Perfect Kisses [Paperback]

Susan Johnson (Author), Sylvia Day (Author), Noelle Mack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2007

"School For Scandal" - Susan Johnson: James Bell, Viscount Ormond, is a shameless rake, infamous for his skills in seduction - and Claire Russell doesn't intend for her sister to become his latest conquest. That is why she's come to the viscount's private masked ball. The flagrant sensuality and unabashed decadence on display there are shocking, but they are nothing compared to the scandalous fire Claire feels when James makes a wholly improper suggestion...improper, indecent, and very, very tempting..."Mischief And The Marquess" - Sylvia Day: Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine and Lady Sophie Milton-Riley have no desire to marry. To satisfy their mothers' insistence that they would be quite right together, they set out to demonstrate how completely ill suited they are for one another. Justin is allergic to her perfume. Sophie dislikes his dogs. He prefers blondes; she, brunette men. But the more they seek to prove how wrong their union would be, the more right things feel. And when opposites attract, there's no denying the sparks or the heat..."The Ruby Kiss" - Noelle Mack: Susannah Fowler is in possession of many temptations - an independent nature, a quick wit, and lush curves. She is also in possession of a fortune in stolen jewels hidden within her favorite corset. If rakehell Carlyle Jameson wants it, he will have to remove it himself. From her boudoir...or from her body. One kiss ought to distract her, but one kiss leads to another and another, till there's no turning back...and no desire to try...

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Johnson and Sylvia Day and Noelle Mack come three sizzling stories about the art of seduction...

IT STARTS WITH ONE PERFECT KISS...

SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL
by Susan Johnson

James Bell, Viscount Ormond, is a shameless rake, infamous for his skills in seduction--and Claire Russell doesn't intend for her sister to become his latest conquest. That is why she's come to the viscount's private masked ball. The flagrant sensuality and unabashed decadence on display there are shocking, but they are nothing compared to the scandalous fire Claire feels when James makes a wholly improper suggestion...improper, indecent, and very, very tempting...

MISCHIEF AND THE MARQUESS
by Sylvia Day

Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine, and Lady Sophie Milton-Riley have no desire to marry one another. To satisfy their mothers' insistence that they would be an ideal pairing, they set out to demonstrate how completely ill-suited they are. Justin is allergic to her perfume. Sophie dislikes his dogs. He prefers blondes; she, brunette men. But the more they seek to prove how wrong their union would be, the more right things feel. And when opposites attract, there's no denying the sparks...or the heat...

THE RUBY KISS
by Noelle Mack

Susannah Fowler is in possession of many temptations--an independent nature, a quick wit, and lush curves. She is also in possession of a fortune in stolen jewels hidden within her favorite corset. If rakehell Carlyle Jameson wants it, he will have to remove it himself. From her boudoir...or from her body. One kiss ought to distract her, but one kiss leads to another and another, till there's no turning back...and no desire to try...

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Brava (June 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075820941X
• ISBN-13: 978-0758209412
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two duds and one winner, July 6, 2007

By 

Misuzmama (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Kisses (Paperback)

Another anthology bites the dust. This was supposed to be "three sizzling stories about the art of seduction". With gorgeous cover (is that guy hot or what!) and the three tempting blurbs on the back, I happily plunked down my $15. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations.

In Johnson's School for Scandal we have a heroine who tries to keep the shameless rake away from his latest target -her sister. Instead she becomes seduced and they fall in love. In my opinion the heroine succumbs rather easily. I would have rather seen a longer seduction. And the love scenes are rather run of the mill. I didn't get any indication that the hero believed that the making love to the heroine was any better than with all the other women he had (isn't it supposed to be?). So I really didn't buy the fact that he was in love with her and just decided to marry her. Not enough character development and bogged down with mediocre love scenes.

Day's Mischief and the Marquess is the best of the bunch. Thrown together by an meddling grandmother and aunt, the hero and heroine set out to prove that they are ill-matched. Well it's really the heroine who sets out to prove this because she thinks that although she loves the hero, she can't possibly marry him because she is a ruined woman. She loves him too much to taint his title. A very sensual read. Plenty of good love scenes and well fleshed out characters. The only thing I didn't buy is how the Marquess went about trying to restore the heroine's reputation -too far fetched. I don't think she really could live down the scandal she caused years earlier.

In Mack's The Ruby Kiss we have a heroine who recently came to London from India for the sole purpose of finding a husband now that her father has died and she is alone in the world. Her guardian is a rakehell that was good friends with her father. She finds sapphires and rubies that were sewn into one of her corsets and sets about finding the answers to the mystery surrounding them. If the hero wants them, then he's going to have to take them literally off of her to get them. I thought that was going to be a highly erotic love story. Nope. Boring beyond belief. The mystery is really not that exciting and too much time is spent in that direction and not enough on building sexual tension. And the love scenes? There weren't ANY! Just some teasers and they were vague at best. Disappointing.

