75 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Among the best C.Feehan books I've read, May 1, 2009
Well, I ran out to Walmart yesterday and bought this book, dropping the other one I was in the middle of to read this. I was honestly prepared for somewhat of a let down, given the description, but I couldn't not read it. I was prepared for lots of emotionalism and not much else.
This book is one of Christine Feehan's best efforts, I thought. There was A LOT of action, which she achieved by skimming over the first 2 years of the hero & heroine's acquaintance, after giving brief glimpses into the hero's childhood. This gave them time to become friends, even good friends. It was very well done, and for the most part I didn't miss the skipped material. The book was long enough as it is, and I don't mean too long-but with such a complex hero the book needed that length. This book (surprise!)didn't have the first sex scene around page 100 and take up half each successive chapter with them either. All I can say about that is "Well Done!" It seems like Ms. Feehan's writing is growing up.
Without all that filler material, there was action and lots of it, but I don't think emotions were neglected. In my opinion, Ms. Feehan excels at describing the emotionalism in her books, and while this book certainly didn't disappoint, it seems the the author has learned to conceal and prolong some things in the plot-that is, not to spell it all out upfront. A very refreshing change.
Speaking of Plot, this book has a pretty good one-that is, believable-, admittedly with some plot holes. For example, I had a hard time accepting that a pregnant woman would move in with a stranger, but I had to admit that some people are more trusting than others. However,to allow a man she had known for 8 months or so to be named on her baby's birth certificate as the father??? That's just hard to swallow. From there it got better, and by the middle to end was excellent, so that overall my impression was good.
The heroine was very passive in the beginning, although I believe that was adequately explained by the extreme trauma she had just experienced. She was essentially in shock. And she did eventually come out of it, although you have to understand she is the kind of woman who loves to cook and clean, etc. Definitely not a career woman by choice, which I liked, although if that were me (living in a mansion with two kids and somebody else paying the bills) I most certainly would NOT say I didn't need a maid and nanny as she did. That seemed a bit far fetched. How did she clean that huge mansion all by herself with 2 kids? Plus cook half the day-there were always homemade bread and cookies, etc. in the kitchen. Even without the kids it would be impossible.
The hero was the kind of abused person that usually grows up to be abusive himself. He was extremely manipulative at first-which I thought was adequately explained and realistic. The change in him was slow and very gradual-and I wouldn't have accepted anything faster. At the beginning I supposed I both felt sorry for him and hated him, but by the middle it was wonderful to see him growing as a person. I thought his character development was perfect.
Also I wish this theme of lovers remembering each other from their past life had been explored a bit more. It was briefly mentioned in the beginning but then dropped and apparently forgotten.
But it seems I am mentioning only negatives here, which I feel is grossly unfair. I enjoyed this book immensely. I stayed up until the wee hours reading it last night. The heroine was sweet and comfortable, the hero was tormented beyond anything, and it was all resolved to my satisfaction. The reasons I liked this book so well were
1. good plot
2. lots of action
3. enjoyed the secondary characters
Oh, and I loved the leopard people theme. I was eager for her first transformation, and I was glad that there was no ultimate certainty she was capable.
I even think that I will enjoy it more the second time I read it. :)
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57 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Did not enjoy this book, May 5, 2009
I've been reading Christine Feehan's Dark series for years and there was only one book which I did not enjoy and it's probably for the same reason as this book.
In this book Christine Feehan seems to have tried being more risqué with sexual scenes which skims dangerously close to the lines of rape than of love.
The main character Jake has a hard time feeling trust and the sexual scenes in the book are not loving but rather acts of dominance and humiliation. These scenes are justified by the author as Jake's need to prove the heroine, Emma's loyalty to him.
These scenes are ultimately what have turned me away from the book. I'm use to Christine Feehan's over the top dominate male characters however I'm not comfortable with justifying acts of emotional abuse as love.
The main character Jake was extremely abused as a child and after managing to get away from his abusive parents Jake doesn't trust anyone and is determined to never allow himself to be in a position to be hurt again.
I understand that the main character has a lot of unresolved issues due to childhood abuse and is unable to trust other but the acts of humiliation he placed Emma in order to achieve this trust was not enjoyable to me.
I know a good romance book when I can completely submerge myself into the story and imagine myself as the heroine. This is my escape from reality but the entire time I read about the degrading acts Jake did to Emma I was hoping the next page would be where Emma left him. This to me is not a romance!
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Burning through the pages to read faster!!!, April 30, 2009
WOW, one of Christine's best. She previously told us this was going to be a hard read and the main characters were going to be tormented souls. But you find peace, love and growth through this novel. Kept me at the edge of my seat at the end. Could not put it down. Murder game is still my favorite, but this one pushes close to the top. The love that Jake has for Emma, it surmounts all, she doesn't see it, he doesn't know it. But together they can stand everything.
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