Review: Anytime Darlin by Julia Rachel Barrett

Title:  Anytime Darlin'

Author:  Julia Rachel Barrett

Series:  None

Genre:  Erotica, Romance

Publisher:  Siren

Published: August 21, 2010

How I Got It:  Reviewed for Dark Diva Reviews

Book Summary: 

Paramedic Jake McKenna drops to his knees beside the young woman. Beaten, starved, she's barely breathing, burning with fever. He stabilizes her, but when she opens her green eyes and stares, panic-stricken, into his, he realizes this is only the beginning of their relationship.

Devlin Barre has been through hell. If her uncle finds her, she's dead. When she looks into the warm brown eyes of the paramedic, she knows deep in her bones she can trust this man with her life. Devlin and Jake grow close, but, fearful of commitment, Devlin runs off to rebuild her life, leaving Jake heartbroken.

Five years later, Jake and Devlin meet again. Neither has forgotten a single detail of their time together. Both harbor the secret hope that they can begin again--this time, for keeps. But Devlin isn't the only person who ran off. Her uncle still waits for the right opportunity to get the one person who got away.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that I decided to read this book simply because the back cover summary got my attention and the cover was hot.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this story was more than just another hot read.

Anytime Darlin’ started as a heartbreaking story about a teen that had been mentally and sexually abused by someone close to her.  Usually those types of stories don’t appeal to me and I tend to shy away from them.  In this case, I was drawn to Devlin and Jake, the two main characters. 

Jake was the super hot EMT. He had all of his female co workers falling all over him including his crazy ex girlfriend that was plotting to trap him into marrying her.   Despite all the drama in his life, Jake had a heart of gold and didn’t hesitate to help when help was needed.  So, when Devlin came into his life, he couldn’t help but want to be there for her.

Devlin’s story was so sad and I truly felt for her.   It was sweet the way the EMTs and hospital staff rallied around her and supported her when she didn’t have anyone to reach out to.

I found the initial relationship between Devlin and Jake to be kind of creepy.  It didn’t feel real to me because Devlin was very young and going through a very traumatic ordeal.  Naturally, she reached out to the first person that showed her kindness. 

Jake’s first feelings were that of a protective big brother, but those innocent feelings quickly morphed into something much deeper.   That made me very uncomfortable because Devlin was still a minor.

Thankfully, neither pursued the romance until much later.    Devlin was given time to heal and mature before having a relationship with Jake.  After that, I was glad to see the two together because they both deserved happiness. 

My Rating

I give Anytime, Darlin’  four and half flowers of love.  It was heartbreaking at first, but ended with a great HEA.  The book came close to being a fav book, but I'll settle for a recommended read.  However, Jake, the smexy cowboy, has earned a place as a  book boyfriend.  

Read an excerpt

Review: Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

Title:  Comfort Food
Author:  Kitty Thomas
Series:  None
Genre:  Dark Erotica
Released:  March 21, 2010
How I Got It:  Free ebook download from author and Smashwords

Book Summary
Emily Vargas has been taken captive. As part of his conditioning methods, her captor refuses to speak to her, knowing how much she craves human contact. He's far too beautiful to be a monster. Combined with his lack of violence toward her, this has her walking a fine line at the edge of sanity. Told in the first person from Emily's perspective, Comfort Food explores what happens when all expectations of pleasure and pain are turned upside down, as whips become comfort and chicken soup becomes punishment.

My Thoughts
How do I even start this review?

First, let me say that Kitty Thomas is an awesome writer.  Had this book not been highly recommended by several other bloggers, I would have never read it.

Comfort Food is a twisted tale that had me seriously weirded out. Even though I didn't like what was going on in the story, it was told in such a way that held my attention from start to finish.

Seriously, I did not know what to think.  The book started out with a simple kidnapping  but quickly turned  into a master and slave situation.  At that point, I knew the ending wouldn't be good, but I still wanted to find out who this crazy guy was and what he wanted.  Apparently being  rich and handsome doesn't keep you from being  very, very crazy.

When I thought things couldn't get any worse, the story  got darker and darker.  Some of the things that happened in the book, I cringed at.  I didn't know whether to feel sorry for Emily or be happy for her.  For her to have been a self help guru, she broke pretty quickly and was gone from there. She was a survivor, but a weak one.

The ending of the book is what really messed me up.  I started reading this book knowing that it was a far cry from my usual romantic titles, but I did secretly want these two crazies to be together.  I always want an HEA and I was convinced that Emily was going to get hers, just not the one she insisted on having.

My Rating
Comfort Food raped my mind.  I feel totally violated.  The shock of this story has not worn off yet.  The sad part about it is that I loved every minute of it.

If you are looking for something dark and erotic, this book is for you.  But if you are not a fan of bondage and control, I think you need to pass on this one.  I still give it a solid 4.5 flowers of love.

P.S. Thanks, Kitty for making me paranoid and wanting to start back carrying my taser.

1/2

Other reviews:
Ramblings Of A Book Bitch
Love To Read For Fun
Book Of Secrets
Random Musings
Leontine's Book Realm