Liviania’s review of Devoured by Letty James (no author site found)
Contemporary romance eBook released by Harlequin Spice Brief 1 Aug 08
I read the first Nocturne Bite, Racing the Moon by Michele Hauf, and now I have tried a Spice Brief. They’re good for a quick introduction to an author’s style without buying an entire anthology. They’re short enough you can satisfy your craving for a quick read-and-relax without getting sucked into “Just one more chapter” land and the digital format makes them highly portable. (But just in case someone needs the warning: NSFW!)
I mention this in part because I cannot find the author Letty James anywhere on the net and assume this is her first publication. (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.) It’s a good start to her career because the low cost Spice Brief is a low risk to the consumer and she does very well with the format. Perhaps she’ll falter in a full length novel but I would be willing to read her in that format as well.
She doesn’t waste time setting up background and establishing a history of attraction between the hero and heroine. Christine Monford, real estate agent, never pursued her attraction of restaurateur Marco Rinaldi because she was dating his sous-chef. After being dumped for a waitress, Christine is ready to get what she wants and have some strings-free sex. Of course, Marco wants a little more. He’s willing to give her a house in exchange for an entire night – a night he’s going to use to persuade her to consider more nights.
The sex scenes are fabulous. James uses the love of food both of the characters share to enhance the scenes without letting it become ridiculous. Good food is sensuous and James uses that to her advantage. The characters’ past created a reasonable attraction and chemistry that allows the reader to sense an intimacy building before the events of Devoured, allowing the HEA a believability that’s sometimes strained in shorter works.
It is a little incredulous that the hero would offer the heroine a house, especially a mondo expensive house with five years of maintenance paid, but James makes Christine properly skeptical and worried about the commitment of accepting the house. (Other characters are of the opinion, “Dude? A nice piece of real estate in exchange for sleeping with a guy you’d sleep with anyway – why are you thinking about this?” It’s a realistic balance.)
It’s a bit of a silly premise and James’s prose can be a bit dry, but she works with it well. Good food, good sex, and a happy ending in 26 pages – just what you need to keep the blood pressure low.
Grade: B
No official summary at this time…
