The next foray into the erotic romance cheese cave is yet another "Naughty Nooner". This time out Seychelles Sunset by Lynne Connolly. There's nothing like a story with an exotic setting. Unfortunately, in this case, the exotic setting is pretty much in title alone, and really does nothing to add to the ambiance of the story.
Edie, a retired model and budding writer, is in her hotel room, awaiting the arrival of her plastic surgeon boyfriend, John. Edie is slightly insecure because she's ten years older than her boy toy. Plus, because she detest condoms she has just gotten back on the Pill at the ripe old age of 46. Her romantic get away seems to be turning into a downer when John calls and tells her he's still stuck in L.A. This leads to a bout of raunchy phone sex, which last until it is revealed that John is actually calling from inside her room.
The story itself is pretty basic, another story which looks like it has the quality one would expect out of someone still in high school. The exotic location is wasted, and completely comes off looking like a name chosen at random by the author, perhaps somewhere she's always wanted to go but has never actually been. The exposition is wasted by filling it with basically useless information, and it's even more wasteful here as Connolly is actually clever enough to use that information at the end of the story to book end it (Yeah, Creative Writing 101, Trick #1). The fact that the story revolves around an older woman and a younger man is presented as a major point, but actually turns out coming off as more passe than it really is in Connolly's hands. Everything beyond the story's brief sex scene is a jumbled mess, that again screams, "High School Writing Assignment!". Plus I can't imagine that anyone did not actually figure out the twist of John actually calling her from somewhere else within their suite from about "Hello", I mean it was just that painfully obvious that that was how the story was going to go.
I give Seychelles Sunset Three Stars. Despite the muddled mess that this story is it is plain to see that Lynne Connolly does have talent and imagination, and in the end I think this story would have been better served with a much longer length and more focus on its exotic location to add further ambiance. The story itself has received mixed reviews on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with an average review of Three Stars on both. Looking at the reviews of her works on Good Reads she has an average of a Four Star rating on most of her other stories, an indication to me that she perhaps actually does do better when writing in a longer format than the limited Naughty Nooners one.
You can find your copy Seychelles Sunset here:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Seychelles-Sunset-ebook/dp/B003SX12BM
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seychelles-sunset-lynne-connolly/1022140619
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-seychellessunset-437886-144.html
 |
| Master Vyle |
