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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A perfect "TEN"; real love and heart-stopping sensuality..., July 13, 2004
...I've come to be quite spoiled by Nicole Jordan's books, and DESIRE continues that oh-so-satisfying tradition... Brynn Caldwell is wonderfully drawn , strong, full of love for her protective older brother Grayson and her endearingly real younger brother Theo , whom she raised from birth when their mother died 12 years before. Their father is dead, and they are making a living , but only just keeping ahead of their creditors....
Brynn's life is changed forever when Lucian, the Earl of Wycliff, spies her rising out of the warm waters off Cornwall after a private swim, Venus-like. Their chemistry is instantaneous, and Lucian is a very experienced lover, being one of the more illustrious rakes in the Hellfire League, whose members are featured in all of Jordan's NOTORIOUS series. Brynn doesn't know (and we don't either, at first) how disillusioned Lucian has become with the empty loveless paths he's traveled, and how deeply involved he is now with the war effort, conducting espionage for Britain as she battles on against Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican tyrant. But I digress. I read romance novels for romance, both emotional/spiritual and physical, and DESIRE *delivers*.... Ms. Jordan does not disappoint, giving readers a thrillingly hot love scene in the first few pages, set up as a prologue... WOW. All I can say is WOW... In a nutshell, Brynn's afraid to marry him because a curse has been placed on all the females in her family; if she falls in love with any man, he will die. It's already happened to her once... and I was amazed when Ms. Jordan was able to draw *me* into the mystery of the curse, just as Brynn draws Lucian effortlessly to herself; he wants her more than he's ever wanted anyone, and offers for her hand almost immediately. He wants a son, badly, having had a recent brush with death which resets his priorities. Brynn only accepts (although Lucian's beauty is hard to deny...) because if she weds Wycliff , her brothers would no longer have to smuggle luxuries into England , untaxed, to make a living. Grayson, the older brother , is already training young Theo to smuggle , when really the boy belongs in a good school, having a brilliant mind for science. Theo is , in a word, adorable.
Brynn weds Lucian reluctantly, and the fireworks begin... all kinds of fireworks... the very best ones being in the love scenes.
And I won't give it all away, but oh, that warm wedding night on the soft moonlit beach!!! Brynn is still an innocent, and Lucian is an exceedingly generous lover. At first he really does only want her so that he can sire an heir, but that changes quickly, as he grows to love her more and more --- much to her dismay. She doesn't want him to die.. it's the curse. Lucian scoffs at it, and early on, the reader does too, but not for long.
The plot becomes increasingly complex, but never boring, as Lucian becomes aware that Grayson is perhaps diverting enormous shipments of gold meant for Britain's allies over to the French.... not dealing at all with small stuff, such as brandy and silk...but he doesn't know Grayson is being blackmailed, his siblings facing certain death unless he complies....
Then Lucian suspects Brynn herself, his own wife, of being a part of the traitorous web, and Jordan makes this completely believable. I usually don't care for plots with much intrigue, but she makes it WORK, like magic. The intrigue is completely interwoven with the love....
She makes it so believable that you're sucked (willlingly) into the story, there with them. He's fallen hard for her, and now what will he do? And it gets even more complex. After all, they've been trying for a few months to create a child... Brynn finds that there MAY be a way to break the curse; she loves Lucian desperately and fears daily for his life. Not going to give that part away, but it 's brilliant, too... brilliant all around.
Their marriage starts out on very shaky ground( not telling why) and we see Lucian deciding -- after several weeks of wedded strife (caused by his own arrogance) -- to start from scratch and woo Brynn tenderly, slowly, sweetly... it is to die for, dear readers. Wait till you get to page 292.... the pages nearly caught fire in my hands!
And that's only one incredible love scene. There are several more, each one unique, each one so believable that you feel you're there. Jordan is fantastic at making each love scene really COUNT.... each one advances the storyline, each one has a *reason*, each one deepens their love in a new way.
