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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not What I Expected, May 24, 2009
This review is from: A 21st Century Courtesan (Paperback)
I had read The Dark Garden and I was expecting something along the same lines. I was in for a surprise. Yes, the book is as described but it goes way beyond that. It is a study of a woman who has fallen in love and begins to question the way she has lived her life for the past 10 years. The book is an exploration of the life of Valentine written in the first person. It is very detailed. We learn details of her life from childhood until today. She analyzes the choices she has made in the past and she is trying to deal with new choices for her future. We follow her journey which is at times painful. I was quite engrossed in her life. The book is also an erotic love story. I think this is the part that makes it a four star instead of five. This is not your typical romance. Valentine has several sex scenes with different men in her life as well as women. After all, she is a modern-day courtesan. I have never read such detailed sex scenes and I mean detailed. I found them a distraction from the part of the book I really enjoyed.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Romance Junkies!, March 24, 2009
This review is from: A 21st Century Courtesan (Paperback)
Valentine Day is rich, beautiful, and educated. She is also one of the highest priced courtesans in Beverly Hills and the surrounding area. Her clients ask for her over and over and pamper her with jewels, clothes and trips around the world. Valentine loves sex and relishes each client for the unique person he/she is. Lately, however, Valentine has been feeling restless. Things are starting to bother her that used to never faze her. When a client she is meeting at the opera is unable to attend, Val decides to enjoy her solitude and attends the opera solo. And this night becomes one that Valentine will remember forever - and his name is Joshua Spencer. Joshua invokes feelings within Val that she has kept buried for longer than she can remember. Knowing that there is no way Joshua would ever love a woman like her, at first she doesn't tell him what she does for a living. The more time they spend together the harder it is to lie to him until Valentine is unable to keep quiet a minute longer. She figures to leave immediately after telling Joshua the truth. Her heart is breaking but Val in unsure of what to do. Imagine her surprise when Joshua reacts to her news in a way that she never envisioned. Eden Bradley could write erotic romances on a roll of toilet paper and I would read them. Knowing without a doubt that I wanted to read A 21st CENTURY COURTESAN, I was surprised to find it written in the first person point of view. I forged ahead and thank goodness I did because A 21st CENTURY COURTESAN just might be the most emotionally gripping story I have every read from this extremely talented author. Valentine Day is without a doubt a product of her upbringing. She grew up poor and with less than perfect parents. In order to get out of the horrific life she is in, at a very young age Val makes the decision to leave and never looks back. Making a life and a name for herself, albeit illegally, is what Val thought would make her happy. And for the most part and for many years, it did. However, the life that Val told herself she wanted paled in comparison to the life she craved with Joshua Spencer. Josh made her think of forever and it that petrified her. I fully expected Val to try and sabotage her relationship - I never thought she would take the chances she did. And I am glad for it. A 21st CENTURY COURTESAN is almost surreal. No one writes erotic love stories like Eden Bradley. Her characters are educated and smart. The love scenes are erotic and intense. The words flow and the storyline is gripping. I experienced a plethora of emotions while reading A 21st CENTURY COURTESAN and now, days after having finished, I find myself thinking of this amazing story and the two characters that had enough guts to take a chance on love. While love is imperfect and has flaws, these two characters showed me what eroticism and true love are about - imperfections and all. Bravo! Natalie S.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Could never actually happen... But, who cares?, June 16, 2011
This review is from: A 21st Century Courtesan (Paperback)
This is a VERY enjoyable read! But you must be able to suspend belief enough to accept the idea that an expensive call girl cannot orgasm unless she's paid... AND that at nearly 30 years of age she becomes sexually obsessed (and we mean totally) with a stranger she meets by chance at the opera. If you can manage that much this is a really good story. The character development of the protagonist, Valentine Day, is extensive and (other than the above issues) quite believable. Fortunately, this gal truly revels in sex--she just can't climax (even with masturbation) unless cash is on the dresser top. But, hey, if she can enjoy her work that much, more power to her. The author is really very talented. In fact the first three or four pages of this novel serve as a superb example of a well-crafted "hook" designed to keep us reading. By contemporary standards for erotic romance, the sex scenes are quite explicit but not unusually so.
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