The Miner's Wife
The Wives Tales 1

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The Wives Tales

45 Ratings

Avg - 4.6

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Professional Reviews

"With intriguing plots, sassy heroines, scrumptious heroes, and scorch-your-fingertips sex, Lara Santiago's Wives Tales books should be on every reader's must-have list." -Leslie Kelly, Award Winning Author

5 Stars:  WINNER:  Ecataromance 2006 Reviewers' Choice Award. "The Miner's Wife is a story that will capture your attention and keep it. With an intriguing plot, engaging characters and explosive sex, this story has it all. Hannah's background is almost unbelievable. The quick and powerful rise of the new Tiberius Group has surprised everyone, especially the women. Their antiquated views of women and their place in society are in direct opposition to what she's worked so hard for all of her life. When she meets Brutal, she expects him to treat her in the same manner that her father and her previous husband did. But he eventually surprises her, showing her gentleness, caring and support throughout the story which she hadn't received from the men who were supposed to care for her. Brutal is a bio-genetically engineered man, who must have sex in order to recharge his batteries. I loved this! Brutal is definitely all man, strong, sexy and a hard worker. Not only does he need sex, he gets a better charge from his partner's satisfaction, and boy, does he satisfy! Hannah and Brutal are highly combustible, enjoying their sexual escapades and explorations. But what I really liked about Brutal was his caring attitude toward Hannah. He allows her the opportunity to work and show her intelligence and believed in her when no one else would. The pace of this story is just right, telling about their backgrounds then quickly moving to their relationship. With a little danger from Brutal's nemesis and a surprise from Hannah's past, you won't find one minute of boredom is this story. Add this one to your must read list and keep on the lookout for the other Wives Tales!" -Trang, Ecataromance

5 Angels: "Lara Santiago has created a wonderful story mixed with futuristic elements, uncertainty of ones emotions, and a splash of danger from an evil miner. Hannah is a feisty, charismatic woman that is passionate and has a personality that readers will love. Brutal, although he can be very deadly, offers readers a possessive and protective man that is honorable regardless of the arrangement between Hannah and him. The chemistry between Brutal and Hannah is explosive, mind-blowing, and quite tantalizing to say the least. As the plot intensifies, readers will be pleased with a couple of surprises along the way. These surprises will only make the readers love Brutal more and cheer for Hannah to have what she wants. The Miner's Wife is a wonderful story about finding love when and where you aren't looking for it!" -Jessica, Fallen Angel Reviews

5 Hot Tattoos: "The Miner's Wife by Lara Santiago is a great book. I love the premise and plot. I could not put the book down. There is action, suspense, and romance all combined to make a reader's heart race. The well developed characters grow as the story progresses. Brutal looks like a gruff rough miner but he has a heart of gold. His tenderness and understanding towards Hannah started my heart to fluttering. Hannah is a modern independent woman forced under the new world order's thumb. The determination and strength she possesses helps her succeed in her changing world. The racy love scenes between Hannah and Brutal leave little to the imagination. An instant attraction bonds these two lovers and propels them into a sensual world of desire and passion. I would gladly live on another planet for a man like Brutal. Ms. Santiago has created a vivid futuristic story for the romantic. I can not wait for her next work." -Ophelia, Erotic-Escapades

4.5 Hearts: The Romance Studio 2006 CAPA Nominee. "This book is a never-ending adventure, and readers will find themselves wrapped up in the drama that Brutal and Hannah create. Brutal lives up to his name with a dark and sensual air that readers will love. Hannah is a free spirit who finds that maybe all men aren't alike. The love scenes are so hot, the pages almost burn with the heat. This is the first book I have read by Lara Santiago and Siren Publishing. I can certainly say that I will be on the lookout for more of this author's work in the future." -Angel, The Romance Studio

4.5 Blue Ribbons: "The Miner's Wife will take you into a future where women are reduced to mere possessions in a male society. Hannah's plight will have you empathizing with her even as you realize how much Brutal truly needs her, and not just for his sexual desires either. They're both wonderful characters who are wronged by the very people who should have cared for them. This story is powerfully moving and truly a delight to read.  I can't wait to read the other two books in The Wives Tales series." -Chrissy Dionne, Romance Junkies

4.5 Kisses: "Lara Santiago has a refreshing and delightful writing style. Not only is The Miner's Wife a very creative story but her characters are mature and well developed. I really appreciated that while Hannah did not embrace what happened to her, she didn't place blame on Brutal, which allowed them to have a sweet, fun, and healthy relationship. The humor is perfectly timed, as is the action and adventure. Not only are the love scenes hot but they are also sweet and full of emotion. I highly recommend The Miner's Wife and look forward to reading the other books in The Wives Tales series!"  -Kerin, Two Lips Reviews

