Customer Reviews

A Lady of Persuasion

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

 

 

I bought this book eagerly despite not enjoying 'surrender of a siren' (but loving Goddess of the Hunt). The book is well written enough - but, it is the heroine, lord help me, that was so over-the-top priggish that I simply could not finish it! I felt sorry for the hero to have to be saddled with her - yuck. It's one thing to believe in justice or have a religion - it's another to subject others to misery because of it....ironic, really. She could not find love if it hit her over the head. After reading almost half of it trying to decide if I'd finish it, I skimmed the final half to see if there was any redemption for her. Much later she sort of gives a mea culpa. But, I couldn't bring myself to subject myself to her brand of misery for however many hour(s) it'd steal from my life to get to it. I didn't feel interested in the tension/issues that the novel revolved around - because it entirely revolves around the heroine being a stubborn, absorbed unloving whelp. She's so obessed with being 'perfect' she can't even be nice. So - the one star is not just the heroine but the effect her personality has on the entire story. Too bad, too - I did like Toby, but only pitied him in this one (he is in Goddess of the Hunt & is jilted in 'surrender of a siren'). Tessa Dare is a great writer (in the romance genre) & I will buy her next book (next year, I think) - but, this heroine was just awful!

I would be curious to see a review from someone who did not read the 2 books before this one. I'm wondering if I just didn't like this book because I loved Tessa's first 2 so much...it was hard for this one to live up to the others?

I found Toby to be BORING. He was such a shallow character to me. I get it...he was the perfect gentleman but lazy and now his wife wants to make him a better man and he wants to try for her. And then the wife who is too perfect and giving and loving and shy but encouraging in bed. (YAWN)

I read the first 2 books in 2 days. It took me almost 2 weeks to finish this book. The plot was boring and the characters were almost like afterthoughts..."I have to write a trilogy, I have plot for 2 books...guess I'll throw the sister and the jilted groom together and see what happens." The end was a bit redemptive and the reason it got 3 stars instead of 2.

The best parts were revisiting the characters from the first 2 books. Loved hearing about Lucy's pregnancy and how Sophia and Gray were doing together in London.

I HIGHLY recommend Surrender to a Siren and Goddess of the Hunt. But you can probably skip this one.

***In response to comment***
I agree. The last chapter was great for getting to know how everyone is doing in the future. So...go ahead and open the book and read the last chapter.

I feel that Ms. Dare had a great idea for a heroine, but had a hard time wrestling that idea into submission, while at the same time feeling pressure to bring back all the main characters from the previous two books in the series (sometimes plausibly, sometimes not - see also: final scene). Toby is great to laugh with and at, falling prey to what many of us have a habit of doing in idealizing the object of one's attraction. Isabel, however... well, she was nearly interesting. I liked "Surrender of a Siren" better, and "Goddess of the Hunt" was a solid start. Go back to those, if you haven't read them yet.

Lady of Persuasion is the third and final book in this marvelous trilogy by Tessa Dare. Tessa has written a beta hero who is a gentleman in public but quite the tiger in the bedroom. This is quite the change from those heroines who embody the Madonna/Whore complex. They are women who are polite and proper in public, but when they are alone with the men they desire, off goes their proper mask and out comes a seductive and lustful woman who will do whatever they want with the hero in terms of bedroom acrobatics. Toby makes sure to rip off the mask of his heroine and their bedroom activities are very steamy and hot.

Toby was first introduced in Goddess of the Hunt. Lucy, the heroine of that story wanted Toby for her own. He was also engaged to Sophia, who ended up jilting him in Surrender the Hunt. A Lady of Persuasion begins with Toby at a ball thinking about murdering someone. Not that Toby would ever think of going through such a horrible act, but Toby is upset and angry because the woman who left him at the altar has returned home with her new husband by her side. Toby feels that he was ridiculed and embarrassed. Even though Toby wasn't in love with Sophia, that fact of the matter is that she dared to marry a man with a shocking reputation, while Toby is everything proper. He has the credentials and respect. How could this woman leave him for a feared privateer?

As Toby stews, or rather pouts much like a little boy whose favorite toy was taken from him, he notices a lady who stands out from all the others. His mind, body and soul are overwhelmed by this beauty and Toby decides he wants her even though he has no clue who she is. It seems that his dark haired angel only has eyes for that dastardly privateer Grayson. Now Toby will have his revenge and steal the young woman's favor from Grayson and make her turn her appreciation towards him.

