Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Twin; Version 2.0

I had a previous post in which I covered erotica and mentioned Lora Leigh's Bound Hearts series, Wicked Pleasures. I had also mentioned that I was looking forward to the story of Chase Falladay, the twin brother of Cameron who was the hero in Wicked Pleasures.

But when I finished I was disappointed. However, I wonder if I did Chase's book an injustice by rereading Cam's first. I had originally picked up Wicked Pleasures the night before to get in the mood for that story line. But when I started reading Chase's book, I found myself doing too much comparison of the two stories. Which, by the way, isn't hard to do since they are twin brothers and pop in and out of each other's stories. 

I will say that when I originally read Cam's book, I wasn't all that fond of it. I liked it, sure, but I wasn't closing the book on the last page wishing that there was more. I originally felt that Cam's story was fine. However, a year(ish) later, I came to pick up Cam again and enjoy him much more. So I wonder if this is the same case with Chase's story. But I still have some critiques about his book, Only Pleasure.

The plot is thin in my opinion. The heroine, Kia, was mentioned in previous Bound Hearts books as being a minor threat in the exposure of The Club's secrets. Kia's ex-husband brought in a third into their relationship without telling or asking his wife and subsequently led to the attempted rape of Kia. Okay, I was pretty excited about how this would play out. I thought it would be interested in seeing how Chase would protect Kia from her ex-husband and steal her heart in the process.

I liked Chase from Cam's book. I thought that the more easy going Falladay brother would be a fun read, his slightly lighter personality making for a different tone and feel than his brother Cam. But I didn't find that was the case. 

Though it was obvious from the get-go of Cam's book that the presence of Chase wouldn't be permanent, I still thought Chase was a good character. He had been puzzled and hurt about the broken bond between him and his brother and he did provide for a few fun moments in which he teased Cam about falling in love. I expected that Chase would be dominant, protective, and possessive, but slightly lighter hearted than the dark Cam. It worked for their twin dynamic. One darker, one lighter.

But when it came for Chase's book, it was like Cam all over again with one exception: There wasn't much of a reasoning for Chase's darkness. With Cam, it was understood that he kept the sharing lifestyle with Jaci because he was afraid of what loving his woman would mean to his heart. Cam kept his past sexual abuse a secret and the presence of his brother as the third in the relationship helped Cam keep his emotional distance from Jaci. 

But what bugged me about Chase's book was that I felt the explanation for his darkness wasn't all that plotted through. Even though there was a thin excuse that because he was the one who killed Moriah, the "villain" from the previous book, Chase made it sound that the darkness was always in him. And yes, those who read Cam's book will see that the Brockheims feature in Chase's book as well. Though I could see the logical progression plot-wise, as a reader, I thought it was too predictable and not original. I felt like Chase just got the leftovers of Cam's story and that the plot just continued through one brother to the next. 

All in all, I just didn't feel that there was sufficient explanation on why Chase had such demons in him. The details of Chase's past was glossed over on and if his previous occupation was supposed to be a factor in his present personality, that wasn't ever really fleshed out. I was disappointed because when I read the small glimpse into Chase's past, I was intrigued but it never got explained.

I also found Kia to be lacking as a well rounded character. Yes, she suffered a traumatic experience with her ex and withdrew into herself to lick her wounds. But other than that, I didn't see a lot of character development. She was a little flat to me. I didn't feel too much for her even though I tried. I was able to relate more to Jaci's longing and hurt in Cam's rejection than I did for Kia. Kia was also almost like a Jaci version 2 like Chase is for Cam. Kia feels hurt that Chase doesn't spend the night with her, hold her, etc...blah, blah, just like Jaci worried about Cameron. There was too much mirrored in the previous book in terms of how the characters were written for me to feel like Only Pleasure stood out on its own.

I think a big problem with me really loving this book was the timeline of Chase and Kia's sexual relationship. In the beginning of the story, they meet (again) and suddenly Kia's agreeing to a no strings pleasure session with Chase and Khalid. And then the story just took off like that. With both Kia and Chase refusing to accept what they have together and though Kia vows she won't succumb again, Chase always coaxes her back into bed. It was boring, in all honesty. There wasn't the spark there for me.

There was one big difference between Chase and Cam though. It was made obvious that for Chase and Kia, the addition of a third in their relationship would continue well after their happy ending, unlike Cam and Jaci's monogamous relationship. I think that worked for the two characters. It was obvious that Cam needed the sharing for the distance while Chase enjoyed it for the pleasure. So, I did like that distinction between the brothers. 

What did I enjoy? The appearance of Cam and Jaci throughout the story. Chase and Cam still have their shared warehouse converted into a large apartment with Chase's part sectioned off upstairs. And since Cam and Chase works for Ian Sinclair, there were appearances while they worked as well. It was really a great payoff to see Cam settle down, smile, and really enjoy his time with his now fiancee, Jaci. Those who read the previous book will be happy to see slight mentions of Cam and Jaci's life that would otherwise be overlooked by the newcomer. For example, there are mentions of Cam having purchased a new bed and sofa and sweet moments such as the two of them decorating their Christmas tree. In addition, those who read Cam's story will like seeing how Cam treasures Jaci and how he enjoys the little things in life now, such as cuddling with Jaci and sharing his bathroom space with her. 

What also made me really happy to read in Only Pleasure? Khalid. Those who have followed the Trojans since they were with Ellora's Cave will love to see a strong presence of Khalid. As Chase's third and a heavy secondary character, we see a new side the to the man who's normally described as the bastard son of a Middle Eastern prince who is a playboy and lives for a good time. Here, as a set up for his own story, we are given a glimpse at what makes Khalid tick and what might bring in his future. Oh, and the connection of Kia and Khalid isn't anything out of the blue, anyone reading the story can easily predict what had occurred between the characters in the past. 

For me, unfortunately, I was much more excited about the secondary characters and future stories than I was about Chase and Kia. I felt that their characters were not fleshed out. Basically, I thought the story was a skeleton plot told between pages upon pages of sex with under developed characters. Of course the sex is to be expected, but I just felt like the sex was the driving force of the book, not the characters. For a story like this to work for me, the sex needs to serve a purpose. And for Chase and Kia, I felt like the sex was steering the story and everything else took a backseat. Between Chase and Cam...my choice is still Cam.

I felt that the cover was sexy and I liked the bright orange color that really catches the eye. However, I have seen the identical cover art used in another book and that always makes me disappointed when covers are repeated. 

So, Only Pleasure...it's an okay read for those who are used to the series and the characters but not for those who are new because there are a lot of connected facts that makes things easier to understand if one has read the previous book.

Last thing...Kia to me is a car, not a woman's name. I can appreciate authors using different and unique names to make their characters stand out but I just didn't like her name. And for me, unfortunately, if I don't like the name of a character, I have a hard time getting past that. A name is really important for me, especially how the name looks on the page of the book. And while I love the name Chase, Kia is for something on four wheels, not a great heroine. 

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2.5 out of 5: So-so read but plot was thin and characters under developed. Those who are fans to the series will enjoy the secondary characters and the hints of the next book.

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