Review: Left Me High and Dry
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 22, 2011
At its core, this is a story about a one night stand in a cabin in the woods.  There's no romance, no small talk, and nothing steamy or wild in the book (except maybe some critters that might be out in the woods).  The author writes intelligently enough but the structure and point of view of the story make it difficult for the reader to get and stay engaged.  Melody has three paragraphs and then Chris has three and then Melody again... back and forth, and back again... eventually, I lost track of who's thoughts I was reading (because there's not a whole lot of talking).  Maybe they were telepathic and I missed that part?In all honesty, I was so bored with this story that I started playing with the text-to-speech feature on my Kindle and let it read the rest to me while I puttered around on the computer.  I hate to not finish a book.  You're about 65% through the story before one of them starts actually making moves on the other.  Given that this is supposed to be a short, erotic story, that's far too late.  There's a lot of narrative that they each have about how much they want the other person, what they'd like to do, etc.  I suppose this is meant to add to the erotic nature of the story, but, after 6,000+ words of wanting and fantasy, it just comes across as petulant and pedantic.  Get on with it.As others mentioned, there is no discussion of protection, before or after their interlude, nor does our white knight even think about pulling out.  In the end, it's a one night stand - what does he care?  Some have mentioned rough sex, but I didn't find it all that rough or aggressive... she makes a flirty comment, after he called her feisty, that maybe she likes it rough... and he figures that means she's not overly interested in foreplay and get to it... finally.  For me, the sex wasn't all that hot... it was pretty run of the mill.Usually there's a disclaimer in the product description but since there isn't one on this book, readers be warned that the story contains anal play if that is offensive to you.  Finally, a note to the author - approximately 60% of women in America are overweight (with 33% classified as obese).  While that may not be something to be proud of, it is a fact, and those women don't want to read a story where the hero thinks of a woman who might look like they do as a means to turn himself off.  You might keep that in mind for your next story.In the end, if this story were shorter or if it had more actual action, it might have been better.