THE PLEASURES OF WINTER & A TOUCH OF WINTER

TITLE: THE PLEASURES OF WINTER
AUTHOR: EVIE HUNTER
Pages: 400
Date: 04/11/2012
Grade: 4-
Details: Received from Penguin
            Through NetGalley
Own / Kindle

Reporter Abbie Marshall is in Honduras looking into the drugs-trade and its links with American government officials. Her investigations haven’t gone unnoticed though and when she needs to leave the country in a hurry her only way out is to hitch a ride on a private jet carrying Hollywood A-lister Jack Winter. Abbie isn’t one to be impressed by either fame or beauty but Mr. Winter takes her breath away. His magnetic attractiveness combined with his provocative attitude intrigue and confuse her, stirring feelings inside her that are as unsettling as they are unwelcome. When the plane crashes in a rainforest, Abbie, Jack and two other passengers face a grueling and dangerous journey back to civilization. And although Abbie is impressed with Jack’s expertise when it comes to surviving in the inhospitable environment, she is determined not to give in to the feelings he awakens in her. That changes when a reckless act on her part enrages Jack and he drags Abbie in to a cave where he shows her what happens to women who don’t obey his orders. Jack’s actions and her reaction to it leave Abbie confused and her carefully maintained private life in shatters.
One broken engagement later, Abbie is determined to find out more about this secret side to her nature, the one that was awakened during her time in the cave with Jack. It is a search that will reunite her with the Irish heart-throb. But the path ahead of Abbie and Jack is anything but smooth. With Jack determined never to get seriously involved with anyone after a shocking betrayal in his past and Abbie insecure about what she wants and needs, it is only a matter of time before the actor’s past catches up with their present, endangering the future they were so very carefully heading towards.

I enjoyed this book. It is a nice combination of romance and erotica with a little bit of mystery and suspense thrown in. Both Abbie and Jack were well established as characters and went through some development. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Abbie; for me there were too many, conflicting sides to her character. Why would an independent woman, refusing to be intimidated by work-related danger be such a walk-over when it comes to her family and private life? As for Jack, well he appears to be a bit of a stereo-type; a bad-boy, drop dead gorgeous, womanizing Irish actor with a dark and mysterious side. But, I did enjoy the interaction between these two characters and the way in which both of them were taken by surprise by their reactions to each other and the feelings and needs they experienced.

Evie Hunter is the pen name for two Irish authors (Eileen Gormley and Caroline McCall) who decided to work together after discovering a common love for erotica. I haven’t read anything by either of these authors, but that may change. If the standard of this book is anything to go by these are two writers who are very well versed in their craft. The writing flowed easily, the reading was smooth and the story was very well paced. And even if I’ll never get around to checking out the individual authors I know I will be keeping an eye out for other books by their alter-ego.

In short, this is an erotic love story about two unlikely characters being thrown together against the odds and discovering that they are made for each other, and as such it works very well.

A bonus story:

While I was reading the Pleasures of Winter I came across a short sequel to this book, which I promptly downloaded.

In A Touch of Winter Abbie and Jack have been together for a year, but Abbie still lives in New York – and travels the world in pursuit of stories – while Jack is based in L.A. and often away of film shoots. When Abbie returns a day early from one of her trips she discovers Jack in the playroom with another, tied up, woman. Furious Abbie storms away and it will take all of Jacks verbal and physical powers to convince Abbie of the fact that what she saw wasn’t what she thought and that they are meant to be together. 

This was an intriguing, hot and charming addition to the original story and provided a proper end to the story of Abbie and Jack.