10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A credit to the genre, and a big relief., July 22, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Dangerous Passions (Mass Market Paperback)
This book will never be credited as a great work of literature, but I'd like to give it credit for what it is. Too often romance novels depict sex scenes of obvious non-consent which the heroine ends up enjoying against her will. That sort of thing makes me sick, and I was so relieved to discover one book that shows clearly (from the begining of the novel and each sex scene) that the heroine is enjoying herself, even if she knows better. I loved it, and was pleased to know that a charming & moving love story can be written without forcing the lady against her will, or denying the fact that women are perfectly capable of saying yes on their own.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
English romance in war-torn Austria, August 18, 2003
This review is from: Dangerous Passions (Mass Market Paperback)
Kat Martin writes a romance book like no other. Rarely am I even slightly disappointed in one of her books. Dangerous Passions was a fantastic read. Although I have owned the book for at least a year, I hesitated to read it because of the plot summary. Having a young lady (Elisa) from a good family travel from England to Austria, under a false identity, during the war seemed a bit of a stretch for me. On top of that she had her mother's permission, pretended to be a widowed countess, and was looking for a spy that probably killed her brother! I did not think that a very good story could come from such unbelievable circumstances but I was wrong. This is romance writing and unlikely circumstances are written all of the time. I gave Martin the chance to establish the story line and by page twenty, I was hooked and had a great time reading this tale.
Elisa Tauber is an English country gal gently raised outside of mainstream society by her father, a destitute Austrian count, and her mother, a former actress. She is looking for a spy that her brother, prior to his recent death, had written of in his last letter. He gives three likely suspects and asks his family to not let this spy get away with any further traitorous acts if he should die. Now Elisa is in Austria, under the guidance of a friend of her dead father, and she is making herself acquainted with two of the three traitors listed in her brother's letter. Elisa, although an innocent, thinks her acting ability will make others believe she is an experienced widow used to traveling and societal affairs. She is fully dedicated in bringing the traitor down and very stubborn about it as well. However, she is dealing with dangerous men in more ways than one.
Colonel Adrian Kingsland, Lord Wolvermont, is a career military man and loves the ladies and the ladies love him. He resembles so many of those historical romance heroes from England. He has hidden hurts from his childhood, takes no woman seriously, and certainly never plans to marry. When he and Elisa first meet, under very embarrassing circumstances, Adrian is immediately taken with her. He is determined to make this young widow his bed partner and makes no secret of it. He infiltrates her life in any way he can. Of course he is a very confident man and is aware of his considerable charm. However, he cannot understand her attraction to two particular men (two of the traitor candidates) and becomes quite agitated at the attention she gives them.
There are a few familiar romance plot twists but Kat Martin writes them so well that you hardly notice. One of the things I appreciate about her writing style is that she seldom uses The Big Misunderstanding. Her leads usually interact honestly and any misunderstandings are typically settled within a few pages. The interaction between Adrian and Elisa is just plain fun in the beginning and moves to very serious by the end. Although there are times of laughter, this one will also cause a few tears to flow as well. Dangerous Passions is one of those books that you will not want to put down. There are frequent sensual scenes that rate a solid 4.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines).
This book contains a lot of action and there is not a boring page. You will discover that it stretches the limits of believability more than once but if you can just ignore that occasional implausible moment, you will thoroughly enjoy reading Dangerous Passions.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shallow. Don't expect too much, April 5, 1999
This review is from: Dangerous Passions (Mass Market Paperback)
The plot looks very promising especially at the beginning where Adrian got into the right bed with the wrong woman it it.But don't be misled. It is supposed to be a spy story interwoven with romance. Unfortunately, the spying becomes the excuse to depict some passions. Therefore the story is shallow and thin. The reader should not expect any exciting or thrilling escapades in espionage--- there was none at all. The heroine, a country mouse, embarked on a foolhardly and haphazard mission of revenge single-handedly. She had only good looks but no brains. Without strategy or help, she thought she would sleep with one of the suspects, General Steigler, and he would disclose to her the secrets and thus she would find her brother's murderer. How infuriatingly naive! There was no mention of how she would extract the secret from the other two suspects.Anyway, it is an unsatisfying read which makes you annoyed with the heroine's ignorance and the writer's writing skill.
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