The Passion [Mass Market Paperback]

Nicole Jordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2000

To escape marriage to a despised man twice her age, Lady Aurora Demming makes a scandalous arrangement with Nicholas Sabine, a dangerously handsome American facing execution for murder and piracy. She agrees to become his wife for one day . . . and one glorious, intoxicating night. Widowed, Aurora returns to London society with Nicholas's orphaned sister at her side to face a lifetime without love--until her "dead" husband returns, insisting that she honor their vows and haunting her dreams with promises of forbidden desire. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those looking for history in their Regency may have to settle for sex in Jordan's followup to The Seduction. When her bookish and noble fianc and lifelong friend, Geoffrey, Earl of March, is lost at sea, Lady Aurora Demming, daughter of the powerful duke of Eversley, believes she has lost her only chance to be free of her abusive fatherDa fear intensified by his having arranged a marriage for her with a controlling man twice her age. An opportunity for freedom arises when Nicholas Sabine, an American about to be hanged for murder and piracy, asks her to marry him for just one dayDand one tempestuous night. His money will give her independence, while her title will enable her to guarantee that Nicholas's raven-haired half-sisterDa love child born out of wedlockDwill be accepted by British high society. Aurora's new life as a London widow and the guardian of her new ward is shattered when Nicholas appears at a masquerade ball, explaining how he escaped death and desiring to claim her publicly as his wife. Although she is desperately attracted to him, Aurora fears marriage to a man so passionateDabout danger, life and loveDwill trap her as completely as did life with her father. Just as Nicholas seems to be persuading her of their mutual love and rightness for each other, the long-lost fianc turns up, obviously not drowned at all. Jordan aptly maintains the tension between Aurora and Nicholas, while moving the plot smartly along with lively dialogue and interesting secondary characters. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A marvelously seductive, passionate, and tad erotic tale that enthralls." 4 ½ Stars, RT Top Pick -- Romantic Times

"A seductive tale with all the fire and conflict expected from this talented author." -- BookBrowser

"A vibrantly sensual novel. A journey of awakening... intensely robust and romantic." -- The Romance Journal

"An emotional storm." -- Rendezvous

"Jordan writes highly charged erotic historical romances." -- Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (October 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449004856
• ISBN-13: 978-0449004852
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"One of my all time favorite writers, Nicole Jordan delivers romance like no one else. Captivating, enticing, and irresistible, her books are always on my must buy list."--Sherrilyn Kenyon, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Nicole Jordan charms and captivates."--Jillian Hunter, New York Times bestselling author

New York Times bestselling author Nicole Jordan spins delightful tales that simmer with passion and sensuality. In her former life, Nicole grew up as an Army brat, moving frequently and attending high school in Germany. She later earned a civil engineering degree from Georgia Tech and spent eight years as a manufacturing manager making disposable diapers and toilet tissue! Currently Nicole lives in the Rocky Mountains of Utah with her real-life hero (her husband) and beloved kids (her horses).

With over two-dozen historical romances to her credit and five million books in print, set in numerous eras and locales, Nicole now enjoys chronicling the sparks that fly when Regency lovers play the matrimonial mating game.

One of her novels had the dubious honor of being humorously spotlighted by Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show." On a more serious note, Nicole's romances regularly appear on numerous bestseller lists, including The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today, and have earned such honors as RITA finalist, RWA's Favorite Book of the Year, theRomantic Times Career Achievement Award for Historical Romance, and the Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence, presented by a group of over one hundred romance reviewers.

Contact Nicole via her website www.NicoleJordanauthor.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Passionate!, October 30, 2000

By 

Beth Little (Anderson, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passion (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Passion" by Nicole Jordan

