Rogue's Passion by Laurie London

The Basics:

Rogue's Passion by Laurie London
Aspendawn Books
Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book 2 in the Iron Portal series
Published October 21, 2013

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Hidden within the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest, Iron Portals separate the modern and ancient worlds. Only a chosen few, Warriors of the Iron Guild, know their locations.

For years, Olivia Crawford has kept a low profile in order to keep her para-ability secret. If the army finds out she’s a Healer-Talent, they’ll force her to work for them—just like her brother who was taken as a boy and never seen again. But when a terrible explosion rocks New Seattle, she risks everything to save the injured, including a handsome stranger with secrets of his own.

Blaming himself for the death of a friend, Iron Guild warrior Asher Kane vows to bring those responsible to justice. After he’s hurt on a mission and nursed back to health by a beautiful yet mysterious woman, this dangerously sexy bad-boy finds himself falling for her…even as he struggles to stay away.

But stalking them on the streets of New Seattle is a cruel and vengeful evil—one that threatens to destroy them both…

What worked for me:

I was so into this book when it started. I liked the set-up for both characters, the explosion and ensuing chaos. I was into the two of them teaming up to escape the notice of the authorities - all good.  Lots of good stuff here. 

What didn't work for me:

Then the book suddenly became erotica. Olivia goes home with Asher and the two not only have sex, but Asher reveals his dominant streak and Olivia decides she's into being submissive with him, and Asher decides she needs to be punished - by being his sex slave for a week.

And that's where the book lost me.

Now, obviously I like erotica - I wouldn't review it otherwise! But after the opening of the book, the erotic scenes took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting them after the way the book started, and some of it felt contrived so that we could have sexy times.

There's a scene in a department store that did not endear me to either character. I think it was meant to bring a little levity to the story, show the two characters bonding in a humorous situation, etc., but for me, it didn't work.

Similarly, Olivia had a few lines during the book that irked me - throwaway comments about being hormonal or about the deal she made with Asher being a joke (except that they more or less abided by that deal! So... you know. Where's the joke?).

Back to what worked for me:

I did enjoy the Fixer plot, and the few insights into him that we got. I think it would have been more effective to have the hero/heroine spend more time directly interacting with that, rather than off playing private sex games (sometimes in public!). 

On the plus side, the sex was mostly well written so that was good. It's a little more risque than I'd expect in a romance novel, and while I still think it was out of place in this book, it wasn't terrible.

Bottom Line:

This book was neither great nor terrible. It wasn't what I expected: I thought I was getting a paranormal romance, and instead it was something closer to erotica with a paranormal romance wrapper. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time expecting erotica to see how that impacted my experience!

3 stars
For readers who like the risque with their romance, fans of books with paranormal talents.