Laura J’s review of Primal Instincts by Cathryn Fox and Lisa Renee Jones
Contemporary Erotic Romance short story eBook released by Harlequin Spice Brief 1 Aug 08
This was my first venture into the Harlequin Spice line, but wanted to read this one because Cathryn Fox is one of my favorite authors. I wasn’t sure really what to expect because I occasionally am disappointed in short stories especially if they are really good. It’s like I’m really getting into the story and the “blam” that’s it, no more, THE END. If’s a not so good story then the author doesn’t have much time to redeem the story that they could in a longer version. In this story we are not only dealing with the fact that it is a short story and the author has only a limited time to create a story where we love the characters, the plot is exciting, the sex is hot and the ending is the HEA we as romance readers crave, but two authors that have to do all this in the same amount of space. This story does it all.
The story begins with Drs. Jordan Brooks and Olivia Markham hiking through the jungles looking for a plant that is rumored that the leaves of a certain flower found only in this jungle could produce certain aphrodisiacal powers. When their group stops a guide approaches the two woman to take them to a secret location where they will learn just how the power of this flower works. At this point the story each woman is taken to a separate location in a cave where they experience the intense power of the flower.
Ms. Fox is one of my must read authors so I knew what to expect from her part of the story but I have not read anything by Ms. Jones and didn’t know what to expect, but I must say that even if I had read something by Ms. Jones before I still wouldn’t be able to tell who wrote what. The story flowed as one and I don’t feel that anything was lost between the two women’s experiences.
Hopefully I’m not giving anything away here but the ending was something that I wasn’t expecting and not something I’m used to in a romance story, but at the same time because of how well the storyline was written it worked and I didn’t feel cheated in any way.
I really hope that these two will work together again in the future. In the mean time I’ll be reading more of their individual works.
Grade: B+
Summary:
The search for a rare flower rumored to possess magical aphrodesical powers had led Drs. Olivia Markham and Jordon Brooks into the remote heart of the Mexican jungle. But a mysterious native tribe dedicated to keeping the Estela flower from reaching the outside world required the two stunning scientists to experience its powers firsthand to convince them of its dangers. Paired with two breathtakingly sexy warriors, Olivia and Jordon drink the sweet essence of the Estela and are overwhelmed by lust so intense it nearly consumes them. Their warrior lovers seem to intuit their deepest, most secret desires, and in their experienced hands, their overpowering hunger is satisfied again and again until, at last, the effects of the drug subside.
