March 2nd, 2010 — 2 Stars, Artist, Book Review, Business, Contemporary, Friends, M-O, Nerd, Teacher, United States of America
December 15th, 2009 — 1 Star, Book Review, Dukes and Earls, Great Britain, Guardian/Ward, Mistaken Identity, Rogues and Rakehells, S-U, Scarred Hero, Victorian, Virgin Heroine
The cover is fantastic on this book. The color scheme is wonderful with gorgeous yellows, blues, and shades of brown. It was an impulse buy because of it. The back blurb was intriguing. That’s about the last truly good thing I can say about the novel.
The writing made me wince several times. I’m not a reader who will nitpick when it comes to phrases and objects in historicals, simply because outside of reading I don't have a background in the time period. That said, this book is filled with contemporary phrases that read very out of place. It started innocuously enough with ‘what a relief’ and fell apart from there with common curse wordage especially the jarring use of the word fuck.
I had no patience with the hero, Greyden Kane. The Duke of Ryeton is a scarred recluse determined to shun all of society in an effort to stay good. He was the worst sort of rakehell when he was younger and treated women abominably. One so much so she had him attacked. He's very good at getting in his own way and being too obtuse to notice. His change of heart at the end just didn't do it for me and left me vaguely bored.
Rose Danvers is practically a ward under Greyden’s care. When her father died he left her and her mother in a heap of debt and greatly diminished prospects. Rose knows she and her mother must be a burden on Kane but can’t do anything about it. She suspects he has feelings for her but she can’t get him to admit it. Their relationship takes off when she decides to seduce him at the beginning of the novel. I would say she's sheltered and should have no idea about this but she's been stealing her mother's Voluptuous magazine which publishes how-tos and erotica. It didn't seem very believable. Why would her mother have the magazine subscription when she remains in mourning?
Lady Margaret Devane was a virgin until Greyden Kane. She is the one society and Grey think most likely behind the attack, but there isn’t any proof. Is she determined to ruin Rose as she was?
Rating: 1 Star
Buy: When Seducing a Duke
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January 17th, 2009 — About, News, Virgin Hero, Virgin Heroine
Virginity in a contemporary novel is particularly frowned on as being unrealistic. Speaking as a virgin in this modern society, I am proof we do exist.
Why is it considered practically a sin to mention you are a virgin? I have even been told not to be proud of my status as one. Why are women and men being so judgmental on those that choose to stay chaste? Why is waiting for the right partner or waiting for marriage deemed inappropriate?
Being a virgin is as natural a state to be in as is the opposite. Experienced or inexperienced should make no difference to the right people. Intimacy is not found only in the bedroom. It’s built out of little moments, secret moments between one soul and another.
I choose to wait because I value it. I do see it as a sign of love to wait for the right man. Call me a hopeless romantic, I don’t care, I’ll be the first to admit it. Others value their virginity for religious or cultural reasons. I know of men who wait for the right woman, and while virgin males in real life are rarer than male virgin leads in romance, they are out there. They do appeal and they won’t always be the nice guy who finishes last.
A woman can be sensual and kind and loving without having given it up. The same for a man. Virginity does not automatically equal to being frigid or a prude. Opposed to heroes and heroines of historical romance, contemporary leads and real life virgins are vastly more knowledgeable... after all there's any number of books, videos, courses, etc. on human sexuality.
Some say that staying a virgin (representing optimism/idealism) is to be on the opposite extreme as a man-hating woman (representing pessimism/cynicism) and that both are just as bad. Based on that I must wonder then if the middle ground, being a realist, is the only type of person to be interested in? I very much doubt that.
Virgin or not, I just don’t see the point in getting emotionally entangled with someone just to stay in the game. Does that mean I think less of those that want to be actively in the game or that my bar for a man is unbearably high and impossible to reach? I don’t think so... all women/men are different, we all have different opinions on relationships and want different things for ourselves. I feel a relationship should be built on mutual attraction and compatibility. Good chemistry in both aspects is easy to spot before you get to the bedroom. If it’s not there why start something that will ultimately fail? Or as a pushy partner might say, lead them on?
I know what I need in a man: sexual appeal, compatibility, and stability. In addition to those needs I would like several other things in a man and yet understand that what I want I may not get. Would I mind if he was a wealthy, charismatic, world trotter that was impossibly arrogant with a tender side devoted just to me? Not at all, but I’m not holding my breath on the chance that I'll score the next (Harlequin) billionaire.
As a virgin with limited relationships, I don’t feel that I lack the life experiences necessary to spot a prince. Frogs and toads can be avoided without having to kiss them first. Princes can be missed while being distracted by frogs. Ultimately, what I most hear as a virgin on 'game' advice is this: if you're not shopping around how will you know what fits and doesn’t fit? Shouldn't you at least check him out in the changing rooms? The answer I have for that is my gut reaction, inner instinct, or women’s intuition. Call it what you will.
I’m tired of being thought of as every parents’ dream, many an experienced woman’s object of scorn or pity, and every man’s worst nightmare. Virginity has merit; it’s time society remembered that.
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