Helpful Score: 5
Set in the decadent, upper-class world of late 19th-century England, Johnson's latest romantic caper (after Golden Paradise) features Princess Christina, a woman of formerly modest means who is trapped in a loveless though lucrative marriage to the ruthless, womanizing Hans, prince of Zeiss. Thirty-year-old Christina is a proper wife and mother, devoted to her two sons and loyal to her husband, despite his many infidelities over their 12 years of marriage. She is inspired to cheat on him first when his philandering is thrown in her face during a country outing, and then when she accidentally walks in on the renowned American stud Maxwell Falconer, the marquis of Vale, in flagrante delicto with one of her married friends, who urges her to give Max a try. After quickly overcoming his reluctance to take on the responsibility of providing Christina with her first extramarital affair, the experienced Max awakens (and proceeds to satisfy) her newfound sexual desire, but Christina's transformation into an aggressive temptress is not convincing. Johnson, known for her erotic historical romances, focuses on the many passionate encounters between these two lovers, who come to believe they must defy convention and become a married couple. For all the numerous and explosive sex scenes, Johnson's writing lacks passion, and the sexual tension that readers have come to expect from the author is minimal. Suspenseful aspects of the plot involving the cruel Hans's comeuppance may be enough to satisfy Johnson's fans, but readers seeking true spice in their romance will have to go elsewhere.
Helpful Score: 4
Good story...not that erotic.
Helpful Score: 3
Light reading. Semi-hot.
Helpful Score: 1
Set in the decadent, upper-class world of late 19th-century England, Johnson's latest romantic caper (after Golden Paradise) features Princess Christina, a woman of formerly modest means who is trapped in a loveless though lucrative marriage to the ruthless, womanizing Hans, prince of Zeiss. Thirty-year-old Christina is a proper wife and mother, devoted to her two sons and loyal to her husband, despite his many infidelities over their 12 years of marriage. She is inspired to cheat on him first when his philandering is thrown in her face during a country outing, and then when she accidentally walks in on the renowned American stud Maxwell Falconer, the marquis of Vale, in flagrante delicto with one of her married friends, who urges her to give Max a try. After quickly overcoming his reluctance to take on the responsibility of providing Christina with her first extramarital affair, the experienced Max awakens (and proceeds to satisfy) her newfound sexual desire, but Christina's transformation into an aggressive temptress is not convincing. Johnson, known for her erotic historical romances, focuses on the many passionate encounters between these two lovers, who come to believe they must defy convention and become a married couple. For all the numerous and explosive sex scenes, Johnson's writing lacks passion, and the sexual tension that readers have come to expect from the author is minimal. Suspenseful aspects of the plot involving the cruel Hans's comeuppance may be enough to satisfy Johnson's fans, but readers seeking true spice in their romance will have to go elsewhere.
Helpful Score: 1
Another sizzler from the acclaimed romance writer - Susan Johnson...
The is a good book.
Tpyical Susan Johnson.
What I DIDN'T like about this book was the rush into an affair. At an English weekend house party, an unhappily married, German-by-marriage Princess, Christina, sees the hero, Max, making love to her good friend. Christina has an attraction to him, fantasizes a bit. The next day (or possibly two days, but I don't think it was any more than that) she's in bed with him herself. Although the author tries to cover her tracks by going on & on about the great "love" these two feel for each other -- IMO, it read like nothing more than lust.
And frankly I thought it was kind of skeevy for the heroine to see the man she's going to fall in love with in bed with her friend.
Aside from that, I guess it's a good story, (I liked seeing Christina's rotten husband get his), but I wish it had more heart to it. The romance seemed very rushed.
And frankly I thought it was kind of skeevy for the heroine to see the man she's going to fall in love with in bed with her friend.
Aside from that, I guess it's a good story, (I liked seeing Christina's rotten husband get his), but I wish it had more heart to it. The romance seemed very rushed.
Good, solid Susan Johnson. Alpha male steps in to take charge of the situation. Sizzling sex scenes.
A little to adult for me, but if you like erotic, you'll love this book.
She is bst known for her erotic lov scenes...Publishers Weekly
From the back cover...
She chose passion over propriety...
Her trust and love shattered by public humiliation and private indifference from a man who cared nothing for her happiness-or her pleasure, Princess Christina was a woman trapped in a lonely and passionless marriage. If she was not precisely resigned to her fate, she was not tempted to change it, until she met an American marquis-and temptation took on a new, solidly male form...
The world of casual amours was Max Falconer's forte, not Christina's-and well Max knew it. But he couldn't resist the look in her eyes-shy, yet determined-when she offered herself to him, much less the promise of sensual abandon with a woman who deserved every pleasure she had too long been denied...
She chose passion over propriety...
Her trust and love shattered by public humiliation and private indifference from a man who cared nothing for her happiness-or her pleasure, Princess Christina was a woman trapped in a lonely and passionless marriage. If she was not precisely resigned to her fate, she was not tempted to change it, until she met an American marquis-and temptation took on a new, solidly male form...
The world of casual amours was Max Falconer's forte, not Christina's-and well Max knew it. But he couldn't resist the look in her eyes-shy, yet determined-when she offered herself to him, much less the promise of sensual abandon with a woman who deserved every pleasure she had too long been denied...
Author of "Twin Peaks" and "Not Just for Tonight"
