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Kayla Stonor

Author of Under By Duress

7 Works 37 Members 1 Review

Works by Kayla Stonor

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The author notes that "this story is first and foremost an erotic romance" and "My stories tend to be more plot than sex driven.".

I would concur with the last statement, not so much with the first.
It was the plot of the novel that kept me going from start to finish. The pages hold a degree of promise that makes you want to know what will happen next.

Tahima Sheldon has set out to spend time alone on an isolated mountain in order to renovate the house left to her by a deceased relative, but runs into a sidetracking situation.
Among the elements to build the suspense are: recovering from a D/s relationship gone sour, manhandling a potentially dangerous man, the menace of the stungun type weapon, being in control, taking control,switching from sub to dom and vice versa, and finally sexual and possibly romantic attraction while dealing with all of the above.

Pull this off, and you might have a 5-star novel at your hands, right?
In my view, Ms. Stonor manages a good go at it, but does not deliver on what is potentially there.
In order to turn a plot driven story into an erotic romance, you need characters that can act the part and a director that knows which scenes are key scenes and at which points the timeline can plunge forward.
And I'm sorry to have to say (for again, the promise the plot holds is tremendous), the novel falls short in character building, scene depth and timeline choices.

For the first time in my reading experience I have felt the lack of proper character building not of a person, but of an object: the above mentioned stungun. I feel that it should have been treated as a character in this novel, as it is an integral part in many of the scenes in the novel. I was unfamiliar with this type of weapon. The ever useful wikipedia site has left my head spinning at the tentative conclusion that Tahima has a stungun that Obi-Wan would be proud of; the wording seems to hint of several intricate types of use combined into her one battery operated gun. Or perhaps I'm reading its character all wrong.

Main characters Tahima Sheldon and Gian Rossini could have done with some more depth to their characters as well. In part this could have come from a different sequencing. The nature of Tahima's qualms about D/s-tended relations remains a mystery for so long that by the time it is explained, the knowledge serves hardly any purpose anymore. Supporting character Stephen only shows up towards the end of the novel but could have appeared earlier, via flashbacks e.g. The nature of Gian's assumed role turns out to have intricacies that are very nearly buried under all the plot's events, which is a crying shame, for his role is very interesting - in hindsight.

And at the end of the novel there is the beginning of the most erotic scene I have never read, for it is cut short - fade to black. Aaaargh!!!

Can you tell I'm slightly disappointed?
So much promise!
I have a feeling this author can do much, much better and I intend to check out other work, because again, the promise is definitely and mouthwateringly there.
… (more)
 
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Bluerabella | Apr 1, 2013 |

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Works
7
Members
37
Popularity
#390,572
Rating
3.0
Reviews
1
ISBNs
1