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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
erotic romance aimed for the hard core fan, July 7, 2002
This review is from: Bliss River (Paperback)
In 1898 Bliss River Valley, South Africa, while visitor Charles Elliot teaches polo, the leader Moreton Estabrook assigns Georgiana Maitland, daughter of his lover Olivia, to have sex with the guest. Georgiana sees this as an opportunity to escape the promiscuous valley that she hates and join her father in England even if she has not seen or heard from him in almost two decades. However, though she is quite good at sex, Charles rejects Georgiana's advances. Olivia receives a letter from her husband telling her he filed for divorce after an almost two decade separation. Moreton decides to steal the man's estate to establish a brothel there. However, Moreton's wife Lydia recognizes Charles as her son who was supposed to have died when Moreton led a deadly raid that freed her from her first husband. Lydia informs Moreton that Charles is her son. Moreton and Olivia kill Lydia and blame Charles. Georgiana knows that her mother and Moreton killed Lydia. She asks Charles to take her to her father in England if she helps free him, but insists on traveling sex rules. They escape the compound while Moreton follows. BLISS RIVER has an engaging concept of a remote African town settled by promiscuous English expatriates in which the pleasures of the flesh rule. However that community was never explored below the epidermis. Instead a lot of unnecessary profanity and sex seemingly for shock value abounds even when the lead characters flee across the desert with Moreton in pursuit. The African geography also feels inaccurate. Simply Thea Devine's book is erotic romance aimed for the hard core fan. Harriet Klausner
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
And you thought YOUR family was dysfunctional, June 9, 2003
This review is from: Bliss River (Paperback)
Meet the in-laws: Mom was a doormat, Auntie is a psycho, and Stepfather is...Or is he her uncle? Nevermind. You'd need a flow chart to track the family relationships in meandering Bliss River, and at any rate they exist mainly to provide our Tormented Hero with a motive for his intense - and intensely childish - dislike of his new girlfriend. Don't get me wrong - Thea Devine's sex scenes are always entertaining, and Bliss River is a pleasant romp. But something's missing. In my favorite Devine book, "Secret Pleasures," there are some plot similarities (bad parenting, murder, revenge) but I actually LIKED that couple and felt anxious about the outcome of their relationship. In Bliss River, I couldn't help thinking that they should consider dating other people. This novel falls into the increasingly familiar rut of "Boy Meets Girl; Boy Hates Girl But Agrees To Have Sex With Her Anyway; Boy Is Faced With Evidence That He Was Wrong About Girl, But Boy Is Too One-Dimensional To Admit It..." It gets old. As I said, enjoy the sex scenes. And hope for well-drawn, believable characters next time.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
About the same as her other books, July 17, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Bliss River (Paperback)
This book was what I have come to expect from this author. My very favorite of hers is Secret Pleasures. As far as I'm concerned none of her other books are nearly as good but this is still an okay read. I found it to be a little too unrealistic about the colony where free sex ruled. I simply could not ever imagine such a place where women would not occasionally "have a headache" and want to say "no" not tonight. I felt the story could have been a lot better if there had been any real liking or strong emotions felt by either character towards the other. I never felt like they were in love enough(or at all) to want to marry. All that was portrayed was lust, lust, lust bordering on obsession. I love the lust but like mine tempered with a little love or at least liking/affection. I just never felt these two otherwise great characters connected like two people should that choose to be together romantically. If this author ever writes a book where the characters have more feelings for each other than mere lust it will be one great book. I will still buy anything this author writes.
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