The woman in question is Benedict Grayson's sister Isabel. She thinks Toby is one of the most handsome men she has ever seen. She also thinks he is too perfect with his smooth poetic words and will simply not do as a husband.

Isabel comes to the conclusion that Toby isn't a paragon of virtue. She needs to marry a man of honor and principles, one that won't turn to any vices. Toby doesn't understand why Isabel would want such a fuddy duddy. He doesn't know that the reason Isabel wants this specific type of man is because of her mother's own fiery natures that backfired on her. Isabel wants a life with a man that will be simple and understated. Unfortunately for Isabel the moment Toby walked into her life everything she wants no longer matters because Toby has laid claim to Isabel and won't settle for anything less than marriage with her.

What Toby wants, he will get and maneuvers things in a way where Isabel accept his proposal. He promises Isabel something that he knows he cannot deliver. He lies, plain and simple, to get what he wants and even though he knows it will backfire on him, he hopes by the time Isabel finds out his deception, she will be so in love with him and will forgive him.

Now you are probably thinking what a low down dirty skunk Toby is for lying to Isabel right from the start of their relationship. I couldn't help but think Toby was going to be in for a world of hurt because Isabel holds him in high esteem because of this promise he makes to her. But Toby wants to be that type of man Isabel can admire. Toby has a way of making Isabel desirable and loved. He uses those honey coated words of his to make her lose all sense. Toby wants to be Isabel's knight in shining armor, her protector and hero.

Isabel comes across as a bit too righteous. The reasons stems from her past and because of her issues with her mother. Toby is the perfect man for her because he is able to show Isabel that the passion she holds deep inside of her is perfectly alright to give into, especially with him. And the intimacies Toby and Isabel share, and the emphasis on share, are steamy, emotional and some of the best I have read in any historical romance this year. These two cannot keep their hands off of one another.

Not only do we see Isabel and Toby together as married couple, and it was such a joy to see Toby loved being married (YAY to a hero who loves marriage), but we also see past characters such as Lucy and Jeremy. The scene where Lucy is going through labor is so laugh out loud hilarious and not to be missed. Also Tess makes sure to give Gray's half-brother Joss, who made quite the impression in Surrender the Siren, his own story. Because I promised not to give anything away about Joss and what happens with him, I will say his was a very welcomed secondary one. I really wished Joss would have had his own book because his character is so interesting and just as worthy as the other Dare heroes.

A Lady of Persuasion is close to a perfect read as you can get.

Katiebabs

Goddess of the Hunt
Surrender of a Siren: A Novel

This is the 3rd book in the series (Goddess of the Hunt (1)& Surrender of a Siren: A Novel (2)). This book had interesting mood to it , both Isabel and Toby were unrealistic about marriage and had to grow together to achieve a happy marriage , which was intriguing path. Isabel is the sister of Benedict "Gray" Grayson from the 2nd book and Toby is the jilted fiancé of Sophia Hathaway both from 1st book. What I liked about this novel was that all the characters from the 2 previous books have a role in this novel. If you enjoy historical romances I would pick up all three and have a long weekend of romance, Enjoy!Looking forward The Stud Club Trilogy due out Summer 2010 with the first one being One Dance with a Duke scheduled to release May 25, 2010.

If you enjoy this genre here are a few of my favorite historical romances from this fall; With Seduction in Mind, Lady of Scandal (Zebra Historical Romance) and Wicked All Day

i really liked goddess and siren by tessa dare, but this book was horrible! the heroine was the absolute worst i have ever read. spoiled and bratty and super WHINY! i didn't understand why the toby fell in love with her, except that he didn't want to end another engagement, and i felt sorry for him throughout the book. i truly hated this character. i skipped the entire middle. the only bright spots were the secondary characters. gray and sophia, jeremy and lucy, and joss and hetta were fun to see interact again. plus there is a scene between toby and sophia where she finally gets to tell him she's sorry and why she left. that made it almost worth buying. ALMOST.

After reading Goddess of the Hunt and Surrender of a Siren, I was eager to read this third in the trilogy about Bel and the poor jilted Toby. And what a wonderful set of books these are.

