Product Description

Brandon King is a LA police detective intimately involved with his older male partner. Brandon longs for a stable relationship with his abusive lover, but when a mysterious stranger offers him a chance to have his heart's true desire, he rebuffs the unbelievable offer. Then circumstances change and he fears loosing what he thinks he wants the most, he accepts the offer and takes on a deadly assignment that has him traveling to the isolated jungles of India in the company of hunky archeologist Christan Carter, who is intent on achieving his own heart's desire, as well. Combining Brandon's police skills with Christan's knowledge about ancient cultures, the two make an unstoppable pair, but will that winning chemistry carry over into their budding personal relationship and interfere with their quest?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79620 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 204 pages

Customer Reviews

Hot Sex, Good Narrative
Baumbach, Laura. "The Lost Temple of Karttikeya", MLR Press, 2008.

Hot Sex, Good Narrative

Amos Lassen

Brandon is a young gay cop who is involved in a relationship with his partner, Phil who is older than he is and still in the closet. But that is not all--he is engaged to be married to a woman and uses Brandon as a sexual outlet. Brandon is ok with this because he is afraid of being alone. However, when Brandon decides to go on a quest for a lost artifact, the statue of love of the Karttikeya, he finds himself paired with Christian, a handsome archeologist. Christian is near perfection for Brandon; he protects him and loves him and more than that, he is not afraid of commitment. Brandon falls hard for him. This is Brandon's chance to have what he has always wanted--love and security.
There is a great deal of sex in the book and through the sex, Brandon and Christian find their love for each other but it is also the story of great adventure. Baumbach also is excellent at creating characters and she brings Brandon and Christian to life. There is also great emotion here. This is not the best gay romance that I have read but it is not bad and probably the best that this author has written.

Whew! Sizzling!
"The Lost Temple of Karttikeya" is the final installment of a series of long novellas from publisher Loose-ID. [...] The Collector is searching for the pieces of a mysterious artifact known as "The Love Totem." Each piece has the ability to grant a heart's true desire, and each novella follows the search for a piece. However, it is not necessary to read any of them to enjoy or understand this story.

You know it's a Laura Baumbach romance when the story starts with a hot sex scene on the very first page, and continues on for several more pages! Brandon is a cop. His partner and lover Phil is in the closet and engaged to marry Susan. He's callous of Brandon's feelings and keeps their relationship secret, but Brandon is desperate for commitment and lets himself believe all Phil's excuses. Brandon is devastated when actions speak louder than words about Phil's true motives. When Brandon is given the chance of a lifetime to find the last artifact for the Love Totem, he seizes it thinking to save his relationship with Phil. But, he'll need an expert in archeology to succeed. Enter Christian. Christian is well regarded in his field, and sexy as hell. And he knows Brandon isn't in love with Phil, he's afraid of being alone. Christian just needs to convince Brandon to take a chance with him. And when things take a dangerous turn on their expedition, their true feelings for one another may be the only thing that saves them.

Like all of the author's novels, this one is packed with piping hot sex scenes. And the ones between Christian and Brandon will have readers squirming on their sofa. To say sparks fly between them would be an understatement. When Brandon finally lets Christian into his heart, it's love at first sight. His thoughts become quite poetic, and it sweetens the sex. Thankfully, Baumbach is one of the few M/M authors that can manage love at first sight without it being ridiculous. They aren't teens just coming out, they have lives and careers. And, the expedition to find the statue is a great backdrop for their budding romance. The tension and danger explode when they find the Temple...and it's guardian.

Overall, this was a fantastic erotic romance with an exciting adventure story. The main characters are very appealing, especially Brandon. He's a good cop, but his relationship with Phil has made him vulnerable and a little insecure. When he realizes this about himself, the moment is bittersweet and enlightening. These men are on equal footing with one another, and their actions throughout the conclusion bear it out. My one slight disappointment was that readers never see Phil again. On the one hand, that works because the story is really about Brandon and Christian. On the other hand, the petty vindictive part of me wants Brandon to throw his new love in Phil's face!

Highly recommended! (Though I have to say, I preferred the original e-book cover).

The Lost Temple of Karttikeya (The Collector 9) by Laura Baumbach
Laura Baumbach adds her enstalment in the Collector series by Loose Id.

Brandon is a young gay cop. He has a relationship with his older partner Phil. But Phil is a gay in the closet, worse he is also a cheating man, using Brandon as "mistress" while he has a betrothal in course with a woman. Brandon accepts all cause he has a deply sense of abandonment and fears to be alone.

But then he is convinced to leave on a search for an ancient artifact, the amour statue of Karttikeya, who legends say grant every heart's desire and in his search he is mated with Christian, an handsome archeologist. Christian is Brandon's perfect man, protective and loving and has no fear to commitment. Brandon soon changes his heart's desire: he no more wants Phil's love, he wants this man, Christian.

As always Baumbach's sex scenes are hot and detailed but I find in this novel a novelty in her style: even if Christian is a huge man while Brandon is the cute type, during love (and I don't mean only sex, I intend also during the day-by-day relationship) the alpha male's role is not as clearly assigned to Christian; the man is willing to play also the bottom's role, and Brandon likes, sometimes, to hold the reins in the relationship.

And the plot is also more adventurous, and departs from the usual one-to-one's love story. Interesting supporting characters (I don't speak of them to not doing spoilers).