2.5 stars. I was really looking forward to this book- you could be forgiven for thinking: a guy who is so broken by the death of his wife must be someo2.5 stars. I was really looking forward to this book- you could be forgiven for thinking: a guy who is so broken by the death of his wife must be someone who is capable of deep feelings and boundless loyalty.
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For example, he regularly used prostitutes to assuage those manly urges, (yep, missing the wife) and he was very controlling, even cruel, to Ilsa, who had been living a terrible life with Apollo’s twin (Pol), a violent gangster, in our world.
Worst of all, after dragging her out of our world and into his world because he wanted a second Ilsa, Apollo decides: oops, she is not what I want after all. And virtually abandons her to her own devices. [image]
Perhaps he thought that was better than her old life and he was doing her a favour? He also procrastinates about resolving the issue his son has with the new Ilsa, someone who looks exactly like the boy's mother but is not her. Way to give the lad a psychological problem! This avoidance led to some nasty incidents that impacted very badly on Ilsa.
A hot badass with mildly kinky sexual preferences (again with the controlling shite- and backdoor action, just to have my cup overflow-) does not a hero make. I just could not warm to him. Even his apparent devotion to his kids could not melt my heart. Bottom line:
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Finally, I found the climax, which was meant to resolve all the issues from the series, a bit underwhelming.
What a pity that the fourth book in this fascinating series had to have the least likeable of all the heroes. ...more
The author lost me when she had one of the characters (Close friend of hero) tell the heroine that she shouldn't be shy about him being there in the bThe author lost me when she had one of the characters (Close friend of hero) tell the heroine that she shouldn't be shy about him being there in the bedroom with them because "we've often shared women". Lovely. And I'm outta here, folks....more
This was a much dirtier book that than its prequel. And the putative hero, Prescott, was pretty much a promiscuous pig.
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Prescott is a very dirty This was a much dirtier book that than its prequel. And the putative hero, Prescott, was pretty much a promiscuous pig.
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Prescott is a very dirty, sex-obsessed, shag anything-with-a-pulse, foul-mouthed borderline stoner/alcoholic. Whew! He is also, and this is somewhat laughable, a successful businessman. He is certainly much more independent than his friend, Weston, the hero from the previous book. But he is another with a very problematic relationship with his parents. Prescott is really the clichéd dude who uses sex, drugs and alcohol to avoid any introspection. God forbid that any self-awareness might creep in to that numbed emotional intelligence. Lots of daddy issues in these books.
Again, Prescott seems to be quite immature compared with the heroine. Vivi puts up quite a fight when he starts chasing her, and I did not blame her. (Prescott knew her in high school as the plump chick who he paid to do his homework, all the while he screwed around. Now Vivi has metamorphosed into the proverbial swan and Prescott wants her.) Vivi was a nice girl. She deserved much better than the soiled screw-up that Prescott was. But in the usual romantic cliché, the good woman swoops in to save his sorry arse.
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I enjoyed all that he did to try and win her over and the sex scenes were plentiful and pretty filthy/erotic. Smut level high, but then what do you expect from a raging, sex-addicted man-whore? (Warning: backdoor action in this one.) ...more
3.5 circus stars. Well, this was a crazy story! What do you do when your mum is a controlling bitch? Why, you run away and join the circus, don't you? Y3.5 circus stars. Well, this was a crazy story! What do you do when your mum is a controlling bitch? Why, you run away and join the circus, don't you? Yep- that was the story. I was thinking- yeah....-nuh. But it actually worked for me. Our heroine Lille is quite young here, and the hero, Jack, is not that much older. He is a very tortured soul who has a bit of a kink when it comes to sex. (Honestly, I didn't particularly like that aspect, but I just went with it.)
I found Lille's youth a bit irritating at times, as it made Jack seem even more controlling than he actually was. She had no self-confidence and seemed to need a lot of validation, especially from Jack, which got annoying and made her seem a bit weak. There was some balance when she realised (view spoiler)[ that Jack had taught himself to read because he had not had any real schooling, and that he was very self-conscious of his borderline illiteracy (hide spoiler)]
There was an almost soap opera quality to some of the drama that went on amongst the circus folk, but I don't know that world at all. Perhaps it is all larger than life? I was very moved at the end when (view spoiler)[ Jack's brother Jay is finally reunited with Jack. (hide spoiler)]. I felt Jack deserved a break, even though his hot/cold attitude towards Lille pissed me off. She was way too forgiving IMO.
Safety: be warned, there is some OW drama (view spoiler)[and Jack does have sex with her before he and Lille get together. Lille is already half in love with him by this stage and sees the woman leaving his caravan in the morning. (hide spoiler)]. But Jack is faithful from that point on.
3.5 stars. This was was a difficult book for me to review. I am often a tad uneasy with the courtesan trope in HR- at that time in England, a woman cou3.5 stars. This was was a difficult book for me to review. I am often a tad uneasy with the courtesan trope in HR- at that time in England, a woman could never come back from this profession. She was ruined and beyond redemption according to the double standard that prevailed at the time. (The "protector" was never criticised- he had a right to a mistress and to an active sex life. Makes me gag.) So here we have a man who engages in bdsm sex (he is the one being disciplined) with jaded wives for money/jewels. He is ostensibly saving money to rebuild the ruined family estate. His sister seems unaffected socially by his job, and certainly seems to have no clue as to how he is getting his income. Despite this occupation, we know he will ultimately be able to have a marriage and children if hw wants to, due to his gender and his aristocratic blood.
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On the other side, we have Vivian, a former companion (but a lady) who marries the aged and sickening husband of her friend, after the friend dies. The marriage is never consummated, as her husband is still in love with his dead wife. He does need an heir, however, so arranges for the hire of our kinky gent for the purpose of knocking Viv up, thus begetting his heir. He also seemingly plots for the two of them to be together after his own death. Despite everything, he is fond of Vivian and wants to provide for her, both materially and emotionally.
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Look, the writing is good and the characterisation also. But I didn't like the fact that (view spoiler)[ Darius continues to engage in sex games with the two nasty wives after he and Vivian start their secret baby-making project. I don't care that he never let them touch his dick, that he refused to kiss them or actually bang them. Talk about semantics and hairsplitting! And the thought- and description- of his other methods for giving them orgasms just made me feel sick. Allowing himself to be humiliated and whipped/beaten by these women- who seemed to be bisexual, actually- was hard to swallow, too (hide spoiler)]. The weird thing about this was that Darius was actually such a lovely man in the way he won Vivian over. Sensitive, caring and unselfish. Their sex scenes were beautifully written. And then, it was just so bizarre.
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Two weeks after finishing it, and I still cannot get my head around this one. Oh well. ...more
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