4.5 Stars: "The Miner's Wife is a science fiction story about a future controlled by a corporation and the archaic laws that they enforce concerning women. It is a novel idea for a story even though I think I would probably be one of the first women to form a rebellion against the nitwits. There was considerable thought up into the universe that Ms. Santiago has come up with. There is a plausible explanation for the new laws and how they affect the female population. Ms. Santiago's characters are believable and very likable or despicable depending on the character. The love scenes for the most part are very, very hot. Brutal turns out to be a very gentle and caring lover when Hannah allows him to be. I am interested in reading the rest of the series to see if the women really do take to these new laws [or] if they rise up and stomp some bureaucrat's ass." -Oleta M. Blaylock, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

4.5 Unicorns: "Taking us into a world where women are no more than property and sexual tension relievers, this author pens an interesting story of a couple brought together under less than ideal circumstances. Hannah [is] a woman after my own heart even if she no longer has rights in her country, because she still shows spunk when she's not fainting. Her miner isn't half bad either because from the onset, he is willing to protect the woman he initially sees as an energy source and outlet for his needs. After making the best of their situation, these two become ideal partners in and out of the bed. With its action, passion and touching moments, readers will enjoy this [first book in] The Wives Tales Trilogy." -Rachelle, Enchanted in Romance

4 Kisses: "The Miner's Wife is Ms. Santiago's first foray into the scary world of the Tiberius Group and a glimpse into the future of `what if'? What if extremism rules the day? What if American women were to suddenly find themselves not even second-class citizens, but little more than chattel? Though her treatment of the love story between Hannah and Brutal was sweet and grew in the appropriate places, it was my interest in the world she creates that really made the story and kept my interest. In future installments, I hope to see characters actively involved in overthrowing the tyranny they find themselves living under. A very enjoyable read!" -Loribelle Hunt, Romance Divas

"I fell in love with Brutal Blackthorn in The Miner's Wife. He was a big ole sweet man who tried to be tough, but once he fell in love with Hannah, she was his whole world and I liked that. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside that a hero as tough as Brutal would become putty in Hannah's hands. As for Hannah, for having gone through what she did, she was an extremely strong, intelligent woman. She was in control of Brutal without him even knowing it, and I loved that! The Miner's Wife is the first book I have read written by Lara Santiago and it will not be the last. The storyline kept me spellbound and the romantic interludes of the characters were extremely erotic. In fact, I couldn't put this book down until I read the last word. Lucky for me, there are two more books in Ms. Santiago's Wives Tales Series, The Executive's Wife and The Lawman's Wife, that I look forward to reading! If you are a fan of futuristic books, or even if you aren't, The Miner's Wife is just a good, all-around read that is totally satisfying!" -Talia Ricci, Joyfully Reviewed

Excerpt

STORY EXCERPT

“Now then, let’s work on her body today,” Paul said, a ring of authority in his voice. “Some of your lines are hesitant, especially here and here,” he added, reaching past her to point at the nude’s breasts and sex. “And the legs have very little definition. But most of all, there’s no heartbeat in this body. There’s no sense that you’ve captured anything living.”

“But I meant to paint her flat and lifeless,” Charlotte protested. “I wanted you to feel suffocated when you looked at her.”

“You must first have life in order to make it lifeless,” Paul said. “Here, pick up your brush. Let me show you.”

Obediently, Charlotte took up her brush. To her surprise, Paul wrapped his hand around hers and guided it to the easel. She heard him shift behind her, and looking down, she saw him stretch his long legs, encased in their dark pants, on either side of her. She felt his chest press against her back and his breath on her ear. His scent–warm, sharp, leather and paint–was almost drugging to her.

She tried to focus on what he was doing, to follow the movement of his hand as it guided hers. But she could only focus on how strong yet elegant the line of his hand was, and how utterly distracting the paint smudges on his skin were.

“Do you see what I mean, Charlotte?” Paul asked finally, releasing her hand, though not changing his position.

Starting out of her reverie, Charlotte studied the painting.

“How did you do that?” she exclaimed. “How did you know that just a few lines of darker pigment on a wider brush would make the curves look flat, almost concave? It’s like you’re mocking the fact that in life those are full and round limbs by over-exaggerating the lines. It’s incredible!”

Paul was silent for a moment, and Charlotte could feel the tension in the air.

“Put grey on your brush now,” he said quietly.

Her hand shook slightly, but she obeyed. Again, Paul leaned forward and took her hand in his, moving her hand over the canvas in flowing almost musical motions as if he was conducting a symphony.

“A little bit of grey,” he whispered into her ear. “It turns the pallor of the nude cold, as if her life was being pressed out of her by the pressures of her grey existence and grey hopes. In painting you must not just look, you must feel. Colors surround us. Everything we touch, everything we are, everything we experience–it is all the sum of colors and lines.”

