Customer Reviews

The Prince of Pleasure

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We've last seen the debonair Marquess of Wolveton, Jeremy Dare as a mischievous matchmaker in The Seduction and recently an undercover spy to ferret out the treasonous and mysterious Lord Caliban. The Prince Of Pleasure expounds on the pursuit led by Dare and his friend Lucien as new suspects in the form of Lord Riddingham and his friends Sir Stephen and Martin Perrine surface. Tension rides high when Dare meets his French emigre of an ex-flame Julienne Laurent who now wows audiences as a theatrical ingenue. Dare has long seen through her deceptions as a manipulator when she spurned Dare for Earl Ivers seven years ago.

Can Ms. Jordan get any better than this? The Prince Of Pleasure fuses a fascinating historical tapestry on realpoliticks in France,The Royal Theatres, horse-racing in Newmarket as a lush backdrop to the sensuous romance between Dare and Julienne. Ms. Jordan's protagonists brim with emotions and quick witted intelligence while the romance spins from a heart-ravaging conflict where Julienne sacrifices Dare to assure his inheritance and appeases his malevolent grandfather. Mistrust hangs when he caught her with Ivers who was intent on raping her; Julienne bears shame and treason charges as she flees with her sickly mother.

Pounding suspense and turbulent passion makes Nicole Jordan's latest her most balanced and sizzling read after The Seduction. The fiery and spicy scenes are never reduced to debauched prurience under Ms. Jordan's tight narration but instead glows with unfettered romance. The mystery is superbly-paced and plotted as a laudable sideshow to the well-developed romance. You finally agree that it is finally worth the wait. The Prince Of Pleasure is reading pleasure of the highest order.

This is Nicole Jordan as we know her - a DIVA of romance, erotic sex & connecting her characters to her readers.

If you've ever been so sexually "connected" to a man that words weren't necessary to make all things possible, you'll embrace this book as your own. If not, you'll learn what it feels like. Julienne is strong, unconventional, independent and experienced sexually, not a bit of "fluff" but a woman of courage and determination, and loyalty. Both to herself as well as the man she loves.

Dare is a rake for sure but there's no doubt who his "love" is and what he'll do to have her. He's definately a "Prince of PLEASURE" (As Julienne is a PRINCESS of Pleasure!!)

This is a novel of passion, intrigue and a complicated journey. And something I loved about this book, & is so often missing recently (in fact nearly ALWAYS!) is that there is GREAT sex from beginning to end. No waiting till the second to last chapter. No beating around the bush for 100's of pages. It's THERE & it's NOT gratutious. It is "sexual tension" NOW. It is a man and woman passionately in love and in lust and you will feel it in every sexual encounter.

Mz. J pushes the envelope sexually (like she's ALWAYS been SO good at). It's raw, it's honest, it's "plain-speak", screaming, up-against-the-wall, sweating, beautiful erotic sex between two people who discover that it is what it IS because of love.

This is Nicole Jordan at her best with pure, unadulterated, ROMANCE at it's best.

on how much I loved Dare and Julienne's love story. This book deserves more than five stars and it is a keeper! Out of all the hellfire league stories Ms. Jordan has written, this has got to be the tops. Seven years before, Dare and french emigree' Julienne were a young couple in love but were pulled apart by the manipulations of Dare's grandfather who felt that Julienne was not good enough for his grandson. Dare bitterly set out on a course of carnal excess and destruction and Julienne became an actress.

Seven years later, Dare finds out that Julienne is in a play and sets out to take revenge for what she did to him seven years earlier, plus find out if she is involved in any treason against the crown. His real motives are pretty clear and that is the fact that he never forgot about his first love and wants to make her his for all time. Julienne never forgot the love she shared with Dare and agrees to help him flesh out the infamous Caliban that you have read about in previous books. I was enthralled by the sexual chemistry,love and romance these two shared and hated for their story to end. If you love romance, sensual sex and adventure in your romance novels, then you need to pick up a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed.