Not one of the better anthologies. Day's is the only one I recommend. And I'm not sure that that's worth the $15.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One out of Three, December 23, 2007

By 

Debra A. Qualmann "pepeperfume" (Beaver Dam, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Kisses (Paperback)

The saving grace to this book which contains three separate stories by three separate authors is the 2nd story "Michief and the Marquise" by Sylvia Day. The story was well told, interesting and the chemistry between Justin and Spohie was bittersweet, highly sexual--and simply proves that an erotic story doesn't have to be all sex and no love. In this story the love manipulates the sex and vice versa. The cost of this book allow is acceptable to me because this story was so wonderful..
I give that story ***** (5) Stars!

"School for Scandal" by Susan Johnson. Another well told story, but more based on sex than on love...James is a rake--and Claire hopes to save her little sister from him--only to find she has attracted his determined attaction--and manage to find that she is even weaker than her sister in her ability to tell him no.....
I Rated this one *** (3) stars. It was entertaining, but I found it rather hard to accept that James could fall so hopeless in love with Clarie given how jaded he was said to be--and he did so after having sex with her on two separate occassions--Believablity for me would be that he's an idiot and thinks with the little head--not the big one.....

The 3rd story isn't worth the paper it appeared on. The Ruby Kiss" by Noelle Mack--was a boring, narrative of what the story was about--with very little interaction between Carlyle and Susannah. She remembers, then he remembers--and how the first kiss happens doesn't flow with what is happened in the story--just like the sex seemed tossed in as well...skip this irritating story as the only thing I liked about it was that it was very short. I only give this * (1) star....enough said.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Blue Ribbons!, July 20, 2007

By 

Natalie S "ns65" (Nashville) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Perfect Kisses (Paperback)

SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL

James, Viscount Ormond is a notorious womanizer and loves to defy convention. Since he is so charming he can get away with practically everything, even compromising young girls. School mistress Claire Russell has a thing or two to say about that when Ormond sets his sights on her younger sister. Attending one of his parties, Claire plans to read him the riot act when she realizes that her anger has subsided and in its place is desire.

When Ormond proposes a solution to Claire's request, she knows in her heart that it is wrong, but she can't help how she feels. Willing to risk scandal and her good name, Claire agrees to Ormond's proposal not knowing that the fire burning inside her heart will only burn brighter.

MISCHIEF AND THE MARQUESS

Justin's matchmaking mother and Sophie's matchmaking grandmother have decided that Justin and Sophie are perfect for each other. With the matchmakers planning to draw the two together at Justin's country home, Justin does his best to get far away from their scheming. However, with one look at Sophie, Justin realizes that she is as beautiful and wonderful as she was years ago when she threw him over for one of his friends. While he never voiced his attraction to her so long ago, her past rejection doesn't hurt any less.

Lady Sophie Milton-Riley remembers Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine, very fondly. Years ago, he was an unattainable desire that burned in her soul, and she knew she would never experience being a part of his life. Sophie is in for the surprise of her life because with one kiss Justin has decided that Sophie will be his.

THE RUBY KISS

After the death of her father, Susannah Fowler returns to London to find a husband. Her guardian, bad boy Carlyle Jameson, wants what Susannah is hiding; a corset full of stolen jewels. Susannah is not giving up her unmentionable with a fight, or maybe a kiss or two. Realizing that Carlyle might be the one responsible for the gems' theft, Susannah finds herself in a dilemma - while she is watching Carlyle, someone is watching her.

Usually when reading an anthology, I find that I like one or two of the novellas, and then there is usually one that I do not care for. That was not the case with PERFECT KISSES. Each story was written in such a way as to entice readers and draw them in.

SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL focuses on Ormond's feelings for Claire evolving into something he has never before experienced. I loved watching this rake and seducer of women become putty in Claire's hands. MISCHIEF AND THE MARQUESS, in true Sylvia Day style, enthralled me completely. I had to know why Justin and Sophie didn't want to be together. I adored how Ms. Day wrote the characters. Thoroughly stubborn though highly intelligent, they fight their attraction because of unfounded fear. Sophie's view of Justin being the ultimate dream made me sit back and breathe deeply; especially when her dream comes true. THE RUBY KISS brings historical romance and suspense together is such a way that I went back and reread it again just for good measure.

All in all, I enjoyed reading PERFECT KISSES very much. Each author's contribution to this anthology was well-written, enticing, and steamy. What more could a romance reader want?