The magic of fantasy--at least, the magic that real life simply cannot touch--is the way the fantasy is seamlessly, instantly, fluidly composed of the dreamer's deepest darkest impulses. Of course your fantasy knows itself. It's part of you--it's all in your head and it's going to pop up at the crucial time whether you want it to or not. In literature, the erotica advantage is the same home truth: you pick the genre that trips your trigger and if you've done your homework, you've read your blurbs, and learned your authors, there it is on the page, just waiting to take your psyche for the perfect ride. Jaci Burton has found a story solution for her character to join that erotic possibility with the perfect perpetrator.

Because Holiday Bound is what when the heroine's best friend happens to write a letter to Santa Claus and the aforementioned perfect perpetrator (not Santa) happens to read it.

Poor Maria considers herself one sick puppy because of the fantasies she has about her co-worker Colin. Maria's meddling friend Joan (we should all have such friends!) writes the letter that Colin finds in his paperwork.

There are no mistakes here, either--no mistaken idea of who wrote what to whom or about whom or for whom. Colin recognizes the handwriting as Joan's--but he also knows that Joan is on Maria's inside track. All by himself, Colin thoroughly enjoys the fantasy the letter engenders --Jaci Burton writes a heck of a male masturbation scene--before Maria is ever in the picture. And of course, when Maria is in the picture, it gets even hotter.

I value that Jaci tackles--in a very gentle, un-soapboxing kind of way--the fallacies some have regarding BDSM. There is a world of difference between erotic sex play and domestic abuse, the key factor of which is trust. And Jackie's story gently illustrates that difference without getting in-your-face assertive. The dynamic between Maria and Colin is provocative and sexual and healthy.

Jaci Burton is nothing if not consistent. Her erotica never fails to be...well...erotic. Unfortunately this is a quickie, which means it is over all too soon. To be fair, this is a ideal quickie--any more content or conflict added to this particular recipe and the dish would be overcooked. Holiday Bound is an ideal morsel to pleasure your holiday palate, but don't be surprised if it packs a punch that will last clean through to New Years.

Reviewer Maîtresse
Copyright 2005