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Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



At work today, I finished the book I'd taken in to read on breaks. It was Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard. The book is part of Silhouette's "Nocturne" line, and I believe it's the first installment in the "Raintree" trilogy, written by 3 separate authors. Beyond this, I have nothing good to say about it.

We have Dante Raintree, young scion of a family of gifted individuals. He owns and operates a casino, and he's become angry that lovely Lorna Clay keeps winning at his casino. He's convinced she's cheating, but he has no proof. In an effort to find out what's going on, Dante has his head of security bring Lorna to his office.

Lorna has always been good with numbers, and she uses the talent sparingly. She wins just enough to keep herself solvent, then moves on to another casino. Once in Dante Raintree's office, she is terrified at the currents of dangerous energy she can feel. The terror becomes all too real when the casino catches on fire, and Lorna must descend from the 19th floor with an angry man who won't let her out of his sight.

Things utterly fell to hell at this point.

Dante refuses to allow Lorna to escape with the others. As he directs everyone else to safety, he muscles her into the heart of the casino, and the fire, with him. Since fire is an element that Dante can control, he intends to quell the flames, then resume his interrogation of Lorna. The fire, however, refuses to bend to his will, and Dante ends up tapping Lorna's own, innate pool of power for the energy he needs. It's an act that leaves her in blinding pain and confusion.

Once they escape the building, Dante uses mind control (I shit you not) to command Lorna not to leave. She slowly regains her wits, and when she discovers what he's done, she is furious. Dante speaks to the police and firefighters, then hauls Lorna into his car and takes her to his home, where he continues to control her like a marionette. Convinced she may be one of the Ansara (another group of talented people, who are at war with the Raintree group), Dante orders Lorna to strip. When she refuses, he literally tears her clothing off, in search of a birthmark that will indicate she's Ansara. Of course, he doesn't find one. Lorna is left terrified, furious, and sobbing.

Dante leaves her alone for the rest of the night, but he won't let her leave.

The following day, he leaves the house, but orders her (still using mind control, here) to stay at his house. Once alone in the house, it apparently never occurred to Lorna to GET ON A GODDAMNED PHONE AND CALL THE POLICE. The author alluded to her having no love for the police, but to that extent? Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but if I was essentially being held hostage in someone's house, but still had free rein of said house, I would trash the shit out of it! There wouldn't be one piece of glass left unbroken. What did Lorna do? She switched his sugar and salt, and poured salt on his bed.

That night, when Lorna has gone to bed, Dante comes in and gets in bed with her, since his bed had salt in it. Um, are there not several other guest rooms? Yes, but sleeping with her was a power play. Did she attempt to leave? No, because she trusted him not to try anything. OMG, CAN YOU SAY STOCKHOLM SYNDROME?!

48 hours into this hot mess, she is wanting to have sex with him, and he wants her to have his babies. I am surprised I refrained from throwing this book against a wall. When they are on the verge of bumping uglies, then and only then does Lorna insist that Dante stop with the mind control. He wants the nookie enough to agree, but he's all surly about it. Like, wtf? Do you want a partner, or a puppet?

Going back to the beginning, because I can't let it go, Dante was pissed that this woman was winning about 5k here and there from him. He makes millions, and he begrudges her a few thousand?! Yet, this was his sole reason for dragging her INTO the fire; because he had yet to figure out how she was cheating him. Was it worth almost getting her killed?

Finally, to add insult to injury, the stupid effing book ended on a cliffhanger!

Favorite line (and I had to work to find one): Warning! McMuffin ahead!

I don't think I have the words to describe my loathing for this book. Classic abusive relationship, coupled with an insipid female lead with a clear-cut case of Stockholm Syndrome, twu wuv in two days, and I am wanting to gag all over again just thinking about it. There was nothing redeeming about this shit-show of a book.

One star, given with the utmost reluctance.

Since the weather was crummy again today, I stayed in for lunch. That allowed me time to finish reading Eternally by Maureen Child. It's part of Silhouette's "Nocturne" line, and I guess it's part one of "The Guardians" series within the line.

The book was a paranormal romance featuring journalist Julie Carpenter and Guardian Kieran MacIntyre. Kieran died in the 1500's and was reborn as a Guardian, tasked with protecting this realm from the denizens of other dimensions, including the demon he is tracking. When he and Julie meet, there is an instant attraction between them, although both try to resist it. Kieran discovers that Julie is his Destined Mate, and that joining with her will strengthen him in his quest to hunt the demon.

