The Art of Seduction [Paperback]

Katherine O'Neal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Frustrated by the world's indifference to her haunting, sensual paintings, Mason Caldwell boldly fakes her own death. The results are as brilliant as the colours imbuing her art. Now disguised as her surviving "sister" Amy, Mason enjoys the fruits of her deception - fame, wealth, and entry into the glittering halls of haute Paris. It's a perfect deceit until art expert Richard Garrett enters the picture. For something about the Mason Caldwell myth doesn't sit right with him, and he intends to uncover the truth...if a shadowy past or his own heart doesn't betray him. But a woman of Mason's talents isn't easily undone, and a dangerous game of truths and lies can reveal hidden desires, igniting a passion beyond their control...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Painter Mason Caldwell is devastated when her work isn't accepted for the 1899 exhibition. Believing all is lost, she wanders around Paris during a rainstorm and ends up jumping into the Seine in an attempt to prevent a woman from committing suicide. Her effort fails, and she leaves Paris to recover from her ordeals. When she returns, she finds that once she was believed dead, her art became all the rage. So she decides to remain dead, pretending to be a fictional sister named Amy. She soon meets a man who, for all his charm, may be intent on unmasking her as a fraud. O'Neal's latest imaginative romance combines sensuality with a look at the dark side of the art world. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"One of the most brilliant debut novels to come along in many months. Powerfully written, sophisticated, well researched, highly romantic."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Brava (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758210612
• ISBN-13: 978-0758210616
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,798,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pass on this one..., January 30, 2007

By 

Cherchezlafemme (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Art of Seduction (Paperback)

The setting and the plot excited me--Victorian Paris is a setting rarely seen within the romance genre, and the advertised "cat-and-mouse" game is a sexy set-up for a historical romance. Unfortunately, TAoS did not live up to its hype.

First disappointment? This is supposed to be a romance--eg; the novel is to chronicle the developing romantic relationship of the h/h from first meeting to "HEA". Mason and Richard supposedly fell in love with one another between their first two trysts. From then on, the story is taken over not by a sensual cat-and-mouse game between the liar, Mason, and the secretive Richard, but by a series a scenes that consist of Mason snooping around to find out who Richard is and keeping her pretense alive despite the suspicions of the police.

Which would be fine plotting in and of itself had both Mason and Richard possesed their own POV--with the exception of two small chapters, the entire book is through Mason's POV, and since she spends most of her time covering her tracks, living her life, etc, etc, (and many scenes do not feature Richard.) Combine that with the over-the-top secondary characters, the very awkward dialogue, the vague setting of 1889 Paris, and lack of true character development, and you've got this very disappointing novel.

While O'Neal is well-known for her sexually adventurous heroines, exotic settings and high-action/adventure quotient, The Art of Seduction falls flat. For the best (IMO) of O'Neal, try The Last Highwayman and Princess of Thieves.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Snorefest from an old favorite, March 3, 2007

By 

M. ORIAS "puccagirl73" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Seduction (Paperback)

After a long time Katherine O' Neal releases anothe erotic historical and it is unfortunately a snore. I just could not see a connection between Mason and Richard. I read the entire book because it was an expensive trade, but that was quite a trial since I kept getting sleppy after reading half a page. I cannot even give a synopsis because I've forgotten the plot right after finishing the book. I hope the next O'Neal book will be better, just skip this one.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mindful of the Dick van Dyke-James Garner 1960s movie The Art of Love, February 4, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Seduction (Paperback)

For the most part the art world ignored the work of American artist Mason Caldwell; that is when they were not trashing her efforts as garbage. Upset and angry Mason vows to prove the hypocrisy of her harsh critics by committing suicide. In death she becomes in as suddenly her sister Amy unveils her paintings, these same fools who disregarded her as a nothing are now claiming she was a rare talent.

As Amy reaps the benefit of her late sibling's masterpieces, art expert Richard Garrett feels something is off kilter with the grieving relative who does not act like she mourns a loss as she enters the most closed galleries in the world. Richard also has issues with Amy's seemingly endless supply of the late Mason's works. He plans to learn the truth behind the meteoric rise of the dead artist and this suddenly surfaced sibling, but he finds himself in a chess game with a master while his heart betrays him.

Mindful of the Dick van Dyke-James Garner 1960s movie The Art of Love, THE ART OF SEDUCTION is a delightful erotic charmer starring two antagonists falling in love. The story line is a fast-paced cat and mouse game mostly overlooking the Seine as Richard tries to prove that Mason's death is a sham while Amy attempts to thwart his advances. Readers will enjoy their gender war, but to know who is right requires reading about the garret in the artist not the artist in the garret.

Harriet Klausner