Review: Fantastic Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2012
Why deny it? I'm addicted to Georgia Fox's Conqueror series. The Barbarian, her latest release, does not disappoint.Reminiscent of the Taming of the Shrew in some ways, The Barbarian turned out to be an excellent read. I swept through the 120 page novella in just a few hours, liking both brutish Stryker and "Ami the Unbreakable". Although, I must admit that at first my feelings toward the hero were conflicted, see-sawing between both hate and love. After all, submitting the heroine to cunnilingus while being watched by another man is not very gentlemanly! Then there was the fact that he did come off as brutish and a bit dumb but as the story progressed I easily felt myself falling for his charm, for as he himself says: "[...] however rough his manners, Stryker was not stupid. His wisdom was merely of a different kind to the sort she recognized."The plot of this story is not complicated. The love between Amias and Stryker happens fast, but Ms. Fox has a way with words that makes it believable that two such opposing characters could fall for each other so quickly and not sound fake or forced. As usual, the erotic scenes were first rate. Unlike other stories where the characters might have tried out different things such as toys or ménages, here, the love scenes turned out to be both tender and hot. It was easy to feel the chemistry between the barbarian and the lady form the start.However, the only thing that puzzled me and left me a bit disgruntled was the two contemporary chapters at the beginning and at the end of the novel. Set apart from the bulk of The Barbarian, they felt like a message from the author, though to me it was not clear if it was a farewell or simply her way to tell us that there was really no end to her stories.That aside, The Barbarian is a fun read for anyone with a passion for short, quick historical romances.Originally posted at LAS Erotic Reviews