(review format shamelessly ripped off from Apprentice Writer)
Title: Powder of Love
Author: Summer Devon
Publisher: Loose Id (2011)
Premise: An unexpected and exotic inheritance creates an unlikely partnership, and the sparks fly almost immediately.
Cover: Title - Oh my gosh! I love it! I am such a sucker for puns and I should be above being so tickled by this small bit of word play but I am not. Art - I prefer illustration to live models but the bonus here is that the cover didn't bother me and the models so often do. I like the period buildings in the back and the artfully arranged desktop. In any case, it's a tasteful cover and clearly a romance. Truth in advertising is always nice.
What works:
Rosalie and Gideon are extremely likable. I rooted for them both right away and their immediate attraction was something I believed. Walter cracked me up and, no matter how perverse his interests, I never really had it in me to dislike him. Plus, I enjoyed his teasing manner with Gideon, and because I didn't have Gideon's job I never had to be overly annoyed with him. Rosalie has a companion and she gets a romance story, too, which I loved because the whole scenario was as adorable as a basket of kittens.
It's funny. There were some moments when I was definitely giggling along with Rosalie:
...but then she recalled Mr. Dorsey, who'd obviously opened the box and overcome its influence. For a horrifying moment, she imagined him in an aroused state similar to this, but pushed the image out of her mind.
Trust me, after a scene with Mr. Dorsey you're going to be horrified, too, and laughing at Rosalie having to deal with this mental image.
Then there are the perceptive things that Rosalie will say:
"I am not prone to caring for the good opinions of others. It's such a restful thing to go along with one's own judgment and not seek the approval of others."
What doesn't:
The action/dialogue did not always feel as if it served the plot but that it served to get some more hanky panky going on. Now, I believe that is the point of books under this publisher but I would have liked it a bit more had the sequences been more of a result of actions of the characters rather than it feeling like the characters simply needed to move on to reach the next hanky panky.
I never once had any doubt that Rosalie and Gideon would get together. This might seem like a stupid comment because that is always the guarantee in a romance but, for me, the best stories have that moment of doubt. I don't mean That Thing that happens Just Before the End to keep our lovers apart right after it seems their HEA is on the horizon but a true moment where I think, "Oh shit! Is this not going to work out?"
Lastly, and this is nitpicky, there were a couple things that made the scientist in me go, "Wait a minute!" When Rosalie takes the powder to a researcher she wants to see his lab to ensure that he's well-equipped to work with it. She knows that simple inhalation is all that is needed for a reaction to occur (and this powder has quite the range and is speedy, too, in the air) but doesn't insist that he wear some kind of mask and is actually pretty close to it herself. Woops! The density of the powder also made me go, "Eh?" There's a point when 10 grams of powder is missing. My mind immediately imagines 10 grams of a powdery substance that is light enough that it will immediately go airborne thus becoming an inhalation risk. My mind chose Agarose and 10 grams of that would probably cover a playing card and be about at least quarter of an inch high. but then, whoops, "the powder is dense, heavy. So that's probably about the size of, say, half a pea." Then my mind got to wondering if the doctor would have even used grams during this time period, New York 1880 (I know, picking nits... what can I say? When I start down a science path my mind gets going). A quick search tells me that the Metric Act of 1866 made it legal to use the metric system in the US but that the US didn't receive measurement standards until 1889. I can't really say for sure, though I'd really like to know as the history of scientific research is really interesting to me, but I'm inclined to think he wouldn't have used metric. Can anyone settle this for me?
Overall:
Easy to like characters and a story that fulfills the needs of a publisher leaning towards the erotic make this a very palatable read for anyone looking out for this type of romance. Bonus: it might be termed erotic light so it could be a "gateway" for anyone looking to explore erotic romances. Don't be intimidated by Loose Id's disclaimer... I can't find a link straight to it and I don't want to copy it out but this freaking awesome disclaimer includes "do not try any new sexual practice... without the guidance of an experienced practitioner." I wonder if they have any "experienced practitioners" to recommend to me. ;-)
This book kindly provided by the author
This blogger kindly asks the author to forgive her for taking a geologic age to post a review
No comments:
Post a Comment