Lorie O' Clare ends Book 1 of the Sex Slave series with a note on her philosophy of writing. "The characters in my books, " she says," are destined to stray down a different path..." I don't know about the path's end, but the path's beginning in this case is an environment that differs as much as possible from our own. But one of the conflicts is sd traditional as it gets, similar to that of the classic Romeo and Juliet. Picture two warring houses, and the children thereof. This pair, however, is not set in Verona, but in another world, with a

The heroine is Marla, daughter of the owner of a sex slave farm set in a world under assault from the evil Bortan conquering horde. Marla's heritage—the Torl family heritage—is going up in smoke as the Bortan approaches. It's a very dramatic beginning, as she is cornered between a terrible Bortan assailant and the man standing behind her—Trev of Kopah—her father's worst enemy. The drama only increases. Who can she trust? Who is the lesser evil? Is it the metal-cast Bortan warrior? or is it her life-long enemy?

There's great borderline D/s chemistry between the hero and heroine, and a tremendously dramatic backdrop with plenty of tension. There are a lot of good things to say about this Erotic Sci-Fi Quickie, and one of them is that it is too short. The fact that this story was written as a quickie means that there are avenues here that are never explored. The plot could have used some twists and turns, but that would have been a longer story. And while the plot is a disappointing straight line, it is served up with vivid writing, buckets of action and lots of the steamy sex these two manage to have while in the process of running for their lives from some suspiciously absent brutal pursuers. An enjoyable book.

Reviewer Maîtresse
Copyright 2005