Review: Has Promise
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 3, 2013
Rose looked up from clearing a table at the café she works at and into the bluest pair of eyes she’d ever seen. Hank Armstrong knows what he likes when he sees it, and Rose certainly fits the bill. In England for work, the Texas rancher doesn’t let being in a different country slow him down one bit. Rose finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of a romance. She learns very quickly that Hank isn’t one to make idle threats, but his roguish good looks and generally charming manners means she can’t help but fall further in lust with him.This is a fast paced novel with a delicious hint of kink to it. When Rose gets more than a little tipsy on their first date Hank threatens to spank her if she has another glass. She sneaks one and then purposely pushes his buttons, and Hank follows through on his earlier promise. Initially I felt that first date moved a little too fast. In the space of twelve hours Rose moved from a shy, embarrassed lady to a tipsy, teasing vixen who pushed the envelope with her sass. It took me a few minutes to digest the first spanking scene. When Hank pulled Rose over his knee and spanked her, lifting her dress up and all even though she resisted it really was a surprise, coming from two people who had barely just met. There is no hint of rape, but there is a level of mastery and alpha male to the scene that some readers might not find titillating, but a little too close to forced seduction. While personally I didn’t find it went over that edge, I think some other readers might not agree with me and find it goes too far.Readers looking for a different style of cowboy romance, with some kink and edge to it should find this a delicious book. Set in England, Hank might be a Texas rancher and far from home, but I feel the author has done a good job of blending the Western theme with the usually more refined style of English novel. I enjoyed both Hank and Rose as characters and found myself interested in them and their progress as their relationship bloomed. There is definitely a solid plot in this shorter length story, but readers who don’t like spanking should probably give this a miss. Spanking (both with his hand and belt) is a very strong theme throughout the book, though there is plenty of plot and character development too which kept me satisfied. I liked how this wasn’t just a few erotic encounters strung together.An intriguing mixture of English and Texan, this is a fast paced novel with plenty of spice in the erotic sex scenes. With vibrant characters and an interesting plot I found it enjoyable and am looking forward to reading the sequel/follow-up novel about Rose and Hank.Originally posted at Long and Short Reviews