Customer Reviews

CROWD PLEASERS (TROUBADOUR BOOKS)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book reads like an X rated movie with non-stop sex. The "hero" sleeps with EVERY female character throughout the book, and the "heroine" is taken advantage of by EVERY male character. I don't know much about movie business, but I don't think that in a historical drama such as the one they are filming in this book all the sex scenes are real actions. The part where the heroine is being gang-raped by the secondary actor and ALL the extras on the set, while the hero turns his back and pretends it's nothing, really sickens me. I can believe that Steve and Ginny love each other in the historical "Sweet Savage Love", but I couldn't find in any part of this book the element of love, only lust. When Webb turns out to be some sort of secret agent at the end it's only laughable to me. BTW, if you like steamy contemporary ROMANCE please read "Love Play". I think Rosemary Rogers is one of the most talented romance author. It's a pity that sometimes she writes porn, not romance.

I am almost through reading this book and I think it is excellent. The first time I learned of this author was when I got on a train, and a book was sitting on one of the seats and I picked it up. It was the Insiders. I read that a long time ago. I was about 22. The contents was a little explicit for me. I couldn't believe that the book was that sexual. So I ordered the Crowd Pleasers. Never read it. Now I am 28 and I decided to give it a shot. The book is phenomenal! It's exciting. I am so into it. There is just so much going on. The crowd pleasers.... the people, actors, models, jeolosy, 2 people that are in love with one another but cannot be together. Hidden stories from the past. It is just a book that you can't put down. I'm at the climax of this book and i can't wait till the end.

I must say the Crowd Pleasers is the most grossly misogynist and sexist novel I've read in a long time which is distressing considering it's written by a woman. There's rape, rape, and more rape in this novel.

All the women are either oversexed wh*res or naive virginal innocents. All the men are sex starved brutes who take women by force if they don't give in willingly. Even the nice guys when pushed far enough turn into brutes.

The story is ridiculous. Anne is a politican's daughter newly divorced from her husband who wants to turn her in a Real Housewife of DC. Through an old high school friend turned actress she meets oversexed manwh*re Webb. During the course of one day Webb screws her three times (the first time by force of course) and gives her mind blowing orgasms. They fall in love, they fight, they break-up, they go their separate ways all in ONE DAY!

To forget Webb Anne moves to Europe and becomes a top fashion model. Every man Anne comes in contact with takes sexual avantage of her (or wants to). In the meantime, to forget Anne, every woman Webb comes in contact with he screws. From time to time Anne encounters Webb and whenever she does, something bad happens. She's eventually cast as the leading lady in a movie co-starring Webb filmed at a mansion on a secluded island. Much intrigue, double crossing, and subplots ensue including Anne getting raped - not once but twice - by a fellow actor. The second time actually turns into a gangbang that Webb watches but doesn't stop. However, such minor nuisances as a gangbang rape or physical violence has no effect on Anne at all because she's in love and will stop at nothing to get her man. Or rather she will sit around waiting for her man to rescue her from getting repeatedly abused by those around her.

Sheesh. What's realy frustrating is that I read the entire thing. I remember reading this as a pre-teen but I was only looking for the dirty parts. As an adult I have one question: What hell is wrong with Rosemary Rogers?

Moving away from the historicals that made her a legend, Rosemary Rogers wrote a jet-set novel that flies higher than anything by Harold Robbins or Jacqueline Susann. The difference is in the class -- the way shy, gentle Anne is always sympathetic, a heroine who is too sensitive and romantic for the brutal passions and greed of the Hollywood world.

Anne is drawn to Webb, a man who seems to be all wrong for her. Webb is hard and brutal and successful, so masculine he threatens to dominate Anne like the other men in her life. Frightened, she runs off with a long succession of older, seemingly kinder men, yet they turn out to be more manipulative than truly caring. As a neglected trophy wife, Anne develops a dangerous dependency on pills like Valium -- Rosemary Rogers shows clearly how a jet-set world that makes drug abuse seem chic and sophisticated can easily harm the innocent. Drifting this way and that, pursued by men and losing herself in sensation, Anne nearly loses it all -- before Webb comes to the rescue.

THE CROWD PLEASERS is scary sometimes, touching and poignant and even melancholy -- but always oh so powerful and sexy!

...even when she's trying to write a Jackie Collins-style novel...This is not a historical romance, so lose any such notions. This is a good read with plenty of "action" and after all, it's not supposed to be true-to-life believable! Take it on vacation, you won't be disappointed! (Along with Sweet Savage Love, of course -- still #1 from Rosemary Rogers in my opinion.)

Having read most of Ms. Rogers' novels, I decided to read this effort at contemporary romance. I was disappointed. While there are books of Ms. Rogers' that I have loved, I find her writing to be inconsistent, and for me this is the worst of her novels, and the worst romance novel I have read to date. I usually read such a book in a couple of days (or sometimes less). This one took me weeks to finish. Ms. Rogers' novels tend to take a long time for the story to unfold, and the plots range over many countries or continents. This one was no exception. In every novel of hers I have read, the hero (and I use that term loosely) is a secret agent, and I think she should give that premise a rest for a long while. Her attempts at intrique are boring, and cause the reader to need to keep track of many seldom-mentioned characters, and what their role is in the intrigue. To me, it seems overblown. For me the characters were the most one-dimensional and unsympathetic, in agreement with what some other reviewers have said. The "hero" was a screwing machine, and until he discovers he loves the heroine, the only woman he seemed to regard was his sister; how can a man love and regard his sister, but have such an offhanded regard for every other female in his life? The heroine was weak and pathetic, but at least that is a change from some other authors' female protagonists, who are written as beyond perfection, physically and emotionally. And this heroine does finally muster some strength at the end of the story.

As some other reviewers wrote, the rape and gang rapes were disgusting and unbelievable. The supporting characters were written like stereotypical cardboard cutouts. The story took place in the late 1970's (when it was written), and along with the requisite romance of the story, Ms. Rogers was trying to paint a picture of the Hollywood and high fashion worlds.

I keep most of the romance novels I read, to enjoy again at another time. I doubt I will ever pick up this one again.

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH I READ IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I WISH I COULD MAKE A MOVIE OF IT. I THINK ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME. IF I CANT SOMEONE SHOULD. MAYBE THAT WAY I WOULD FIND MY WEB.

I am a big fan of Rosemary Rogers & this book is certainly one of her best! I read it years ago & the story stuck with me so I recently reread it. I wasn't disappointed. Their is a lot of passion in the book & enough intrigue to keep you glued until the end! Although her historical novels are great also, I hope Rosemary decides to write another book like this (& The Insiders). It's gives the reader a change of pace from the normal setting of romance novels.