Everybody loves this book. I have absolutely no idea why. It annoyed me so much I feared for the health of my poor e-reader, as it was close to being hurled across the room several times.

This was at least twice as long as it needed to be, it was freaking obvious who all the grown-ups in Taylor's life were and the damn moronic school war shit going on for almost half the book almost killed me. I hated its pointless plot-existence with a vengeance.

What bugs me the most is that the school war crap just petered out halfway through the book, with everybody basically forgetting about it when the leaders & their posses of the respective schools become BFFs. I slogged through a lot of boring that in the end was only a tool to get the MC to meet some other people. They could have met at a yearly school get-together of some sort and the end result would have been the same. With added bonus of cutting the book in half!

It almost reads as two separate ideas for a book that were then woven together. Technically I guess it didn't suck, but jeesh was it boring me to tears for long stretches. So not my cup of tea.

So, a rant/post/discussion came up on The Saucy Wenches Book Club talking about the format and cliche's that a lot of the erotica novels follow nowadays. One of the rant points, I guess that's the best way to describe it, was that the 98-99% of the time the heroine of the story is a virgin. And me, personally, I have no issue with the heroine being a virgin. I have more issue how her virginity is actually treated. A lot of the times when, from what I've seen, when the heroine is  a virgin, her virginity either treated as a prize or some way to make her "special" or more important to the hero (because, y'know, it's not like she has a personality or deserves to be loved it for it; it's the amount of people she has or hasn't slept with that makes her really worth it). The state of her virginity is also used to distinguish her away from other women in the story typically, i.e. the woman who also wants the hero and who the heroine has to "fight" in order to keep him.

To go further, the heroine is painted as pure, "light", good, etc., her virginity or sexual experience being major part of this and her personality making up the last, small amount. The "competition", on the other hand, is the complete opposite--she's not a virgin, enjoys sex, knows what she likes, she's "evil". This can also come into play in Interracial Romance Novels if the "bad" character being racist is added to her personality. 

And when the heroine does finally lose her virginity, more than likely, to the hero, it's the most magnificent experience she's ever had--not because she's with a partner that she loves/trusts/want to sleep with, but because the hero is just that good. Now, I wouldn't want to dismiss the idea of having a great or enjoyable "first time", but it's the fact that it's told as if the heroine wouldn't be able to be pleased by any other man but the hero that irritates me. But that's expanded upon better in the original article (linked below).  

But yeah, that's how I feel about that. 

Source (My Tumblr) (Note: This version is much shorter than here. LOL)

Original Post (The Saucy Wenches Book Club)

Jayne Sheridan intended to wait until her wedding night to give up “the goods.” One life-threatening illness and a decade later, she’s wondering if she’ll ever get married and if she shouldn’t just “go for it” now that she’s cancer-free. Her undeniable attraction to the town tattoo artist has her contemplating getting more than a tattoo.

Seth Carter has crammed a lot of living into his years and had his heart broken in a way that he believes is irrevocable. Jayne confuses and intrigues him but he doesn’t want her to look back with regrets, so he turns down her offer. He doesn’t count on the onslaught of jealousy when Jayne decides to take matters into her own hands. Jayne is his.

When the past treads on his doorstep, can Seth handle unexpected blessings and protect the ones he holds dearest to him?

Review

The love story here is incredibly sweet, loving, healthy, and moving. Both of our lead characters are grown people with lives, friends, and careers. They are whole people not looking to complete themselves with another nor looking to enhance themselves with someone that looks the part for them but rather discovering a great partner for themselves.

Seth is a sexy, tattooed, goateed, sweetheart of a man. This is my first book in the series and I picked it up because Seth was up for some hottest hero awards. He deserves them. However, I wish I got to know his backstory beyond his very failed relationship with his ex. This knowledge (maybe found in other books in the series) would have made it an even better read.

Our heroine is great. It is easy to see why Seth loves her. She is funny and brave. She is honest. And she is a redheaded sexy librarian. What is not to love? Her backstory of illness and the reasoning of her love life's state was very well done with the perfect emotional pitch.

The erotic bits of this story (and there are a pile of them) were out of tone with the love story often. I get that we can switch to dirty talk from our everyday selves but most of these scenes didn't reveal character or move the plot forward much. There are few sex scenes that of course do blend but more that seem tacked in for cock count. So, there was a lot of of discord to the storytelling. I could have skipped these scenes or read them as stand alones. I like erotica so this criticism isn't about the content but rather of continuity and flow.

I enjoyed the writing of this book's romance very much. I thought while overly convenient because of the heroine's inability to have childern (this is revealed pretty early) the turn of events toward the end of the books were tender. However, the villain part was a bit far fetched in at least as I doubt he would have come himself.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. The writer has a great voice.

Even though I enjoyed this book enough to want to read more by this writer, I am hesitant do so because of the publisher. I rarely buy books by this publisher despite the fact that they have many excellent writers and I like erotica. Here is why...

The titles of their books are often awful. This title is. It is a "dirty book" title left over from the days of adult bookstores with sticky floors in industrial areas that were written only for men. There is so much more plot and romance here and the title sounds just like a fetish exploration which all discredits the quality of the writing. I have nothing against those kinds of books but this isn't one of them. It is also very very forgettable like a raunchy Harlequin Presents title. Also, no matter how open you are about your reading habits recommending this one in a public place strains even my superhero status as out about what I read mainly because it is so lame.

The prices of Siren books are prohibitive. If I wanted to pick up and read the Divine Ranch series from the beginning, I am looking at for the e book version $8.99 to $9.99 per title. This is book 12 and there are more after. I just don't think they should run that high. It is like you are paying more money because the book as an adult rating. The print cost of these books is $17 per. Even best sellers are only priced that high in the hardback. I get print run costs--I am just saying--meh. I looked to see if books were cheaper if you bought them directly from the publisher that that didn't seem to be the case.

The books are not lendable. I think this is wrong for all publishers but for a publisher coming of age in the e book market it seems to be a cultural rudeness. I do not know the backstory of this company very well though. Ellora's Caves books are overpriced as well but they do reduce prices over time and have kindle give aways (freebies). This allows me to try new writers without have to risk nearly 10 dollars to do so. Siren someone short stories they put out at a lower price. I wonder if Siren would join the lending libraries?

Editorial policies. When I read the books from Siren, I sometimes feel that the brand is promoted over the writing. Meaning that there has to be be so many sex scenes and toys or anal must be in play if it is part of certain line. In this brand the reader expects blank sex act so here is the blank sex act. This kind of editorial or authorial limitations hurts what in some cases really could be romance book classics.

Okay, this little rant done. I am just grumpy because I would like to read more of this writer but I won't be able to glut myself and I like gluttony. And it is good for the writers that I do!

If you like rants!