Shannon C’s review of Before She Wakes: Forbidden Fairy Tales by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Fantasy Erotica published by Loveswept on 19 Jul 16
I am not the audience for this book. I kept thinking of a particular friend of mine as I was reading, wishing she were the one writing the review, because I think she would have gotten everything out of it that the author was trying to convey. Me, I just didn’t read the blurb carefully enough. I thought I was getting an anthology of fantasy-themed short romance novellas, but these stories are erotica. I enjoy erotica every now and then, but this collection wouldn’t have been my first choice. It might be yours, though, so read on for my thoughts on each of these stories.
The book is divided into six short stories, all of which have a fantasy or SF bent. Some of them end with HEAs, but others, not so much.
The book opens with The Garden Rules, which unfortunately is my least favorite. The heroine is bored with her life in the not-too-distant future, so she buys a sweetmeat, which is a type of hallucinogenic, from a vendor at a fair. When she eats it, she’s transported to a lush, pastoral landscape, where she meets a faun, who is her sponsor into this debauched world. And she has sex with practically everyone she encounters.
This is the story I have the most problems with. For starters, it’s a little too long. For another thing, since all of this is happening in the heroine’s mind, I kept wondering what she looked like to outsiders watching her have this hallucination. And since this is all in her head, there’s no possibility of a romance, and the novella ends on an abrupt note.
This story introduced something that would become a major theme. Among the different sexual encounters our heroine (whose name I didn’t register until almost the end of the story) experiences are a couple with women. They’re clearly meant to explore F/F play as a kink, but if they were removed altogether, nothing would be lost. As a bisexual reader, this isn’t the kind of F/F I particularly want to see to demonstrate a heroine’s bisexuality.
The writing is lovely, and it conveys the otherworldly quality of the hallucinations, but it doesn’t gel at all.
Grade: D
The Dragonmaid’s Secret is a better tale. This one features a dragon rider who finds herself having to defend her peaceful village from the encroachment of Louis XIV of France. She’s aided in this quest by Roark, a rare Celtic dragon shifter. This one has more of a romance feel, and while it doesn’t end with declarations of undying love, at least it ends with a loyalty pledge. I also feel that the sex in this story served a purpose (except for the gratuitous F/F scene that added nothing), and this heroine is much more proactive. I like the adventure and the politics and the potential for a romance.
Grade: B
The Raven’s Pearl takes us to a steampunk setting for a take on Beauty and the Beast. The beauty, in this case, is Pearl, who has noticed that a man who lives in a castle near her village collects shiny objects, and she thinks he’s collected a precious stone that belonged to her mother, so she goes to retrieve it. What she finds is a half-clockwork mechanical man who is something of a wizard.
I like this one for its hero. He seems utterly fascinated by Pearl, and intent on “figuring her out,” which involved lots and lots of sex. In the end, I could see why he fascinated Pearl, and I think this is the most romantic story in the collection. And yes, the gratuitous lesbian sex scene does make an appearance.
Grade: B
The Kelpie’s Prize is another story in a steampunk vein. The kelpie in question is a mechanical horse. Our heroine, Viviane, is kidnapped by a man who claims to be a reincarnation of Merlin who is doomed to keep on loving the same faithless woman life after life, and he thinks Viviane is that woman. She ends up seducing her way out of that predicament, but it changes her.
I think this one goes on a little too long, and the writing style is particularly ostentatious. Viviane also seems to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome at the end, but by the time I got there, I was so glad not to have to read her bloviating on at great length anymore that I didn’t much care. I do have to give the story props for not including a gratuitous lesbian scene, even if that’s not enough to raise the grade.
Grade: C
Willa and the Wisp is another of the high points in the collection. Willa makes deliveries to people who live in the swamps of Louisiana. One of her regular customers gives her a jar with a will-o-the-wisp inside it, telling her she shouldn’t set it free. Of course, she does, and, of course, there are more sexy times as a result.
This one works for me because the lesbian encounter isn’t gratuitous at all. It actually turns out to be pivotal to the story. I also like that the will-o-the-wisp, Jack, has chemistry with Willa, and ends up saving her from a sadistic vampire through, you guessed it, sex. That’s a cracktastic premise I’m always down to read about! I would gladly read more of their adventures.
Grade: B
The Dragonfly Prince rounds out the collection. This time, Fisher gives us a post-apocalyptic setting. Humanity has been taken over by genetically modified people who share characteristics with plants and animals and insects. Rowan is engaged to marry one such man, and she finds herself drawn to him. Unfortunately, she comes to him at the peak of her fertile time, so he has to claim her before everybody else tries. And, to make matters worse, her stepbrother objects to the marriage, wanting Rowan for himself.
I was pleased to see a decided lack of gratuitous lesbian sex scenes in this one, and I think the thing that brings Rowan, her betrothed, and her stepbrother together for a hot encounter makes sense in context. Ultimately, though, while I believe in the romance that develops between Rowan and her betrothed, this is a forgettable bit of fluff that isn’t going to stick with me. In fact, the only detail I remember distinctly is that I like that Fisher wrote the genetically modified humans as truly other and a little creepy.
Grade: C
If you like erotica with good writing and aren’t fussed too much about a lack of romance with it, this is a good collection of stories. I am not likely to read any other attempts at erotica from this author, and I only hope her full-length romances work better for me.
Grade: C
Summary:
You’ve never read bedtime stories like these. RITA Award finalist Sharon Lynn Fisher blends dark erotic romance, fantasy, and science fiction in these
bold tales of seduction and sensual awakening. . . .THE GARDEN RULES
After swallowing an acorn sweetmeat, Sylva is transported to a fantastical forest and begins training as a nymph at the behest of her faun master. But
before she earns the right to please him, she must complete three tantalizing trials.THE DRAGONMAID’S SECRET
On the king’s orders, a mercenary has come to ransack the village of Roussillon. But when he confronts the town’s defender, the dragonmaid Isabeau, he
is overwhelmed by the most fiery passions—for this rogue is, in fact, a dragon-shifter.RAVEN TAKES A PEARL
Pearl is a captive of Master Raven—part man, part crow, part machine. And as she submits to the curious probing of the dark-winged inventor, Pearl discovers
that her body responds with an all-too-human demand: desire.THE KELPIE’S PRIZE
Dragged beneath a fairy pool by a mechanical horse, Vivi finds herself held prisoner by an alchemist claiming to be Merlin himself. Now, to escape an ancient
curse, she must play the wanton seductress—and use her body to secure the release she craves.WILLA AND THE WISP
In the bayou that covers the long-ago flooded city of New Orleans, Willa uses light to keep her safe from the creepers. She never expected that light to
take the form of a brightly glowing man—an enigmatic lover who ignites the flame within.THE DRAGONFLY PRINCE
In post-apocalyptic Ireland, a virgin gives her hand in marriage to broker peace with a genetically modified race. But when a human rival challenges the
dark prince’s claim, so begins a duel that will push the fair maiden to the limits of pleasure.Before She Wakes is intended for mature audiences. This ebook includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept
title.
No excerpt available.
