Customer Reviews

The Price of Passion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1868 on an Egyptian excavation led by her obsessed father, teenager Cleopatra Fraser fell in love with A. "Angel" David Evans. However, she had family duties and he wanted to make it in the archeological world, but knew that was impossible working for her zealous and jealous (in terms of his academic standing not loved ones) father. David returns to his home in the states while Cleo goes back to Scotland.

A decade later, a bored Cleo helps open up a museum that showcases the works that she and her father uncovered from the tomb of Alexander the Great. However, Angel has come to Scotland to attain what he felt he was too young for him back in the sixties in Egypt. He wants Cleo by his side, but she wants nothing to do with him even if he makes her heart beat louder and faster. Neither one is prepared for the secret organization whose members will kill to regain the treasures of Alexander the Great that they failed to protect when Cleo and company "raided" their tomb.

Susan Sizemore provides her fans with a heated historical romance that centers on two strong, independent, and talented archeologists. The story line is fast-paced as the two stalwart protagonists guard their hearts as well as they protect the past. Those fans that relish a more torrid nineteenth century romance will feel the fervor of the PRICE OF PASSION.

Harriet Klausner

This is about the third book I've read this year where the story would have been much better had it taken place entirely in Egypt. Instead we only visit Egypt in tantalizing flashbacks. The adventures detailed in the flashbacks would surely have been more interesting than the story we're given. And one more gripe - on the front cover of the book Christina Dodd is quoted as saying, "A luscious, sexy, Scottish romp." - which proves to me that she didn't read the book. Yes, the present day action takes place in Scotland but in no way would I describe it as a "Scottish romp." Not a keeper. Buy it used if you just have to have it.

I have read a number of Sizemore's previous books and although they were well written they did not grab me from the start and compel me to rush to the finish only to regret that it had to end. This book does!!

A.David (Angel) is a bit of a bad boy. He and Cleo have a 10 year history of battling over antiquities across Egypt and Greece.

Their love story is believable because it is not an instantaneous attraction, it is based on knowing and growing.They are grown-up lovers who finally accept their fate is linked - but don't expect them never to fight again!

The story has a good pace that carries the reader into the story and keeps you there ("Just a few pages more and then I'll turn out the light!")

The entire secondary cast of characters are intriguing and could have had their own stories. Maybe Pia (Olympias) will appear later?? Congratulations Susan on a great tale!

I LOVED Susan Sizemore's vampire novels and decided to give her romance books a try. Boy was I shocked. The writing seemed amateurish, the typeface huge and the prose so incredibly purple I wondered if this was the same author.

The story? Cleo is the devoted daughter of a famous archaeologist and a spinster. She's in love with a man named Angel. (Sigh). We don't find out much about the man for many chapters only that he's decided he wants to marry her. Cleo is your typical doormat heroine. First sacrificing for her father then for her sisters. The entire first chapter she spends 'needing' and 'wanting.' What does that mean? Also the frequent flashbacks in italics drove me nuts.

I cannot recommend this novel. The writing was very banal. I'm sorely disappointed.

Cleopatra Fraser is a great heroine - the scholarly spinster type, but with a difference. After a brief prologue that takes place in Egypt, we next meet her in Scotland, upon the eve of an academic conference meant to showcase her and her father's archeological findings. She's the brains behind the operation, her father merely a figurehead more obsessed with discovering the resting place of Alexander the Great than considerate of the concerns, feelings, and needs of his three daughters. He works Cleopatra to the bone, takes credit for her work, and he can because she's a woman. I didn't like her father to say the least. Even though she is a doormat in this respect, somehow this doesn't make Cleopatra seem weak to me. She's restricted more by her gender than her father, who is really more neglectful and oblivious than anything else. And Cleopatra's strengths shine through despite her repressed situation in Scotland - she's more used to the freedoms and adventures of exotic lands than the niceties of the "civilized" world. We get glimpses of her life and who she is in that different setting through flashbacks to her time spent in Egypt and Greece. I wish that the book could have taken place in Egypt - it's my favorite setting and there are sadly so few romances that take place there. The flashbacks are still powerful and evocative though, and paint a picture of Cleopatra as a gun toting, intelligent, fearless woman.

The flashbacks are also instrumental in revealing piecemeal Cleopatra's relationship with Azrael "Angel" David Evans. He seduced her ten years ago, when she was just sixteen, and he worked with her father on a dig in Egypt. Their ways parted afterwards, but have crossed and recrossed in various encounters and adventures throughout the ten years since then. This includes a professional rivalry, each outwitting and chasing after the other in an attempt to get their hands on the same treasure, the treasure that Cleopatra finally won and that is supposed to go on display at the conference. A secret cult organization thing is also after this treasure, and provides for some action/adventure near the end. As fierce rivals with a lot of history, good and bad, between them, Cleopatra and Evans have plenty of chemistry. I liked how their relationship grew, how the romance was built up through the flashbacks and the catalyzing events of the story. Particularly how they each treat and regard their one night of sin together. Evans is an overbearing, brash American, but as he gradually comes to recognize his feelings for Cleopatra for what they are, he becomes less abrasive. And he falls for Cleopatra hard - or rather realizes he's always been obsessed with her. Whether fighting or loving, either way, they're both equally matched. The Price of Passion is a fun read, with some really beautiful moments - even if it is a tease with regards to the Egyptian setting.

I have read and loved The Price of Innocence by the same author, have read and enjoyed A Long Ago Night, but this is the same story all over again, but without the emotional intensity of tPoI and its compelling pace. The flashback style is very confusing here, probably because the flashbacks extend to a period of several years.

If a woman had written Indiana Jones, this book would be it! The adventure never overshadowed the romance, and at the same time the story clipped right along. The dialogue is witty, too, and when I finished the book I was completely satisfied. A definite buy.

Passion is right! Passion and laughter and wit and romance. I adored this book and can't wait for her next one.

A pair of adventurous lovers, glamorous settings and men in kilts, suspense, scintillating dialogue and great sex, what more do you need? I laughed out loud, and fell in love with Angel Evans. I really hope a future book features a grown up version of the heroine's bratty teenage sister.

Arrived in due time and the book is in good condition.