Review: Thoughtful Erotica
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2012
Wow! For a short story, this one certainly packs an intensely emotional punch. It's very much the soulful, thoughtful erotic romance we've come to expect from Anne Calhoun.This is the story of Ronan and Thea. Thea is a widow, having lost her husband in a road accident two years ago. She's a woman completely besieged by grief. She's built herself a fortress whereby she never allows herself to actually feel or allow any emotion to penetrate her outer shell. She's blasting her ears with acid rock constantly with her ipod, throwing herself into work and, now, attempting a totally no strings, purely physical sexual hookupRonan, a ripped and gorgeous firefighter, is at first delighted that this beautiful woman is having casual sex with him but he begins to develop deeper feelings for Thea and wants to break down her defences, to find that light deep inside her that she attempts to keep extinguished and to bring her to life again.While this is a deeply emotional story, a novella was never going to be long enough to tell it. While I felt we got to know and understand Ronan reasonably well, Thea still really remained something of a mystery, She's closed up and locked off and is merely functioning through life, a bit like the Walking Dead. Something inside her has died and it's going to require all of Ronan's skills and determination to reignite the flame in the embers of her soul.Ronan is a great character and not a stranger to loss either but he has learnt to overcome it and something about Thea's pain and distance calls to him and he knows he wants a deeper connection with her than just the physical and pulls out all the stops to win her over with his deeply sensual arsenal. Ronan is a man who knows what he's doing and he and Thea share some pantie-melting, deliciously erotic scenes that have become the hallmark of an Anne Calhoun romance, this time including a very sensual ménage a trois. Thea and two firefighters. All I can say is Lucky Girl!!Short and verrah verrah sexy - 4 stars