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A review by schomj
Ripping the Bodice by Inara Lavey
5.0
From the opening daydream scene to the end, this is a loving send-up of old school romance and pulp fiction novels from the past, oh, 150 years maybe. If you're not familiar with or don't enjoy those older forms of the genre, I'm not sure how much you'd enjoy this book, but I thought it was hysterically funny. I actually laughed out loud at least once per chapter.
Cassandra meets her college friend Val for a vacation in San Diego, where they're joined by Val's favorite cousin, Rafael, and his business partner Connor. From his name to his body, Rafael fits all of Cassandra's daydream expectations about her romantic hero, which is what Val had hoped for, and which fits in with Rafael's plan to find an undemanding, biddable wife. (Seriously, every piece of this book references the genre.) Connor, on the other hand, shakes Cassandra out of her daydreams... initially, by completely infuriating with his jokes about her reading taste. However, unlike everyone else Cassandra interacts with, Connor also refers to her by her full name rather than the nickname Cassie, which she hates. So, while she is pursuing Rafael, the living embodiment of her romantic fantasies, she's feeling a strange, unwilling attraction to Connor, a man who truly sees who she is and, in turn, prompts her to remove the veil of her own illusions.
This is described on the ARe website as an erotic romance, which is probably not quite how I would describe it. There's a lot of steam, don't get me wrong, but most of the scenes are Cassandra's fantasies, which take old school love scenes and makes them a bit more graphic... and then she's interrupted. So, if you're looking for full-on erotica, this probably isn't it, but it does use very descriptive language and graphic details.
The ending could be considered HEA or HFN, depending on how you prefer to read it.
Bottom line: I never would have run across this book if ARe and the publisher hadn't done a promotion where it was given away for free, but I'm so glad they did! I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to finding more by this author.
Cassandra meets her college friend Val for a vacation in San Diego, where they're joined by Val's favorite cousin, Rafael, and his business partner Connor. From his name to his body, Rafael fits all of Cassandra's daydream expectations about her romantic hero, which is what Val had hoped for, and which fits in with Rafael's plan to find an undemanding, biddable wife. (Seriously, every piece of this book references the genre.) Connor, on the other hand, shakes Cassandra out of her daydreams... initially, by completely infuriating with his jokes about her reading taste. However, unlike everyone else Cassandra interacts with, Connor also refers to her by her full name rather than the nickname Cassie, which she hates. So, while she is pursuing Rafael, the living embodiment of her romantic fantasies, she's feeling a strange, unwilling attraction to Connor, a man who truly sees who she is and, in turn, prompts her to remove the veil of her own illusions.
This is described on the ARe website as an erotic romance, which is probably not quite how I would describe it. There's a lot of steam, don't get me wrong, but most of the scenes are Cassandra's fantasies, which take old school love scenes and makes them a bit more graphic... and then she's interrupted. So, if you're looking for full-on erotica, this probably isn't it, but it does use very descriptive language and graphic details.
The ending could be considered HEA or HFN, depending on how you prefer to read it.
Bottom line: I never would have run across this book if ARe and the publisher hadn't done a promotion where it was given away for free, but I'm so glad they did! I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to finding more by this author.