Novel Review: Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5 (or 2, for one of the stories)

Genre: Erotica

Publisher: Heat (Penguin)

Release Date: 2008

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A brand-new erotic anthology about losing your inhibitions in paradise?from ?the next queen of steamy romance.?(USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean)

Welcome to the ?O Spa,? an exclusive island resort where legend has it that a magical elixir can turn every woman?s wildest fantasy into a delicious reality.

Danielle, Lauren, and Abby have come to this secluded island paradise for a fling, not realizing the spa has a rehabilitation center for injured soldiers? or that their boldest desires are about to be realized.

The Cover:

This cover is fine. It's pretty normal, or typical, of a romance, but it does work for the book. Given that the characters go to a getaway on an island, the scenery works well--and the couple do too, of course. The colors are fine. It doesn't particularly stand out to me, but it's not bad, and it represents the book enough.

Review:

This book was both a hit and a miss.

The first story, The Sensual Soak, I really enjoyed. It had D/s elements, which were very nice to me, and very hot. The attraction was perhaps a little fast, but it worked, it was believable. I liked both of the characters, their small progression, and how they ended up at the end.

The last story, The Sunset Sauna, was alright. It was a little kinky, which was hot, and I did like the characters, at least mostly. This one was more mediocre of the three, but enjoyable.

The second story, The Pleasure Pool, I didn’t enjoy very much. I wanted to like it, the characters were good at the beginning. But their progression and their attraction just wasn’t very believable to me, and it seemed much too fast.

The three stories all have the same setup, move at the same pace, and ended pretty much the same (happily). They were (mostly) fun stories, the sex was pretty nice. They were all skin-deep, though, with very little depth. Backstories were given to give reasoning for their actions, but it didn’t help flesh out the characters, at least not to me. 

I wanted to enjoy this book, and I really did like the first one, but the second one was a big miss, and by the time I got to the third, I was a little tired of the repetitive setup. I do want to pick up another of Fox’s books when I get the chance though, give her another go.