His words, spoken low in her ear, were hypnotic. Charlotte could feel the rumbling of his voice in his chest as it pressed against hers. She could feel the enveloping heat of his body around her. Her eyes drifted closed as she couldn’t help but surrender to the sensation of his hand guiding hers in an eerie dance over the canvas.

“Lift up your hand,” he continued, taking her free hand with his other one and extending her arm out to the side. His grip shifted so that his hand cupped the back of it, his strong fingers loosely laced with hers. He gently moved her hand in a sweeping gesture back and forth through the air. “Feel substance and movement in the air. You cannot see it, or touch it for more than a heartbeat, but you can feel it. And that is what you must put into your painting.”

His voice was like a spell that was winding around her. Charlotte felt her head fall to the side against his shoulder, her lips slightly parted as he whispered his words now against her neck. Her chest rose and fell with deep breaths. Every inch of her felt alive and almost possessed of a strange new energy.

“Painting is not something you do,” Paul whispered, rubbing his rough, stubbly cheek along her neck. “Not if you’re a true artist. Painting is something you are. It is within you. You feel it here,” he added, releasing the hand he held in the air, drawing his own hand back along her arm and down her side until it was splayed across her abdomen.

“You feel it here,” he said, moving his hand slowly up her chest, gently brushing over her breasts until it rested over her heart.

“Oh, God, you feel it here, Charlotte,” Paul murmured, as if in agony, bringing in the hand that was holding her brush-hand, cupping her face, and gently turning it to him.

Charlotte dizzily half-opened her eyes, then closed them as she felt the nearness of his face to hers. Her body felt warm and liquid in his embrace, and her mind was incapable of doing anything but wanting to feel his lips paint a burning trail on her skin, to feel his hands learn the lines of her body, to have those green eyes soak up her colors. She felt the damp heat of his breath against her skin, and she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, wanting what she dared not put into words.

Before their lips could touch, there was a heavy footfall outside the door and the murmur of low voices, men’s voices. Paul didn’t seem to pay any mind to it, but Charlotte jumped up and out of Paul’s embrace, ripped from her reverie and blushing furiously. She looked down at Paul, feeling utterly confused and upset. But it was nothing to the pleading and torment in Paul’s eyes as he met her gaze and held out his hands as if to ask her back into his arms. The look only added to the terrifying tumult of her feelings.

The door opened and Master Lafonte walked into the studio, followed by Raoul.

ADULT EXCERPT

He put down the thick brush and picked up the small, fine brush, dipping it in a deep, burnt orange paint. She gazed at him, feeling drugged from unfulfilled pleasure, suffocated by newborn desire.

He took the brush and made a series of delicate strokes along her inner thigh, coaxing her through the torment of the brush’s whispery touch to spread her legs wider. Charlotte felt her hips roll hungrily with the movements of the brush. Her nipples felt cold and sensitive, covered in paint. She inadvertently brought her hands to her breasts, stopping short just before she touched them, blushingly realizing what she was about to do.

“It’s all right, Charlotte,” Paul whispered raggedly as he continued to paint cool, wet designs on her thighs, inching closer and closer to her sex. “Learn the canvas. Learn your own art.”

With a gasp, Charlotte lowered her fingers to her breasts, feeling the softness of the mounds and moaning as she touched her nipples. Her fingers slipped around the peaks, sliding on the paint and creating new patterns from her pleasure. Unable and unwilling to rein in her need for a release she had never known, Charlotte fell into a rhythm of stroking and thumbing her slippery nipples.

She felt a warm, viscous honey seep out between her legs. But before she could feel embarrassed about it, Paul took the fan brush and swept it between the lips of her sex.

“Oooh,” she moaned as the brush touched her clitoris, sending a throbbing pulse of pleasure radiating out through her body. Paul’s brushstrokes were now focused on her, painting her with her own desire. Abandoning all thought for sweet and wicked sensation, Charlotte feverishly tweaked and worried her slick nipples with her now-paint-stained fingers. She instinctively spread her legs wide so that he could paint whatever pleased him. She felt his brushstrokes go with treacherous softness over and over her clitoris.

“Oh, God!” she cried out as she felt her whole body explode with a starburst of pleasure. From her toes to the tips of her fingers, to her lips and eyelids, every nerve vibrated with a numbing ecstasy.

Dizzily, she tried to focus her eyes on Paul, the consequences of her actions slowly surfacing in her pleasure-drunk mind. She saw that his face was flushed and tight, that he stood above her now. His frame looked tense, and she could see his own desire tenting his trousers. In a moment of panic, she wondered if he was going to fall upon her, to ravish her. The thought both frightened and excited her, stirring her desire from its languor. She knew it would be wrong of him to do that, but she couldn’t get the image of their naked bodies entwined, the paint rubbing into their bodies as they slid together in lovemaking.