4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to follow. Story jumps around too much. Too many incomplete scenes. Not enough emotional or romantic development., April 1, 2009
STORY BRIEF:
Eve Charles is a high school dropout from a poor family in New York City. She works as a nightclub dancer in Berlin in the 1920s. In 1931 she marries wealthy Lord Marlowe and becomes Lady Marlowe. They enjoy eight years together with a lot of kinky sex. He dies in 1939. She goes to Egypt and falls in lust with Ramzi, a handsome Eqyptian. She is lonely and has an insatiable need for kinky sex which he provides. He wants her for her money, and she provides funds for half ownership with him in a Cairo nightclub. Eve then meets Chuck, an American pilot visiting the nightclub. They have sex for one night, and then he leaves for his job. Chuck returns to Cairo later, and they spend two days together. At that time Britain declares war on Germany, and Eve leaves Cairo to return to England. Then she goes to Berlin as a spy.
During 1941 Eve writes a diary reminiscing about her life. Most of this book (pages 37 to 375) is the diary. Eve jumps around in her diary as her thoughts wander. For example (starting on page 251), 42 pages Cairo 1939, 3 pages Berlin 1941, 3 pages America during Eve's youth, ½ page Eve's comments about the diary, 3 pages Cairo 1939.
REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I did not like the way the story jumped around. Too many scenes were interrupted. It was hard to follow. I wanted it to be over. This book would have been so much better if the author told it in chronological order without the diary. The World War II setting, characters and overall plot were interesting and had potential, but there were too many problems for me to enjoy it.
The purpose of the book is for erotic sex scenes. This was lacking for me because most of the sex scenes were not complete. For example, the author describes the details about how two people are caressing each other and then she skips to another scene without finishing the logical conclusion to the first scene. I suppose that's ok for an erotic book, but it doesn't allow any emotions to come into play or relationships to be involved. There is self pleasuring, rear door activity, group sex, women with women, bondage, spanking, sadism, and rape.
DATA:
Story length: 402 pages. No swearing language: Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: more than 26. Total number of sex scene pages: more than 61. Setting: Egypt, Germany, England, and America 1920s to 1945. Copyright: 2009. Genre: erotic World War II romance.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
Most of the story is about Eve's time in Egypt with Ramzi. They have a lot of sex, but there is no love. The love relationship is between Eve and Chuck, but no time is spent developing that relationship. Eve and Chuck meet and have three nights of sex before being separated for 2 years. Then they meet again with a short sexual encounter. That's it. The main love story consists of a handful of pages, mostly about a few sex scenes.
I did not like the way the author created conflict between Eve and Chuck. When they first meet, Chuck thinks Eve is a nightclub dancer. When he soon learns that she is titled and wealthy, he hates her and wants nothing to do with her. His explanation on page 378 is he thought her "a selfish, pampered lady of the realm." That didn't make sense to me. I also did not like what happened later, when they see each other after being apart for two years. He is hoping he was wrong about her, and that there was something there. But she lies to him and tells him she is with another man. She is killing their relationship. I didn't buy it. Sure she is leaving on a trip to be a spy and can't tell anyone, but she could have said something like, I am leaving on a trip, I have no time to see you now, but I still love you. But no, the author has Chuck thinking Eve doesn't love him. I was angry at these illogical and unreasonable conflicts.
The story about "Cleopatra's perfume" was an interesting concept, but not well done. When Ramzi first meets Eve, he sells her a box containing wax perfume, supposedly from Cleopatra's tomb. He tells her it has the power to keep her alive if someone tries to kill her. Eve wore the perfume almost every day for the next two years, and her life was threatened on a few occasions, but she didn't die. For example, when Eve drinks poison, she blacks out and wakes up in an alley in a different part of the city. Later, someone shoots at her, and she falls into a lake. The next scene has her walking into a hotel room with no gunshot wounds. These scenes were vague and could have been explained in other logical ways. For example, someone could have carried her to the alley and left her there. In the second scene, the shooter could have missed her while she jumped into the water and swam away. I feel like the author wanted me to believe in this magical perfume but didn't take the time to convince me. The magic also didn't fit well with the rest of the story which was told in a historical fiction manner.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wild fun erotic historical romance, April 11, 2009
In 1939 affluent Lady Eve Marlowe, following the death of her spouse in Cairo, rejects widows clothing. Instead she comes to London to enjoy sexual escapades that she obtains at the wealthiest clubs. However, Eve admits that American pilot Chuck Dawn is the best lover she ever had though she expects to be bored with him soon. Due to an incident involving crazed hardened Nazis, Chuck and Eve are separated.
Chuck wants to see his English lady soonest especially after the near lethal encounter in 1941 just outside Berlin, and reading her journal that he possesses only adds to his need for her. Following her trail, he goes after the woman he madly adores even as he knows she is wearing the ultimate enticer CLEOPATRA'S PERFUME.
This is a wild fun erotic historical romance that brings a unique perspective to WWII. Chuck is a brave aviator, but this heated war drama is owned by the audacious heroine as she brings danger and humor to the bedroom and a several other locales. Fans will relish the misadventures of Lady Eve as uses CLEOPATRA'S PERFUME to entice war secrets from the Nazis in Cairo, Berlin and London, and to lure her American flyer into her honey.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