This story takes you on a passionate ride! The scenes Nicole Jordan presents are breathtaking, poetic, beautiful, erotic, intoxicating, bold, and passionate! The reader learns about Aurora and Nicholas as they learn about and discover each other as well as about themselves. Their fire is ignited from the very beginning of the book as Aurora and Nicholas gaze into one another's eyes, then fire becomes a roaring blaze when they kiss. When they realize passion and love are one in the same the fire is fueled uncontrollably! Both characters are strong individuals that have and can endure what life expects of and deals them. They learn about true courage, commitment, desire, passion, and love. Aurora has always been what society expects of a "proper" woman, but yearned to be passionately free. Nicholas is a man who chose to be free from society's expectations and lives life to the fullest. They are separated for a short period of time after their wedding night, and each discovers something different. After reading an erotic journal that Nicholas entrusts to her, Aurora believes she has learned all she needs to know about desire, passion and love but feels she should never open the heart to love because it will only be broken. And vows she will never allow that to happen to her. Nicholas discovers differently. During their time apart he realizes that his feelings for Aurora are stronger than any he has ever felt for a woman. He thinks at first those feelings are simply desire and lust. However, after spending time and getting to know her he realizes he wants Aurora's heart and now must convince her. The book is heart wrenching, suspenseful, surprising, & tearful from it's beginning to it's VERY passionate ending! This is book two in "The Notorious" series by Nicole Jordan. I highly recommend this book as well as book one in the series, "The Seduction"! Nicole Jordan is an amazingly talented author and you will not be disappointed.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nicole Jordan nevers lets you down!, October 26, 2000

By 

Heather (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Passion (Mass Market Paperback)

I LOVED this book. From the beautiful Prologue, until the very end, you are given a story with wonderful main characters, great secondary characters (Nicole makes secondary characters as fun and interesting to read about as the main one's), a wonderful story, and some really sensual love scenes. Nicole's writing at times, seems poetic, and the lush love scenes are so beautiful, they leave you breathless. The Passion starts off exciting and is a thrill from beginning to end. I couldn't put it down.

Lady Aurora Demming meets Nicholas Sabine as he is about to go to the gallows. They make a pact, and share a glorious night of passion before he is to be hung. Aurora marries Nicholas to avoid marrying the man her father betrothed her to, and Nicholas marries Aurora so that she can become the guardian of his sister. You'll enjoy the story of Aurora and Nicholas, and their sensual journey to love. I did.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More like 2 1/2 stars. I had mixed feelings about this book, February 14, 2006

By 

Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passion (Mass Market Paperback)

Where to start? This was the first book I'd read by this author. It started off quite well, with an interesting, if somewhat far-fetched premise. However, if one can suspend disbelief (and I usually can), this book captured the reader's interest...at first.

I blasted throught the first 100 pages. The book was shaping up well. The characters were likeable, and I cried a little when Nicholas "died", even though I knew he wasn't really dead. The plot was moving swiftly, and the focus appeared to be firmly on the relationship between hero and heroine. That's just as is should be. So far, so good.

But then the book started to fall apart. Aurora really began to get on my nerves. She was lamenting about how much she missed Nick and what might have been. Then Nick returns from the dead, and suddenly she doesn't want him anymore. Then she doesn't want a true marriage with him (kind of late for that, chickipoo!) unless it's based on love. So then he falls in love with her, and admits it to her, and again, she changes her mind and decides that she doesn't want him anymore. Then she realizes she's in love with him too, but casts him aside for someone else based on some pretty lame excuses about honor and duty. Then she wants him again. Arrgh! As my English mother would say, "changeable as the bloody wind!" I wanted to smack her and tell her to make up her stupid mind already--choose the man you love, the one who's name you already share! I'd started out liking her, but this pretty much killed any warm feelings I had about her.

And then there was the overabundance of sex in this book. I'm no prude, but it got to be ridiculous. There had to be at least a dozen sex scenes in this book, and most lasted for almost 10 pages. I was starting to roll my eyes and mutter, "Oh, for Pete's sake, are they doing it AGAIN?" It seemed like they were either fighting or screwing (mostly screwing) for the last 2/3 of the book. I was like, get on with the story. Where's the love, the romance in my romance novel? If I wanted erotic fiction (I don't), then that's what I'd buy. I started skimming whole sections of this book, and skipping scenes entirely because I was getting bored.

I was barely able to make myself finish this. If I can borrow another book by this author from the library, I might consider trying it. Otherwise, I'll save my money. Unless you're a die-hard fan of this author, I'd suggest you save your money and skip this book.