Review: Willing Victim by Cara McKenna
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2010
After witnessing a man, a very tall sexy man, break up a fight between an arguing couple, Laurel can't help but approach this stranger. She offers to buy him lunch at a sub shop (later Flynn repeatedly calls Laurel "Sub Shop Girl - which I adored!!!), and Laurel finds herself so intrigued by this rough and gruff man she wants to get to know him better. Michael Flynn, a construction worker, won't commit to a date with her, but he gives her the name of a bar to meet him in a few days later.When Laurel shows up to the bar, she is directed to the basement, and soon realizes she is in the middle of an amateur fight area and Flynn is the main attraction. After watching him go a couple of rounds, Flynn and his friend Pam invite Laurel back to his place to watch them in action. What Laurel discovers is that Flynn and Pam are into playing out rape fantasies. Kind of shocked, but definitely turned on, Laurel likes what she sees. Flynn invites her back, without Pam, and Laurel decides she definitely wants to be there.Why did this book work for me? In casual conversation if someone said - hey go read a book about rape fantasies, I would have rolled my eyes and moved on. But it is all about trust. Sophia from Fiction Vixen and K.C. from Smokin' Hot Books said - go read this book! And I trust those girls. It is about trusting my friends and this book is all about trust too. When I use the words "rape fantasy" I am meaning - Flynn likes to be rough and in control. He likes it if his partner tries to get away as he holds her down. Fear gets Laurel off. It gets her heart pumping. But let me say these are absolutely 100% consenting adults. They have a safe word that they practice using and they both really enjoy this scenario in bed.But this book is so much more than the role play. Cara McKenna gives us a very unusual romantic hero. He is so anti-romance at the beginning. He never comes across as an ass, he is just very straight forward. Basically - Do you want to have sex or not? But he never is a jerk. He is never mushy, and never tries to act like something he is not. That right there really attracted me to him. There are no pretenses. He is really gruff but it is very sexy. Eventually he turns into this hero that I adored. He does come around to care about Laurel, but it is done in a very Flynn way.Laurel is not quite sure what she wants, but Flynn really attracts her. She wants to mess around and is not shy about telling him. It makes her a little nervous, but that is part of the excitement. What I really loved about her is that she is not perfect. Yay!  She went to college but hates her engineering degree. She would much rather be a waitress and live below her means. She doesn't have the perfect job, and the perfect house and the perfect attitude. She has bad days and has to hold her tears in. She feels a little uncertain about her growing attraction to Flynn. Sometimes she blurts out the wrong thing. She has issues and I really liked her.For a short novel, and a beginning where I had no idea where this relationship was going, it comes to a very satisfying end. I think it is important going into this book knowing that there are issues and scenes that some may not be comfortable with. But Cara McKenna does a nice job with execution and I really recommend this erotic book.