eXtasy Writers Tarot Series Reviews

Page Six

Added October 28, 2004

EIGHT OF CUPS - Dreams of Desire

Author: Kassie Burns
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Available At: www.extasybooks.com
Publishing Date: August 2004
Genre: Romance: Fantasy
Format: Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: $1.99
ISBN: 1-55410-185-9
Author Email/Website: members.aol.com/Meredlune/Jeanineberry.html
Reviewer: Cyndi Witkus

The eight of cups is about waking from a dream that no longer satisfies, no matter how much it had at one time.

Calie cas Chabos, queen of Sarmona, was tied and left to face her captor, Barbose lor de Domatan, the ninth king of the dread Isle of Domatus. A female slave prepares her with a special aphrodisiac that causes increased sensations. She had gone from her keep unguarded. Had she really wanted to be captured by Barbose? Was there something inside of her that wanted him to possess her? Part of her admitted the attraction, the lust, the love? she had for him when they tried to negotiate a treaty. But could she give into this man?

As she's about to let him have his way, Calie suddenly awakes from the dream, it shattering before she can capture it and look at it. She's a healer. But she's more than that. She's a dream master, one not trained at the required place, as she has other plans. Her only hope is that she can convince the Lord Tromas to agree to her idea to help those who can't afford healers. But part of her wondered, was the King Barbose a real man, who promised to make her his every night both awake and dreaming?

I won't ruin the story on whether or not King Barbose is real or not, or what Calie does, but know that she faces a decision and must learn victory through submission and through wise choices. Sometimes it's time to wake from the dreams that please but only to find true pleasure and happiness in the realm we live in.

This story is simply amazing in how a woman can deny the truth before her in order to do as she thinks is right, but instead missing how to truly accomplish her goal. Kassie Burns has done an outstanding job in building this world that possesses a depth and richness within such a short time frame. She's taken the Eight of Cups and brought it truly to a fruition that not only makes you consider your own actions, but to see how we might be dreaming a dream that no longer fulfills our needs nor what we're destined to achieve.

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Added October 28, 2004

FIVE OF WANDS - Captive Master

Author: Jackie Rose
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Available At: http://www.extasybooks.com
Publishing Date: August 2004
Genre: Romance: Erotic/Historical
Format: Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: 1.99
Reviewer: Cyndi Witkus

The Five of Wands shows five people of differing aspects fighting against each other. It shows not just a fight, but also a hope of conquering the differences. They fight actually for the same idea, but from differing positions and not always easily meshed.

Simon Legree hated the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Beyond the fact that she took the exaggeration he had given to her brother, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, her book had caused the Civil War. Why couldn't she just leave things alone? If he could find a way to get to her, he would cause her havoc and more.

Cassy was Simon's prized slave. An Octoroon, a woman with just enough black in her to cause her to be a slave, but enough lightness to make men wonder. She was a nurse there in the camp that was Simon's prison. No longer was she his concubine, no longer a slave, not like he had made her before his capture. Though, to be honest, she was the least subservient among his slaves. Yet, he was fascinated by her as she seemed to be with him on some level.

This story is told from Simon's point of view, from Cassy bringing in her Union lover, her Liberator, who she claims helped her to break the chains of slavery, to his ex-overseers. When Sambo comes to talk to him about where Simon's being sent to, Simon realizes that it means his death unless he escapes from his current prison. He begs Sambo to help him and says that Cassy must have meant for that to happen since she told him what was to happen. They both wonder on that, think on what the Civil War truly means in matters of honour, friendship, and slavery.

Once free, he decides to take revenge on one of Harriet Beecher Stowe's cronies, the honorable Mrs. Anne Whitfield Morris. Yet, instead of raping her, he offers her what he had done with Cassy. Will she take it? Does she want to be his concubine? His slave?

Jackie Rose has created quite a story here. Taking the background of the Civil War and one of the most notorious villains and giving him a chance to show what could've happened to him had things went in this manner. This "what if" story is done very well and shows just how the common goal of the Five of Wands can be reached by various means and methods if one just thinks on it. This is definitely a great read and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a glimpse on what might've been.

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