Publication Date: May 22, 2014
Olivia is a woman who was traumatized by a former lover. Phthonos enters her dreams and makes all her sexual fantasies come true, but when the reality comes knocking at her door fully aware of the shared dream history, what’s a girl to do? Phthonos, son of Aphrodite, has also been running from his own destructive past. Is Thon the god of envy or the demon of envy? With Thon’s jealousy ruin what might have been?
The author, Jennifer Lynn, gave me a copy of this novella in exchange for my review.
Can sex, love and affection save a person from who they are in the moment and perhaps who they were meant to be at the very core of existence? This is the question posed by [easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link], the fifth episode in the Gods of Love Series. Liv is a fluffy girl who was traumatized by her former boyfriend and generally insecure about her attractiveness level. She hasn’t had sex in a long time and Thon is the Chippendales toned, penile enhanced god that has eyes only for her. In this novella we don’t get the story of how Thon specifically came to be in Liv’s dreams, but he’s there when we meet her warning her, it seems, of his destructive side. When he hangs on her doorbell, we don’t really have a sense specifically of why he showed up. What we do know is that these are two people who seem to need each other like peanut butter needs jelly and are as useless apart as a condom without a sexual organ. This, my friends, is erotica.
I am going to give Lynne credit for not using any of the time-worn clichés in the sexual novel pantheon. This is an author giving the reader straightforward sex that is hot, raw and pretty well written. I’m no erotica expert, but the encounters had an urgency that these sort of written scenes sometimes lack. These are characters we believe want each other and they want each other badly. When Thon’s insertion in Liv’s life extends outside of the bedroom, she’s not sure she really wants him there and that’s where Lynne gives readers an extra level of conflict that given the characters presented makes sense in their story line.
We don’t have as strong a sense of the character that is Thon as we do Liv. Perhaps his character was better outlined in a previous book. What is presented works in the scope of this 55-page novella. Also, her life span will be a moment to his eternal existence. This is not something discussed in [easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link] and I can only suspect was outlined in previous episodes. He and Liv are together not just to heal her, but also to heal him. Although the fifth book in the series, [easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link] can easily stand alone.
While I thought Jennifer Lynne’s [easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link] was a good story, something wore at my consciousness while reading Liv and Thon’s interactions. A few years ago, I became really interested in why women fall in love with men in prison and read everything I could get my hands on regarding the subject. In reading [easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link] I found the relationship as it developed between Liv and Thon to mirror those case studies I’d read. Thon may have anger issues, he may be unpredictable and he may struggle with destructive behavior, but Liv knows she can save him and she also knows that she is the one person he could never hurt. Love can save him. Sex can save him. His obsession with Liv can save him. He only has eyes for Liv and when he’s angry she feels that his reactions are her fault because she should have framed their interaction differently, perhaps not left his side. When you’re talking god of envy, when does it come up the next time and will that next time destroy her? Will she no longer be as special as she is in the moment in not only Thon’s eyes but her own? Now, Liv is fictional so this is not something we really need to be concerning ourselves with, but from a psychological case study approach, it’s an interesting look into someone who maybe isn’t thinking ahead.
[easyazon-link asin=”B00KICJYHU” locale=”us”]Demon of Envy (Gods of Love Book 5)[/easyazon-link] is straight up self-indulgent girl porn. If you like erotica, you’ll like this novella. Pick it up today.
Jennifer Lynne is an author of erotica based in Melbourne, Australia. To see her list of published work, click here.
For more information about Jennifer Lynne and her work, visit her website. You can connect with her on Goodreads and Twitter @JenniLynneAuthor.