Review: Wanderlust
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2013
Reviewed by: MariaBook provided by: book provided by the author for reviewReview originally posted at Romancing the BookThis book is part one of Elieba Levine's erotic trilogy. The main character is Jane Perry, thirty-something New Yorker, who owns an apartment building and earns her bread as both a landlady and a photographer. Jane embarks on a short affair with her tenant, a younger man. Then his brother joins in the fun and a sort of menage situation ensues. However, Jane is a little disturbed by the experience. Possibly because it's not so memorable. She feels it's time to get out of town and pursue some new experiences.She embarks on a world tour. She starts out on an African group safari in Kenya. She meets two eligible men, both of whom are tour guides. Both men treat her as some sort of prize and a competition ensues to see who ends up as her lover for the safari trip. The affair is conducted in dramatic style and comes to a grand closure when the trip ends. Without so much as a backward glance, she flies to Kathmandu in Nepal where she hooks up with Bryan, who is preparing to embark on a mountain climbing expedition. They spend their few Nepal nights together, enjoying full intimacy before Bryan heads off to conquer his mountain. While there she also befriends an aging hippie, who brings her on a tour of medieval Kathmandu and shows her the hash dens where the sixties never ended. Then it's on to bewitching Bali, where she drinks in the local culture and unspoiled beauty while romancing an Australian film maker. However, it is in Bali that Jane captures the eye of a prince, who falls in love with her. The prince is attracted to Jane's personality and unique take on life. He longs to make her his life partner, but doesn't wish to interrupt her journey, wishing that she would choose him of her own free will. Indeed, a tarot card reader in Nepal had prophesied that she would probably never be able to be truly satisfied by just one man. When the prince leaves, he leaves behind a bodyguard to shadow Jane discreetly, for her protection, not to spy on her. The bodyguard comes in useful when Jane is almost gang raped by a pair of `rednecks'. Even as her prince sends her flowers and has her discreetly guarded, Jane still can't keep away from other men. So the question is, can the prince hold down such a precious butterfly? Will she find it in her heart of hearts to give up her nomadic lifestyle and dedicate herself totally to him. You'll have to read this book to find out, folks.This should have been a perfect book, a delightful read, Jane's odyssey in paradise. A modern, liberated woman, moving in the world independently, loving freely, giving love and respect and moving on without a backward glance. Just as many a man has done through the ages. As a travel story it is fascinating. There's that bittersweet sorrow of parting together with that deep down thrill of excitement that traveling alone to new places brings. This book should have been a complete joy to read. So why wasn't it?Could it be that the characters could have done with a little more dimension? We got to see Jane in the sack with more half a dozen different men, greedily sucking the marrow of physical union. But we didn't get to know one thing about her childhood, one thing about her sexual history, one detail that would have thrown some light on what made her who he is today. Jane is a sexually free woman right? Wrong. Jane seemed to be more of a slave to her impulses, or perhaps to the expectations of others. The first thing she does when she reaches a new place is hook up with the first man available. She rarely picks out a man for herself. Well, only maybe a very odd time. Most of the time, she responds to pick ups. Although most of the men she gets with seem very attractive, the fact is that she responds to any man that takes a fancy to her, not to man that she's chosen. I'd truly love to have learnt more about Jane's formation, about what made her the person that she was. Overall, she comes across as a person to whom things happened rather than an individual with a story.Jane also seemed totally innocent of birth control or of safe sex. I mean, when you say that your body is yours to share with whom you wish, I'm with you on that one. However, when you make love indiscriminately bringing yourself into the area of the danger of unplanned pregnancy and the very real and present danger of HIV/AIDS, you are a risk not only to yourself but to others. With sexual freedom comes sexual responsibility. Okay, Jane may have had a birth control shot before leaving NY which we don't get to hear about, but none of her lovers ever seemed to have the presence of mind to stop to roll on a condom. Practicality is conspicuous by it's absence. This to my mind puts the novel firmly into the realm of fantasy. Sexual freedom of this type, without responsibility, doesn't exist.It was also very difficult for me to believe that Jane was being pursued as a wife by a royal lover, especially a reigning one with a principality, as Prince Gede seemed to be. I know many a prince has enjoyed wine, women and song, especially before settling down, as Prince Gede seemed ready to do. The problem is, that a throne is not supposed to be a ticket to good times. It's a grave responsibility. However much princes love their mistresses, they generally do not marry them. It is sad but true that nobody wants a princess whose sexual history will be the subject of public speculation. So in the real world a bride like Jane is not for a prince, sad and unfair as it may seem.This book also appears rather dated. According to Amazon, it was first published in the late 1990s, which explains the absence of internet connectivity and the ever conspicuous mobile. This actually add a certain charm to the story and made Jane's experience a more authentic journey of discovery.The no-holds-barred sexual description would be very popular indeed with readers today. But there has to be a bit more to a novel, even an erotica novel, to hit the credibility target.