Monday, June 1, 2009

Review of Illegal Moves by Dalton Diaz and Samantha Cayto

Illegal Moves by Dalton Diaz and Samantha Cayto
For the first time in Penelope history, I will be reviewing...an erotic menage story (oh! I am feeling a bit naughty!), as well as an e-book (Illegal Moves is available on Ellora's Cave).  I have read various erotic stories in the past, including some novels I really enjoyed by Emma Holly such as Prince of Ice and the amazing short story The Night Owl (found in the anthology Hot Blooded).  My romance needs are simple...I need some good old fashioned love with my sex scenes.  If an erotica has that all-important emotional connection coupled with the hot, steamy sex, then I'm a happy camper.  Illegal Moves has it all...characters who come to life (okay, every word I write seems to have a double entendre...this is going to be difficult), a great sense of humor, steaming hot sex scenes, and the emotional satisfaction of a couple finding love together again after fifteen long years. Diaz and Cayto write with a smooth, contemporary voice that seamlessly combines the humor, sex and storyline and keeps a brisk pace going throughout the book. (Yeah, I like it fast...okay, there's another one).  They are especially talented at capturing the male point of view.  Jordan and Seth are both highly likable characters...successful, loyal, sexy and loving. Caroline has a painful past to overcome, and she finds happiness with not one, but two wonderful men.  This erotic tale perfectly combines the lust and love, and rewards the reader with a HEA (Happily Ever After), and hopefully a sequel for Seth, who is totally cool and deserving of his own story.

Dalton Diaz is a member of The Quirky Ladies (my romance writers critique group), and I have had the extreme pleasure of reading several of her works in progress. The woman is a seriously talented writer. My manuscripts come back to me with MANY corrections from the Quirks (slashing adverbs left and right, criticizing the foul language of a bunch of elves, etc etc), but Dalton's books are basically flawless the first time around. Grumble, grumble. Anyway, for those of you looking for a spicy menage story, I hightly recommend Illegal Moves.  Kick it up a notch, baby!
Grade: A 
Penelope