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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not What I Expected ........31/2 stars, December 7, 2006
In the final book about the Essex sisters, James (author) has set the bar high for herself. Not only does she try to convince the reader of a romantic pairing betweeen the youngest of the sisters, sassy and outspoken Josie (18), with the familial friend (and beloved rake of her previous books) Earl of Mayne (34), but does so while proclaiming that he is in love with someone else ( and engaged!) for most of the book. While it was probably inevitable that these two would get together, it just didn't work for me and the age difference wasn't the problem.
My biggest problem was that Mayne was so supposedly in love with another woman for a good 3/4 of the book. James mentions over and over how he loves this and that about his fiance and everyone around him can see how *in love* he is with her. This distracted from the sexual tension that James could and should have exploited between Mayne and Josie earlier. There were just not enough sparks between these two and I'm still not convinced that he truly loved her in the end. Their love scenes were odd and a bit vague to me. There was no defining moment when I said -aha! - these two are in love. Maybe a grand romantic gesture/sacrifice would have convinced me.
On the other hand Mayne's sister's romance completely stole the show. Griselda trists with the dashing, but younger, Darlington added the spice and sexual tension which was sorely lacking in the book. Their love scenes were steamy. I absolutely loved the way Darlington pursued Griselda and tried to convince her that their age difference didn't matter.
So, I don't really know how to rate this book. I suspect that most readers who have been anxiously waiting for a romance for Mayne won't be dissapointed much, I just feel that James should have given him a separate book. I don't think that of all the sisters (all of whom have had romantic intentions towards Mayne at one time of another), Josie is his best match. Its more of a luke-warm pairing and not what a former rake deserves. It maybe worth it to borrow this one from the library just to read about the secondary romance, but its certainly not a shelf keeper for me.
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34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional writing with disappointing execution, December 1, 2006
Ms. James has immense talent and I love her writing style. For the readers' benefit, Mayne is 34 in this book and Josie is 18, almost nineteen. You engage in a little writer cheat here as in previous stories, Mayne was 34 in Your Wicked Ways which took place two years earlier than Pleasure for Pleasure. Josie was 15 at the start of this series which spans 2 years.
I was not bothered by the May/December aspect of Mayne and Josie's relationship. I thought that Mayne, after years of dissipation, needed the love for life that Josie had. Josie, after being thought of as the least desirable Essex sister, needed the love of a famous connoisseur of women to show that she was beautiful and luscious in her own way.
The problem is that for most of the story Mayne is affianced to Sylvie de la Brodierie, a well set beautiful French woman. He proclaims that he is in love with her. He is described as looking at her the way that Rafe gazes at Imogen. He spends half of the book internally and externally proclaiming his great love for Sylvie, cataloguing why he loves her.
To say that his turn about is quick is an understatement. I practically suffered whiplash from his switch from Sylvie to Josie, if there ever really was a switch. Oh, I know you say that in the end Mayne loves Josie but I can't really tell at what point that the "love" meter was moved from Sylvie to Josie in Mayne's mind.
The thing that made me the most befuddled and frustrated was the secondary romance. Josie is launched into society but spends 6 weeks being shunned by the young men in society. She is called the Scottish Sausage and no one crosses the invisible boundary for fear of ridicule. There is a heartrending scene that is described wherein Josie is sobbing to Lucius after a ball questioning why she is such a pariah.
The sobriquet was made up by Lord Charles Darlington, 3d son of the Duke of Bedrock. Darlington provided a wonderful nickname for a previous debutante called the Woolly Breeder who also went unromanced during her first season. Of course, you provide an explanation for Darlington's despicable actions but you NEVER ONCE have him apologize to Josie. Further Darlington is the subject of the secondary romance and receives an HEA with a much beloved character in this book. It somehow just did not seem right.
It's hard to grade this book. The prose is beautiful. James is able to capture the little idiosyncrasies that make characters unique. Individual scenes are wonderful. The entirety of the story, though, like the last one, left me bewildered and dissatisfied.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A bit disappointed after all the wait, January 8, 2007
I was looking forward to the Mayne and Josie story because I already figured they will be paired together and I loved them in the last few books.
I have to say I am very disappointed. Mayne was in love with another woman in most part of the book. He was not just "in love", but also lust after her. He didn't get Sylvie because she didn't love him, not because he loved her any less. I totally felt he had to settle for Josie because he couldn't get his great love. What a bad taste for a romance. Yes, in the end he loved Josie. But so what, it's only because he didn't have Sylvie.
This kind of relationship we see in really life. Don't most of us fanticized about prince charming and had to settle and love our spouses. I didn't read romances to get a taste of this kind of "romances". I can see them everyday around me.
I felt sorry for Josie. She deserved a much better story.
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