From Julie's perspective, Kieran is dashing and dangerous, but she suspects he may be unhinged when he tells her about the demon. Yet, she cannot stay away from him. I wonder if it would have been easier if he'd been bald and paunchy? Yes, that sound you heard are my eyes rolling.

( It gets worse - Spoilers ahead )

When I was young and naive, I would have found this swoon-worthy. Now that I'm older and wiser, it made me want to gag.

The story's premise was interesting, the author's writing was very good, and the sex scenes were hot, but the worn-out trope of "I simply cannot resist this handsome hunk o' manhood, even though I know he's dangerous" has grown so tedious that I can't even.

Favorite line: Of course, it could have been anyone. A neighbor out hiking the hillside, teenagers looking for a place to party, a demon.

Giving it three stars. It wasn't bad; I just didn't like it.

***

I brought my work book home to finish, since I only had two chapters left. It was Dangerous Temptation, by Kathleen Korbel, and it's the first in a trilogy about the three daughters of the Faerie Queen, Mab.

When anthropologist Zeke Kendall tumbles off of a cairn in Ireland, he lands right in the lap of Nuala, daughter of the Queen of Faeries. Nuala has been watching Zeke for years, slowly falling in love with the mortal man. At first, Zeke is certain he's dreaming, due to the knock to the head he received. Eventually, he comes to accept that he's truly in the land of the Faeries, even as he comes to love Nuala.

Queen Mab, however, is a ruthless ruler, and she intends for Nuala to succeed her on the throne. Her plans would go for naught if Nuala and the mortal fall in love. Mab tries to claim Zeke for her own, but Nuala barters with her mother for his freedom. She'll willingly take the throne if Mab returns Zeke to the mortal realm. However, nothing in Faerie is quite so simple, and Zeke is charged with three tasks. If he can pass all three, he will be safely returned.

The story was lush and descriptive and very sexy. Although I enjoyed it, I probably would have enjoyed it more twenty years ago. I liked meeting the characters that peopled the Faerie realm, but I thought the falling in love bit happened too fast for Zeke. In addition, there were some glaring editing errors towards the end of the book, most notably when the author was writing about Zeke's brother, Jake. Their names were often mixed up, meaning I'd have to re-read certain lines to make sense of them.

Favorite line: "Just because I have to give him back doesn't mean I have to give him up."

Interesting, in spite of editing errors--four stars:

****

At work today, I polished off The Highwayman by Michele Hauf. It's part of Silhouette's "Nocturne" line, which means it was a paranormal romance.

The story centers around the immortal demon-slayer known as the Highwayman. He's actually Max Fitzroy, a real highwayman from the 1700's who has a demon shadow dwelling within him. Max has made it his mission to kill demons, as well as the familiars who are capable of acting as a bridge to bring them into this realm.

Aby is a familiar. Max targets her, because he wants her to help him bring forth the demon whose shadow he carries, so that he can kill it. He then intends to kill Aby. But, of course, when Max first lays eyes on her, he finds her too appealing to resist. For her part, Aby knows Max by reputation, which logic would dictate should compel her to avoid him at all costs. But, no. Aby is all intrigued and attracted to him and just can't stay away.

I really despise this trope.

Other than using that archaic cliche, the author did tell an exciting story. She gives glimpses into Max's tortured past so that the reader can understand his actions. Aby, unfortunately, comes across as a bit two-dimensional. She's been coddled and protected her entire life and finds it a great adventure to shop for groceries. Le sigh. Still, the storyline was interesting, leaving me a bit torn about the book as a whole. Therefore, it gets 3 stars for being average.

★★★

On Thursday, I finished reading From the Dark by Michele Hauf. It's a Silhouette Nocturne, meaning a paranormal romance.

In this story, Michael is a vampire who is trying to overcome his need for blood, while Jane is the daughter of a vampire and a witch. Being with Michael has brought forth her latent magic, but everyone knows the blood of a witch is poison to vampires. In addition, in order to insure her immortality, Jane must sacrifice a vampire at the next full moon.

The story was interesting and fast-paced. The author introduced another character who may show up in a future story, and I would certainly read it.