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A review by marshmalohgrrl
Taken by Passion by Jaymie Holland
Taken by Passion, the first in the Wonderland series, tells the tale of the curvy Alice O'Brien and her bad history with men, of her comparisons to her twin sister Alexi and the story of the King of Hearts, King Jarronn of Tarok.
Tarok is a land inhabited by weretigers. The kingdoms were divided by the King and Queen into four separate but unified kingdoms for each of their four sons. Their daughter, however, was not given a share in the kingdom. For this slight, she bailed on her brothers, married a ruler to the south and put a mind curse on the women of Tarok so they couldn't bear children.
In order to continue the bloodline, Jarronn takes a bride fortold in the Tarok version of tarot cards. The woman just so happens to be Alice who has just had her heart broken by her boyfriend and lost her job because she wouldn't sleep with her boss. She falls down the rabbit hole of pudding and winds up at the base of a Doctor Seuss tree. She is taken captive by Jarronn, tied to the room with magic all in the guise of protecting her and made to submit to him.
Now Alice has displayed submissive tendencies before showing up on Tarok, but it was really hard for me to swallow that she would give in so easily. I also don't dig the AlphaOmega one-and-all kind of Doms. I really had to force myself to keep reading through the mind control tactics. My mind kept screaming Stockholm Syndrome.
As I kept reading, Alice found it easier to submit and Jarronn stopped being such an asshole. He got to know Alice, showed her kindness.
Then I came to another screeching halt when he told her he would punish her for not thinking she was beautiful. Well no shit she wouldn't! Society shuns girls deemed fat. It's one of the first insults thrown at a girl by her peers. And it destroys them, mentally and emotionally. Especially when that torture has been repeated even though adult life. I found it unrealistic that shutting her in a room by herself would bring her to the realization she was beautiful. Time and effort on her Dom's part would have made the transition a lot easier to swallow.
However, after drinking a magic potion, Alice cries out that she is beautiful and she believes. Magic! And the plot continues!
With all the talk the brothers do about their sister, one would think she would have been attacking their plans. She might try to take Alice away. She might do SOMETHING. But she does nothing until the climax where she hits Alice with a whip. Jarronn and his brothers swoop in and save the day.
I was disappointed with the climax. The guy gets the girl. The girl gets the guy. All Alice wants is her sister. The end, happily ever after. The villain they set up as this shunned sister with a powerful mental powered army was a villain who tripped and fell down the stairs. I expected the astranged Princess to rush in during the bonding ceremony and try and kill Alice. Nada.
The writing was slightly redundant. Jarronn kept going over and over the same things in his head. Alice kept thinking the same things over and over in her head. I was really reminded of Gorean practices reading this book. Women exist only to be pleasure to men and men exist to own women. The most exciting part of the whole book was in the afterword to set up for the next book.
The book was at least well written. Parts were in passive voice. If you like overbearing dominant men and lots and lots of kinky sex scenes, this is the book for you.
Tarok is a land inhabited by weretigers. The kingdoms were divided by the King and Queen into four separate but unified kingdoms for each of their four sons. Their daughter, however, was not given a share in the kingdom. For this slight, she bailed on her brothers, married a ruler to the south and put a mind curse on the women of Tarok so they couldn't bear children.
In order to continue the bloodline, Jarronn takes a bride fortold in the Tarok version of tarot cards. The woman just so happens to be Alice who has just had her heart broken by her boyfriend and lost her job because she wouldn't sleep with her boss. She falls down the rabbit hole of pudding and winds up at the base of a Doctor Seuss tree. She is taken captive by Jarronn, tied to the room with magic all in the guise of protecting her and made to submit to him.
Now Alice has displayed submissive tendencies before showing up on Tarok, but it was really hard for me to swallow that she would give in so easily. I also don't dig the AlphaOmega one-and-all kind of Doms. I really had to force myself to keep reading through the mind control tactics. My mind kept screaming Stockholm Syndrome.
As I kept reading, Alice found it easier to submit and Jarronn stopped being such an asshole. He got to know Alice, showed her kindness.
Then I came to another screeching halt when he told her he would punish her for not thinking she was beautiful. Well no shit she wouldn't! Society shuns girls deemed fat. It's one of the first insults thrown at a girl by her peers. And it destroys them, mentally and emotionally. Especially when that torture has been repeated even though adult life. I found it unrealistic that shutting her in a room by herself would bring her to the realization she was beautiful. Time and effort on her Dom's part would have made the transition a lot easier to swallow.
However, after drinking a magic potion, Alice cries out that she is beautiful and she believes. Magic! And the plot continues!
With all the talk the brothers do about their sister, one would think she would have been attacking their plans. She might try to take Alice away. She might do SOMETHING. But she does nothing until the climax where she hits Alice with a whip. Jarronn and his brothers swoop in and save the day.
I was disappointed with the climax. The guy gets the girl. The girl gets the guy. All Alice wants is her sister. The end, happily ever after. The villain they set up as this shunned sister with a powerful mental powered army was a villain who tripped and fell down the stairs. I expected the astranged Princess to rush in during the bonding ceremony and try and kill Alice. Nada.
The writing was slightly redundant. Jarronn kept going over and over the same things in his head. Alice kept thinking the same things over and over in her head. I was really reminded of Gorean practices reading this book. Women exist only to be pleasure to men and men exist to own women. The most exciting part of the whole book was in the afterword to set up for the next book.
The book was at least well written. Parts were in passive voice. If you like overbearing dominant men and lots and lots of kinky sex scenes, this is the book for you.