Colère (Nouvelle espèce, n°6) de Laurann Dohner

Fraîchement sorti d’une séquence de Lora Leigh et du R.Lee Smith sérieusement sombre et tordu, j’ai réalisé que cela faisait longtemps que je n’avais pas pu vraiment laisser aller mon cerveau avec un livre. J’avais besoin d’un tarif plus léger qui serait plus facile sur mon psychisme. Heureusement pour moi, Wrath venait de sortir, et je l’ai rapidement téléchargé sur mon Kindle. Et je dois dire qu’il a livré, de toutes les manières auxquelles je m’attendais :

*Mauvais dialogues, conversations maladroitement écrites, comme ce petit bijou :
« J’aime le nom Shadow. J’aime rester immobile et wat

Fraîchement sorti d’une séquence de Lora Leigh et du R.Lee Smith sérieusement sombre et tordu, j’ai réalisé que cela faisait longtemps que je n’avais pas pu vraiment laisser aller mon cerveau avec un livre. J’avais besoin d’un tarif plus léger qui serait plus facile sur mon psychisme. Heureusement pour moi, Wrath venait de sortir, et je l’ai rapidement téléchargé sur mon Kindle. Et je dois dire qu’il a livré, de toutes les manières auxquelles je m’attendais :

*Mauvais dialogues, conversations maladroitement écrites, comme ce petit bijou :
« J’aime le nom Shadow. J’aime rester immobile et regarder les autres. »
et
« Tu seras mon compagnon et fais ce que je te demande en m’amenant à Bill. Tu ne lui appartiens plus et porteras mon odeur.
* Un héros alpha bourru et possessif avec des problèmes
* Une héroïne bienveillante et ennuyeuse de « femme de carrière de tous les jours »
* Le meilleur ami sympathique du héros qui obtiendra sûrement son propre livre
(voir spoiler)[*Attempted rape used as a plot device…twice, in fact.
*The exact same plotline as in every single New Species story: Heroine is thrown together with Hero, vanilla sex happens, they face his dark personality/emotional issues together. Heroine is kidnapped by Mercile, then rescued by Hero. HEA!

In this case, our heroine is Lauren Henderson, a plucky and plump little real estate agent unknowingly working for some ex-Mercile thugs. A typically shallow girl’s lunch between Lauren her BFF Amanda reveals to us some very compelling information that is pertinent to the story: that both women are blonde, Lauren is short, has big boobs, is blue-eyed, and 30 lbs overweight; and Amanda is not short, doesn’t have blue eyes or big boobs, and is 60 lbs overweight. And both women have histories of heartbreak in the romance department.

Of our hero? Well he’s introduced as « 919 », a male we met in Brawn, who in a fit of madness, attacked Becca who then was defended by Brawn. Apparentally 919 is a bit calmer these days, and in a name choosing ceremony-of-sorts, he chooses the name Wrath. In the labs, Wrath was force-masturbated by a machine while watching pornographic images of human women. Consequently, he supposedly has lots of rage toward human women and is afraid to engage in sex, believing he couldn’t keep control. All of that changes of course, when he meets Lauren. She tempts him the way no other woman has, not that he’s had a lot of opportunity to meet other women. After kidnapping her and then saving her from not one, but TWO attempted rapes by the same guy, a fellow new species named Vengeance, the two can’t resist the supposed heat that we’re informed exists between them. And inspite of having her clothes torn off twice in one evening, and being sexually assaulted to an extent, Lauren can’t help but feel horny. I mean, who could blame her right? Just look at that book cover! And her reasoning? A girl like herself could never do better than a guy that looks like Wrath. Wrath’s sexual issues ended up being so overblown. The erotic scenes were a let-down, and certain canine « swelling » aspects of his anatomy were a little too reminiscent of other series I’ve read. There was no real loss of control, no rage, no pain during sex. It was so boring I skimmed.

We’re given an obligatory scene where Amanda meets Wrath and drools over him, and blatantly comes on to him sexually, at Lauren’s work no less. This scene was so unbelievable I almost stopped reading the book right then. Amanda came across as a desperate and pathetic slut. If Dohner was trying to establish her as a sexually bold modern woman, she could have done so in a much less cheesey and awkward way, and had Amanda maintain some of her dignity. After helping Lauren save Wrath from the ex-Mercile guys, she then meets Flame, and it’s heavily foreshadowed that they will be a couple.

Through the kidnapping, we meet new New Species, including 140, a feline New Species whose mate was being held hostage until the big rescue at the end. His mate interestingly enough, is supposed to be a primate type, which I found a little odd. It seems that Laurann Dohner is breaking with tradition in having interspecies matings. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense though. And I wonder if they would reproduce? 140 keeps Lauren warm while they are locked up together, which predictably leads to Wrath freaking out over Lauren having another male’s scent on her. He scubs the crap out of her body head to toe and immediately scent marks her, since she’s pretty much his property, and isn’t allowed to even touch other men. It’s super romantic and loving. And conveniently enough, Lauren has no real life, since her job no longer exists and her family lives across the country. She has no hobbies or outside interests, and only one friend, so she has no problem giving up everything to be Wrath’s woman. They get married at the end. Yay! (hide spoiler)]