Samhain Publishing, $3.50, ISBN 978-1-60504-935-9
Contemporary Romance, 2010
This particular edition of Eden Bradley’s Spring Equinox has been revised and expanded from its original edition. This is still a short story, however, and it’s one that is all about whimsical ways of fate and love. However, there is a ménage à trois scene that quite ruins the whole magic for me, but I’ll get into that later.
On her 30th birthday, Isabel Archer decides to return to Playa de la Luna in the Isla de Margarita off the coast of Venezuela, on the chance that Rafael Cruz will show up. You see, about 12 years ago, after a sizzling affair, they decided to return to this place, to catch up on things if they both happen to be available and interested. They were 18 back then, and she was the tourist at his family’s hotel, so nothing came out of that affair the first time around. After a bitter divorce, Isabel is willing to make up for lost time with the man who was her first lover. He’s also ready to go, so it’s va-va-voom time.
If you skip to a random page, chances are you will encounter that kind of scene because this is that kind of story. Still, I can’t find much fault with such an enjoyable vicarious fantasy. Perfect sex with the perfect South American guy in a tropical paradise? Ah yes, give me my airplane tickets now because I’m ready to go. Unfortunately, it is a bias on my part in that I like my threesome scenes neatly compartmentalized into stories that are clearly about the joys of three or more. So, when I come across such scene in a story that is otherwise a mostly monogamous fantasy, I am jolted out of the fantasy.
Still, this is a pretty hot vicarious fantasy. Spring Equinox is more like a summer meltdown.
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