Samhain Publishing, $3.50, ISBN 978-1-60504-490-3
Paranormal Romance, 2009
In Anne Rainey’s Turbulent Passions, we have Sapphire, a heroine with a mysterious power. Her brother Aries had pretty much dragged her to live in a secluded parcel of land surrounded by woods since their parents’ death five years ago and Sapphire misses those days when she can live like a normal young lady. Her creepily overprotective twin brother won’t allow that, however.
Then one day, Sapphire finds an amnesiac hunk in the woods. As she takes him in for some TLC, she will find herself in some kind of love triangle with this fellow and her twin brother. No, don’t be silly, Aries and Sapphire are not doing anything funny together. But Aries is very overprotective of Sapphire and he doesn’t approve of our hero Adam Richton, so what is poor Sapphire to do?
To be honest, I think Aries is a little too creepy for my liking. He exudes a most disquieting Norman Bates vibe even when he’s being reasonable. Sapphire and Adam are much more “normal” characters in comparison to him. They have an interesting relationship here, even if it’s marred by the presence of Aries’s creepy overbearing weight.
But Turbulent Passions is too short to allow Ms Rainey to do much with her story. This is the biggest disappointment that I have with this story. It’s intriguing and readable, but it ends too soon without getting to make a bigger impact on me.
