TEST
Midnight Fantasies is at times a very funny book, and a hot one too. The heroine is Elizabeth Carlton, the straight-laced daughter of a Texas gubernatorial candidate. She’s prim on the inside, but her business is anything but stodgy; she provides super-rich clients with sexual fantasy scenarios. She only dreams of partaking in such fantasies herself, until she puts on a magic garter and is transported back in time to the 1890s. Suddenly everyone thinks she is sexy stripper Sinful Sinclair, and right in front of her eyes is the cowboy of her fantasies, Colt Durango.
Colt is looking for Sinful because his little brother (who isn’t named Smith, Wesson, or Winchester) is extremely nervous around girls. Colt figures a couple of weeks of sex lessons with Sinful will calm Cameron down. Elizabeth, who is surprisingly unruffled by her hundred-plus year journey, thinks the sexy Colt is requesting lessons for himself. She figures this is her golden opportunity to live out her fantasies; when she’s had her fill, she can simply remove the garter and go home.
Elizabeth is pretty shocked when she finds out Colt wants her not for himself but for his sixteen-year-old brother. Although she’s disappointed, she decides to give Colt his money’s worth. She has no intention of sleeping with Cameron, but she does give him love lessons. Some of the funniest scenes of the book ensue as Elizabeth has Cameron doing lip exercises, kissing mirrors, and picturing the object of his affections in her underwear. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sets out to snag the hard-to-get Colt. Her formula is a twentieth century fantasy sex guide called “The Naughty Nine.” One by one, she goes through the nine most popular fantasy scenarios, hoping to find one Colt can’t resist. But before she knows it, her heart seems to be at risk. Is Colt just a fantasy, or is he worth giving up her “real life” in the twentieth century?
The best part of this book is the humor. When it’s funny, it’s really funny. The aforementioned scenes with Cameron are hysterical, and Elizabeth’s attempts to seduce Colt with the naughty nine are fun too. The whole book has a modern edge, and the heroine actually speaks like someone familiar with pop culture. She uses terms like “hottie” and “you go, girl,” and she reads romance novels just like we do.
With a hero named after a gun, you know this book has to be a fantasy. If you can enjoy it purely on that level, it may work for you, but I found that some elements gave me trouble. The love story itself is hard to believe, because at first it is motivated solely by lust. Then suddenly, wham – both characters are in love with each other. Since they’d spent most of their time admiring each other from afar rather than having meaningful conversations, their love seemed a little precipitous. Also, both the hero and heroine are extremely nonchalant about the time-travel experience. I don’t particularly care for books in which the characters spend the whole time refusing to believe that time travel has occurred, but this one errs in the opposite direction. Elizabeth seems almost lackadaisical about her journey back in time, and she fits right in without a hitch. She slips and uses modern expressions from time to time, but no one ever asks her to explain herself. When she tells Colt that she is from the future, he hardly bats an eye. You would think she was announcing something more along the lines of, “I’m from New Jersey.”
In the end this one is really a mixed bag. I could easily see some readers enjoying this book as a humorous fantasy. If that is all you expect from it, it might work very well for you. Just keep in mind that if you are looking for some semblance of a deep, realistic relationship, you won’t find it here.
Grade: C
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 25/05/00
Publication Date: 2000
I've been at AAR since dinosaurs roamed the Internet. I've been a Reviewer, Reviews Editor, Managing Editor, Publisher, and Blogger. Oh, and Advertising Corodinator. Right now I'm taking a step back to concentrate on kids, new husband, and new job in law...but I'll still keep my toe in the romance waters.
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.