Also by this author: Love and Lust in the Tropics
Series: Timeless Love #1
Also in this series: Love and Lust in the Tropics
Published by Independently Published on February 14, 2015
Genres: Erotic Romance
Format: eARC
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Time has separated Donovan and Leigh, but they’ve rediscovered the love they had in college. Donovan is everything Leigh has ever wanted in a man, but the past she’s hidden for years may pull them apart. During a winter getaway on an exotic Caribbean island, they discover that their love may be part of an ancient mystery deeper and more powerful than they could have imagined. Will these ancient secrets prove too intense for their love, driving them apart, or will they be swept along the ancient and secret path, into a world of enduring passion and timeless love?
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In Love and Lust in the Tropics, author Derrick West begins the story of two star crossed lovers, Donovan and Leigh, who first meet during their college years but are separated by time and circumstances. Neither can give a reason for why they drifted apart; wrong time, wrong place or, as in so many cases, the stars were just not aligned for them to be together. In a somewhat predictable fashion, they come full circle and rekindle their love after years of living their lives and at a time when it is right for them to make the connection that seems to be predestined. What is unpredictable is their rediscovered love seems to span time and space in an almost magical sense. Were these lovers meant to be together from the beginning of time? Have they been together before in other lifetimes? An intriguing prologue immediately draws readers into a love story with subtle paranormal elements. Just an observation from me, but the title doesn’t really do justice to the mystical quality of this book. It should be one that will alert readers up front that this is more than another steamy poolside read. When Donovan and Leigh choose the Caribbean for a winter getaway neither they nor the reader knows what awaits them.
They believe that chance alone has brought them to a tropical paradise for a week of fun and relaxation, though the truth is much more complex. Their arrival on the island has been a point on the pathways of their lives far longer than they can guess, an important piece in a story that spans many generations.
This book is well written and even though it is presented as a novella, I would like to have seen more plot and character development. We are given a lot of information about the characters Donovan and Leigh but at times it almost seems to be in bullet form and lacks the details needed to flesh out these complex characters. The book definitely lives up to its billing as erotic romance. The love scenes are very steamy and plentiful; however, it seemed at times details that might have advanced the story line are sacrificed for erotic encounters. This book is a quick read and certainly worth your time. There is a fascinating description of the early history of the Bahamas that those who’ve visited the islands will find interesting. I think tantalizing is a good word to describe Love and Lust in the Tropics. There are stories that need to be told and characters who are just waiting to tell them. Since it is the first book in a series, I’m hoping the author will use future books to fully develop a story line that has great potential.
Donovan wakes slowly to the melody of tree frogs in the forest around them. Opening his eyes, he smiles at the site of Leigh sleeping soundly beside him, her arms resting above her head, her soft blonde hair flowing across the pillow beneath her arms. His eyes travel down the length of her naked body lying on the sheets. Her breasts are shaped more perfectly than those of any Greek goddess carved in marble, and the site of them bumps his heart rate slightly.
Something about Leigh’s body weaves a spell in Donovan. It’s beyond beauty really, though Leigh is certainly beautiful. It’s a magical trance that begins as a seed in the love he has for her, germinates in the desire he feels for her, is nurtured by the desire he feels from her toward him, and blooms in the passion they share with one another. There are any number of beautiful female bodies in the world, but only one that’s the perfect match for him.
His eyes drink in her beauty. Moonlight pours through the slatted shades, laying ribbons of soft light across her velvet skin. Her strong legs are shaped by the strenuous exercise she submits to daily, committed to growing stronger with each passing year.
Leigh wakes to Donovan’s gentle lips on hers, moving across her cheeks and neck. As she wakes, he pulls her into his arms, wrapping her tightly in contentment. She rises as he lets go of her, standing beside the bed, looking out through the windows onto the moonlit ocean. The soft moonlight paints her skin in warmth, pulling Donovan once again into her spell of beauty. He’s struck once again by how sublime her body looks to him. The soft color, the sensuous curves, breasts shaped perfectly for him, her strong legs and flat stomach. The image is so enticing to him that he burns it into his mind, a picture of this exact moment, to hold in his memory forever.
And there, in his memory, he’s shocked to find the image already exists. The exact image. Not a déjà vu moment, but something more than that. This moment doesn’t remind him of something that’s happened in the past, this IS a moment that’s happened in the past. A bookmark, left here in this place and time for him to discover.
The beauty of the current moment, wrapped inside his certainty that this exact moment has happened before, fills him with excitement and euphoria. While he’s not sure what he just discovered, he’s sure there’s something here that’s important. He stands slowly, and finds a look of wonder on Leigh’s face as well.
“What just happened?” Donovan asks.
“I’m not sure. So you felt that too?”
“Absolutely! Really and truly we’ve lived this exact moment before, haven’t we? That felt like some little toe we just stuck into a different world, didn’t it?”
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