Sweet Temptation by Maya Banks
Series: Sweet #4
Publisher: Heat 2010
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance; Suspense
Rating: 4 1/2 pints of blood
I like this cover, even though it looks a little bit like it's from a lingerie catalogue - the pose helps rescue it but I keep looking at the pretty underwear and admiring it (though that bra doesn't look all that supportive!) I love the colours, makes it quite tasteful, better than the cover of book 2 - this one is more like book 1 (ugh, I've left links at the bottom of this review if you're interested). It's funny, though: the cover doesn't really give you a clue about the true nature of the contents!
It's taken four books for me to see the pattern going on here: books 1 and 3 were relatively sweet and tame in their depictions of desire and passion, while books 2 and 4 are hedonistic and intense and not for the sexually timid. So that should give you some idea of what to expect here.
Micah Hudson used to be a cop in Florida but for the last few years has worked for a family-run security company in Texas - becoming one of the family in the process. That's about all his friends know about him, that and that he likes women, likes to share them and enjoy them to the fullest, as long as that doesn't involve a real relationship or revealing anything of his past.
Until the day the past finally arrives in Micah's town in the form of Angelina, the younger sister of his best friend David with whom he lived in a blissful, happy ménage à trois with Micah's wife Hannah, a domestic and pleasurable arrangement that ended abruptly when David and Hannah were killed in a car accident. Despite promising David to look out for Angelina should anything happen to him, Micah's grief is such that he desires nothing more than to escape the memories of what he had, and what he lost. When Angelina turns up in his life again, he sees her as David's little sister - and that's the last thing Angelina wants him to see her as.
Angelina has always loved Micah, since she was sixteen and living with him and Hannah and David. And she knows him better than anyone: she knows his past, and she knows how he's been dealing with his grief. Feeling responsible for her, and strangely possessive, Micah takes Angelina in and learns in no uncertain terms that she hopes for something more intimate. Micah's tastes in bed sport run to the extreme, but Angelina is more than Micah's match: she can take anything he cares to give.
When Micah learns that one of the reasons Angelina left her home was to escape an increasingly threatening stalker, he realises he'll do anything to protect her - and not just because she was David's sister.
I enjoy Banks' stories, but I have to leave a great chunk of my own personality at the door when I delve into one. The good news is that I don't mind. It took me four books to really appreciate their Southern American flavour, that they really couldn't be set anywhere else and be plausible. It's not that they're full of Southern "culture", whatever that may be (well, they have their own style of food and way of talking etc., don't they); it's in the characters: the men are big, muscular, domineering, over-protective, gentlemanly but also "manly" - masculine in the cliched sense of beer-swigging, footy-watching, ute-driving machismo. The women are a mix of sassy and sweet, brazen and genteel, "well-bred" and classy or slightly trashy but "good at heart". Ugh I'm degenerating into pathetic stereotype as I write this - such is what happens when you start talking about something, let's face it, inherently cheesy.
I am quite impressed, actually, in how Banks manages to avoid ruffling my feminist sensibilities: which is quite the achievement when you think about it. From the first book, actually, she's had that "agenda" of creating female characters who are confident enough to own up to their sexuality, and own up to their needs in having a Big Strong Man take care of them. I am a feminist myself, but that means I can understand that there's nothing really wrong in this. I wouldn't want it for myself, it's not in my nature or in the way I was raised, but that doesn't mean it's wrong for other women to need what balances themselves. What's "empowering" (and I shudder to use the word, as grossly co-opted by management-speak and the self-esteem movement as it is) is having these very different women (different in personality, but very similar because of their nationality, culture, upbringing etc.) embrace their own sexuality. And I'm all for that.
