I Dare You

This book amused me. Despite the issues I had with it, it didn't make me angry to read it, and I wasn't bored either, perhaps because it was relatively short and a quick read, not requiring much of a time investment. I did get frustrated once or twice with the characters, but the plot moved quickly enough that I didn't have to dwell on that. So rather than display this review as 2 stars, I'll bump it up to 3. It really lies somewhere in the middle for me, though.

There was the framework of a good story here, and not every author is able to even do that much. Corporate raider by day, exotic dancer by night, falling for a martial arts instructor and vice versa. The set-up was rife with potential for melodrama and pure entertainment. And I have to say the sex was often hot, though it became a wee bit repetitive for me at times. I didn't try to figure out the whodunit too hard, and thought that the touch of intrigue and danger the mystery of Kelsey's stalker's identity provided spiced up the proceedings just fine.

But the author played a bit too liberally with the metaphors or similes or whatever in her descriptions, and it was often distracting. This was more a problem in the beginning than as the story got moving. E.g. "A jade-green gaze roamed over Kelsey like hot fudge oozing over the side of an ice cream cone." Part of me feels the sensual imagery, but the other part worries about the mess that would cause, and wonders why one would put hot fudge on an ice cream cone in the first place. I'm just saying, the author could perhaps have been more careful with her use of language. So part of it was fun in a cheesy pulp fiction kind of way, and part of it just confused me.

Quibbles on syntax aside, it was really the initial characterizations that nearly sank the book for me. Kelsey repeatedly states how she hates the bar she dances in and the trashy crowds, then gets turned on performing for these same despised masses. Odd. And searches them for a conquest. Self-destructive? She says she loves the freedom to be herself and dance, yet it's the first thing she quits when the going gets tough. There were just little inconsistencies like this in motivation and characterization that made the characters slightly erratic, and that I had to work through or ignore, particularly in the early establishment chapters.

Plus, we really got no details of life as a corporate raider, owning a karate business, or really even being an exotic dancer. And I like details. It was sort of like these elements were props: moved around and used competently enough to set a certain scene, but never really a part of the story.

Not the best, not the worst. There was underlying charm, but not much depth. Overall this is a middle of the road, good-natured 2-1/2 star affair that that ends well, and dealt with emotions authentically enough, and is probably worth breezing through for some eroticism and romance, if your expectations aren't too high.

Damn I thought I had read the best there was to read in lesbian erotica.
I also thought that only a few very special authors could sustain the erotica 'high' for an entire book; and maybe there are only a few that can do this, but Larkin Rose is definately one of them.
This novel is a beautiful romance with the intensity of short story erotica. It is a 10/10 on the hot meter and yet will not leave you feeling as if you are being 'naughty' by reading it.
Sheri Livingston and Larkin Rose has always been one of my favourite authors and this novel did not disappoint, in fact it now sits firmly as one of my favourites.
For anyone who has dared to love, dared to challenge, dared to live this book is for you.
Congratulations Larkin and BSB for another winner.
Devlyn