Love Slave – Love Slave was a sweetly sensual erotic romance of forbidden love between a Jewish American young woman and an Arabic young man who was a Kuwaiti sheik. This theme, along with the love-overcomes-all theme, both of which are a prominent part of the story, are among my favorites. Shana and Bear were both very likable characters. Although I can't say I've ever fantasized about being part of a sheik's harem like Shana did, I certainly wouldn't mind if that sheik were Bear (and it was only a harem of one;-)). Making love in his private jet, his limo and his isolated ancient family fortress would be a scrumptious dream. I liked that Bear was completely into fulfilling Shana's fantasy and how the couple were so open and giving toward one another. It made the idea of them falling in love so quickly more believable. I wasn't a bit surprised when Shana got jealous of the other women in the “harem,” even though she said that's what she wanted. In fact, the short menage scene between Bear, Shana and the other two women was the only thing about this novella that wasn't really my cup of tea. I happen to be a jealous reader who wants the hero to belong completely to the heroine. I was quite happy when Bear wasn't responsive to the other women and kicked them out pretty quickly, so he could have his favorite houri all to himself.;-)

Even though the characterizations aren't particularly deep because of the short length, I really came to like Bear and Shana a lot, and would have loved to read a longer story about them. I'm really happy that Forever Enslaved, the second novella in the series, is a continuation of their lives together. Love Slave may require a little suspension of disbelief to accept Bear and Shana falling in love and overcoming their cultural differences so quickly, but there was enough tender emotion between the pair to make me buy it. This story also introduces Shana's brother, Jake, who becomes the hero of book #3, Firestorm. This was my first read by Ann Jacobs and the first in her Black Gold series. I really enjoyed it and look forward to continuing the series. Love Slave can also be purchased as a separate e-book. Rating: ****1/2

Note: This novella contains explicit language and sexual situations which some readers may find offensive including a f/f/m/f menage with brief mention of f/f action and anal play with fingers.

Forever Enslaved – Forever Enslaved continued the story of Bear and Shana that began in the first novella of the Black Gold series, Love Slave. The couple has been married for ten years and things have become rather rocky between them, causing Shana to leave Bear. Romances about married couples are rather rare, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the story, not to mention getting to read more about Bear and Shana was a treat. Having them still madly in love and so hot for each other after a decade and in spite of their differences was wonderful. I absolutely adore Bear. He's willing to play the dominating hero, but all of his actions toward Shana are filled with tenderness and love. I thoroughly enjoyed his willingness to gift Shana with every sexual fantasy she had ever expressed to him in order to prove his love and devotion to her. As with the first novella, I wasn't entirely into the menage scene, but I at least understood the reasons behind it. I was quite happy though that Bear was jealous enough to have trouble going through with it and that Shana had a last-minute epiphany about Bear being the only man she would ever need to satisfy her. The marital issues which made Shana leave Bear aren't explored in a lot of depth, but as the underlying cause is a pretty common problem, I could fully understand her feelings. I was also pleased to see that both of them realized that they were soul mates who simply couldn't live without each other and were willing to compromise to make things work in the future.

As one might expect with an erotic novella, it is primarily about the sex, and it was some of the most scrumptious sex I've ever read. In my opinion, the love scenes were laden with emotion while still being a bit kinky and full of intense passion. I was also thrilled to finally find an erotic author who knows how to write back-door lovin' with patience and gentleness, avoiding the “ouch” factor. There was also lots of variety in the love scenes with each one being completely different than the last which kept the sex from becoming too boring. Overall, this was another sweet, steamy, enjoyable read from Ms. Jacobs. Forever Enslaved is the second story in the Black Gold series. It makes mention of Bear's cousin, Jamil, who has been missing in action for the ten years since the Gulf War ended. He becomes the hero of the fourth story in series, Entrapped, which I'm really looking forward to reading soon. Forever Enslaved can also be purchased as a separate e-book. Rating: ****1/2

Note: This novella contains explicit language and sexual situations which some readers may find offensive including bondage, anal sex, and a brief m/m/f/m menage.

Entrapped – The synopsis for Entrapped had me really looking forward to reading it, but I have to say that this novella wasn't quite what I was expecting. The first half of it made me rather uncomfortable, mainly because of how Jamil and Leila met and began their interactions. Jamil had suffered heinous tortures as a prisoner of war for eleven years including repeated rapes at the hands of the sadistic male jailer and his guards. I can usually handle quite a bit when it comes to abuse, but even though these parts had happened off canvas and weren't described in a particularly graphic way, for some reason, it still had my insides in knots. After all that had happened to Jamil, it just didn't seem very appropriate for Leila to use him rather callously for her own pleasure while he was chained like a dog. I realized this was supposed to be a BDSM fantasy and Jamil seemed to enjoy it, but in my mind, the whole scenario was at best forced seduction; at worst outright rape (the characters even admitted as much to themselves later in the story), which just didn't sit well with me. I also didn't find the prison setting to be a particularly enticing place to begin a romantic relationship.

Once the story got to the prison break, I was much more into it. The escape scenes were exciting and well written, and once they had returned to civilization, Jamil and Leila's interactions were much more tender and to my liking. Ann Jacobs seems to be good at balancing a decent plot with steamy sex scenes, and she also has a knack for writing very appealing heroes who are just the right mix of alpha male with a more sensitive side. I loved Jamil's protectiveness of Leila while also being very gentle and reassuring about her scars. Once the couple was away from the prison, Leila's vulnerabilities over her scars became more prominent too, and that along with her kindness in releasing Jamil, made her a more sympathetic heroine to me. Even with the added emotional development during the latter half of the novella, I still had a hard time swallowing Jamil and Leila falling in love, but I think it was mainly my personal issues with the way things started between them. That just wasn't my cup of tea, but if it had been, or if things had begun differently, I could definitely have seen this becoming another keeper in this series for me.

Entrapped is the fourth story in the Black Gold series. It reunites the couples from the first three, with all of them getting some decent page time. Bear and Shana (Love Slave, Forever Enslaved) even got their own love scene, and Jake and Kate (Firestorm) are seen on their honeymoon in Kuwait. I read this novella out of the Sandstorms anthology. I couldn't find good information on the correct reading order for the series and hadn't read Jake's book yet, so I should warn that there are what I believe could be a couple of spoilers for Firestorm when read the way I did it. Entrapped also introduced Brian Shearer, an American POW who was being held in the same prison with Jamil. He becomes the hero of Zayed's Gift which is the fifth story in the series. Even though Entrapped was not a perfect read for me, I still mostly liked it. I'm very much enjoying Ann Jacobs writing style and look forward to going back and reading Jake's story, as well as continuing forward with the rest of the series soon. Entrapped can be purchased as a separate e-book, and according to the publisher, Ellora's Cave, it was also previously released in a anthology titled, Captured. Rating: ****

Note: This novella contains explicit language and sexual situations which some readers may find offensive including forced seduction, heavier BDSM-style bondage with chains, light bondage, anal play with fingers, intimate shaving, and intimate piercings. There are also mentions of various tortures being inflicted upon prisoners including brutal beatings, amputations, castrations (and the constant threat of it), rape and the use of a BDSM device on male genitalia to elicit pain. Definitely not for the faint of heart. ( )