Review Tuesday: Prescription for Love - #ReviewTuesday #EroticRomance #Mexico

Prescription for Love by Fiona McGier

Smashwords & Amazon KDP, 2010

Dr. Enrique Reyes grew up in Chicago, but he has set up his practice in his grandfather’s small town in Mexico. Though he’s a long way from the rest of his extended family, he feels a strong connection to the home of his ancestors. The townspeople like and respect him, and he’d generally happy. The only thing missing in his life is a woman to love – someone who both fires his passion and inspires his respect.

Research biologist Tanora Doyle has come to Mexico for her field work, searching the jungle for medicinal plants. Stubborn, ambitious and bossy, Nora’s not the sort of woman to be wowed by a man, even someone as attractive and well-spoken as Enrique. Indeed, since she was raped at gun-point while out jogging, she has pretty much given up on men and sex. Still, when she shows up in Enrique’s office with a broken wrist, Enrique’s almost certain she’s the special someone he’s been seeking. Now all he has to do is convince Tanora of this fact.

Prescription for Love is a lusty, enjoyable erotic romance with two distinctive and appealing protagonists. Ms. McGier’s love scenes really sizzle. Her characters take their time, enjoying every touch and tease. If you’re looking for hot, mutually satisfying sex, this book (like everything I’ve read by this author) really delivers.

From a plot perspective, I found the novel somewhat less impressive. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, and they have hot sex, as expected in erotic romance. However, the primary conflict, Tanora’s scars from her rape, seems to be resolved much too easily.

Meanwhile, I didn’t find the attempted rape later in the book very plausible. I mean, the scene itself was vivid and well-written, but the notion that the local men with whom she’d already traveled into the jungle would suddenly turn around and become rapists seemed a bit strange. Tanora’s smart, and it seems she would never have trusted creatures as loathsome as the would-be-rapists.

Finally, I found Enrique’s and Tanora’s cavalier attitude toward birth control surprising and distressing. I understand the erotic kick that comes from bearing your soul mate’s child. I believe this is why the author included the pregnancy element in the book. However, it really doesn’t seem that a cautious and methodological person like Tanora would leave contraception to chance – especially since her own mother had serious problems with childbirth. At the same time, the notion that a medical doctor would encourage unplanned pregnancy struck me as slightly horrifying.

None of these issues kept me from enjoying the book. However, I know from experience that Fiona McGier can do better.