Jassy Mackenzie (Random / Struik)
Set in the African bushveld and throbbing with steamy sex scenes, Breathless is a must for your summer holiday reading list – if you love a good saucy love story.
Although known for her thrillers, local writer Jassy Mackenzie has segued sassily into the world of sex and romance, with Breathless following hot on the heels of Folly and Switch.
Romance novels have been around for a long time, but graphic sex in romance is a relatively new trend.
In an illuminating internet article by Sylvia Day titled “What is erotic romance?”, I discovered that “soft porn”, “porn”, “erotica”, “erotic romance” “sexy romance” and standard “romance” are all distinctly different genres. For instance, there’s no romance in “erotica”. In “erotic romance”, sex is an inherent part of the story and cannot be removed without damaging the storyline.
“Sexy romance” is “romance” with hotter sex. “Happily ever after” is a requirement in both of these.
Unscrupulous publishers use these labels interchangeably to bump up sales, the article warns. So you could hope to read “erotic romance”, and find yourself with mere “sexy romance”. A scary thought indeed.
At this point I gave up trying to analyse where Breathless would fit into this complex spectrum, and plunged into the story.
Erin, a beautiful young American woman, newly married to a jealous, abusive husband, finds herself stranded with the gorgeous, wealthy Nicholas de Lanoy, owner of a luxury game lodge. She is on her way to Kruger Park with Vince the horrible husband, when her car is swept off a bridge by a torrential flood.
She and Vince happen to be travelling in separate vehicles after a violent row. True to form, the heartless husband doesn’t even stop to check if she survived. Fortuitously, Nicholas is around to rescue her.
Until the bridge is repaired, she’s stuck as a guest at his game farm.
She tries desperately to resist falling for her enigmatic host, while at the same time trying to hide her situation from her dangerously possessive husband.
The hero and heroine fall hopelessly, passionately, breathlessly in love, in the balmy heat of the bushveld under starry African skies. Like any romantic hero, Nicholas has a dark secret.
I was able to immerse myself in this enjoyably sensual escapist read on a leisurely trip in and around the Kruger Park area.
How serendipitous, I mused, as I floated effortlessly through the story.