Angelina is a case in point. She comes into the story fully in charge of her own needs and desires - it's Micah who can't handle the thought of his best friend's little sister enjoying the kind of BDSM he does. (For the uninitiated, "BDSM" simply stands for "bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, Sadism, Masochism" rather like how GBLT stands for gay-bi-lesbian-transgendered: a handy list to capture variance.) Angelina and Micah both enjoy the kind of pleasure it's possible to get from pain, but that's only part of it. There's a rather beautiful and surprisingly gentle exploration of their sexuality, something that could just as easily be taudry, grotesque and obscene.
I didn't find Angelina to be as confused and like a doormat at some other readers - she did not strike me as desperate, not in the derogatory sense they meant. Perhaps it helped having read Sweet Persuasion, the story of Serena and Damon, in which Serena hesitantly faces her needs and desires and Damon teaches her how a woman comfortable in being submissive is stronger than the man who dominates her. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but when you're reading it it makes sense. It becomes romantic. (And you're wondering how I could call myself a feminist, I bet! You'd have to be inside my head, or wait patiently till I can articulate myself better. :) )
For sure the plot can make me roll my eyes - it seems convenient that there would be something putting Angelina's life in danger, because we all know it's not until they think they're going to lose a woman that they realise how much they love her - it's a time-honoured cliche and still highly effective. But that and other cliches aside, Micah and Angelina are believable and plausible because these books are all about character development; plot is just a structure, a frame, on which to bring them together and get them to work through their issues. Because they will certainly have issues - in this case, Micah is privately, emotionally repressed.
There's definitely some sweetness here too, alongside the hero's angst, but the story wasn't as intense as book 2, which dealt with a similar intensity. It's predictable - there weren't even any red herrings regarding the identity of Angelina's stalker - but her resilience and strength gives it fresh life. There's plenty more goodness to come, too. Following the pattern I mentioned at the start, I can say with confidence that the next book will be a sweet one dealing with Connor, while book 6 will be another wicked instalment detailing Cole's story. Yeah I got it all figured out. ;)
The Sweet Series:
Sweet Surrender (Faith and Gray)
Sweet Persuasion (Serena and Damon)
Sweet Seduction (Julie and Nathan)
Publisher: Heat 2010
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance; Suspense
Rating: 4 1/2 pints of blood
I like this cover, even though it looks a little bit like it's from a lingerie catalogue - the pose helps rescue it but I keep looking at the pretty underwear and admiring it (though that bra doesn't look all that supportive!) I love the colours, makes it quite tasteful, better than the cover of book 2 - this one is more like book 1 (ugh, I've left links at the bottom of this review if you're interested). It's funny, though: the cover doesn't really give you a clue about the true nature of the contents!
It's taken four books for me to see the pattern going on here: books 1 and 3 were relatively sweet and tame in their depictions of desire and passion, while books 2 and 4 are hedonistic and intense and not for the sexually timid. So that should give you some idea of what to expect here.
Micah Hudson used to be a cop in Florida but for the last few years has worked for a family-run security company in Texas - becoming one of the family in the process. That's about all his friends know about him, that and that he likes women, likes to share them and enjoy them to the fullest, as long as that doesn't involve a real relationship or revealing anything of his past.
Until the day the past finally arrives in Micah's town in the form of Angelina, the younger sister of his best friend David with whom he lived in a blissful, happy ménage à trois with Micah's wife Hannah, a domestic and pleasurable arrangement that ended abruptly when David and Hannah were killed in a car accident. Despite promising David to look out for Angelina should anything happen to him, Micah's grief is such that he desires nothing more than to escape the memories of what he had, and what he lost. When Angelina turns up in his life again, he sees her as David's little sister - and that's the last thing Angelina wants him to see her as.
Angelina has always loved Micah, since she was sixteen and living with him and Hannah and David. And she knows him better than anyone: she knows his past, and she knows how he's been dealing with his grief. Feeling responsible for her, and strangely possessive, Micah takes Angelina in and learns in no uncertain terms that she hopes for something more intimate. Micah's tastes in bed sport run to the extreme, but Angelina is more than Micah's match: she can take anything he cares to give.
