Review: Exotic, Erotic, and Evocative
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 25, 2012
There are certain literary styles that this forty-something male enjoys: the psychological drama and mystery by Jonathan Kellerman and Patricia Cornwell, and numerous non-fiction subjects such as world history, philosophy, religion, and so forth.Reading about vampires was never one of them. Until now.Having been bombarded on a quasi-regular basis with the trendy vampire-Goth genre---to wit, the "Twilight" saga and the ever-burgeoning expansion of vampire-themed literature found in bookstores and libraries---I decided to end my obstinate holdout against the Bella Swans and Edward Cullens of the literary world, and elected to peruse Sandra Ross's "Awakened: An Erotically Charged Vampire Thriller Story."I was pleasantly surprised. In five short chapters, Ross manages to weave a fantastic, sexy tale of desire, intimacy, lust and emotion built upon a solid foundation of mutual attraction between the young woman Chandler and the mysterious Lothario named Lucien, whom Chandler encounters one evening at Lilith's Fair, a Goth club owned and managed by (strangely enough) a woman named Lilith(!).Ross deftly uses vivid, active voice throughout the story, describing in detail Chandler's clothing and jewelry; Chandler's and Lucien's tete-a-tete in the alley outside the club; the various thoughts reverberating in Lucien's and Chandler's minds; and the exquisite emotional connection between both protagonists that culminate in a powerful erotic interlude in Chandler's bedroom.Being able to develop a strong emotional connection between characters is a staple in any successful romantic/erotic story because it lends depth and credence to intimate and (at times) explicit scenes. This is Ross's greatest strength because it brings forth all-too-human expressions of doubt, fear, hope, insecurity, etc. as evidenced in both Chandler and Lucien's thought patterns. Ross makes such attributes stand out to the reader.Ross has written a highly readable and thoroughly entertaining story.