eXtasy Writers Tarot Series Reviews

Page Nine

Added January 3, 2004

FIVE OF PENTACLES - Little Janet's Bad Day

Author: Alex J. Alex
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Available At: www.extasybooks.com
Publishing Date: September 2004
Genre: Fiction: Erotic/Suspense
Format: Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: $1.99
Reviewer: Cyndi Witkus
Rating: 7 Gargoyles

The five of Pentacles is a tough card. It indicates hard times, suffering and ill health, and rejection. For Janet, it means it's the start of a bad time, one that with her insecurity can magnify in proportion.

Janet saw a Gypsy, whose reading confirmed that things were going to get worse, as if they weren't bad already. Upset, she goes to her favourite place to eat and gets a sumptuous dessert while reading one of her favourite romance novels. She often wished for a man to sweep her off her feet and have wild sex with her. But that would never happen. Not with the way men and women seemed to avoid her.

While there, the old, hairy, sweaty Mr. Lazarus, the office manager from where she worked, spotted her. Drinks and food lead to him taking her to his hotel room. Giving into the desperation of the moment, Janet allows him to kiss and touch her. After another glass of liquor, things go farther. For Janet, as long as she doesn't see or smell Mr. Lazarus, she can imagine him being Lars, the guy from the book she's reading. Being a virgin, she's never experienced the things he's doing to her. In the end, the experience is miserable and she is taken home. The next day things aren't much better. In fact, she loses her job and gets carjacked.

What happens to Janet's bad day? Does she ever step up or does she allow things to take her over, thus continuing to be a doormat?

This was an intriguing and slightly disturbing story. Disturbing because I can see this happening for many people who are on the edge or have fallen into the pits of despair. It's a reminder that bad things happen, sometimes all at once and it's how we react to it that determines how we survive. Though not a romance, this story does touch deeply onto the meaning of the Tarot and its effects upon us all. Alex J. Alex has given us much to consider when we're on our last nerve and bad things pile up higher and higher. The question remains: how will you react when you reach your breaking point?

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Added January 3, 2005

TEN OF WANDS - Sexual Interlude

Author: Felicia Cummings
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Available At: www.extasybooks.com
Publishing Date: October 2004
Genre: Romance: Contemporary
Format: Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: $1.99
Reviewer: Cyndi Witkus
Rating: 6 Gargoyles

When you've taken on too much, even the weight of the world is on your shoulders, you know you've been touched by the Ten of Wands. For some people, it's a matter of taking the blame, feeling a need to fix what was done and more. Such is the case for Eric Weber.

Standing before the dual graves, Eric mourns the loss of his wife and daughter. When his brother attempts to help him, Eric explains he's going to do right and fix an error sixteen years in the making.

A knock at the door changes life for Lucy and Allison. Lucy sees Eric and drags him away from their daughter. Things are no longer what they were, for Lucy and Winston are now divorced and he's remarried to a rival of Lucy's. Because he won't wait, he takes it to tell the "other" woman the truth of sixteen years ago. How will things turn out? Will it get better? Will there be resolution for both Eric, Lucy, and Allison? Or will there be more pain and suffering?

This is a fascinating story, one that should've been longer in order to give the depth to the resolution. I was disappointed on how rushed the ending occurred and thought it was too swift of a change, but otherwise, this story has real depth, compassion, and it truly makes you wonder about the validity of past choices, current dilemmas, and the burden of carrying them all for many years. Felicia has brought a tale that had it been longer and the resolution less abrupt, that would definitely be one to give to anyone whom has carried burdens for years on end.

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