Novel Review: Crave: The Seduction of Snow White by Cathy Yardley

Genre: Erotica/Adult Romance (with sex! sex is a main point in this book!)

Rating (Out of 5): ~2 (maybe 2.5)

Publisher: HarperCollins (Avon Red)

Spoilers?: Somewhat Minor.

Buy it here: Amazon. Book Depository. Barnes & Noble. Powells (or this one).

Goodreads Synopsis:

When a woman is ripe for the picking . . .

Beth Cordova's life is no fairy tale. Having barely escaped the evil grasp of her wicked stepmother, this "missing princess" seeks refuge in a strict commune where carnal pleasures are forbidden.

Sometimes just one bite of the apple . . .

Her world is lonely and void of intimacy, until the charming Stephen Trent arrives at the commune. Suddenly Beth yearns for a man's touch, the feel of his lips on hers . . . and Stephen is eager to show this pure-as-snow princess that she can still be the sensual woman she was once upon a time.

Is all it takes to unleash her desires...

But all is not what it seems, and the stunning beauty finds herself again in danger, her stepmother hot on her trail. The commune's founders will not tolerate the pair, yet fleeing its walls could prove fatal. Trapped in a world where passion is outlawed, can Beth live happily ever after?

Review:

I was expecting to like this book a lot more, particularly because of how much I enjoyed Enslave. And I feel like part of the reason I didn’t enjoy it is my fault.

Beth is living in a commune where men and women are separate and there can be no mingling between the two, and Stephen is a reporter coming in to see if there’s some big secret behind what they’re doing.

I’m going to cover the commune first: the commune is freakin’ crazy. For one, I just don’t like that sort of life style, how women take care of the home and men work (although, if that’s how someone wants to live, then go ahead), and particularly how they are not allowed to interact with each other at all. The women, in this instance, aren’t even allowed outside the fence, and men only when they go out to work. It’s ridiculous.

Then there’s the fact that they’re also kind of killing people. Not, like, all the time, but when someone steps out of line and is caught (which almost never happens), they get punished. And while part of it is publicly, the actual killing part is kept away from the public, so they don’t have to face it or see it happening. It’s horrible, really. The people heading the commune are mostly at fault, but the citizens of the commune just get excited about the punishing and goad them on, which isn’t really any better.

Oh, there’s also the fact that Beth is running from her wicked step-mother, seeing as how Beth is Snow White. Her step-mother, while we didn’t get to see much of her, I didn’t particularly like. And the ending for that plot worked out very nicely.

The ending in general, actually, for the romance, the commune, and the evil step-mother bit, all worked out rather well. That’s probably my favorite part. The only part I actually liked, really.

Now, the romance part: my biggest problem is how obviously lust at first sight it was. And how that lust turned, very quickly, into I-want-to-run-away-with-you-and-protect-you-Love. Part of the reason it bothered me, I think, is how I read a couple other books with a similar element really close to this one, but mostly I just don’t think I liked how it was done in this one.

There was also the fact that I didn’t particularly love Beth or Stephen, and the sex wasn’t very good. For instance, there were two instances in the book, near the end, where I thought the two should, instead of having sex, talk and comfort each other. You know, get to know each other. Instead, they had sex. One of the instances, even, they were supposed to be keeping quiet and hiding, and I just didn’t think the sex was needed then. And, really, when someone (like me) says that the sex wasn't needed or good, something is wrong here.

So, overall, I didn’t particularly like this book. The killing part of the commune was exciting, and the ending was good. That’s about it. I do still plan on reading Yardley’s other books, her Sleeping Beauty retelling in particular, and I hope that it’s better.