Sandy M’s review of Wicked Garden by Lorelei James
Contemporary Erotic Romance eBook Novella released by Samhain 9 Sep 08

Lorelei James is turning out to be one of my favorite authors for erotic romance.  This is her first book I’ve read that isn’t a western, part of her McKay family series, and I enjoyed it almost as much as I do her sexy cowboys.  Besides the hot and sizzling sex you get in a James book, there’s just something about her characters that always draws me in.  They wear their hearts on their sleeves and you feel every nuance of their emotions, good or bad, leaving you wanting to know what happens to them and if they’ll be okay in the end.

Eden has finally gotten her life together after Billy left her right before the consummation of their young relationship. She runs a city-financed community center for kids and the city wants to shut the money-eater down.  That’s what’s brought Billy back into her life.  And he looks just as good now as he did back then.  Just sexier.  When realizing her feelings for him are cropping up again, she can’t afford to get into a relationship with the man whose word would give the city what they need, she tries to keep it all business.  But Billy has other ideas.

He wants to tell Eden why he left the way he did ten years ago, but every time he tries, Eden shuts him down.  He kicks himself every time he thinks he about it. Seeing her now shows him all he lost.  And he knows if they become involved again she’ll always question his decision concerning the community center, no matter which way he goes on it.  Keeping away from her is not an option, though.  She’s more complex and, of course, sexier all these years later, and seeing her with the center kids gives him an idea of how seriously she takes her job.  Feelings as deep and lust as hot as theirs can’t be stopped, and soon they’re caught up in a passion that will never let them go.

I always so appreciate a good story in any erotic writing and I always get that with Ms. James’ work.  Billy and Eden are great characters, serious when need be, but they still have fun together, as well as great sex.  A complication comes along in the guise of Eden’s friend Jon, a rock star who comes home to recuperate, and part of the relaxing usually includes no-strings sex with Eden.  Oh, but there’s such fun to be had when those three come together.   Another hit for Ms. James!

Grade: A-

Summary:

…One woman’s past and present collide in the ultimate temptation.

Eden LaCroix loved Billy Buchanan ten years ago, but he ran out on her the night of prom. Now he’s back, and Eden thinks a fling will help her move on from their tangled past. She wasn’t counting on Billy’s wicked side—or the return of her sometime lover Jon White Feather—to appeal so strongly to her own dark, hidden desires.

College took Billy away from Eden, but it’s a mistake he can rectify now that he’s in town to make the final decision on the fate of the community center Eden manages. Except reignited sparks keep getting in the way of his objectivity. The flames only leap higher when Eden’s rock star lover comes home from the road.

Eden considers herself a one-woman man, but in the arms of Billy and Jon she feels truly beautiful for the first time in her life. But does the healing go far enough to prevent her from letting love slip through her hands a second time?

Warning: ain’t nothin’ sweet about this garden of naughty sexual delights, including threesomes, creative use of a weight bench and bonding over bondage. 

Read an excerpt.