievable and exaggerated ending...I don't need to tell you the rest of the plot because that in No way whatsoever lured me to wake up from my more interesting dream. As to Thea Devine's story "Her Lord and Master", WOW~ Mrs. Devine really turned up the thermosat in my house. The pages were practically smoking and my eyes watering from all that explicit boinking. Hey it's all just sexy pleasure reading this novella- the premise is interesting- a bored heartbreaker earl is playing the Who's wants to marry a millionaire/The Bachelor game, a much dirtier skankier (and interesting!)version in which the three finalists has to...err you read and found out the erotic details for yourself. But warning though-don't read this book for romance- I can't seem to find that element anywhere on the page. but hey, its sexy and streamy and it woke me up after the last story about...whats it about again?
I don't have too much to say about the 3rd story, Erotic Dejavu. Its a romance story expect complete with sultan who wants to put the heroine in her sordid harlem as well as elements of multiple past lives and how the two are destined to be together and finally make it end right blah blah didn't I read that somewhereS (notice the plural form of the word) before? The bedroom scenes are good but not sizzling, but on the other hand after the burning Devine story, that'll be hard to judge. The romance element is there but not completely emotional like I wanna cry my eyes out for the two lovers. So overall, its...a good anthology...but if your not big fans of any of the authors, maybe you should filch and xerox the stories from your friend's copy.

"From Russia With Love" by Susan Johnson. In 1570 Russia, Prince Shuisky exiles his wife Tatiana for failing to provide a male heir. The princess meets and makes love with her neighbor Stavr. If Shuisky learns about Stavr he will kill her paramour. The engaging intrigue of the court of Ivan the Terrible and the Russian countryside battle for supremacy with sex scenes that could melt the Siberian ice.

"Her Lord and Master" by Thea Devine. In 1810 the bored Earl of Wick fears that the required wife will make his ennui worse. He establishes a game of bedding virgins with one eventually becoming Lady Wick. Jenise enters his game to enact vengeance for Wick's treatment of her sister, but never expected the passion between them. This not a by the book Regency because it employs sexual encounters that could keep Napoleon's army heated.

"Erotic Déjà vu" by Katherine O'Neal. By 1888, the sun never sets on those who have read a Celia Wybourne erotic novel. On Gibraltar, she sees the stranger that she has recently seen in several other locales. She confronts psychic Royce Tyler who insists they are soul mates. He teaches her the art of love making until his enemy captures them and turns her into Scheherazade with a sexy tale. Though the trysts feel like déjà vu, this Victorian romance could defrost the polar icecaps.

These historicals contain unnecessary shock value profanity and copious fornication frolics, but the authors are known for their erotic romances so that no one should be TAKEN BY SURPRISE.

Harriet Klausner

I can appreciate that tastes vary, so I will not fill this review with all the thoughts that plagued my mind after trying to get through this monstrosity.
So to state my displeasure simply and fairly:

The first story was tedious. It started out good, but the dialogue got confusing and I found myself going back pages to figure out what the hell was going on. The sex scenes were not worth it.

The second story was...not my tastes. So I will not rate it too harshly...but I did not realy care for the demeaning of the women. Not my thing.

The third was the only one that made this anthology worth reading. It should have been a novel though, not a short. It would have benefited by being more thurough. All the different past lives of the two characters should have been played out more, rather then just a page of description for each life. I would have bought this one alone if it had been more. It was a realy good idea, but it fell short as a short story.
But it is the saving grace of this trio and the only reason this anthology has a star.

This is a book to borrow from a friend rather than purchase. Buyer be aware.

I was one of the first readers to fall in love with Katherine O'Neal's writing, and my pleasure in her storytellling has only grown with each new book she's created. In EROTIC DEJA VU, she tells a story that every hopeful romantic can identify with--a tale of lovers destined to find each other but powerfully tested by fate. An utterly passionate story that is both erotic and intelligent, this novella will seduce you into the mystery and magnificent adventure of a great love.

I also very much enjoyed Susan Johnson's beautiful Russian romance, which is as tender as it is wonderfully arousing.

...You are going to LOVE this book. It had everything anyone could want, including great sex scenes, great plot twists and drama, and excellent writing. Don't miss this one, and don't miss "9 Free Secrets of New Sensual Power" which is also loaded with tons of great sex and interesting scenarios and fine writing, but also comes along with some pretty sensational theories about having AMAZING sex and using that to make your life better. I enjoy being entertained, but it's another thing to get that AND some lessons about love and life in the bargain.