DELIGHTED: Tales of Erotic Romance By B. Small, S. Johnson, N. Donovan and L. Madison Brava Kensington June 2002 ISBN # 1-57566-823-8 {Click here to buy this book} This is an anthology of some of romances hottest authors. Hottest in the sense of the sensuality that they write into their

The Awakening, by Bertrice Small, opens as Marguerite Abbott is rescued by her aunt Renee when Marguerite’s parents were arrested during the French Revolution and awaiting a meeting with Madame le Guillotine. Marguerite was just a baby when Renee, also arrested for her part in the rebellion, trades her virginity to the governor of Île fe Cité, the city prison. Upon this trade the governor agrees to put Marguerite into a convent until she is of marriageable age.

Chapter one begins as Marguerite has suffered the loss of her beloved husband. He’s markedly older than herself. He’s left everything to Marguerite but his son has destroyed the will and sent Marguerite and her daughter, his step sister, away with little more than the clothes on her back. The only choice she has is to return to her aunt Renee for refuge. Since the Revolution, Renee has established herself as France’s most notorious Madame. And Marguerite has it in her mind to join the house in order to put her daughter through school and keep a roof over her head. But what happens when one of her clients pays her for an evening of discussion and offers her a life in the New World?

Out of the Storm, by Susan Johnson, tells the tale of a bored heiress, Lady Lulu Darlington who arranges with her staff to escape to a quiet mountain retreat for a night alone. All she wanted was some peace and a chance to think, which couldn’t be had in her mansion with servants everywhere and an impending marriage to a stranger she didn’t want. She wasn’t prepared for her peace to be interrupted by a tall, dark stranger who burst into the cabin. And not as she stood naked before the fire drying off from the rain she was caught up in on the way to the cabin. Lulu reluctantly allows the stranger refuge from the storm outside but it’s not long before he’s soothing the raging storm within her.

Enchanted, by Nikki Donovan, is a sort of Beauty and the Beast story. Alexander, Lord Blackhurst, was the subject of a curse that has followed him since boyhood. A curse has disfigured his face and as a result he’s been forced to live a life in secret. The curse can only be broken when Alexander makes love to a woman who loves him for himself, not how he looks. He’s earned himself the title of Beast Lord and rumors of his evil have spread through the country. When he is riding through the forest one day he sees the figure of a beautiful woman and vows that he’ll have her, so kidnaps her and takes her to his castle. Over a series of nights, Alexander comes to Esmay, the beautiful woman, and titillates her until she is left begging for him to make love to her. But does she love him enough to make love to him without the mask he’s forced to wear?

Finally, With His Promise, by Liz Madison, is set in England in the 13th century. Victoria Woodville is the ruler of her home, which is under siege from a neighbor, Hamlin Port, who wishes to take Mistbury Arms under his control for the bordering lands. A forced marriage to Victoria will be a bonus. When suddenly the siege ends, Victoria must find a way to thank her savior, Stephen de Burgh, a notorious knight from another neighboring estate. When he proposes marriage in order to protect her lands from Port’s aggressions Victoria is understandably against the union. It would mean losing control of her lands to yet another man who would plunder them. But it’s Victoria’s body he wishes to plunder. More than she knows.

Of all the stories in Delighted, I most enjoyed Enchanted by Nikki Donovan. Although it retells, once more, a beauty and beast tale, it was told in a fresh light. Where the other stories got down to the sex almost from page one, this stories tale was built more on a traditional romance line. The plot was allowed to mature, however quickly for the sake of a novella, so that the relationship between the hero and heroine was more believable. This story was also along a more true erotica line as well as the reads senses were allowed to blossom until the final climax, the heroine’s and the story’s. Alexander titillated the reader as much as Esmay!

I have to say that each of the stories was highly entertaining and erotic in the truest sense. This volume has something for every erotic taste. For those who have read the previous two titles, Captivated and Fascinated, Delighted will be a great addition to the collection. For anyone looking for a selection of erotic tales from some of romances greatest authors, this would be a great first look into the series, as well as an excellent first look at the authors for first timer readers of their work.