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elles's review against another edition
2.0
Karen Robards used to be one of my favorite authors. Now I'm trying to remember why.
thepassionatereader's review against another edition
2.0
I read this because I was curious whether the itty bitty heroine falls for her rapist thing could be done well by anyone other than Woodiwiss or Gaffney. (Why was I wondering this? Because of a thread on Goodreads.)
Not only is that iffy trope not done well here, it's boring. The hero is a self-absorbed wanker and the heroine has the sense of a turnip. The plot is heavy on the wrong details--maybe it's just me but extended descriptions of the wind-swept coast make me drowzy--and light on ones that matter--I'm still unclear on how the hero cleared his name.
In a bodice-ripper, the scene where the bodice is truly torn, metaphorically speaking, should not leave the reader and the heroine disgusted and in pain. Nor should the hero be so selfish in bed that the reader begins to hope he has a tragic encounter with a scalpel. And if the sex scenes are revolting in an 80s era rape-omance, the book needs to have some other redeeming qualities.
This one does. One. Ms. Robards writes quickly and clearly and with a too hidden bite of humor.
If you're looking to read a book you'll feel badly about enjoying because its sexual politics are just wrong, pick up Ms. Woodiwiss's The Wolf and the Dove and leave Amanda Rose on the used paperback shelf.
Not only is that iffy trope not done well here, it's boring. The hero is a self-absorbed wanker and the heroine has the sense of a turnip. The plot is heavy on the wrong details--maybe it's just me but extended descriptions of the wind-swept coast make me drowzy--and light on ones that matter--I'm still unclear on how the hero cleared his name.
In a bodice-ripper, the scene where the bodice is truly torn, metaphorically speaking, should not leave the reader and the heroine disgusted and in pain. Nor should the hero be so selfish in bed that the reader begins to hope he has a tragic encounter with a scalpel. And if the sex scenes are revolting in an 80s era rape-omance, the book needs to have some other redeeming qualities.
This one does. One. Ms. Robards writes quickly and clearly and with a too hidden bite of humor.
If you're looking to read a book you'll feel badly about enjoying because its sexual politics are just wrong, pick up Ms. Woodiwiss's The Wolf and the Dove and leave Amanda Rose on the used paperback shelf.
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