Dark Seduction

Dark Seduction by Brenda Joyce

Published by HQN

Grade: D+

Malcolm of Dunroch is a newly chosen Master, a novice to his extraordinary--and dangerous--powers. But he has already broken his vows--and a young woman's death is on his hands. Malcolm is determined to fight his darkest desires, denying himself all pleasure…until fate sends him another Innocent, the beautiful bookseller Claire Camden. Since her mother's murder, Claire has done everything
possible to make a safe, secure life for herself in a city where danger lurks on every street corner, especially in the dark of night. But nothing can prepare her for the powerful and sexual medieval warrior who sweeps her back into his time--a treacherous, frightening world where the hunters and the hunted are one and the same. Claire needs Malcolm to survive, yet she must somehow keep the dangerously seductive Master at arm's length. For Malcolm's soul is at stake--and fulfilling his desires could prove fatal….

I had such high hopes for this book. It's Brenda Joyce! I didn't think it was possible for me to read her work and not like it. I guess I was wrong...

Malcolm is a 'Master'. He protects Innocents from evil. It's a tad confusing, but from what I can tell, he kills Deamhanain. Those are beings with power from Satan who can take life easily. One of the ways is to commit 'pleasure crimes'. Thats when they have sex and suck the life from someone while they give multiple orgasms. Masters hunt and kill them.

Claire's mother was killed by Pleasure Crime, and so was one of her cousins.

Malcolm and Claire meet after he arrives at her bookstore in search of an ancient page from a book. She is immediately turned on by him, and since Masters have the power to make a woman fall in lust with them, they end up having sex soon after they meet.

This is a TSTL Heroine. She flies through time with a highlander, and she doesn't faint. She has sex with a stranger less than an hour after meeting him, and she doesn't faint. She finds out that not one, but several men can read her mind, and she doesn't faint. She is told that Satan exists, and she faints! Millions of people believe in God, so why is his counterpart so hard to imagine for her?

Claire is constantly putting herself, and everyone else in danger. Time after time she promises not to do anything rash, and then she goes and opens her mouth or does something stupid.

The amount of times that Claire 'cried' something was distracting.

"Go to hell," she cried
"Take a guess!", she cried
"That is not an answer!", she cried
"Like hell, " She cried
"You are getting ahead of yourself", Claire cried
"I'll clean it," Claire cried

"Then explain it to me," she cried softly
"Royce!" Claire cried
"I know there is a risk!" she cried
Claire cried out, shocked, "What are you saying?"
Claire cried out in protest, "A few hundred years?"
"No!" she cried
"He doesn't lust for me," she cried
"With all my heart!" she cried
"she's summoning you in the middle of the night? For what purpose?" she cried
"Why?" Claire cried
"Do you know who I am?" she cried in disbelief
"Damn it, Fiola," she cried

Thats not even all of them. Every times she cried something I pictured her with wild teary eyes on the verge of a tempter tantrum. It was out of place with most of the conversation she was having.

Claire also kept going on about being a strong, independent 21'st century woman who cannot and will not obey 15'th century rules, yet she acted more like a 4 year old. She made women from her own time look really bad.

I did enjoy the accurate portrayal of customs for the country and century. Some of the secondary characters were really hot.

I am a Brenda Joyce fangirl, and as much as this one let me down, I'll still check out the next in the series. Am I a glutton for punishment? Maybe. My hope is that the next one is a lot better.