Her books are so addictive.... I'm astounded at how she resolves several very complex plotlines in the very final pages; my jaw drops in a couple of places, not in disbelief but in admiration. And I feel so much affection for her characters here, as in her other novels; they are that well-drawn, that real, that compelling. These rakes start out as selfish libertines (to put it politely) , and then we come to see that they are far more complex and vulnerable than that. I love all the characters in the NOTORIOUS books. I experience their passions and heartaches and (thank the Lord) VERY satisfying endings. And I'm slightly sad when each book is done, wanting to know what will happen to them next ... Bravissima. More, more, more. I'm reading THE LOVER next, and I already have THE LORD OF SEDUCTION on pre-order from Amazon. Thanks for hours and hours of reading pleasure, Ms. Jordan! And now I'm going to re-read page 292. :)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Passionate intrigue, November 3, 2001
By A Customer
Lucian Tremayne, Earl of Wycliffe and legendary spymaster, has a chance encounter with beautiful and fiery Brynn Caldwell when she is swimming near her home on the Cornish coast. A recent brush with death has convinced Lucian of the need to marry and produce an heir and when he discovers Brynn is an eligible, but impoverished noblewoman, he decides she will make the perfect bride to bear him a son. Brynn however is a firm believer in a gypsy curse which will mean death to any man she comes to love and so is determined never to wed. Despite her strenuous objections Brynn is forced into marriage with the Earl to save her family from poverty, but as both Brynn and Lucian are equally determined not to fall in love, the marriage is to be purely a business arrangement and love is not part of the bargain! Soon after their marriage, Lucian begins to suspect his new wife and her brother may be embroiled in a treasonous plot to aid Napoleon. He is tormented by his growing feelings for his wife yet torn by his duty to his country. Brynn's belief in the gypsy curse means that she will not allow herself to care for Lucian, despite the overwhelming attraction she feels towards him. Set against a background of suspicion and treason, the passion Brynn & Lucian feel for each other explodes as intrigue and the search for stolen gold brings the tension between the lovers to a dangerous climax. Once again Nicole Jordan delivers a passionate and sensual romance in DESIRE, which is the third book in the Notorious series, following THE SEDUCTION and THE PASSION. Set in 1813 Regency London and Cornwall and with the elements of intrigue and danger added to the romance, most readers will enjoy this latest instalment. I thought it lacked some of the character and plot development of Nicole's earlier novels and it would also have been nice to see more development of Brynn and Lucian's relationship outside the bedroom. Lastly, a minor gripe. Unfortunately the setting of the novel never really had a Regency "feel" and in fact it could have been set in any time period. It didn't really come across as a Regency, especially when compared to THE SEDUCTION and books such as those in Jo Beverley's brilliant COMPANY OF ROGUES/THREE GUYS CALLED GEORGE Series (all of which are excellent!). Still DESIRE was a enjoyable read and will ensure that readers will be eagerly awaiting the fourth book in the series, ECSTASY (due in 2002), which will continue the story of Raven, who first appeared in THE PASSION.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Less plot and more sex, November 1, 2001
Nicole Jordan does not concentrate on the plot of her novels, but the more intimate scenes. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something the reader should know before purchasing her novels. "Desire" is the story of the Earl of Wycliff (Lucian) and Miss Caldwell (Brynn). Lucian is a spy, he works to scout out who is the traitor sending British gold to Napoleon. He is a returning character from Ms. Jordan's previous novel, "The Passion", in which we learn that a near death experience have convinced him of the need to have an heir so his entire life will not have been lived "in vain". He's rather arrogant and somewhat obnoxious, and not terribly deep despite the author's best intentions to give him different sides. He is supposedly traumatized by killing his own friend who turned out to be a traitor. It's not terribly convincing, but it isn't detrimental to the story either. Brynn however does affect the story negatively. She is a beautiful woman who bears a gypsy curse that attracts men to her like flies to honey, but any man she gives her heart to will perish. The magical aspect of it all did not appeal to me, and I wasn't sure if in the end it was ever resolved if the curse had been real or not. Lucian does not believe in the curse, which is how the book takes place. He sees Brynn swimming (nearly naked) in a cove in Cornwall. He knows he must have her, and basically forces her into marriage. She does not want to marry him, because she doesn't want him to have the potential to die because of her. He doesn't believe in the curse, but they end up having a cold first few months of marriage anyway. They finally warm up to each other (which is sort of cute), but Brynn kind of ruins it all when she gets pregnant and doesn't tell him, and when she goes to visit a gypsy to break the curse, but lies to Lucian about where she has been. He, of course, immediately thinks the worst. Then the secondary plot takes over. Lucian was in Cornwall in the first place because he was attempting to find Lord Caliban, who is the mysterious traitor forcing English lords to commit treason. Sir Grayson, Brynn's eldest brother, is part of the Free Trade system, but she does not believe he could possibly be part of the group sending gold to France. Of course, the truth is not surprising, and Lucian believes because of her previous lies, that she is part of the conspiracy. "Desire" is a fine romance novel, but, it's nothing spectacular. Ms. Jordan's best scenes take place in the bedroom, or wherever else her characters engage intimately. If a story is not what you're looking for, but sex is, I would highly recommend the novel. If you're looking for a story, I would not completely pass it up, but it is certainly not terribly strong in that department. Her characters are nothing new, and the magical element bothered me, but most importantly, it's readable, and does require excess thought.
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