Review: Totally indulgent, sexy read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2011
Good lord, just thinking about this story gets me all hot and bothered!  Yeah, I know, it's one of MANY slash fics with a captive protagonist falling in love with his captor, but this was better than just about any others I've read.  So incredibly hot, angsty and wonderful - like that molten chocolate cake covered with chocolate sauce and...yummy!  Deep?  Well, maybe at times, but I didn't care one bit if it wasn't!MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW:Jaden's been a slave since he was captured in a war with Tranadan.  He watched his only sister sold into slavery at age 8, and he wants only to find her again.  When he's offered up as a "tribute" to Dersai, the Emperor of Tranadan, he thinks only of vengeance.  And yet, Dersai is not exactly who Jaden expected he would be.  He treats Jaden well, and Jaden eventually falls in love with his captor.  But Jaden cannot forget the pain he and his sister suffered at the hands of Tranadan and Desai himself - his lack of trust in the truth about Dersai's nature leads him to nearly lose that which he needs/wants so much.I've read J.C. Owens' "Gaven" booksGavenandThe Bonding [Gaven 2], and I had very mixed feelings about them, partly because I felt they should have been one single book, not two shorter reads.  But I had no such qualms about "The Emperor's Wolf" - this was a substantial read and very well-done.  Minor editing mistakes here and there, but nothing that turned me off.Well-written, and incredibly sexy (very, very hot sex scenes -warning, some are dub-con, at least at the beginning of Dersai and Jaden's relationship).  The world-building here is good, with strong descriptions of surroundings that really lent the story a warmth and realism not often found in M/M slash.  Great angst, although I'd love to have gotten a bit more of Dersai's character coming through (one of the downsides of first person narratives, in my opinion).  Indulgent read? Yes, totally!  Just like a really good dessert.  One I'll be eating...I mean, reading again.Sarah AlexanderAuthor of "From the Depths"