Customer Reviews

Brazen

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I can't say I've read much Susan Johnson. I'm enough of a romantic that I like the sex to happen after the characters have gotten to know more than each others' names. However, with this book, I've joined Susan Johnson's fans.

The hero, Kit Braddock (I do think his having a harem stretched the bounds of credulity, but it's a romance novel), is one of the most appealing male characters I've run across. He's physically splendid (of course), but also displays a powerful magnetism as well as great sensitivity. I liked that Angela, the heroine, was older than Kit and had a varied sexual history. It doesn't seem fair that the guys in romance novels are the only ones sowing wild oats. Both these people are so charismatic that reading about them consumed my weekend.

The footnotes were fascinating. I like that Johnson doesn't subscribe to the stereotype that romance readers are airheads. I look forward to Johnson's next book. However, I don't look forward to the use of the f-word during the love scenes. But you don't read Susan Johnson for softly romantic men and women.

While I was reading this book, I kept telling my boyfriend that this is the book that I've been looking for. It is written for an EXPERIENCED ADULT. Unlike this book, most of the books I've read before Susan Johnson were about virgins w/strange unrecognized feelings for a man/hero who wears a scowl on his face for the first 3/4 of the book. There is usually only one bedroom scene and the man/hero only declares his love for the woman once and that is at the end of the book. This book is far different from that tired formula. First of all, Angela is 35 and has 2 children. Being so used to the "virgin" formula, I was a little weary at first but needless to say, I have been born-again!

I started this book one night at 6pm and stayed up past my 11pm bed time & ended up staying up til 4am! I literally could not put this book down. I finished it the next day (no chores got done!)and then started reading the book over again! I've NEVER had the slightest urge before to re-read a remance novel! I would not change one written word of this novel. That's how good it is. It definitely encourages your libido and my boyfriend was VERY greatful to Susan Johnson for the mood it put me in. He is now her biggest fan as am I.

Having read serveral Susan Johnson's books, I have found that I either really like them or I sorry that I wasted my time reading them. I really found "Brazen" really lacking. There were somethings that seem so unbelievible. Like how Kit and Angela so quickly fall in love. One would think with Angela's history that she would might be scared of men. But no, she has a past that might make some men of the day blush. The love scenes did live up to the erotic genre. If you are looking for a good Susan Johnson book ckeck out "Forbidden"

I enjoy reading Susan Johnson's novels. The heroine is generally intelligent, independent, and beautiful while the hero remains handsome,sensual,loyal, and iron willed. There is usually a great story with interestin and accurate historical references. the author's style is unique with lots of sexual tension and plenty of steamy sex to keep one riveted from beginning to end.

I found Brazen to be a very different read in the sense that the heroine was independent, strong, beautiful, and OLDER than the hero. She has two children and is married to an English nobleman. This story is a breath of fresh air from the elusive , young virgins we usuallyread about from novel to novel.

With all that said, I felt the relationship between Kit and Angela was a bit forced and superficial at times. Although both characters were generally likeable, I found the ENDLESS foreplay chat regarding contraception and previous sexual conquests to be really distracting to the storyline as well as the progression of the relationship. I certainly understand the importance of protection and safe sex in contemporary times; however, I believe Ms. Johnson took the interplay to an extreme. I read enough "Dutch Cap" and "Comdom" talk in this novel to make me an expert in historical pregnancy prevention.

Overall, I probably would rate this book 3.5 stars if given the opportunity. All in all, an interesting story,quick read, with some steamy sex.If you are a Susan Johnson fan you won't be terribly dissappointed- And it is well worth the time to read. The book is just not quite up to this author's potential. It falls a little short from the "Very Good" or "excetional" category.

Brazen has to be my favorite Susan Johnson book to date. I've only read the Braddock-Black series and A Touch of Sin, and Pasha was my favorite until Kit came along! What a man! Not sappy and sweet, but passionate and demanding. When Kit realizes his feelings run deeper than purely carnal pleasures, he would rather live without Angela than share her with an abusive husband. He is relentless in his pursuit of her. Their emotions and passionate encounters are splendidly displayed for the readers perusal. Angela is a mature woman and is without the simpering lines of a weak virgin. She knows what she wants and his name is Kit. Likewise, Kit is a man who is accustomed to getting what he wants and having Angela on his terms is top on his list. They both give as good as they get! Brazen is one spicy hot read!

This was surely an unconventional romance novel. The hero Kit Braddock was younger than the heroine Angela de Grae who was as sexually knowledgeable as her lover. Besides she was married and had two children. And the era was different, too. Mostly romance novels take place in the Regency period or earlier. The story here starts in 1896. I loved the historical background information you get including the various contraception methods possible at the time and the divorce laws and practises. For anyone who is interested in the Victorian era this is a treat, for Johnson gives an accurate picture of food, manners, behaviour, arranged marriages and the Victorian double standard (which resembles the double standard of other romance novel authors who display the Victorian moral codex uncritically in their stories). The story itself was interesting, too, and the heroes likeable although I was annoyed by the hero's unjustified jealousy and his preference to be caught in the act (he had quite an exhibitionistic streak) and the heroine's fondness of sex-toys (I can understand single women or neglected wives who use things like that, but here it seemed totally unnecessary-who wants to play with sex-toys when one can play with Kit Braddock...). I also didn't like that Kit had a harem. It was highly unbelievable and made the hero look very shallow and debauched in the beginning. I couldn't understand why Angela was attracted to such a surfeited rogue at first sight, for she wasn't a silly schoolgirl who would fall for looks only. Yet his character developed a lot (which was highly unbelievable, considering his past and the extremely short time he knew Angela, but who cares!). Maybe this was a coincidence here, but Johnson uses one typical romance novel cliché and that is that Kit towers at least one head over all the other men while Angela is as small and delicate as a china doll, looking up even to moderately tall men. I have somehow the impression that all romance heroines are as small as dwarfs and delicate as dolls, reaching not even to the shoulder of the hulking hero who's as tall as a skyscraper. Lisa Kleypas has a liking for that and various other authors, too. Everything is always so perfect in the world of romance novels, so I find it disturbing to imagine such a couple which in real life would look ridiculously like father and child, not to mention the problems which are connected with such a difference in height (and in weight, too). Only Mary Jo Putney has a talent to pair off the ideal couples, and you never know what they will look like.

I enjoyed this book. I agree with someone that I got a little tire of hearing about the Dutch Cup and prevent pregnancy in this day and age. But it had plenty of sizzling sex and erotica. I will re-read it again.

I am a huge Susan Johnson fan! I have read most of her books, some I have liked more than others. This book is well worth it. I really liked the fact the characters seem to really like and LOVE one another. Sometimes I wonder if the characters really care for one another or not, when reading a romance. It is steamy, but that is one of the things Ms. Johnson is famous for. Happy Reading!

The book was superb!! ... It satisfies heart and mind. Susan Johnson's ability to blend strong, but believable characters (ones who make some tough choices!!!), flammable sex (the beginning of this book is hot...a glimpse of the ensuing forest fire between the main characters), and a plot driven by hardcore history (the book comes complete with a tantalizing set of footnotes) sent me in search of all of her other novels.

I have not been disappointed yet. If she taught history...everyone would be an ace.

Enjoy the feast.

I loved the book. I own all the books she's writen except "Golden Paradise", "The Play", and "Hot Streak"(writen under the name Jill Barkin). I would love to get my hands on those three titles! Brazen was very good. I loved Angela and Kit and think that theire love story was amazingly complicated. Overall, the best one I've read so far is "Pure Sin." I'm looking forward to reading future books by her.