Customer Reviews

The Price of Pleasure (Leisure Historical Romance)

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

 

 

I liked the book is set in France during the late 1700s. You don't see to many of those in the past five years.

The French prison, Devil's Chateau, is a cesspit where no one comes out alive. So when Reed Harwood is to tossed into a cell for spying, he fears will die there, as there will be no one to help him. He is surprised when "The Black Widow" buys his Freedom. Rumors have reached him the Black Widow buys men for her sex slave, and they mysteriously vanish when she is through with them. Only Reed is confronted with a kind woman, Fleur, and she seems totally at odds with her "black widow" persona. To his surprise, she never tries to make any sexual demands, and soon sets him on his way back to England.

Upon his return, he learns his brother has died and he is now the earl, but he despite all, he cannot forget the woman who saved him. Risking his life, he goes back to France to find Fleur, and defying all, he take Fleur back home as his wife. However, danger follows them back to England.

I loved the fresh setting, not done much of late, and the fact both hero and heroine were willing to die to save the over. Wonderful Romance!

What I liked...The plot was very interesting, better than many books I've read recently. The heroine is a spy known as a black widow who has helped several men escapes the terrible prisons of France. She rescues our hero, and a long and believable 'get to know you before sex' relationship evolves. Eventually the story takes us back to England, where they try to find who is a traiter and trying to kill them.

What I didn't like... The bad guy was obvious, which is OK, but it was upsetting that our smart hero was clueless in guessing who was trying to kill him. I wanted to scream "Come on, duh!" It was the only part of the plot that had a flaw. Secondly, the sex scenes were a bit cold and just copies of each other. There must have been a good 8-10 sex scenes, but they were exactly the same each time. Nothing really spicy or flirty or risky ever happens in bed, just mechanical sex (mostly anyway). I'd rather one really good passionate sex scene than a handful of boring ones.

This starts out well. Reed Harwood speaks flawless French and as a younger brother of a peer and interested in an exciting life, he's working as an English agent in Revolutionary France. Unfortunately, he'd been betrayed by someone who knew who he was and finds himself beaten and near death, imprisoned in the remote Devil's Chateau. Enter the mysterious Black Widow--a woman who bribes the guards to let her take a dying prisoner for her own sick whims. Her choice this time is Reed.

Unfortunately, any cool spying and Scarlet Pimpernel-ish adventures do not ensue after the exciting escape(s) from France. The search for the person who betrayed Reed is not so interesting at all. And the question of who is still trying to kill him is so horribly obvious that it made me annoyed that the couple were too busy not thinking with the right parts of their anatomy, even though I knew I should be just rolling with all the sex scenes. The girl had more of a clue... until she falls for the oldest trick in the book. Made me wonder if both of them speaking perfect French was their ONLY qualification for becoming an agent. *sigh*

Anyway, if you're someone who doesn't care about plots, this book will be perfectly fine, I'm sure. Sadly, I'm more of a fan of a decent plot and wanting characters who don't annoy me too much with their poor decisions and single-minded focus on getting into bed, so I was not as much in charity with this book as I had hoped.

Connie Mason at her best, this book was really, really hot, the sexual scences alone, burned me up. I loved it!!!!!!!!

I'm going to make my review as simple as the book's plot:

Hero and Heroine have sex; Hero asks Heroine to marry him; Heroine says "No, because I was married before and never got pregnant, so I must be barren and can't give you an heir"; Hero says "Marry me anyway"; Heroine says "No and stop coming to my bed because I'm not going to have sex with you again."

Next day:

Hero and Heroine have sex; Hero asks Heroine to marry him; Heroine says "No, because I was married before and never got pregnant, so I must be barren and can't give you an heir"; Hero says "Marry me anyway"; Heroine says "No and stop coming to my bed because I'm not going to have sex with you again."

Next day:

Hero and Heroine have sex; Hero asks Heroine to marry him; Heroine says "No, because I was married before..."

That's the gist of the romance. I'm pretty sure you can guess how it ended up.

Outside of that, there is a murder mystery plot. Unfortunately, there was no actual mystery to it. You'll know exactly "who done it" and why as soon as the man enters the story. For 321 pages, you'll be waiting for the excitement to kick in. It never does.

The final disappointment was the heroine herself. Supposedly, she is a brave and smart woman who acted as a spy for the English government. However, in the end she makes stupid choices that screamed "you are walking into a trap" and nearly got both herself and the hero killed.

In short, this book has been written a thousand times over. If you are looking for something unique and exciting, you won't find it here. 2 stars, instead of 1, because I liked that fact that the hero was so in love.



Mason has written tons of great books. Here are some of her titles that will give you much more enjoyment:

A Knight's Honor (Medieval Historical)

Shadow Walker (Western/Native American Historical)

Love Me With Fury (Western Historical)

Sheik (Arabian Historical)

The Black Knight (Medieval Historical)

In 1798 Reed Harwood is incarcerated in the infamous French Devil's Chateau for espionage; Reed expects to die as no one locked inside this hellhole survives. However, British agent Fleur "the Black Widow" Fontaine buys his freedom.

Reed has heard rumors that the Black Widow uses her purchases as sex toys before discarding them. However, instead Fleur is kind to him and emits a sense of purity about her. She never tries to seduce him although he admits to himself he is seduced by her innocent lure. He returns to England where he learns he is now an earl, but the woman he loves remains in France. Risking his life, Reed goes back to France to bring Fleur home with him as his wife, but danger follows them across the Channel.

This exhilarating historical romance stars two terrific protagonists who risk their lives to save one another. Fleur is a fascinating character as her reputation is that of sexually devouring male prisoners that she bought for her entertainment, but Reed quickly realizes that is a sham used by her to help her buy freedom for the imprisoned. Although a late suspense seems unnecessary, readers will appreciate Connie Mason's strong late eighteenth century romantic tale of love in two cities.

Harriet Klausner

Connie mason is one of my favorite author and I really enjoy her books. this one had me laughing and sighing all in the same time.

This book had the potential to be an exciting and romantic story. The hero, Reed, was rescued from a horrid French prison by the lovely widow Fleur. She nursed him back to health. He returned to England, then went back to France to escort her home. During these adventures they have lots of steamy sex.

Somebody betrayed Reed in France. A suspicious French cousin turned up to claim the estate. Is it possible the fiend tried to do him in?

The plot is pretty predictable. Really, there isn't enough of it to fill very many pages. So some of the pages are filled with steamy sex. The other pages are filled with details about clothes and food. Reed spends a lot of time thinking about his wardrobe.

The dialog was not witty. It was linear. Secondary characters had the potential to be amusing, but they weren't. The grasping sister-in-law was not very clever. The doting grandmother was not eccentric. The rakish buddies did nothing scandalous.

As I said, I wish I found more to like in this book, but I didn't.

She is back an better then ever. In this story each charater is complex and well created. It's about a woman who has many secrets and the man who unlocks them. Beautifully written! Loved this book!