Circle of Danger

Circle of Danger
Carla Swafford
Published by Avon Books
Publishing date: June 19, 2012
336 pages
Available on Amazon.com
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
2 cupcakes (for the sexy times)


Before I eviscerate this book, let me just say that I admire writers tremendously. It is so difficult to create characters who inspire us to care about them and to send those characters on a path that keeps us entertained, interested and emotionally invested. I try really hard not to write negative reviews about books; I would rather not write a review at all than pick apart an author's work.

But when I read something like Circle of Danger, I feel like someone (in this case Carla Swafford, is toying with me, and I am not amused.

Here is the absolutely ridiculous, if not insultingly silly, premise of this book: there is a group of people called The Circle who are assassins <insert first mocking snort here> who kill people - I can't even tell you who they kill or why. But they're assassins. And at one point, their top dog was a guy they called Master who abused them when they were younger.

So we've got a band of secret assassins once ruled by a deranged pedophile. With me so far?

When Marie, one of The Circle, gets caught in an operation, she is injected with a green serum that - GET THIS - makes her crave sex. She cannot function unless she has sex and an orgasm.

I KID YOU NOT, people.

So you can see, can you not, that we basically have an excuse for sex scene after sex scene.

But oh, there is so much more. Because we also have Bad Guys, the ones who are creating and using the serum - called Blossom Flower - who must be caught.

Marie's protector, Ryker, who has Issues with a capital I-S-S-U-E-S, provides the services necessary to relieve her of her ... um ... burden. See, he loves her and she loves him and they've loved each other FOREVER, but they just can't admit it, for pity's sake. So Marie isn't really sure how much of her itch she needs Ryker to scratch is due to Blossom Flower or her own desires. And Ryker's Issues cause him some problems, because he cannot "achieve completion" unless, well, I won't give that part away, just in case you decide to read this dreck.

This book is just so awful. And what's worse is that I think we're supposed to take it seriously, which makes me want to laugh or cry. I'm not sure which. Here is a sampling for you:

His own release denied him unless he showed her his dark side. His thumb pressed into the tight opening near where he thrust into her. Tempted, but a hidden fear stopped him from pressing further. In all likelihood, she would hate him for pushing her too far too soon.

 So he worked at bringing her relief. Not one inch of her body had been missed by his touch or mouth. She screamed his name with another wave of satisfaction but she gripped his thighs, telling him to keep pumping.

For the love of Christian Grey.

There are some action scenes, and there is quite a bit of headboard rockin' (these two quite literally rock the headboard, almost through the wall). The sex scenes are hot. There. I said something positive. The sex scenes are HOT.

But the rest of this book is dreadful.