Helpful Score: 12
Its not Passion.
After reading her first novel, I was enthralled with Lisa Valdez. I eagerly awaited her 2nd novel, but overall found it somewhat disappointing. Passion was remarkable for its explictness and eroticism, but was also very emotional and Romantic. It seems that with Patience, the author has made a decision to concentrate more on erotica than romance. The story begins with Matthew Hawkmore having been outed as illegitimate by his mother. Hes ostracized from society when he meets Patience, Passions younger sister. Hes immediately taken with her and aims to seduce her.
Matt has a proclivity toward (fairly mild) BDSM and much of the book is devoted to his lessons to Patience in how to act the submissive to his dominant. He repeatedly tells her she must submit to him. He very nearly turns her into a sexual slave by withholding her orgasm until she does exactly as he orders. These scenes, while initially interesting and well written, soon became repetitive and far too long. Interestingly, Patience tells Matt she is a virgin & wants to remain one. She manages to technically stay a virgin until page 305, but they engage in every other imaginable sexual act. The book suffered from pacing problems. The beginning was interesting, but it got bogged down in the middle with (of all things) to much sex and BDSM. It did somewhat redeem itself in the end, however. The Cello lesson scene is marvelous. I think there was also a missed opportunity in that much more could have been done with the revenge theme. This was a book in search of an editor. With some editing down of the middle of the book and the expansion of the ending, it could have been a great book. As it stands, I can only give it a C rating. The author delayed publication because she had lost her muse. Its clear after reading Patience that the muse is still missing in action. I can only hope that she regains her muse before writing the third book in this series, Primrose. Her talent is still apparent, and while flashes of brilliance can be found in Patience, they are, unfortunately, few and far between. I hate to think a talented author has only one great book in her.
After reading her first novel, I was enthralled with Lisa Valdez. I eagerly awaited her 2nd novel, but overall found it somewhat disappointing. Passion was remarkable for its explictness and eroticism, but was also very emotional and Romantic. It seems that with Patience, the author has made a decision to concentrate more on erotica than romance. The story begins with Matthew Hawkmore having been outed as illegitimate by his mother. Hes ostracized from society when he meets Patience, Passions younger sister. Hes immediately taken with her and aims to seduce her.
Matt has a proclivity toward (fairly mild) BDSM and much of the book is devoted to his lessons to Patience in how to act the submissive to his dominant. He repeatedly tells her she must submit to him. He very nearly turns her into a sexual slave by withholding her orgasm until she does exactly as he orders. These scenes, while initially interesting and well written, soon became repetitive and far too long. Interestingly, Patience tells Matt she is a virgin & wants to remain one. She manages to technically stay a virgin until page 305, but they engage in every other imaginable sexual act. The book suffered from pacing problems. The beginning was interesting, but it got bogged down in the middle with (of all things) to much sex and BDSM. It did somewhat redeem itself in the end, however. The Cello lesson scene is marvelous. I think there was also a missed opportunity in that much more could have been done with the revenge theme. This was a book in search of an editor. With some editing down of the middle of the book and the expansion of the ending, it could have been a great book. As it stands, I can only give it a C rating. The author delayed publication because she had lost her muse. Its clear after reading Patience that the muse is still missing in action. I can only hope that she regains her muse before writing the third book in this series, Primrose. Her talent is still apparent, and while flashes of brilliance can be found in Patience, they are, unfortunately, few and far between. I hate to think a talented author has only one great book in her.
Helpful Score: 6
This book turned out to be a real disappointment. After the first book, Passion, which was well received and well written, this one was not worth the wait and anticipation. Mainly focusing on the sexual emphasis of bondage and submission (this got quite boring after being repeated several times), the story line was disjointed and uninteresting. I found myself simply scanning through pages by about half way through. What happened to the good storytelling this author introduced us to in her first book?
Helpful Score: 3
If I hadn't been such a fan of "Passion," I might have liked this better. The bondage might not be everybody's cup of tea, but at least it's something a little bit different than the norm, so I appreciate that. However, the lack of emotional connection between the characters really bothered me here. There are occasional glimpses of emotion, but it never reaches the heights the first book in the series was able to master.
Helpful Score: 1
I waited a long time for this book. And I was disappointed.
First, the hero seemed to have a split personality. Matthew Hawkmore, who discovered his illegitimacy in the last book, had a sense of wanting to prove himself worthy of commanding respect. Ok, I can live with that. He suffers humiliation at the hands of his tormentors and plots his revenge. Can live with that too.
The heroine, Patience, rang completely flat for me. She dedicated her life to the cello, but I sensed little passion for it in her behavior. She only *said* that she loved it over and over.
There were some truly squick moments in this book:
Why, oh why, is the "hero" obsessed with making Patience cry? It seems as if he is not interested unless she has tears coursing down her face.
The BIblical allusions were way too much. Eww. And the whole Persephone angel? Overdone.
Too much emphasis on the anatomical. To the point of being comical. Can't anyone just have NORMAL body parts? Do they all have to be too this or that to make an interesting book?
The boot scene. Yukk.
Sad that this book did not live up to its predecessor.
First, the hero seemed to have a split personality. Matthew Hawkmore, who discovered his illegitimacy in the last book, had a sense of wanting to prove himself worthy of commanding respect. Ok, I can live with that. He suffers humiliation at the hands of his tormentors and plots his revenge. Can live with that too.
The heroine, Patience, rang completely flat for me. She dedicated her life to the cello, but I sensed little passion for it in her behavior. She only *said* that she loved it over and over.
There were some truly squick moments in this book:
Why, oh why, is the "hero" obsessed with making Patience cry? It seems as if he is not interested unless she has tears coursing down her face.
The BIblical allusions were way too much. Eww. And the whole Persephone angel? Overdone.
Too much emphasis on the anatomical. To the point of being comical. Can't anyone just have NORMAL body parts? Do they all have to be too this or that to make an interesting book?
The boot scene. Yukk.
Sad that this book did not live up to its predecessor.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was good, but you need an open mind...not sure it was completely worth the long drawn out wait though.
