Review: As the Lady Wishes by December Quinn and Anna J. Evans

Thank goodness for Wordpress and its ability to make posts go out at preordained times, because in real life,today I am going to be a busy girl. But since this seems to be menage week over in these parts, I wanted to get out another book review.

Title: As the Lady Wishes
Authors: December quinn and Anna J. Evans
Genre: Paranormal erotic romance
Grade: B-
Reason for Reading: I really love December’s blog, and I decided I really ought to read one of her books.

Synopsis: After escaping an abusive marriage, Lila Hayes never dreamed she’d fall into bed
with a tall, dark and domineering man like Arthur. He’s a stranger, he’s cocky as
hell, and…he seems to have emerged from the painting on her wall. From the second
she feels his touch, Lila knows she’s found the lover of her wildest fantasies.
Arthur of Sefyll is an ancient Druid, a man cursed for thousands of years to grant
the wishes of those who summon him from his enchanted rest. He’s had enough of serving
mortal whims, until he spends a night satisfying Lila’s every carnal fantasy and
losing his heart in the process.
But soon, the new lovers’ happiness is threatened by a monster from Lila’s past and
a horror from beyond the grave.
Now Arthur and Lila must convince sexy Sheriff Sam Walker to succumb to his desire
for them both and help them form a mystical threesome. Wishes are no longer enough
to keep Lila safe. Only the love of two special men can save her life — or maybe
just as importantly, mend her heart.

Summary: Lila Hayes has finally stopped running. After she left her abusive ex, she anticipates living a quiet life in Berlin, Missouri, a place where no one knows her and it’s OK that she eats French fries for dinner and ice cream for dessert. Then she accidentally summons Arthur of Sefyll, an ancient druid, from a portrait on her wall. The two form a connection, but it’s not nearly enough when enemies out of Lila’s past come after her. Only by connecting with Sam Walker, the town sheriff, can the three of them hope to defeat the evil terrorizing Lila.

My Thoughts: After having read this book right on the heels of the Samantha Kane story, I have to say that I find the dynamic of two men both in love with the same woman but unable to resist each other pretty sexy. This book features that dynamic, which is again why the relationship works for me.

I liked the characters well enough. My inner feminist probably would have preferred for Lila to be a bit less prone to cowering, but at least she wasn’t too stupid to live, and I love the idea of a woman deciding that, goddammit, she is going to eat french fries and ice cream for dinner if she wants to.

Arthur is pretty much your typical tortured hero. Being trapped in a painting will do that to a guy, I suppose, and he was surprisingly not the angst pot he could have been. I liked the additional dynamic that nobody in town could actually see him except for Lila, which made for some great awkward bits.

I adore Sam. Despite his being a cop, he’s a nice beta hero, and I like that he is the one who has to be the most comfortable with the relationship he and Arthur and Lila are building.

The other thing that worked for me were the villains. There were a few moustache-twirling moments when I couldn’t entirely take them seriously, but they were nicely creepy, which is a refreshing change, since, love most of the authors I’ve been reading as much as I do, I haven’t run across a really good villain in a while.

In rfact, I really just love the whole idea of horror and romance as a nice counterpoint to one another. It’s very appealing, and I would love to see more books written in this vein.

Naturally, there were quibbles. I had to put my ebook reader down at one point to go on with my non-reading activities and ended up forgetting Lila’s name, never a good sign. I also thought that a lot of things got glossed over that maybe shouldn’t have. I’d have liked to see more scenes between the three characters, quiet moments where we could be shown, rather than told, why these people loved each other.

My other quibble is relatively minor, but enough to take this book down to a B-. There were a couple of anal sex scenes in which the lube was very much not mentioned at all. All I have to say there is OMG, ouch!

Overall, this was a pleasant read. It’s sexy, and there are some really creepy bad guys, and the characters, while not the most memorable ever, are at least not made out of cardboard.