Official Review: Desperate by Athena Daniels
Posted: 02 Mar 2015, 04:51
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Desperate" by Athena Daniels.]
4 out of 4 stars
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In her debut novel Desperate, Athena Daniels tells the story of one woman’s desperate attempt to escape from her terrible past. Once known as Sarah Weston, our beautiful heroine has spent the past few years of her life under the tyrannic control of her emotionally and physically abusive husband, Blake. With the help of a secret organization designed to relocate women in her situation, she moves from her home in England to the city of Perth in Australia and attempts to begin her life again.
Now living in Perth as Ivy Jones, she still doesn’t feel safe. Blake is a shady private detective with a reputation for considering himself above the law, and Ivy knows that he will stop at nothing to track her down and make her pay for leaving him. To complicate matters, Ivy’s new job requires her to work alongside the wealthy, sexy, and completely irresistible Eric Prescott. Although the two have obvious chemistry, Ivy doesn’t want to put his life in danger as well by forming any kind of relationship with him. But like I said, he is completely irresistible, and Ivy has pulled him into her life with more passion than she has ever experienced before. Suspense and steamy romance line the pages of this fast-paced thriller, with action and drama from start to finish.
If Athena Daniels keeps it up with writing like this, I have no doubts that she will establish her place amongst the most well-known authors of erotic literature. The story borderlines between a thriller and a romance, but personally, I would consider it more of a romance with a bit of suspense thrown in to tie the whole plot together. Don’t get me wrong; I loved the story. I was just a bigger fan of the suspenseful moments than of the romantic moments. And there were a lot of romantic and erotic moments, so ladies who are a fan of sexy scenes will definitely find pleasure in this book. Multiple times.
I had my doubts about the direction of the story a few times. About halfway through the book, I was literally thinking to myself, “That’s it?” I couldn’t help feeling that the story had – for lack of a better expression – climaxed a bit prematurely. However, I’m glad I kept going, and I ending up being quite satisfied by the events that followed my bout of apprehension.
What I loved most about the story was the well-written cast of characters. All of the characters were three-dimensional, well-developed, and realistic in terms of their personalities. While everyone did seem a bit too good-looking to be true, they still managed to have faults and flaws just like regular humans. I probably wouldn’t be friends with any of these people if I met them in real life, but I appreciate a nicely written character when I see one. Eric especially was just not my type; while I definitely wouldn’t be chasing after him myself, I was cheering for Ivy to make things work out with him.
Because of the excellent writing and amazing characters presented in this book, I give Desperate by Athena Daniels a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I might have seen a few typos here and there, but it definitely wasn’t enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. If you’re a fan of romantic thrillers, I would definitely recommend giving this one a read.
******
Desperate
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like ALynnPowers's review? Post a comment saying so!
4 out of 4 stars
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In her debut novel Desperate, Athena Daniels tells the story of one woman’s desperate attempt to escape from her terrible past. Once known as Sarah Weston, our beautiful heroine has spent the past few years of her life under the tyrannic control of her emotionally and physically abusive husband, Blake. With the help of a secret organization designed to relocate women in her situation, she moves from her home in England to the city of Perth in Australia and attempts to begin her life again.
Now living in Perth as Ivy Jones, she still doesn’t feel safe. Blake is a shady private detective with a reputation for considering himself above the law, and Ivy knows that he will stop at nothing to track her down and make her pay for leaving him. To complicate matters, Ivy’s new job requires her to work alongside the wealthy, sexy, and completely irresistible Eric Prescott. Although the two have obvious chemistry, Ivy doesn’t want to put his life in danger as well by forming any kind of relationship with him. But like I said, he is completely irresistible, and Ivy has pulled him into her life with more passion than she has ever experienced before. Suspense and steamy romance line the pages of this fast-paced thriller, with action and drama from start to finish.
If Athena Daniels keeps it up with writing like this, I have no doubts that she will establish her place amongst the most well-known authors of erotic literature. The story borderlines between a thriller and a romance, but personally, I would consider it more of a romance with a bit of suspense thrown in to tie the whole plot together. Don’t get me wrong; I loved the story. I was just a bigger fan of the suspenseful moments than of the romantic moments. And there were a lot of romantic and erotic moments, so ladies who are a fan of sexy scenes will definitely find pleasure in this book. Multiple times.
I had my doubts about the direction of the story a few times. About halfway through the book, I was literally thinking to myself, “That’s it?” I couldn’t help feeling that the story had – for lack of a better expression – climaxed a bit prematurely. However, I’m glad I kept going, and I ending up being quite satisfied by the events that followed my bout of apprehension.
What I loved most about the story was the well-written cast of characters. All of the characters were three-dimensional, well-developed, and realistic in terms of their personalities. While everyone did seem a bit too good-looking to be true, they still managed to have faults and flaws just like regular humans. I probably wouldn’t be friends with any of these people if I met them in real life, but I appreciate a nicely written character when I see one. Eric especially was just not my type; while I definitely wouldn’t be chasing after him myself, I was cheering for Ivy to make things work out with him.
Because of the excellent writing and amazing characters presented in this book, I give Desperate by Athena Daniels a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I might have seen a few typos here and there, but it definitely wasn’t enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. If you’re a fan of romantic thrillers, I would definitely recommend giving this one a read.
******
Desperate
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like ALynnPowers's review? Post a comment saying so!
to bring us such a nice review. The resolution seemed worth getting to. Romance/erotica definitely isn't my cup of tea - I prefer coffee, to stretch the metaphor to ambiguity - but I enjoyed your insightful and entertaining remarks. Multiple times. 
on the puns 