Halloween eve. An invitation. A black satin ribbon. A silent domination. A clandestine interlude bordering between myth and magic. An encounter that starts in a ballroom and continues on the nights of a full moon, with nothing in between. Is this a light love affair? Or is it like the gilded collar--a gift that locks, leaving no escape? If You Dare dares you to take a step out of bounds, almost into a dream.

Adrianna Dane's short contemporary stretches across several genres, but not noisily so. Just as the hero is silent, the author is silent on a number of elements that could be possibilities--or not. The heroine is into real estate--a funny detail when we don't know her name. Is he a werewolf? If he's not, what is the importance of the howling moon? Why doesn't he speak to her? He is Julian Donata, wealthy owner of Gideon Estates in the town of Gideon. She is--like Rebecca--unnamed.

The occasional awkwardness of the text does not distract significantly from the ambiance. Why the silence? It's a feature of the dominance, perhaps a hint of an animal nature and it adds to the mystical quality of this unsettled tale of seduction, mystery and sex. Is this domination, or chemistry, or magic? The only thing you can do is decide for yourself if you want to lose your inhibitions and taste the unknown with an enticing stranger.

Maîtresse
Copyright June 2006