Liquid Silver Books, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-59578-604-3
Paranormal Erotica, 2009 (Reissue)
Leap of Faith is a reissue of a short story previously published by Phaze, and since “re-release” is the official word used by the publisher, I have no idea whether there is any revision made in this edition.
Poor Kira de la Fuente. She is supposed to be enjoying her adventures of reconnecting with her roots in Peru, but here she is, injured and abandoned by her guide once darkness falls, in a fog-covered area somewhere in the Andes. Fortunately, a mysterious man who calls himself Amaru steps out of the fog to take her to a nearby house and tend to her wounds.
The next thing I know, he is offering her a free massage session and she gets hot and heavy as a result. Wait a minute, is this how Peruvian strangers in the wilderness treat female strangers? He also swims near-naked in the nearby stream, giving her a free view. He also offers to show her the birth of a baby llama, one in which Amaru dramatically saved the baby during a particularly difficult delivery. Kira is appropriately impressed.
“That was so much fun,” Kira exclaimed. Amaru handed her the water skin again and she drank. “I love babies.”
And then Amaru says happily, “And I love Nazis.”
Nah, just kidding.
During the whole adventure in this Peruvian Shangri-La, I find it odd that Kira doesn’t even once question whether the whole thing is too good to be real. Indeed, Amaru is, shall we say, not your regular human being. This raises a rather disturbing possibility: did he manipulate Kira into having a relationship with him? After all, things fall into place way too easily for her to fall in love with him.
To appreciate this story, clearly I need to suspend my disbelief. Alas, I only realized too late that I didn’t suspend it high enough.
