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Title: The Prince of Pleasure by Nicole Jordan ISBN: 0-8041-1980-5 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.59 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Another sizzling romance by Jordan.
Comment: I had been waiting for this book for months, and now that I have read it, I'm not dissapointed.
The story is fast paced, erotic and original. It grabs you at the very beginning and you find yourself reading page after page to see where is all going.
The characters are well developed and charismatic. Dare, we alrady knew from other Jordan novels (The Seduction, The Passion, Desire and Ecstasy) We knew he is sensual, charming, magnetic and shameless. But in this book he takes new dimenssions and is revealed to us in a deeper and more intimate way. He is also compassionate, understanding and capable of a depth of emotion and commitment that I didn't belive posible in him before reading this book.
Julienne is the perfect match for him. No blushing miss could have made Dare fall in love with her. It takes a heroine like her, witty and corageous, with that mixture of sensuality and vulnerability to bring the Prince of Pleasure to his knees.
The chemistry beween them is electric, the dialogue is witty and the love scenes red hot.
I paricularly liked the theater scene, where Dare challeges her to the wager in front of the whole audience. I loved the fact that even though he thought she had betrayed him, he still could not help seeking her out and falling in love with her all over again. In spite of all the hurt and mistrust, they still needed each other and were drawn together by their hearts desires even against their better judgement. Their love was one that could survive intrigue, betrayal, lies, time and distance.
However, to be objective, I must say that there are a few things about this book that I did not find very convincing. One of them was the reason for their break up all those years ago. It did not seem at all justified. I would think that for a person in Julienne's situation, the logical and sensible thing to do after being threatened by Dare's grandfather would be to turn to him for protection and face the problems together as a couple. Instead she pushes him out of her life trying to be "noble" and "sacrifice" herself for him. If they were in love, she should have given Dare the option of deciding for himself what he wanted to do, not make the choices for him. She made her decision assuming that Dare would be happier with his title and money than with her, and that only proves that she did not have enough faith in his love. With her actions she only caused a lot of pain and unhappiness for both of them. Also, how the hell could Dare belive Julienne had been cheating on him right from the start? If I remember correctly, Julienne was a virgin the first time they were together, I should think that a man of Dare's experience would have realized that. Her innocence should have been proof enough against Lord Ivers accusation that they were lovers even before Dare and Julienne met each other.
However, if you can get pass those details, the book is a real Pleasure to read.
Rating: 3
Summary: The story of Dare - the most notorious rake I have ever read
Comment: As a great Nicole Jordan fan, I eagerly ordered Prince of Pleasure as soon as it was available. Although I discovered a sensual book centering as much on mystery as love, it did not live up to her earlier books which rate as some of my very favorite. I found Prince of Pleasure lacked a deep story line and discovered it was difficult to empathize with the leads.
Dare North, Marques of Wolverton, is a big time rake - one we have seen previously in Jordan's writing. He was such a big scoundrel in The Seduction that I wondered how she was going to pull off a story written about such a dissolute fellow. How could such a character turn his life around? Well, sure enough, as Dare matured (rather late in life), he was beginning to question his worthless - to date - life and his leadership in The Hellfire League. He has a well-deserved and very negative reputation with the ladies. But he is Marques of Wolverton and noblemen in this time were apparently forgiven their many wrongs whereas a woman, with even a tenth of Dare's reputation, would have been run out of town years ago. Dare had suffered a heart breaking betrayal in his one and only romantic relationship years ago and it has driven him to pursue women only as sexual objects. As many rakes do, he finds his redemption in spying for England and doing a superb job of it.
Julienne Laurent is a famous actress who has never recovered from her one and only love relationship years ago with Dare North. She has struggled over the years to make ends meet after Dare had left her without a word because he believed she betrayed him. I must admit that their short-lived relationship did not seem to be strong enough to lead to years of dysfunction and tremendous sadness for each party. If they had meant so much to each other, it seems that there would have been a follow-up conversation to Julienne's supposed betrayal. They could have had no trust in each other at all to just leave the love of their lives smoking in ruins of such an obviously staged betrayal. But this is romance writing and I have read many worse misunderstandings - but few that lasted as long as this one. Julienne, for many rather shabby reasons, cannot let Dare know that she never betrayed him - even when they partially re-establish their relationship.
Earlier I referred to my inability to empathize with the leads. I could not feel sorry or even understand Dare's extreme immoral life when he was a man who was very wealthy, possessed many friends, was very attractive, and did not have to work at all. I don't recall having too many problems with horrible rakes in my past romance reading. I usually rather like them as long as they get any comeuppance in the end. But Dare's story just didn't ring true. I also had a problem with Julienne's inability to be honest with Dare about the ending of their former relationship. She had been truly wronged but refused to let him know anything at all.
Dare and Julienne reunite because Dare believes she may be helpful in leading him to the identity of a spy. Julienne knows nothing of this reason but suspects his motives when he publicly announces at one of her performances that he will win the place as her protector by some future date. Although she is not looking for a protector, she wagers with Dare, in front of her entire audience, that he will not win her. Therefore, the stage is set for their possible reunion. Julienne avoids Dare at every possible turn and Dare pursues Julienne relentlessly. He reasons to himself that she will lead him to the spy but we see deeper reasons at work. Julienne fears the hurt Dare can bring her once again and although she spurns him again and again, she cannot resist him physically any time he can contrive a reason for the two of them to be together alone. The sensual scenes in this book are certainly strong. This is probably the first book I have given a sensual rating of 5.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines).
I believe I would have given Prince of Pleasure a higher rating if more of the book had been about a love story rather than what seemed a purely sexual relationship. The entire book was written around The Big Misunderstanding that had occurred years before. Neither of the leads communicates truthfully with the other until late in the book which only allows the misunderstanding to grow even larger. The mystery does take a lot of pages and is actually rather interesting although unrealistic. Prince of Pleasure is a book I plodded through - not one I eagerly picked up to continue reading. The sensual scenes are above average, if you are looking for that aspect in your romance reading. However, as romance writing goes, it was only average.
Rating: 4
Summary: These loves scenes will set you on FIRE!
Comment: Imaginative, sensual, and HOT are words to describe the passionate interludes that Dare and Julienne share. Have a water spritzer ready because you will need to cool off! Dare is a great character, if a little 2 dimensional. Julienne is great as the ruined former love turned actress. Anyone who read "The Seduction" wanted Dare North to be tamed...he was just too wild and out of control! The intricate story of their past and present was touching and original.
I give this book 4 stars only because the whole political assasination/intrigue was just a bit too much for me. I didn't need page after page of Dare and Lucian discussing and planning the whole Caliban thing. Just get to the good stuff already! :) But if you like a little story with your romance, this book will fulfill you completely.
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