9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Fine Read!, October 12, 2009
This review is from: No Greater Pleasure (Order of Solace, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is not your typical Megan Hart book, or at least not what I've come to expect. It isn't that it's not highly engaging with characters being put in heart wrenching situations. It's that it does not have the page upon page of erotic, explicit encounters, for which I think Megan Hart steals the cake when it comes to mastering those titillating scenes of the flesh and incorporating that into an emotionally compelling read. It is rather mild for over half the book, but what you do get is a building of a friendship between the two main characters, Tranquilla Caden and Gabriel Delessan, as well as between Tranquilla and his staff.
In No Greater Pleasure the sexually charged atmosphere is toned down to a slow and engaging build-up as Tranquilla, the Handmaiden assigned to Delessan, learns her new master and attempts to gain the knowledge she needs to bring him absolute solace. As well as making friends with the staff and earning herself a respectable place in their eyes.
Gabriel Delessan is a dark, mysterious, brooding, unhappy man. His wife is a mad, conniving, deceitful woman. And she makes his life miserable. He'd like to think that when she has moments of clarity that she will remain that way, but she ends up that despicable person once again. So he requests a Handmaiden from the Order of Solace, hoping to find some sort of peace in his very unhappy existence. Yet Gabriel fights and argues with Quilla nearly every step of the way as she tries to sooth him. But what he doesn't realize, is that over the course of the months she's been serving him, she has been breaking through his barriers, on act, one word, one gesture at a time.
But you may be wondering the same as I did, how can this be a romance if Delessan is married and refuses Quilla in any intimate fashion? And that is where Megan Hart's talent as a writer shines, and makes her stories different from the rest. Her characters are put in situations that aren't typical and where there's a will, there's a way, and happiness lies down that road. If ever there was a man who needed some happiness, it's Gabriel Delessan (and what a great name too!) and Quilla the perfect soul to mend his torn and broken heart, giving him perfect Solace.
I enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful addition to the first one, Pleasure and Purpose. But I must say that I was a tad disappointed for the lack of sex. And I only say that because I have come to expect it, especially since the first book was extremely potent, but that's the only place my disappointment lies. This one may have been toned down on the explicitness, but it still tugged on my emotions at the end something fierce. I loved the story and I think the Order of Solace is a grand concept and makes for delightful reads.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Submissiveness or masochism?, November 30, 2010
This book left a lot to be desired. The Order of the Solace may believe in helping and bringing solace to tortured individuals, but Quilla was way too lenient to let Gabriel treat her with such hatefulness. In the end he blames her for everything that went wrong in his life as she stood there loving him. Would most women put up with that unfair blame and still love a man who would not take responsibility for his own actions (or lack of)? Would most women stand to be thrashed as a standin for someone she hates or allow the man she loves to beat and slap her? I don't think so, unless she is a total submissive and loves masochistic behavior or really hates herself so much she wants to punish herself for some reason. I had no respect for her at the end of this book, and even less for Gabriel. The intimate sections of the book, I felt, were only a physical release for Gabriel. He never really treated her as if he loved her. His wife was mad and he stood by as he let her hurt Quilla (physically) and his son (mentally) with her bizarre behavior. He let her slap him and call him names. Would you really want to have children with a man like this and subject them to his cruelty? Would you want to spend your life with a man who would treat you with such disrespect. Yes, some women would, but not me. I like strong women characters who have a sense of self respect. You may enjoy this book if you like stories of d/s. This is the second Megan Hart book I have read. I did like the first one but now I am unsure of purchasing anymore.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Page-Turner and Tear-Jearker, November 30, 2010
I've come out from my years-long avoidance of anything fiction and have been reading some historical romance. This was definately an interesting book!
This is the first book by Megan Hart that I have ever read, so I cannot compare it to her other books, but thought it was excellent! I immediately got absorbed in the plot, and it kept me interested to the very end (difficult to do for this "fiction scrooge"). As others have mentioned, it isn't overly "steamy," which was fine with me. It was not lacking, though, in tension. Not usually an emotional-type person, I did find some parts towards the end tugging at my heartstrings, bringing me to tears. I look forward to getting the 1st of this series and reading it.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is because I, too, felt like Gabriel was very cold, even to the end. His intimacies w/ Quilla were more "cold" than I would have liked, and was disgusted with his treatment of her, especially later in the book when I would have thought, or hoped, that he would have changed. I couldn't understand why Quilla "loved" him, unless she is a glutton for punishment.
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