Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews

Enthralled by Laura Baumbach
Enthralled 2: Breathing by Laura Baumbach
Changeling Press
Contemporary, Paranormal
Short Story, M/M, BDSM
Review by Lotus

Colin Dobson has everything he ever imagined -- excitement, travel, and night after night of possessive passion with his new lover, Rowland Campbell. Safe in the arms of his vampire lover, for the first time in his life the sheltered young hemophiliac has nothing to fear.

There’s only one thing marring their perfect relationship. Colin is finding it increasingly difficult to sleep with a corpse -- until an unexpected trip to a mystical tattoo parlor and a run-in with an old nemesis puts things into perspective.

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The first Enthralled had a fairly predictable plot: vampire meets boy, vampire and boy have hot, sweaty man-sex, and vampire and boy fall in love. There’s nothing wrong with that story, but we’ve all read it before. And yet, there’s devilment in the details. When Laura Baumbach writes this plot it involves a vampire crashing into a suicidal hemophiliac who tries to trick him into granting him death, the vampire is actually pretty damned evil, and secretly half-believes that death-wish boy might be his route to salvation. Really, when’s the last time you’ve read that story? The standard tropes of paranormal erotic romance merely seem to provide a framework for a haunting dance between two badly damaged souls. I still find myself thinking about it, for all its simplicity.

So, I was looking forward to reading the sequel. Breathing focuses on Rowland and Colin’s relationship, and what both of them will have to face to be together. As readers, we never get to see any stagnation or agitation in their daily routine, but through Colin we experience the distress and worry that comes from wondering if a commitment is a mistake. The story takes place over one danger-filled night, which brings all of Colin’s doubts and fears to a crisis point. It really is a simple story, but it is also a meditation on the pleasures and problems of being owned, without the intrusion of morality or politics. This is really refreshing, but Baumbach seems to think that her readers will not understand subtext or visual cues, and so she constantly breaks the “show, don’t tell” rule of writing. Possessive is a favorite word, and is overused to the point of annoyance. It should be obvious to all readers from Rowland’s behavior that he believes Colin belongs to him, and that Colin loves that he belongs to Rowland. There is really no need to constantly remind the reader of this by spelling it out. The recurring symbol of breathing and lack of breath is also dealt with in a slightly heavy-handed way, which is a shame because it really is a beautiful theme and ties the story together. And while Baumbach’s descriptions of emotion ring true, her descriptions of sex and its choreography show a lack of research or even accurate visualization. Unrealistic anal sex is a pet peeve of mine, and Baumbach is a shameless offender.

In the end, while Breathing is not as good as Enthralled was, it still focuses on some truly beautiful and intriguing themes. Breathing outlines the struggle to trust one’s lover, the owner of one’s soul, and to accept his imperfections. In this respect, the story still holds its poignancy and flavor, and should be read by anyone who fell in love with Colin and Rowland or is a sucker for an unconventional love-affair.