Customer Reviews

The Courtesan

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

 

 

Former soldier Captain Jack Carrington watches the late Lord Bellingham's courtesan Lady Belle defeat an admirer in a sword contest. Afterward, Jack's pal bets he can defeat the unbeaten Belle. Early in their duel, Jack realizes she is at least is equal and maybe his superior so he tries to tire his opponent. Her cork falls off the tip and not long afterward the undefeated Belle wins the match stabbing Jack in the chest. She is stunned as he falls down with blood flowing everywhere. Belle agrees to nurse Jack in her home as he has no other place to go.

As Jack heals, he observes his hostess be kind with people. He soon realizes he wants Belle in his life permanently. Belle tells Jack that Bellingham threatened to hurt a child if she left him so she never left the odious man. Jack vows to respect his Belle who fears she loves her guest though nothing can come of it as his sister is to be presented shortly. To prove he is a rat like all men, she tries to seduce him. He angrily rejects her though he desires her. He tells her he wants her not the whore, but though they make love she believes he deserves better.

These delightful lead protagonists display honor and loyalty as his fine courtship serves as the center of the story line. Belle is the more interesting protagonist and not just because of her prowess with a sword in which she remains undefeated against a myriad of male opponents, but also her history. Though the ending seems too easy, a solid secondary cast adds to a wonderful gender bending Regency romance.

Harriet Klausner

From the back cover:

Seducing the seductress...

After years of dangerous fighting on the Peninsula, Captain Jack Carrington has returned home to take up family duties and find himself a wife. But his life is thrown into turmoil when he views a fencing lesson unlike any other. The talented student is no student at all, but a beautiful young woman, and the most infamous courtesan in all of London--Lady Belle.

Who is the mysterious Belle? A jaded cyprian seeking her next protector? A kind friend helping those in need? Or a mistress of sensual delights that tempt a man to madness? Eager to uncover the true woman behind the facade, Jack wagers he can win a kiss from Lady Belle if he bests her at fencing. And though Belle is a woman he can neither afford to keep nor dare to marry, he's willing to risk it all to win her to his bed.

And my review:

I decided to try a full-length novel by this author, since I'd enjoyed her novella AN HONEST BARGAIN in Harlequin's Officer'S Bride collection. After reading the back cover description, I was a little worried that this would be a lust-fest book, but I was pleasantly surprised.

If you're sick of domineering men who ignore what the women want, then you'll love this book, because Jack was so wonderfully respectful of Belle. He was kind and gentle, yet never appeared weak. I really like that he wanted Belle to come to him willingly, or he was prepared not to have her at all. So many romances are filled with men who have an "I love you and you're going to do what I say" attitude, so Jack was a really refreshing change from that kind of nonsense.

I was also worried that I wouldn't like Belle, since she was basically a one-man prostitute. But Belle had been forced into that life, and had never wanted to become any man's harlot. I ended up really liking her and feeling for her. I felt that she and Jack really complimented each other, and it was easy to cheer for them to be together. The attraction between them was based on more than sex, which is also a welcome change in the romance world. I could see why these two should be together.

I also like how the problems keeping them apart were more compelling than just stupid pride or big misunderstandings. There were real issues to be dealt with, and obstacles that seemed insurmountable.

My only complaint was that I felt the ended was a little too good to be true, which is where the book lost a star. I found it a little hard to believe that Belle would have been accepted by society, no matter who was supporting her or who her relations were. The ton was very unforgiving! But that's a minor flaw, and I still think the book is worth a read.

I will be on the lookout for more books by this author!

