Book Review: Behind Closed Doors (The McCloud Brothers, Book 1)
by Shannon McKenna
3.0 out of 5 stars More of a Romantica than a romance
The book was very uneven in a lot of respects, and as I can tell from the reviews at Amazon, a lot of shocked readers did not think they were getting Romantica. Romantica is romantic erotica, and it is one couple with lots of heated erotic situations, as opposed to a lot of characters all having a great old time with each other.
I totally agree that the characters are inconsistent. I also think the villains were too. The whole romantic suspense genre seems to be predicated on the most unlikely people with nothing in common falling into bed together. Or in this case the wall, the shower, and so on.
It also includes several detailed scenes of the villain having sex which were very offputting, as was his voyeurism with the various cameras dotted around his house, and the explicit nature of said activities in various multiples and gender combinations.
The villain was not THAT interesting, and there should never be competing couples (triples?) in a romance novel. Stick to hero and heroine and relationship and love development, not the kitchen sink and stuff thrown in for shock value.
Kensington should make it clear that the Brava line is going to contain material like this. A reader who forked out good money expecting Nora Roberts would well be peeved, not to mention goggled-eyed or even offended.
Having said that, the one thing the book does having going for it is an interesting if totally Neanderthal hero, though I can’ tbelieve he had not had a girl for five years since his brother was killed, he is so rampant. The drought becomes a flood, and Raine is swept away, but I would have liked to see her exercise a bit more common sense and spine. The sexual games they play are not always healthy or safe, and Seth not trusting her toward the end is pretty unforgivable even if their sex life is stupendous.
The book is way too long, with lashings of detail on every movement of his body (where are HER feelings in all of this?) and even the hero says himself they are like a pair of minks. Subtlety, nuance, romance, even foreplay, vanish in a haze of power games on Seth’s part. This novel could have been cut to half its length and toned down and not suffered, and still got commitment and the happily ever after.
Readers who like Susan Johnson, Robin Schone and Thea Devine will enjoy these books, but anyone else should exercise caution. And you can certainly have a ‘bonkbuster’ of a lusty novel without grossing people out or demeaning them.
464 words
