Review: there just aren't enough hot kidnappings in lesfic....
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 2, 2013
... which is why I'm so disappointed at how much work this was to read. I absolutely loved the whole hot American virgin gets kidnapped and ultimately held captive by a female Pharaoh with a harem premise.But when I pick up this stuff, mostly my brain is fried from a long and stressful work day and I don't wanna think that hard or reread to stay on track... or revisit the extensive Egyptian glossary at the start of the book. Kindle doesn't easily cater to the easy page flipping a paperback would, I guess. So I trudged through this. Every other sentence was bogged down in Egyptian vocabulary- ack!! And just how many names do these characters have?! lol.  I could barely keep track of who was who. I didn't think I'd finish the book and concluded this would be about as satisfying as watching scrambled porn.I wasn't completely off. I blurred out here and there and wasn't willing to reread to get the new scene I suddenly found myself in. But somewhere around chapter 5 or 6, I got away from the convoluted and, um, academic? first impressions of this voice and I picked up a pace with the vocabulary patterns and more or less held on.Even so, I was mostly only interested in the progress our two leads make to get close. Nothing else was all that interesting. The bulk of the story is spent traveling 2 months through the desert and there wasn't much else to watch except for the leads.  The build up and sex wasn't as hot or as intense as I thought it would be... but the premise all by itself is so intriguing and there was something very alluring about this reluctant flaming redhead.I just wish the female Pharaoh was as vivid. But I didn't even find her intimidating.  I was hoping for more of a dominant.  Nah.  And aside from her golden eyes, I'm not really sure what she looks like. Dark hair.  5'5" height.  Some references to brown skin.  I guess you could look at the cover as that pair seems to look like our two leads.  But still.  Not enough presence overall, in my opinion, and I just had a hard time visualizing her throughout the story.  REALLY disappointed she wasn't more dominant with an evil streak to overcome.  The story woulda been much more sexier that way.  Instead, it just feels written from the point of view of a stuffy academic.  She didn't have a particularly high libido either (the lead, ha ha).  And what's with all the references to "wearing the phallus" and then never actually giving it an appearance?!!? (lost opportunity!!)  The harem stuff didn't bother me too much and I thought it was kinda played down. It was only made up of 2-3 women and they were more into each other.  I think this was really a monogamous love story in poly clothing, lol.I suggest you read the free sample for this book before jumping in as you'll get the glossary and the first few chapters. But keep in mind that some perseverance will get you to a place where you will better follow the story... it does get easier and better as the story progresses. But I'm not going to be any more persuasive than that because... meh. If you want a more engrossing, page-turning kidnapping story.... pick up Branded Ann by Merry Shannon or Green Eyed Monster by Gill McKnight. Those are some of my all-time faves!!  ;)Again, love the premise here, but I guess I'm too damn lazy to appreciate this kind of writing in my otherwise mindless lesfic escapism.