Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Wet by Lauren Hawkeye
Erotic romance eBook short story released by Harlequin Spice Briefs 1 Apr 09
I’ll be blunt. Sometimes erotica and romance cannot co-exist peacefully. A story could make a halfway decent erotica story, about a woman “finding herself,” but the moment the author tries to shoehorn in a traditional, romantic happily ever after, complete with some truly mind-numbing plot devices, the whole affair goes to hell in a hand basket. Or in this case, the story ends up all wet. And not in a good way.
Tabitha is an overworked graduate student stuck in her dorm room during a heat wave. She needs a break, and hits the local spa in order to get it. There she meets Susan and Adam. Despite the fact that Tabitha has never been attracted to women before, she’s now all hot to trot to get in Susan’s panties and agrees to go out to dinner with the couple. There they proposition a studly waiter, and the merry quartet go back to the spa for naughty shenanigans….and it doesn’t end well.
I’m not naïve. I know that sex isn’t always pretty, people get hurt, and even used. I just don’t want to read about it. Which is what I was subjected to here in the form of Susan and Adam who are so selfish I wanted to reach through the hard drive of my Sony Reader and happily strangle them. Tabitha is hurt, but ultimately reassured, another sexual encounter ensues, soul mate drivel enters stage left and swear to God….talk about how they were just so swept up in the moment that golly, she could be pregnant.
Seriously, shoot me now.
Color me cynical, but I’m just not buying the whole “this was meant to happen, I feel like I’ve known you forever” claptrap that’s masquerading as a “happily ever after.” How much better would this story have been with just the hot sex, a confrontation and a heroine who grows a pair? Yeah, a lot.
Grade: D-
Summary:
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All I wanted was to escape my stifling grad school dorm room and soak away my stress in the nearby hot springs.
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Then I meet Susan and Adam, a slick city couple who intrigue from the moment I spot them at reception. And from my first encounter with Susan in the pool, it’s clear I’ve caught their eye, too.
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But once they offer me up to a complete stranger and take us back to their suite, I realize I’ve been made a pawn in their own sexual game. A game in which I don’t know the rules and I have no idea what might come next…
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No excerpt found.
Heh. Way to encapsulate a story!
Where does this story take place? Because if it’s in the US something is seriously off. I’ve never known a grad student who lived in a dorm. Grad student housing is not a dorm. Also, if she’s so broke that she lives in a dorm where is she getting the money to go to spa?
I find that if an author can’t make sense of these kinds of questions the book is pretty much guaranteed to be bad.
Lori: The author explains the spa trip by having them offer a “student discount.” As for a grad student living in a dorm? I think that depends on the university. When I was working on my Master’s degree (cough, 10 years ago, cough) I almost spent my last semester living in a dorm (I ended up subletting an off-campus apartment for 6 months). The college I attended had a smaller dormitory on campus that was mainly geared towards “older” upper classmen (juniors/seniors) and some grad students.
This story was set in a fictional town based on Canmore, Alberta, Canada. I attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where grad students did indeed often live in dorms.
Wendy, I’m sorry you were so unhappy with the story. Can’t please ’em all.
Happy reading,
Lauren
Since you’ve invited us to give our opinions….I personally found “Wet” to be a fantastic story. Sometimes in life we do find love in the most unlikely of places or circumstances.
The dorm room comments are just ridiculous nit-picking. To assume that one’s knowledge of an experience such as graduate school living quarters is the world’s standard practice. Good Grief.
And Wendy, I must say the way you have colored the begininng events of “Wet” …
“Despite the fact that Tabitha has never been attracted to women before, she’s now all hot to trot to get in Susan’s panties and agrees to go out to dinner with the couple. There they proposition a studly waiter, and the merry quartet go back to the spa for naughty shenanigans….and it doesn’t end well….”
….are not the way they come across to the reader at all. It does not happen that way, or in that manner. Ms. Hawkeye’s writing is exquisitely descriptive – revealing deep inside the heart and mind of her heroine, that I buy it – I totally buy it – even if it is not at all what “I” would do in a given situation.
The fact that you wanted to reach through your sony reader shows that Ms. Hawkeye did indeed do her job as a writer. Excuse me if I’m wrong, but it seems you were invested in the herione. Additionally, have you never been swept up in a moment?
Isa:
The happily-ever-after didn’t work for me in this story. Especially shoe-horned in with a “gee, we didn’t use protection and I could be pregnant” moment and talk of “this was meant to be!” soul-mate-like discussion. Admittedly two hot buttons for me.
I liked Tabitha. Thought she was a nice girl. I did feel the happily-ever-after was forced and really, really, really wanted her to tell Susan and Adam to eff-off. Which, unfortunately, didn’t happen.
But I am glad you enjoyed the story more than I did. Not every reader is going to love every story, feel the same way about it, or agree on every book. Yes, I didn’t like it. But that doesn’t mean other readers won’t.
I thought that this story showed the naivety of the “writer”.
Anyone can “write” a story. It takes much more to be a writer.
i hope that in time Harlequin will show itself to have higher standards than this.