The only reason I will not give this 5 stars is like others I felt it took a little too long for Lady Belle and Jack to connect. So either this story needed a little longer - wildly romantic ending or it needed to shorten the time period when they were first to connect! Belle and Jack were just a wonderful couple. How Jack just sees into Belle sole from almost the beginning, see more than just some prostitute, really has a major feeling of much more than lust for Belle - and he is so worried that he will not have enough money, or he will not be able to even get to know her, let alone kiss her. And Belle, who is so very very wary of any man - for oh so many reasons takes such a long time to come to know Jack Carrington. Somehow I just wish this part could have hastened a bit! Because this couple was so beautiful. Jack truly came to find out what an accomplished Lady she was - how intelligent, talented and how afraid of love and giving her heart she was. But when these two finally connected - it was wonderful!! Sadly so much bad stuff still would happen! But what a true knight Jack turned out to be - nothing detered him from wanting this woman as his wife. What a wonderful family Jack had to support him. and how this all came together in the end - well of course it did - was just so romantic and beautiful!But like I said it needed a little more of the happy parts for me to give it 5 stars!

Ms. Justiss did a wonderful job creating characters that I wish I could meet! Both Jack and Belle possessed an uncommon honor that drove them to do the right thing in difficult circumstances. I loved Belle's collection of unusual servants. These characters came with lots of baggage, and I wanted good things for all of them to make up for some of the bad things that had happened in their past. This was romance at its best--an escape from a the nastiness that is our real world to a place where the underdog wins and love conquers all! Buy this book!

This is a charming and emotionally-true regency historical which I really enjoyed despite its anachronistic modern-day mindset and too-neat resolutions of every single little issue. I absolutely loved the non-aggressive non-pushy romantic hero in this book, the honesty between the characters, the lack of convenient misunderstandings, and the portrayal of genuine honor, friendship, and affection as opposed to lust masquerading as "luuurv", and as a result it resonated for me on the emotional level, which to me is enough to forgive most other shortcomings. A very good and satisfying book.

I found the premise to this book very interesting, but the reality fell short. The hero is incapacitated and he and the heorine have little conversation/interaction for the first hundred or so pages of the book. To me, this is way too long particularly since the book itself was only 300-something pages....after that I started skimming, trying to get to some part where they interact and have a full conversation. Also, there were too many background characters. Normally, I like subplots and supporting characters, but these people were underdeveloped plot-devices and they got on my nerves after a while. In the end, I simply put the book down and never went back to it. Currently, it's in my stack to sell back to the bookstore.

My last attempt at leaving a review somehow failed. I do want to post how I found this book to be artfully done so I'm trying again. The characters in COURTESAN interact wonderfully and the subplots are woven in very well, giving the book the kind ofdepth I like in my reads. This is a definitely hero I'd love to wrap up and take home with me, but I have a feeling my husband of 35 years wouldn't really go for that. <sigh>

I am aware that this book has its faults - the ending is an anti-climax in which the author makes everything come together very conveniently which grated with me considering the tone of the book until then. But, having said that, I loved the story of how a woman who had been very badly treated by men, is finally taught the lessons of love by the hero. It's a keeper for me.

This was my first book by Julia Justiss. I didn't like it because the hero was too passive for my tastes. I prefer the "alpha male" character. I found several inconsistancies with the plot and thought the slang terms hard to understand.

Most of the book deals with the hero being wounded and bed-ridden. The story starts out strong, but loses steam about halfway through.

Not a keeper for me.

The cover of this book says: "Pick me up and read me!" but once you begin this pointless story, you remember that cover art is just a marketing tool and has nothing to do with content. This book was a real disappointment. The heroine is a young woman of quality put into the position of being a courtesan in order to provide her sister with the chance to have a "come out" in society. This has possibilities, but the author spends so much time with a subplot about prostitutes that the heroine never gets fleshed out (if you'll pardon the pun) as a character. In fact, the heroine has so many unlucky things happen to her (including a rape, a public molestation, and a branding) that there is never any real romance between her and the hero until the very end, and even that is paltry and unsatisfying. It is as if the author realized that, "Yikes! I'd better put some romance in my romance novel--oops, only have about 2 pages for that. Oh well." I don't mean to be overly critical, but I read romance novels for a story between two people as the main focus of the book. This book doesn't have focus and doesn't keep the plot centered upon the romance. It shifts between subplots and doesn't keep the reader interested in either the romance between the hero and the heroine. In fact, the reader never has the chance to develop a liking for the heroine because there is too much depressing subplot to wade through.
Skip this book.