Emerald Ecstasy

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Synopsis

Tansy Robertson spent hours adventuring with Charlie McCullough in his ancestral Irish castle as children, and he even gave her her first kiss at sixteen. Many a time, she's fantasized about Charlie and that kiss, but for the past twelve years, they've been separated by an ocean. After finding a cryptic suicide note supposedly written by one of Charlie's ancestors, which refers to a fortune in hidden gems, she returns to Ireland in search of ghosts and treasure. Tansy is surprised to find Charlie, the kilted man of her dreams, leading tours of the castle and the two share a steamy reunion in which all of Tansy's fantasies and then some are fulfilled. They're also able to resume their childhood adventures in the castle, this time with a serious purpose. But when Tansy's time in Ireland is up, will that be the end of their affair or will they be able to find a compromise that keeps them together for a lifetime?

Review

Emerald Ecstasy is a short, steamy, stand-alone, contemporary romance novelette. Tansy and Charlie were childhood friends in Ireland who played in McCullough Castle, which was Charlie's family's ancestral home. They had many adventures, searching for treasure, and Charlie gave Tansy her first kiss there when she was sixteen. Even though they haven't seen each other for twelve years, she's never forgotten that kiss and often fantasizes about the boy who got away. Somewhere along the line, Charlie's relative sold the castle to Tansy's father, who gave her what is purportedly a suicide note from one of Charlie's ancestors who now supposedly haunts the castle. The note contains a cryptic clue to a possible fortune in gems, so now Tansy is back in Ireland once more, searching for ghosts and hidden treasure. She's surprised to find Charlie leading tours for visitors to the castle. The two reconnect in a very steamy way and together they resume their childhood adventures. But each of them has their own lives thousands of miles away from each other and one week together may be all that they'll have to last a lifetime.

It's been ages since I purchased Emerald Ecstasy, but I recall that it was the cover blurb that drew me in. A kilted Irishman in a castle? Yes, please!;-) I'm also a sucker for friends to lovers stories, so that was a selling point as well. In addition, there's a fun touch of the paranormal in the form of a ghost who bears an uncanny resemblance to Charlie. Overall, I enjoyed it, and aside from a few minor editing issues, it was pretty well written. However, I know I would have liked it even better if it had been a bit longer. As is, I barely got a feel for who Tansy and Charlie are as characters, and aside from being told about their childhood together and their first kiss, there's precious little information to understand their connection to one another. This left some distance between them as characters and also between them and me, as the reader. The story is mostly all about the sex with a side helping of a minor mystery involving a ghost who inhabits the castle and the hidden treasure, which wrapped up pretty easily. I know that it's billed as an erotic romance and that's certainly what I got, but compared against other erotic shorts I've read, for some reason, it just didn't quite measure up. It wasn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours, but I simply wanted a little more from it. Unfortunately it appears that this story is no longer available for purchase at this time.

Note: I've categorized this story as an erotic romance because the ratio of sex scenes to page count is high, but other than a little explicit language, these scenes are on par with steamy romances with nothing particularly kinky.

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Lara Dien @ GoodReads

Themes

Friends Before Lovers