I had been waiting for this book for months, and now that I have read it, I'm not dissapointed.
The story is fast paced, erotic and original. It grabs you at the very beginning and you find yourself reading page after page to see where is all going.
The characters are well developed and charismatic. Dare, we alrady knew from other Jordan novels (The Seduction, The Passion, Desire and Ecstasy) We knew he is sensual, charming, magnetic and shameless. But in this book he takes new dimenssions and is revealed to us in a deeper and more intimate way. He is also compassionate, understanding and capable of a depth of emotion and commitment that I didn't belive posible in him before reading this book.
Julienne is the perfect match for him. No blushing miss could have made Dare fall in love with her. It takes a heroine like her, witty and corageous, with that mixture of sensuality and vulnerability to bring the Prince of Pleasure to his knees.
The chemistry beween them is electric, the dialogue is witty and the love scenes red hot.
I paricularly liked the theater scene, where Dare challeges her to the wager in front of the whole audience. I loved the fact that even though he thought she had betrayed him, he still could not help seeking her out and falling in love with her all over again. In spite of all the hurt and mistrust, they still needed each other and were drawn together by their hearts desires even against their better judgement. Their love was one that could survive intrigue, betrayal, lies, time and distance.
However, to be objective, I must say that there are a few things about this book that I did not find very convincing. One of them was the reason for their break up all those years ago. It did not seem at all justified. I would think that for a person in Julienne's situation, the logical and sensible thing to do after being threatened by Dare's grandfather would be to turn to him for protection and face the problems together as a couple. Instead she pushes him out of her life trying to be "noble" and "sacrifice" herself for him. If they were in love, she should have given Dare the option of deciding for himself what he wanted to do, not make the choices for him. She made her decision assuming that Dare would be happier with his title and money than with her, and that only proves that she did not have enough faith in his love. With her actions she only caused a lot of pain and unhappiness for both of them. Also, how the hell could Dare belive Julienne had been cheating on him right from the start? If I remember correctly, Julienne was a virgin the first time they were together, I should think that a man of Dare's experience would have realized that. Her innocence should have been proof enough against Lord Ivers accusation that they were lovers even before Dare and Julienne met each other.
However, if you can get pass those details, the book is a real Pleasure to read.

As a great Nicole Jordan fan, I eagerly ordered Prince of Pleasure as soon as it was available. Although I discovered a sensual book centering as much on mystery as love, it did not live up to her earlier books which rate as some of my very favorite. I found Prince of Pleasure lacked a deep story line and discovered it was difficult to empathize with the leads.

Dare North, Marques of Wolverton, is a big time rake - one we have seen previously in Jordan's writing. He was such a big scoundrel in The Seduction that I wondered how she was going to pull off a story written about such a dissolute fellow. How could such a character turn his life around? Well, sure enough, as Dare matured (rather late in life), he was beginning to question his worthless - to date - life and his leadership in The Hellfire League. He has a well-deserved and very negative reputation with the ladies. But he is Marques of Wolverton and noblemen in this time were apparently forgiven their many wrongs whereas a woman, with even a tenth of Dare's reputation, would have been run out of town years ago. Dare had suffered a heart breaking betrayal in his one and only romantic relationship years ago and it has driven him to pursue women only as sexual objects. As many rakes do, he finds his redemption in spying for England and doing a superb job of it.

Julienne Laurent is a famous actress who has never recovered from her one and only love relationship years ago with Dare North. She has struggled over the years to make ends meet after Dare had left her without a word because he believed she betrayed him. I must admit that their short-lived relationship did not seem to be strong enough to lead to years of dysfunction and tremendous sadness for each party. If they had meant so much to each other, it seems that there would have been a follow-up conversation to Julienne's supposed betrayal. They could have had no trust in each other at all to just leave the love of their lives smoking in ruins of such an obviously staged betrayal. But this is romance writing and I have read many worse misunderstandings - but few that lasted as long as this one. Julienne, for many rather shabby reasons, cannot let Dare know that she never betrayed him - even when they partially re-establish their relationship.

Earlier I referred to my inability to empathize with the leads. I could not feel sorry or even understand Dare's extreme immoral life when he was a man who was very wealthy, possessed many friends, was very attractive, and did not have to work at all. I don't recall having too many problems with horrible rakes in my past romance reading. I usually rather like them as long as they get any comeuppance in the end. But Dare's story just didn't ring true. I also had a problem with Julienne's inability to be honest with Dare about the ending of their former relationship. She had been truly wronged but refused to let him know anything at all.

