Review: Snatched Anthology

Any hunter will tell you part of the satisfaction is in the chase as well as the triumphant capture of their prey. In Snatched, the focus is on the eroticism of the power play between men and their male captors. Sometimes romance ensues, sometimes just a good amount of steamy sex, but in all cases, the effects of one character being in utter control of the man he has captured takes center stage. The appeal is in the erotic dominance and the way the captive would try to escape if he could, whether he truly wants to deep down or not.

Thomas is determined not to let the fights with his boyfriend, John, ruin his vacation in the tropical rainforests of Equador. But when he steps off the trail, he steps into danger as he is taken captive by guerilla freedom fighters. Held against his will, he nonetheless finds himself developing an attraction to the man who both arouses and repels him. And as his captivity weighs on him, Thomas finds that being "The Guerilla's Plaything" is not the worst fate he can envision...

Bryce's life changes forever the night that he and his boyfriend are brutally attacked by creatures that seem like they can only be demonic. He's sure, when they carry him off, that he's being packed off for lunch, so it's a shock when he finds that one of his captors is not the horror that he expected. As their attraction grows, it could be "The Two of Us" against the world.

As a member of the lesser nobility, Micah has never truly been able to "Feel the Wind" of freedom, and he and his family are not exempt from the brutality of the highest of the nobles. When he is imprisoned, hunted for sport, and captured by Ari, one of the realm's Princes, he feels that his life is over. But when an escape attempt leads him to the bed of Dhea, Ari's brother, he finds that there is much more to live for... and at the same time, so much more danger than he knows.

Snatched is an anthology featuring three short stories about kidnapping, some stories feature romance as the end result. Out of the three stories, two of them were really good. It was like the anthology was a naughty boy, hording his treats finally sharing the best story for last. I was almost thrown off by the weaker start. Almost.

The Guerrilla's Plaything by Tilly Hunter - 2 Hearts

*sigh*

A British student who likes bondage is on vacation in Ecuador. He's taken by a "guerrilla" named Alvaro because he looked suspicious while taking a piss in the jungle. The guerrilla has a fondness for the brit's "little dick" and leaves him exposed and kidnaps him. Then a weird, weak kidnap story starts where the Brit's dick is out and hard because he likes being tied up. No humiliation really. No bondage. No action. Just more meh.

And then the sex scene happens where the guerrilla tells the kidnappee (I can't remember his name) that they are going to have sex but he can call it rape of he has to. I couldn't even attach the lamest of dub con tag on this story. It was like C rated porn. I gave up. No wait, the closing line changed my 2.5 to a 2.

"It's perfectly understandable," John said evenly. "What do they call it? Stockholm Syndrome?""Yeah, I think so."

Really? Wouldn't you need to be kidnapped for longer than a day? I wasn't invested with the characters, so other than the different setting, I thought it was just okay. Had potential but missed the mark.

I fell asleep three times while reading this.  I was channeling Monsoon.

The Two of Us by Lor Rose - 4 HEARTS

Twenty-two year old, ginger virgin Bryce is on a lackluster date with a guy he feels no real attraction for. However, Bryce wants to rid himself of his virginity. While sitting on his potential lover's lap in a car, they are attacked by mythical horse shifters. Apparently this is story #2 from Lor Rose's Horse Shifter series. I didn't know what these shifters could do but let's just say they need to eat human hearts once a full moon to stay alive. Warning: there's a rape scene [not between the MC].

Xanthos and his fellow shifter Lampon (I couldn't help but think it rhymes with tampon) keep Bryce alive with some major bruising. But where the last story failed with capturing the power struggle between captor and captive, this story did. You could believe Bryce's fear even if he claimed he suffered from not feeling much emotions.

Xanthos is thousands of years old, has skin that is like movable granite and can't feel anything but pain. (But he feels erections) He's a killer, emotionally stunted and feels something for his captive. He's part of a group of four horse shifter killers but the group is split. Half of the group left for love. And at first Xanthos scoffed but he can't help feeling something towards Bryce.

Sadly this was just a short...I would have loved this if it were a novella. A lot of strong points and ideas were introduced but not followed through. Still it was a sexy ride, even a little mention of snowballing. I really liked, wished it wasn't as rushed towards the end.

Hooray for a more unusual type of shifter romance!

Feel the Wind by Ann Anderson - 4.5 HEARTS

It seems the best story of the anthology award goes to this story. This was what I wanted - hot sex, kink (some D/s, orgasm denial, bondage and pain kink, baby!), a surprise ménage, virgins (yep two virgins!), collaring (*squeals*), actual rape...It was fantasy, some magic, grit and deliciousness wrapped up in a sexy bow.

And I ate it up.

We have a thief (did I mention I love thieves too?) with a magical gift of controlling the wind who has been imprisoned for six years. In this fantasy filled society (there's a smidge of technology thrown in), the nobility and royalty hunt lesser folk for sport and make the captures their prey, their pets. This time around it's the thief, Micah. And he is captured by a prince! But this prince is a virgin as is Micah. But compared to Ari's larger, more sinister brothers, Ari seemed like the safest choice for Micah.

I wish there was more exploration in the world the author created. We get enough to carry the story this story would have been even better as a novella. Get more page time exploring the magical talents people have, etc. Micah was a fun character. He knew his limitations and played up what he had when he had to. Loved reading him switch from submissive to dominant. And playing those brothers? (You'll have to read to see which brother joined in this menage between pet and masters) Micah was delish! The ending was HFN/HEA-ish. Hint: a golden collar. *squeals*

I hope the author will follow up with these characters or the other brothers. It's an interesting world I wouldn't mind revisiting. 

Hands down favorite! Gotta check out more from this author. I squirmed!

The Snatched anthology is worth a read. I usually get bored because there can be a lot of duds mixed in a bundle. But this was not the case, on average. And now I have a new author to check out.

Score!