Review: Eye of the Storm by Delilah Devlin

Title: Eye of the Storm
Author: Delilah Devlin
Genre: Erotic Fiction
Length: Short Story
Published: August 2009
Sensuality: Burning
Setting: Jamaica
Disclosure: Purchased Myself


One year ago, Marcus healed Janie's broken heart with his love. Now she has returned to Jamaica to see if their passion is as strong as before. Then Marcus's friend Cade shows up, too. Janie never really liked Cade, but when Marcus asks her to take them both to her bedroom, Janie soon learns that the two men know exactly what she needs....

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

The biggest issue I had with Eye of the Storm -- really, the only issue -- is that the heroine doesn't begin enjoying herself until the very end. The end, as in, after the sex is over. She really doesn't like Cade, and doesn't want to have sex with him, but she so desperately wants to please Marcus that she goes along with it.

During the entire sex scene -- which, given that this is an erotica short, is virtually the entire story -- Janie is visibly distressed and on the verge of tears. Marcus, who's supposed to love Janie, can tell she's distressed, but what does he do? He tells her to pretend it's him doing her and not Cade. Seriously? Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't seem like a great way to treat someone you're supposed to love.

After the sex -- which Janie physically enjoyed, but was emotionally distraught about the whole way through -- Janie breaks down in tears and admits to feeling used by the two men. I couldn't blame her; being used is exactly how it felt to me too. The two men then proceed to soothe her feelings and proclaim their love and commitment to her, but it was too little, too late for this reader. I just couldn't get the bad taste out of my mouth. What would have worked far better, in my opinion, is if this soothing had taken place before the sex. Because frankly, if the character herself isn't enjoying the sex, I'm sure as hell not enjoying it as the reader.

Eye of the Storm is solidly in D-territory for me, but I vacillated about exactly where in the D-range it falls -- mostly because, while I had problems with the plot and characters, I had no problem with the writing style. Ultimately I decided to just grade it down the middle.  

Grade: D