Shannon C.‘s review of Fiddler on the Woof by Blayne Edwards
Paranormal erotic romance ebook released by Ellora’s Cave 10 Jun 08

When this book came up for review, my initial reaction was an undignified snort of laughter and an email to Duckie Central begging someone to review it. I got a response back from Devon that said, rather pointedly, “Well, yes, *someone* should.” And so, since as I write this, I am out of town working a summer job that involves behaving in front of children, I decided I needed smut in my life. So I took the plunge and read this book.

The story premise is pretty simple. Aubrey Upton, 40ish art history professor, spots Joseph Bollinger, new violin prodigy and university professor who is also cute and 24, on the college campus where she teaches. Sparks fly, and they start getting intimate. Joseph likes that Aubrey knows what she wants in a partner. Aubrey thinks Joseph is cute and has a lot of energy. But Joseph also has a secret that could change a lot of things for both of them.

Well, despite the cheesy title, this book isn’t bad. I don’t particularly find it so awesome I’m going to reread it again, but I’ve certainly been less entertained by things I’ve read lately. I like that both characters knew what they wanted, and some of their inner monologues were quite hilarious. The sex scenes are hot, and I didn’t go into this book expecting anything other than lighthearted smut, so I wasn’t disappointed.

Joseph does have some interesting paranormal abilities, and I thought those aspects were well-considered and made sense for the story. But I’ve never really been a fan of the guys-who-can-do-bizarre-things-with-their-penis subgenre of paranormal erotic romance, so there were also, unfortunately, a few eye-rolling moments as well.

All in all, not a bad story. It’s a light, easy read, and probably best appreciated by someone who likes romantic comedies a bit better than I do.

Grade: C+

Summary:

For Aubrey Upton, pushing forty isn’t a problem. She’s pretty much done and seen it all. And though the quirky professor still feels nineteen deep down, she’s well past the age of fairytale romances and puppy love.

Until Professor Joseph Bolinger, the hottest puppy she’s ever seen, walks into her life. Joseph, the twenty-four-year-old musical prodigy and wolf/human hybrid, finds most women his age think and act like he did when he was nine. Perky or not, twenty-year-old females are intellectually flat. Boring. Hardly mature enough to handle dating outside their species.

But Aubrey… It’s about much more than the intellectual “fit”. Her scent, her touch, drive the big bad wolf inside him to want to take her down, permanently, preferably with him on top.

Read an excerpt here.

As a reviewer here at Duckie Central, I have my finger on the pulse of the publishing industry. Which basically means that I notice stuff. And I’ve been noticing for a while that there are tons of books published by Ellora’s Cave that seem to be running on a similar theme: older women with younger men.

What’s up with that theme lately? Why is it cropping up? Are a lot of you out there in romanceland gobbling these books up?

The only thing I can figure is that EC is writing to the majority of its market–that being women who are categorized as “way older than me”. And to be truthful, the only book yet that looks even remotely tempting is something released 12 June called Fiddler on the Woof, although I am slightly frightened to read that book because in my head, bad puns belong in erotic romance about as well as random pr0n does in, say, “Leave it to Beaver”. (I will leave it up to you to provide the tasteless beaver joke that needs to go here, because I am far too innocent and pure to even contemplate such folly!)

I’m not saying that if the muse moves an author to write about, say, June Cleaver dumping Ward for the Fonze, that author shouldn’t write that book. But I am saying that at 26, the only significantly younger men in my life would be… about 18. And I remember 18. I don’t want to remember that particular time in my life, because trust me, I had a lot of growing up to do, and if the boys in the undergrad classes I’m taking are any indication, so do men of that age. So the fantasy doesn’t particularly strike me, and I imagine won’t until I’m well into my thirties.

Are any of you reading these EC older women/younger men books? I am perfectly willing to admit to being a snob if there’s a book I should be reading but am not that would knock my socks off in this category. Let me know. And, dude, someone really needs to read Fiddler on the Woof because I really, really want to know if that’s any good.

Also, do you think this trend is likely to continue? What do you think will come next after we’ve exhausted the possibility of older women/younger men?