cover image Bedroom Bully

Bedroom Bully

Trista Russell. Pocket Books, $14 (263pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-5392-2

Russell (Dead Broke) walks a fine line between African American romantic suspense and pornography in this melodramatic tale of a misunderstood killer and the clueless woman who becomes his lover. ""I don't think I could ever be raped,"" announces a horny female companion of the heroine, Audra Chandler, after a few drinks in a Miami, Fla., bar one night. ""I enjoy dick entirely too much."" Later, as Audra is about to enter her apartment, Dean Tyson, dubbed ""the Turnpike Cop Killer"" on the TV news, threatens her with a gun. Inside, Dean tells Audra he didn't mean to kill the two cops he shot earlier that day. Besides, he was angry at the time because he was trying to reach his seven-year-old daughter, Destiny LeAnn, who'd been molested by the girl's mother's pederast boyfriend. Torrid sex ensues. Is it a case of the Stockholm syndrome or just pure craziness that causes Audra to fall for Dean? Warning: this slick erotic thriller may offend women who have been victims of sexual assault.