Tina's Reading Books

This was quite an interesting book.

The bank where Melinda Prescott works is held up by three hunky robbers. Oh, she can't see their faces -- only the deep green eyes of one of the robbers known only as Zeus. But that is enough to intrigue her. That and the fact that she hates the owners of the bank who are not very nice people. So she decides to give them a helping hand.

The beginning, when the bank robbery takes place is stellar. It is really funny and the writing is quite zippy. In fact, it was what sold me on the book.

But the book takes a turn. Frankly I wished the book had stayed funny and zippy. My rating would have been higher. As it is, the book gets a lot darker and much sexier. Through a series of events, Melinda is taken hostage and is part of the men's escape. From there the book becomes a bit more of a typical erotica sexxy-times story with Melinda quickly falling into a sexual menage with two of the three men.

Zeus is the hold-out -- all growly and broody and snarly -- and you suddenly realize that the story isn't just about sexy-times hijinks anymore but has a deeper edge.

Melinda becomes more and more involved not only with the guys sexually but also deeper into their shady business and the really, really dangerous people who are after them.

While I do wish the book had stayed lighter, I think the author did a good job with taking the book into the darker route she did. There were points when I thought some of the plotting felt choppy and there was a element of woobification of Zeus re: the reasons for his rejection of Melinda.

But my biggest issue is with Melinda herself. I know this is erotica and as such character motivation gets sacrificed on the altar of sex sometimes. But still I think there was enough heft to the story that Melinda's easy and quick acceptance of both her assimilation into the gang and leaving her family behind felt careless and out of sync with some of the deeper emotions the story was trying to convey. Sure Melinda thought about her sisters, but it felt uncomfortably like lip service at times.

This is the first book of a multi-book arc following more adventures of the band of four. While I wasn't completely blown away, I am intrigued enough to see where the author plans to take them.