Judith‘s review of The Dark Side of Dreaming by Ann Bruce.

When she finds herself bound to a stranger’s bed, former cat burglar Cleo Moran knows she should have stayed in retirement. However, the thought of ending the cursed dreams that plague her sleeping hours was simply too enticing to resist. She also feels a strong sensual pull to her captor–but knows better than to act on it.

At first, Sasha Michaels wants only his captive’s professional expertise and contacts to track down the man who attacked his sister. Then Cleo wakes up and with words and action, stirs something much more primitive within him. Neither understanding nor willing to accept her resistance, Sasha attempts to bind Cleo to him with sexual ties.

Their tentative relationship, however, is jeopardized by secrets on both sides–and a common enemy who is escalating in violence.

This is a story that is wrapped in ancient mystery, a family curse, long-forgotten relics of an ancient civilization and an affair of the heart that was 25,000 years old. It embraces hot loving and betrayal, hunger and lust, fantasy and reality. Cleo and Sasha come together in a clash of hidden agendas and raw need. What could be anymore riveting in a love story?

Cleo knows she is a burglary has-been–she has been retired for five years and seems to have lost her touch–at least that is what she believes when she finds that Sasha Michaels, owner of the home she has burglarized, has caught her and tied her–fully clothed–to his bed. All this in order to find a 12-inch statue that, along with its corresponding mate, had been removed from an ancient South American ruin several decades earlier. Cleo has tried to buy it from Sasha. He refuses to sell, so she is attempting to steal it. She wants to return it to the ruin in order to lift what she believes is a curse on her family, one that has been plaguing them with dreams and nightmares for decades. Sasha really could care less about the statue–he wants to find the man that has attacked Elena, his sister, who is an antiquities expert and who holds the statue Cleo wants. The attacker believes himself to be the re-incarnation of an ancient Shaman. This story gets stranger and stranger.

Now Cleo has been attacked and Sasha’s driver Eric has reported the attack to Sasha. When he finds Cleo bruised and bleeding, he acts on his attraction to her–gently and as a way of comforting her. She responds and their affair begins.

Ms Bruce has written a complicated story that involves the reader in the contemporary and the ancient, in hate and love, in lust and the greed for power. There are not a host of characters here; the cast is small. But each plays an important part in the unfolding of this tale, and it is not until the very end that all the curious strands of this story come together sufficiently to make sense out of what has been mysterious and puzzling.

This story is well written. The author displays obvious ability in crafting a story that keeps the reader’s interest and draws each one into the web of the story–because that’s exactly what it is–an erotic web of sex, intrigue, hidden agendas, family loyalty, and an ancient curse. It took me a few pages to sort some of this story out. I think the author intended it to be that way. By doing so I think the world of shadows and darkness was displayed and the reader felt like (s)he was wandering in a literary maze. The way is finally made clear, but not before the true depth of evil is explored.

This is not an excessively long work, but it has sufficient length to tell a complicated story without belaboring scenes and dialogue. The encounters between Cleo and Sasha are very erotic and their relationship has to go through a few ups and downs as they try to work through this difficult situation. So much the better for the reader, eh? Fantasy romance fans will find this an interesting book, IMHO, as will fans of erotic works. I think it was a very good read. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.