inlibrisveritas
Written on Aug 25, 2011
This was one of my first ventures into the world of erotic novels...I know, I know, I'm terribly late in the game but give me a break. When I first read this I found it to be damn near terrible, but then after I read more books I realized this was no where near the threshold of 'erotic' terrible.
There is one thing that automatically gets a star from me, and that's retelling of old tells...if you do it really well it may earn you two stars. So the concept of a Beowulf erotic novel caught my attention, and after I got over my slightly prudish ways I downloaded it and dug in. This is certainly not a book most people work to retell, and they certainly don't tend to tread where Chenery has boldly gone. It's a really creative look on the old tell and it has most of the elements. It even has Grendel! Though, while I'm on that point...I thought Grendel was an angry cheeseball. Not my favorite character at all. There is some decent character development, which is great in a book where you know the sex is inevitable. I did have issues with the main character Roxie. She has some serious issues standing by her own opinions, I understand denial and all..but come on girl! Get it together.
Another slight pet peeve of mine is when someone uses the same word a lot, in this case it's their names. When I talk to someone I do not say their name every time, it's...stupid. They know I'm talking to them. The writing did feel slightly off at times but it didn't really stop me from enjoying it, and by the end of the book it was pretty solid.
The heat level is certainly hot at times and doesn't disappoint. There was a tiny part involving a character named Royce that made me cringe and immediate hate him though. I personally could have done with out that little addition.
Overall it's a short, fast paced, and enjoyable read. I will probably look into getting the second one in the series.