When I received a copy of Polly Frost’s book, Deep Inside, in the mail, there was no note attached. The name and address on the package were unfamiliar to me. So I assumed that I had been randomly sent a book for review by the author or publisher to get the word out, so I was about to place it on the ‘perhaps when I get time’ pile. However, when I saw that the book was a collection of erotic short stories, I then thought ‘Hmm, this might be fun! I’ll take a look-see later this evening.’ By this you might gather that I was intrigued by the idea of a collection of erotic stories. I’ve read many of them online, some are good, some are ok, some are bad but quite a few are really good and I’ve since become a fan of Violet Blue who is now a regular at the San Francisco Chronicle. So I was intrigued enough to place it next in the rotation and open it up that very evening.

The first story was ok. It was a little hokey, a little judgmental, and a little silly – but basically not too bad. It didn’t rock my world but it didn’t bore me either.

The second story was a complete let down. I was so annoyed by the poor wording, vulgarity and bad grammar that I didn’t get past the first several paragraphs.

I then moved on to story number three, hoping that the last one was an anomaly. Nope. Story number three was just as annoying as the second. I thus moved my way through the book, trying to get past the first few paragraphs of each consecutive story. I never succeeded; I reached the end of the book without finishing another story. As I put the book down, I was trying to decide if finding these stories to be vulgar rather than erotic was a failing in me. Was I a prude? I had never thought so. But I thought about it some more, just to be sure – nobody wants to be considered a prude. What was it that was making these stories about as erotic as stepping in dog doo first thing in the morning? After glancing again at some of the tales, I realized that there were several common factors in each (at least in the first few paragraphs in each), and that they reminded me of the glut of reality shows on TV, which made them just tasteless and uninteresting.

What they had in common was this; they were poorly written, with grammar errors and clumsy wording that did not flow as it should, they too quickly attempted to shock the reader with overdone situations, and they used too many words in places the author should have been sparking the reader’s imagination, not leading them by the nose. In this last characteristic, it is quite possible that my opinion differs from that of mainstream eroticism readers. Perhaps with the proliferation of pornography on TV and the internet, the bulk of the audience for a book such as this have become inured to subtlety and need a push start rather than just a turn of a key to bring their imagination engines to life. Even if that is the case, I would still have to say that the stories that make up this collection need to be passed under the eye of at least one editor who isn’t afraid to rework a manuscript until it resembles something that they are proud of. I was terribly disappointed in this book and it actively annoyed me because it looked good on the outside and made me feel as if it had promise. Thus being deceived, I give it a 0 rating.

Sorceress is a familiar combination of romance, prophecy and quest in a medieval setting. Our heroine Bryanna is guided by a dead woman in her quest to fulfill a prophecy and save a child she has never met.

Bryanna must travel the farthest corners of Wales in search of these stones. She is joined along the way by Gavin, a childhood friend who is now a fugitive wanted for theft and murder. She is also followed by a dark and threatening presence.




I found Sorceress to be formulaic and melodramatic. I also found it to be an entertaining tale. The author is adept at setting a scene and creating a sense of place without meandering off into long descriptive passages. Although the quest takes nearly a year, the book’s pacing and the mystery of each stone’s location kept me turning the pages.


The characters are distinctive if archetypal. Bryanna is not just a pretty redhead, she is a flame-haired, emerald-eyed beauty. She is smart, but would rather ride horses than embroider cloths. Gavin is not just a handsome man, but a dark-haired, muscular rogue. He is a bastard (by birth not disposition) who had a damn good reason for killing a man and stealing a horse.


There are sexually explicit scenes, but they didn’t seem unnecessarily drawn out and didn’t dominate the story-telling. (The following is one of the tamer scenes.)




As my rating indicates, I found Sorceress by Lisa Jackson a solid read with the few minor criticisms already mentioned. If the passage I just quoted makes you wince, roll your eyes, or similarly express displeasure, you may rate this book considerably lower. On the other hand, if you read that passage and want to know where it leads (in addition, of course, in wanting to know where the stones are hidden), you will probably find Sorceress an entertaining read.


{The edition I read was an uncorrected proof. Also, I did not know at the time I read it that Sorceress is the final book in a trilogy (after Impostress and Temptress), but it stands well enough on its own.}