REVIEW: Wild, Wicked & Wanton by Jaci Burton
Dear Ms. Burton:
When you sent me this book to review, you said that your plan was to eventually convince me of your writing genius. I thought to myself, this is one foolish chick because previous reviews have shown that my taste and your books don’t always run in synchronicity, but your devious plan is working because I liked Wild, Wicked and Wanton. While I had problems with each novella, overall this is a great beach read.
The reader, though, will want to sit under an umbrella because the heat generated from this book may cause a stroke. On the Miami beaches, they have beach boys that run around with tanning lotions and spritzers around their waist. A reader will want one of these guys with the spritzer and a tall glass of Long Island Ice tea else she’ll expire before the end.
Wild. Abby is the shy divorcee whose previous spouse had bedroom issues which he projected onto Abby. She’s getting her life back together, finishing vet school and wondering about her future when her two bosses call her in on her last day of internship. Abby is sure she is going to be reprimanded and is quite nervious. The two men are also nervous because Abby’s last day marks the beginning, they hope, of a fun time with someone they’ve lusted after for the entirety of her internship.
Vets Seth and Mike put forth their proposition and Abby is stunned, nervous, excited and fearful all at once. Abby spends time with both of them only to find out that she is in love with Seth and he with her.
I don’t know that I completely bought the happy ever after and I really wondered about the friendship of the two men after it was all said and done. If Seth really had feelings for Abby, would he really have shared her? B-
Wicked. While Blair was the instigator of the bet, she never thought that her best friends would make her sleep with the one man that she doesn’t want. Blair and Rand have been at loggerheads for years. Blair has always taken men that she knew she could control. Rand believes that Blair is the woman for him and has waited years for her to come to the realization that she can’t run away from him forever. One weekend he takes control and makes her realize that every experience she’s had in the past is nothing compared to what she can have with Rand.
I loved the setup with the heroine being the ballsy, in control of her own sexuality, type that we don’t often see in romances. The psychobabble about her being a sexual submissive got on my nerves. I had a problem buying into the idea that she was so sexually in tune with herself, recognized what turned her on but never actually experienced it. Her actions didn’t really meet the characterizations and therefore the story about her introduction into sexual submissiveness as the path to true love seemed hollow. C
Wanton is the story of _Callie. She’s a widow who misses her deceased husband but is ready to meet someone again. In the coffee store she owns, an attorney comes in every morning for some coffee and flirtation until one day Jack actually asks her out. She is leery of dating him. He lives on the golf course, is partner in one of the more powerful law firms, and he’s white. Jack convinces her to take a chance and they go out to a country club event together. During the event, they discover that their share a similar kink – voyuerism and exhibitionism. This leads to trouble with Jack’s law firm and he’ll have to decide whether he risks his career or his relationship.
While I had to suspend a bit of my disbelief that a prominent lawyer would engage in such acts in public (I kept thinking about the moral turpitude clause), this story had a very sweet romance. I really liked Jack and Callie and felt that their HEA within a short span was believable. B.
The thing that bothered me the most in the last two stories was the aalmost clinical discussions of the protagonists’ sexual predilections. I felt, at times, that they were at a meeting of sexual addicts anonymous. Hello, I am Brenda Chenowith, and I am a nymphomaniac. I am Callie Jameson, and I am a voyuer. I think it would have been more seemless to write it in layman’s terms such as “I get turned on by watching other people” or something more simplistic. It’s more relatable.
Some of the best parts were the interaction between the three friends, Abby, Blair and Callie. Their fun banter and caring showed how important it is to have friends and is one aspect I would like to see more of in romances. One point other point that is undeniable is these stories burn up the pages. I had to fan myself a few times to make it through. Overall, a B- for the anthology.
Best regards,
Jane
Thank you so much Jane! Glad you enjoyed the girls and their adventures. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my book.
:-)
Sounds like a good book, but then I’m not surprised – I think Jaci B. is a great writer.
I don’t think I could read the last one, however. With a 20 yr old daughter named Callie….well, it’d be a little weird. :)
I’m fanning myself just thinking about this book. WICKED hot! Loved it!
And Jaci did that me, too. She has a hero named Braedon and I threatened to find and replace all to Bob before I read it. *g*
I’m looking forward to reading this one.