Review: Hot Sex, Too-Modern Language, Ok Story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2014
This book is set in 1816, India.  Both protagonists, Elizabeth Thornton and Maxwell Harrison (Beth and Max) during historical times, with protagonists that are both English.  Max works for a very powerful, very perverse, man named Jeeval, who has a harem of women who he uses and abuses for his sexual pleasure.  Although some of the women he "owns" he had received as gifts, while others were purchased as slaves, many others were kidnapped.  Maxwell's job is to train the women in the art of erotic and sadistic pleasures which includes rape.  Maxwell also procures women for Jeeval by snatching them off the streets.Clearly Max is not a very nice man--an understatement that for a man who is a kidnapper and rapist--but fortunately, we meet him when he has already set his sights Elizabeth as his next victim--I say fortunately because pretty much as soon as he kidnaps Beth his character begins to reform.  Elizabeth, a gently-reared young woman, is in India working with the Baptist Mission Society.  After stalking Elizabeth for weeks, Max executes his planned ruse and kidnaps her, taking her back to Jeeval's estate. Almost from the beginning, Maxwell is beguiled by the tiny, fiery beauty.  He doesn't understand the feelings of tenderness fiery female.It is Max's job to relieve Elizabeth of her virginity and turn her into the perfect sex slave.  But, very quickly he finds that he cannot conceive of any other man laying claim to "his" Beth.  Nevertheless, Max's hands are tied and there is nothing he can do to protect Elizabeth so long as they are both within the walls of Jamal's estate.  Consequently, the two must find a way to escape.  A plan is hatched and subsequently executed whereby the two escape.  The rest of the book consists of Max and Elizabeth's flight from India en route to England and safety.While the story is fairly interesting and the sex scenes super hot, I had a lot of issue with the book.  For one, the story was inundated with modern jargon.  Maxwell consistently uses words such as, "gonna", "honey", "luv", and "baby", and others, it was so bad that every time he opened his mouth I kept hearing a very modern, very American voice in my head.  It was extremely jarring and kept dragging me out of the story.Furthermore, IMO the book ended too abruptly.  While I don't exactly agree with the reviewer who said that the book ends on a cliffhanger, I must admit that the ending isn't quite satisfactory.  When the book story ends, Max and Beth have safely fled India.  However, they are far from safe, as Jeeval's power and influence are far-reaching.The book ends with the couple about to embark on a 60+ mile (more than 100 kilometers according to the book) trek over rough terrain with little water, without the use of horses.  The plan is to walk to Saldana Bay where they will meet up with a ship that will provide them safe passage to England.  Had the story left Max and Elizabeth in present day where it had, but included an epilogue portraying the couple at some future point--preferably at least a year down the road--that would have served to answer any concerns I might have had about their safety and future happiness.I also had some doubt as to the depth of Elizabeth's love for Max.  The two fell in love within a matter of days, and while I didn't have an issue with Max's falling in love with Elizabeth, I did have some lingering concerns about hers for him.  I couldn't help wondering if she wasn't suffering from a case of Stockholm Syndrome.  An epilogue depicting the couple together and happy at some point in the not too near future, would have served to quell that concern.Bottom line, this book was entertaining.  It is also very well written, and Max and Elizabeth's characters are relatable.  The author did a really nice job of redeeming Max's character as the story progressed--no mean feat that!  The book certainly isn't for the faint of heart, as some of the scenes portrayed are very disturbing.  Nonetheless, if you're looking for a hot BDSM novel and don't care about the rest of it, this book might fit the bill.  Happy reading!