Customer Reviews

The Edge of Impropriety (Signet Eclipse)

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

 

 

When we first meet Jasper Hedges, scholar and antiquarian, he is visiting with his brother John and his wife Celia. Jasper had an affair with Celia fifteen years ago, and asked her to run away with him but she didn't. Her son, the new heir, is really his son. John and Celia sail to an evening party, and both die in a sudden storm. Now Jasper is the guardian of their two children.

Marina, Countess of Gorham, widowed second wife of questionable origins, writes popular romance novels to make ends meet. She's thought to be the lover of the much younger Sir Anthony Hedges, Jasper's nephew/son, but they've decided they make better friends than lovers. They plan to maintain the illusion to help boost sales of her upcoming book release.

Marina sees Jasper at the museum and is drawn to him, and then he comes to a dinner party in her home. Not knowing that the man she saw in the museum is Anthony's uncle, she expects him to be a musty, doddering old man, and is surprised to see such strong shoulders, such virility nearly hidden under his worn and rumpled clothing. They feel an unusual spark of attraction, despite coming from completely different worlds. He returns to her home later that evening, after the dinner party, and is unsure if he read her signals correctly. They make love and agree to have an affair for the season, but they will keep it private and will keep their personal lives to themselves. It's fascinating to see how this separation and supposed lack of intimacy affects their relationship throughout the book.

I was moved by how stoic Jasper is, and what a calm and endearing character he is. It's easy to see how Marina is drawn to him. This is an eloquent and captivating love story - two, actually, which is always a nice treat for romance readers - filled with blackmail and other unexpected twists.

I love that The Edge of Impropriety is about an older hero and heroine. Marina is thirty-six, and Jasper is sporting gray hair around his temples. I also like that he's the rumpled and scholarly type. It's a nice change of pace from the usual suave heroes, and it makes him very sexy.

Pam Rosenthal's enjoyably unique writing style is in a class of its own. Tastefully erotic love scenes add just the right amount of spice to this brilliantly executed novel, without bogging it down with gratuitous sex. Readers will find that they won't want to put this book down. I'm very much looking forward to reading more of her books.

5 Kisses, 1 1/2 Peppers


~Lindy
Reviewer, TwoLips Reviews, LLC
www.TwoLipsReviews.com

In 1829, popular novelist Marina Wyatt relishes being top fodder of gossip as she believes that sells books. Thus when her newest tale is to be released, Marina times that by dumping her current lover Sir Anthony Hedges so that the gossip columns can have a field day with her scandalous behavior and she benefits with higher profits; reputation means nothing except if it infamously increases sales.

Soon after kicking Anthony out of her bed, she meets his scholarly renowned antiquarian Uncle Jasper James Hedges. He is atypical of the all brawn no brain hunks she uses. Instead he is intelligent and believes she is too. He makes it clear he wants her, but takes her on an adventure like none she has ever been on before; way beyond THE EDGE OF IMPROPRIETY and she knows there is no going back.

This is a fabulous erotic late Regency romance starring an interesting unique lead female who uses men as her tool and fool until Jasper turns her concept of the male having all thoughts in the lower head upside down. The story line is well written and fast-paced especially when Jasper arrives in London. Pam Rosenthal writes an engaging historical due to the lead couple especially the refreshing Marina, who is a "man-izer" until the scholar shows her a more complete world.

Harriet Klausner

What a wonderful book!

For those of us romance lovers who are yearning for a fresh and different perspective, this is a terrific story.


The writing is refreshingly excellent. However, the book does drag on.

I read it on my Kindle, and I found myself cursing the editor of this book. Far too many rambling passages.

That being said...this was one of the most interesting books I have read this year.

I did feel that the author was way too obvious in setting up the inevitable sequels.

This is romance for the literate reader. Rosenthal is an adult writer for adult readers. No "it-made-me-weak-in-my-girl-parts" euphemisms or weak resolutions. In the world that these characters inhabit (as in our own), sex is power: challenging, frustrating, duplicitous, vulnerable, arrogant. Rosenthal succeeds where so many others fear (or are unable) to tread, in that she writes passionately and with conviction about human intimacy, and especially how women ply it. The steamy sex scenes are intense without ever sagging into cliche. Every act in the bedroom reveals another nuance of a character's personality or motives. The historical background is well-researched and touches on timeless philosophical issues of empire building, nationalism, and the worlds of art and commerce (and where those worlds intersect). An edifying delight.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
The writing style is "telling not showing." Because of this, it was unpleasant. I was not drawn into the story. I felt like something was missing. The plot and events in "outline form" were interesting. The characters were interesting. But I didn't get to experience anything because of the writing style. It was not emotionally engaging.

There wasn't enough dialogue. Here's an example (excerpted and capitalized words by me), page 313: "And while Marina, Jasper, and his niece had exchanged PLEASANTRIES, the uncle was gazing at Marina in some confusion...she glanced at her pocket watch. My word, look at the time, a pity to miss the marbles today...The FAREWELLS were quick, cordial, confused." There was no dialogue other than the phrase starting with "My word, look at the time". (I assume she said it out loud but maybe she just thought it.) The main point here is there was no dialogue showing the PLEASANTRIES and FAREWELLS.

Another example: A woman has been secretly in love with a man for ages (a secondary couple in the story). She is preparing to go to bed as she recalls the evening she just had. She thinks about how wonderful it was to dance, how wonderful their first two kisses were, and how sad she was when she heard something causing her to leave the ball. I didn't get to see any dialogue or be part of the scene as it happened. That was so disappointing.

Another example: A girl is crying and telling someone how earlier that night when she was sleeping in the library, two thieves entered, one with a gun. The thieves ran off when someone else entered the room. I couldn't experience her fear. Think how much better it would be to read "she was reading, she fell asleep, all of a sudden she wakes up seeing a thief standing next to her saying..."

Another example: A secondary couple realizes they are attracted to each other. They spend time together and plan to marry. All of this was told by other people thinking or talking about it. I never heard any dialogue between the couple - how they realized they loved each other, what they said, what they did.

The book is filled with this, including much of the relationship between the main couple.

I did have one favorite scene - the first time Marina and Jasper kissed and then had sex. There was not much dialogue because he was too nervous. Of course there was not much dialogue in the rest of the book either, but in this scene it worked.

Aside from the "telling" problem, the couple has a big misunderstanding toward the end - which is ok and typical for romance novels. But the author didn't show any reason for the separation. I had to make my own assumption as to why Jasper stopped seeing her. His feelings were not explained.

Also, not enough details were provided in two important areas. I needed to know more about Marina's past. And, what happened to the blackmailer was an unsatisfying mystery. It was never answered and simply seemed convenient to the plot.

STORY BRIEF:
Marina is a widow and a novelist. She attends all the parties. There is much gossip about her novels because her characters are based on actual people. Jasper was a second son. He left England years ago and became a specialist in Greek and other antique art. He returned to England to be guardian of his niece and nephew when their parents died. He meets Marina. They fall in love and have a secret affair - seeing each other only at night in her bedroom.

Someone is blackmailing Marina about her unacceptable past (including dancing nude). If it came out, she would no longer be welcome in society - which is necessary to her publishing success. She pays monthly fees to the blackmailer.

DATA:
Story length: 336 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: strong, including rear door activity. Number of sex scenes: 5. Total number of sex scene pages: 16. Setting: Mostly 1829 England. Copyright: 2008. Genre: historical romance.