When Micah learns that one of the reasons Angelina left her home was to escape an increasingly threatening stalker, he realises he'll do anything to protect her - and not just because she was David's sister.
I enjoy Banks' stories, but I have to leave a great chunk of my own personality at the door when I delve into one. The good news is that I don't mind. It took me four books to really appreciate their Southern American flavour, that they really couldn't be set anywhere else and be plausible. It's not that they're full of Southern "culture", whatever that may be (well, they have their own style of food and way of talking etc., don't they); it's in the characters: the men are big, muscular, domineering, over-protective, gentlemanly but also "manly" - masculine in the cliched sense of beer-swigging, footy-watching, ute-driving machismo. The women are a mix of sassy and sweet, brazen and genteel, "well-bred" and classy or slightly trashy but "good at heart". Ugh I'm degenerating into pathetic stereotype as I write this - such is what happens when you start talking about something, let's face it, inherently cheesy.
I am quite impressed, actually, in how Banks manages to avoid ruffling my feminist sensibilities: which is quite the achievement when you think about it. From the first book, actually, she's had that "agenda" of creating female characters who are confident enough to own up to their sexuality, and own up to their needs in having a Big Strong Man take care of them. I am a feminist myself, but that means I can understand that there's nothing really wrong in this. I wouldn't want it for myself, it's not in my nature or in the way I was raised, but that doesn't mean it's wrong for other women to need what balances themselves. What's "empowering" (and I shudder to use the word, as grossly co-opted by management-speak and the self-esteem movement as it is) is having these very different women (different in personality, but very similar because of their nationality, culture, upbringing etc.) embrace their own sexuality. And I'm all for that.
Angelina is a case in point. She comes into the story fully in charge of her own needs and desires - it's Micah who can't handle the thought of his best friend's little sister enjoying the kind of BDSM he does. (For the uninitiated, "BDSM" simply stands for "bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, Sadism, Masochism" rather like how GBLT stands for gay-bi-lesbian-transgendered: a handy list to capture variance.) Angelina and Micah both enjoy the kind of pleasure it's possible to get from pain, but that's only part of it. There's a rather beautiful and surprisingly gentle exploration of their sexuality, something that could just as easily be taudry, grotesque and obscene.
I didn't find Angelina to be as confused and like a doormat at some other readers - she did not strike me as desperate, not in the derogatory sense they meant. Perhaps it helped having read Sweet Persuasion, the story of Serena and Damon, in which Serena hesitantly faces her needs and desires and Damon teaches her how a woman comfortable in being submissive is stronger than the man who dominates her. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but when you're reading it it makes sense. It becomes romantic. (And you're wondering how I could call myself a feminist, I bet! You'd have to be inside my head, or wait patiently till I can articulate myself better. :) )
For sure the plot can make me roll my eyes - it seems convenient that there would be something putting Angelina's life in danger, because we all know it's not until they think they're going to lose a woman that they realise how much they love her - it's a time-honoured cliche and still highly effective. But that and other cliches aside, Micah and Angelina are believable and plausible because these books are all about character development; plot is just a structure, a frame, on which to bring them together and get them to work through their issues. Because they will certainly have issues - in this case, Micah is privately, emotionally repressed.
There's definitely some sweetness here too, alongside the hero's angst, but the story wasn't as intense as book 2, which dealt with a similar intensity. It's predictable - there weren't even any red herrings regarding the identity of Angelina's stalker - but her resilience and strength gives it fresh life. There's plenty more goodness to come, too. Following the pattern I mentioned at the start, I can say with confidence that the next book will be a sweet one dealing with Connor, while book 6 will be another wicked instalment detailing Cole's story. Yeah I got it all figured out. ;)
The Sweet Series:
Sweet Surrender (Faith and Gray)
Sweet Persuasion (Serena and Damon)
Sweet Seduction (Julie and Nathan)