Customer Reviews

Forever in Your Embrace

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Okay, I love historical romance. But this book, oh no! No.

"Synnovea" (??) is possibly one of the most unlikeable heroines I have ever encountered. Her little scheme to ruin her own reputation rather than marry the aging Vladimir is so ridiculous, I almost threw the book across the room. I mean... hello? The Tsar is your friend. He cares about your welfare. Why not go to him if your hosts are trying to destroy you? Why not ask for help, rather than ruin yourself and put the life of your panting suitor in danger? Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, that Synnovea, but hey, at least she is the MOST GORGEOUS WOMAN EVER, with eyes like green orbs that are described over and over again until everyone reading the book HAS to want to vomit.

And good ol' "Tyre"... are we supposed to feel bad for him, for being so wronged by Synnovea? What about the fact that he was totally raring to compromise her virtue without thought to her reputation? He describes himself as a "rutting stag", totally ready to satiate his lusts on Synnovea's "sweetmeats" (barf), such a "succulent feast". NOPE. Both of them are idiots and get what they deserve!

I have never endured such long-winded conversations (who has time to trade barbs with a thief, on a trail in front of a batallion of thieves and soldiers?) or speculations. I have never heard a man use the word "silken" before, much less TWICE in THE SAME CONVERSATION with a GIRL HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE MAD AT.

Reassured as I am that Synnovea is the most delectable fruit, the most beautiful damsel, the daintiest morsel in all Russia (or all of Europe, for that matter), I did not need reminders every page about how gorgeous she was. About her creamy cleavage, her long black tresses, her green orbs, yadda yadda. REALLY tiresome. Perfection. He can't resist. No one can. Such sweet agony, such honeyed torture. Gotcha. Page 417, and we're still being reminded. And, like, TWO things have happened plot-wise.

It got to the point that any time she changed outfits, we'd have to endure paragraph after paragraph of how incredible she looked in it. "Oh noooo... she put on a nightgown, here we go again..."

I do NOT reccomend this book. At all. And I am a SUCKER for historical romance. Sorry.

When Synnovea's wards try to marry her off to an old man, Synnovea looks to Colonel Rycroft to ruin her reputation and prevent the match. Her deceit, however, turns the love the Colonel felt for her into rage, and she must live with the consequences of her actions or try to win his heart again.

This is the standard Woodiwiss fare: tempestuous and well done. Synnovea is not one of my favorite Woodiwiss characters, but our cheers go to the Colonel. As usual, a lively side character, Natasha, adds some spark to an otherwise lackluster story line.

I found this book very standard...there is nothing outstanding or special with the plot nor the character of this book. I found myself very amused how the heroine in this book was portrayed and how she was placed in situation where all these men just want to kidnap her and somehow bed her. That is what I get mostly got out of this book, that Countess Synovea is an object of lust and thus her beauty is her curse...and that Colonel Tyrone just happends to be one of the man who lust after her and in the end loves her...and tries to protect her from all these men who wants to bed her. Try reading authors like Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, or Sandra Brown for great plot, heartfelt love story, and interesting character.

I am extremely disappointed with this authors books of late. I have read most of her books with Shanna and A Rose in Winter being my favorites. I am scanning and skipping pages in order for the conclusion. Ms. Woodiwiss seems to have lost her flair for exciting, sensuous writing. Since I purchased this book at a used bookstore, I have not lost money it. I do not plan on reading anymore books by this author.

I have read many Kathleen Woodwiss books and on the most part I enjoy reading them; I even cope with the blah names such as Cerynise because I loved the Elusive Flame; but there is nothing about Forever In Your Embrace that I liked. IT was tedious to read but perservered. First of all the Names Tyrone and Synnovea, Uggghh! Some of the rest weren't even pronounciable. The story was just awful and I guarantee if this was the first book I would have ever read of hers I would not have read anymore; SAVE YOUR MONEY OR IF YOU FEEL COMPELLED TO READ IT GO TO THE LIBRARY.

I've become a recent, enthusiastic fan of Ms. Woodweiss because of her eloquence in her writings and the romance she portrays. Although not exactly dissappointed in this one, I was somewhat expecting more. Call me strange, but the plot seemed too tame. The heroine gets lusted over by many men, is forced to marry one in particular, they go through a misunderstanding, then fall passionately in love and defeat their opposers. yep. that's about it.

I expected to like this book. I like the author, I studiedRussian, and enjoy a lot of romance novels. In this story, I find myself having to suspend my disbelief more than I can normally tolerate. (Even disregarding the Russian setting.) And I have to admit, I'm only about a third of the way through and I probably won't finish it. This is highly unusual for me. However, the female character and her circumstances are inconsistent and she tries so hard to be a victim despite the best possible circumstances in her life up to the start of the novel.

So far, the premise is that the tsar wants the countess to go live with her (nasty) relatives in Moscow, ostensibly for her protection. Yet she is a wealthy country property owner who has control over her own wealth and properties. The author never explains if she is to become a ward of the aunt and uncle indefinitely or just until she attains her majority. It seems to me that her majority would be in less than a year, and hardly worth the bother to remove her from her properties, the management of which she seems to perform well. If it is indefinitely, this is counter to the terms of her inheritance and nonsensical for the background presented.

There is also no explanation as to why her relatives are allowed to set up any sort of marriage agreement. If it is the case that she didn't in fact own the money or property of her inheritance, this makes sense. Her aunt and uncle don't own her property, yet are allowed to sign it away without the tsars input when any other male is required to petition the tsar to ask to date her. This makes no sense.

There is never any explanation for why the relations are allowed to keep her a virtual prisoner. One would expect the tsar, who went through the bother of arranging all of this because of his concern for her welfare would at least expect a formal visit, if not also social visits, thereby making sure she gets out of this deus ex machina hellhole.

Lastly, she decides to use the English captain in some totally hairbrained scheme. Hairbrained, here, means she wants to set them both up to get caught (not "quite" inflagrante delicto) by known, violent people who have nearly raped and killed her about 4 times by page 200. What does she expect, that they'll all get a good laugh out of this?...

Sorry, but I am agreeing with several of the other reviews who don't seem to care for this book too much. I got lost in the detail. I questioned the names, and the bathhouse seemed to be the most popular of places in this book. I loved the idea of the setting being Russia instead of England. I have always enjoyed Woodwiss books but this is definitely not my favorite.

I really liked Petals on the River, and for that reason picked up this title by the same author. When I found myself laid-up for 2 months in bed with a herniated disk in my neck, I tried to distract myself from the pain by reading something engrossing. I thought this would be the perfect solution. Really though, it was unbelievably tedious. I love historical novels, and romance all the better. The characters could have carried me away, but I agree with others that it dragged on and on and by the time I read for the 1000-th time how lovely Synnovea's creamy skin or gorgeous dress was, I wanted to scream. I began to wonder which was more painful--finishing this book, or my own neck. My recommendation: don't bother. Get a good Nora Roberts and a cup of tea by the fire.

Maybe my memory is just fading with age, but I remember Kathleen Woodiwiss' books having much more passion and excitement than this one. Going back 20 or so years ago, Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers were my favorite historical romance writers. The hardback book was over 500 pages. I enjoyed about the first 350 pages but then I just couldn't wait to finish it. I bought it while on vacation as a used library edition for $1.75. Since it was no big investment, I left it in the hotel for the maid. I was disappointed in this book. I think I'll re-read by favorite Woodiwiss, Shanna.