Toby's determined to gain some sort of revenge on the man who 'stole' his intended, the beautiful Sophia, and Bel is determined to find a man with decent political standings in order to become a 'lady of influence' among London society. There's no room in her life for love and desire, not with her goals for charity and helping the less fortunate. Yet Toby awakens within her a craving for passion that terrifies her.

Their marriage is nearly doomed from the beginning, for Toby promises things that he shouldn't, only to appease Bel in order for her to find him to be the one suitable husband she seeks. Each of them have their doubts of worthiness regarding their own significance to the other. I think Tessa Dare did an outstanding job formulating how Toby and Bel struggle with their issues and realize and come to terms with their shortcomings.

I wasn't sure what I thought of Bel in the beginning, with her rather 'holier than thou' attitude in her quiet and innocent sort of way. But over the course of the book, I began to understand and accept her behavior and beliefs. That's the one thing about how a person is shaped after tragic incidents in their past. You just don't know. Everyone deals with things differently and takes from them what they will, shaping them into who they will become. And with what Bel suffered with her mom, her father, and her brothers, well, I can understand how she would grow to want the things she does and fear the things she fears, such as desire and love.

I greatly enjoyed the conclusion of this trilogy with Bel and Toby. And I loved the way all three books tied into the other. Such wonderful characters. It was a pleasure spending more time with Lucy and Jeremy, and Sophia and Gray. And even the side-story with Gray and Bel's brother, Joss and Lucy's physician, Hetta. That was a sweet surprise and one I was very thankful to read!

A fine historical trilogy, one I would not hesitate recommending to others!

I'm so very disappointed...and very very shocked!

I've been a HUGE fan of Tessa Dare ever since I read "Goddess of the Hunt" and as you all know I do not give ratings where ratings aren't due, and I'm not going to start now.

This author built two perfect and entertaining characters in her previous books...And I can't believe this is how she decides to tell their stories. We all get to know Sir Toby in "Goddess" and I found myself in awe of him...I liked Toby from the start but when Dare shows us his true colors in this novel she turns him into a yappy tripping over his own feet drooling no guts of a man...

Isabel Grayson is even worse than Toby. She's an exotic beauty; Dare really had a way of showing us how glamorous she was, but reading about her is literally like watching paint dry (I'm not kidding)... It's been a long time since I've disliked a character so much.

I'm still so confused at how this story went so wrong. But boy did it ever. The only bright side to this book was the secondary story of Joss and Hetta, I was hoping they would get a book of their own, but they didn't.

I do however realize that not all books in a complete series can be 5 Star reads, but to let a story go so carelessly?! That wasn't very smart. LoL! Can you tell I'm really upset about this?. I'm crossing my fingers tightly that this is a fluke incident by this author. I will read the next in the series, but if it's anything like this one I'll not spend my hard earned book money (*smiles*) on this writer again.

Tessa Dare does have the stuff to make it in this book filled world...She proved that with the first two in this series (Both 5 Stars), but if she keeps writing like this she's in trouble before she's even given herself a chance.

This book is the third of Dare books and the most recent in the series.

This book was greatly disappointing to me, mostly because I found the heroine prissy and dull. She had a holier-than-thou-attitude that is off-putting in romance novels. I just couldn't believe that her lover Toby would continue to put up with her ridiculous and annoying requests.

I was also disappointed because Dare hastily writes in the romance of Josiah Grayson and the doctor. I was hoping that their romance would merit a novel of their own. I found them to be more likable than Isabella and Toby.

I bought all three books: Absolutely loved the first, struggled through the second and wanted to kill the obnoxious martyr girl in the third! I really don't know what happened to the writer on this book. The story kept dragging over every issue the moron girl had to fight! After a time, you hated that she found any happiness at all. The poor guy he was nice enough, but what a rotten deal he ended up with in the end. Overall the books were readable, I didn't care for the constant audience whenever the feelings were being expressed I think that got old in the 2nd and 3rd books. The Epilogue appeared rushed, left out characters, bordered on a real life sermon and by far the WORST insulting mistake was ruining the 1st romance by the speculating of 'what if Lucy had gone into Toby's room'. Did the writer totally lose her mind?!?!?!?!?!