20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
W-O-W!, August 2, 2007
This review is from: The Pleasure Trap (Mass Market Paperback)
Eve Dearing was only a little girl in 1806 when her mother, Antonia, died. She woke up in her little bed, hearing her mother's voice within her mind calling out to her. Eve followed the voice to find her mother dying near a quarry, just outside of London. Antonia had always had a sixth sense. The family called it the Claverly Charisma. As Antonia died, she imprinted a picture within Eve's mind, a premonition of future danger, and warned Eve to be careful. From then on, Eve refused to believe that she had the Claverly charisma.
In 1818, Eve has become a lovely lady. When her father remarried, Eve moves in with her Aunt Millicent, who has a small portion of the Claverly charisma. Eve writes Gothic romances, which are all the rage now. Since Gothic romances are sneered at by many, no writer dares to reveal her true identity. All authors write under a pseudonym. Eve is known as Mrs. Barrymore. Eve and Millicent go to attend the annual writer's symposium, as they do each year, and then prolong their time in town with Lady Sally Sayers to take in the Season. Eve plans to have a Season in her next novel and needs the experience to make her tale more real. Along for the trip is Eve's dog, Dexter.
After years of battling the French, Viscount Ash Denison wants only to enjoy and savor the good life. Then a friend asks Ash to attend a writer's symposium to unmask the true identity of Angelo. Angelo has been resurrecting fourteen-year-old tragedies of high society families and writing them in articles for the newspapers to print. However, Angelo writes up the accidents as if they were murders instead. The latest article implied that Ash's simple-minded brother, Harry, did NOT accidently drown at the young age of ten, but was murdered instead. Thus, Ash's spy mission has become personal, especially since Ash had loved his brother.
Ash meets Eve at the symposium and is instantly interested in her. Ash even begins to dream of ravishing her. Eve is dreaming the same. Neither knows that they are sharing dreams together. Had the thought crossing their minds, they would have laughed. Ash does not believe in sixth sense and Eve refuses to believe she still has the Claverly charisma. But then one of the Gothic romance writers, Lydia, plays a dangerous game by pretending to be Angelo. Eve and Ash's dream is interrupted by Lydia's scream when she is attacked. More danger comes into play when a patient escapes from the hospital (Bedlam) nearby. However, the scariest part is that Eve's gift is reawakening and she is, somehow, getting inside the mind of a killer. The killer is after Nell, the little escapee who witnessed Lydia's attack, and turns his sight on Eve as well.
***** W-O-W! That is all that came to my mind when I finished this book. Author Elizabeth Thornton has a new fan in me! This story has all the pleasure of a Historical Romance, all the suspense of a Mystery Thriller, and some Super Natural Romance tossed in for good measure. I read this entire book in one sitting! I simply could not put the book down. Therefore, I went to work the next day with absolutely zero sleep! Yes, this story is THAT great. This is going directly to my Keeper Shelf, never to be loaned out, and to be read again at a later date. Put this title on you Must Have list! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Writing Witches and Loonies- Eh! (D+ Grade), September 6, 2007
This review is from: The Pleasure Trap (Mass Market Paperback)
EH- That is the one word I would describe this story. At first I was led to believe the plot would be about Eve, the heroine who secretly writes gothic novels and the hero, Ash who likes her books, but doesn't realize she writes them... what we get instead is some inane plot where our writer has some sort of ESP or dreams about things that will happen and Ash has issues with his father, brother, heck maybe even the family dog?
The chemistry between these two are bland and whereas this story would have been cute if there was no mystery or paranormal aspect, what we get instead is a mess with too many secondary character and they all seem to have major issues, but I was so confused at who was coming and going practically gave up.
There is even an escaped loony girl from Bedlam that pops up for no reason. And of course a killer on the loose who may or may not have killed dear Eve's mother and wants to kill her also!
In a nutshell, this book is very confusing and it seemed Thornton had no clue which way she wanted the story to go. Is this a Historical Romance? Fantasy Mystery? Paranormal Loony?
Take your pick and if one of these plots looks like a winner to you, you are welcome to read it here in this convoluted novel.
A big pass on this one.
Katiebabs
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Up to Par, September 11, 2007
This review is from: The Pleasure Trap (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm not sure what Thornton was doing while writing this, but I put it in my don't-keep pile as soon as I finished reading. Her other books have all had plenty of life in them, but this was just dull. I've really enjoyed her other work, and hope future books will bounce back.
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