Dare and Julienne reunite because Dare believes she may be helpful in leading him to the identity of a spy. Julienne knows nothing of this reason but suspects his motives when he publicly announces at one of her performances that he will win the place as her protector by some future date. Although she is not looking for a protector, she wagers with Dare, in front of her entire audience, that he will not win her. Therefore, the stage is set for their possible reunion. Julienne avoids Dare at every possible turn and Dare pursues Julienne relentlessly. He reasons to himself that she will lead him to the spy but we see deeper reasons at work. Julienne fears the hurt Dare can bring her once again and although she spurns him again and again, she cannot resist him physically any time he can contrive a reason for the two of them to be together alone. The sensual scenes in this book are certainly strong. This is probably the first book I have given a sensual rating of 5.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines).

I believe I would have given Prince of Pleasure a higher rating if more of the book had been about a love story rather than what seemed a purely sexual relationship. The entire book was written around The Big Misunderstanding that had occurred years before. Neither of the leads communicates truthfully with the other until late in the book which only allows the misunderstanding to grow even larger. The mystery does take a lot of pages and is actually rather interesting although unrealistic. Prince of Pleasure is a book I plodded through - not one I eagerly picked up to continue reading. The sensual scenes are above average, if you are looking for that aspect in your romance reading. However, as romance writing goes, it was only average.

With each new release, this author has grown into a very good story teller. I liked this book. When I first started reading this material, I was apprehensive. I suspected it would be a book about revenge -- a cruel, retaliation read. However, I was wrong. It wasn't. It turned into a story of nurturing passion. Although, Jordan's sex scenes are explosive, I was pleased Ms. Jordan did not relinquish this story to a "Susan Johnson" clone. Instead, the author delivered a story of harboring love. The tale of two people who meet seven years after a brutal breakup and slowly begin again.

Jordan's untangles the story of a grandfather's cruel manipulation, the effect such heartless maneuvering had on two lovers. Then she highlights the remaining story with intrigue surrounding French spies and English traitors. Yet, the main thrust of the book is the scarred love story.

Although this book is a sequel in the Jordan series "Notorious", fortunately it can stand alone. The character that reappears, from a parent book, plays a small role. I liked this consideration. The reader was not forced to read a repetitive historical storyline pulling the entire series together.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

All I can say is WOW. This may be on of Jordan's best books ever. Dare is a great hero and his relationship with the heroine Julienne just sizzles. Great intense, emotional, passionate story, too. Loved it! Prince of Pleasure is probably the best romance I've read in two years. But be warned, it is definitely not sweet or fluffy. It's hot and witty and past-paced and suspenseful. Couldn't put it down. Now I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for her next one.

Jeremy Adair North (Dare) is known as the Prince of Pleasure. 7 years ago, Dare lost his heart to the young Julienne Laurent, a french emigrée. He courted her during one summer of innocent love but was betrayed when he found her in the arms of another man. Julienne had pretended to betray Dare because his grandfather would have disowned him if Dare had married Julienne. So in order to forget Julienne, Dare has been living a life of debauchery taking his pleasures in carnal sins.

7 years later, Julienne has become a celebrated actress treading the London boards. Julienne and Dare's path cross again when Dare is employed to uncover a traitor, the notorious Lord Caliban. Dare thinks that Julienne may be involved with the Caliban and publicly announces that he will make Julienne his mistress. In return, Julienne wagers that she will bring Dare to his knees.

As Dare discovers that Julienne is indeed not in league with the Caliban, together they play a dangerous game of uncovering the true identity of the Caliban.

I didn't care much for the story about the Caliban but the love story between Dare and Julienne was engaging and the love scenes were so hot that the pages will burn your fingers. Be warned that the sex scenes were very graphic and may not be agreeable to all readers. Otherwise a rather good read.

Lea Ling Tsang

In 1807, French émigré Julienne "Jewel" Laurent and Jeremy "Dare" Adair fall in love. Though his grandfather objects to the match, Dare plans to elope. Instead she rejects his proposal insisting that Lord Riddington is her lover. Jeremy leaves in anger that his grandfather was right about his beloved being a whore.

In 1814, Lucien Tremayne asks Dare to uncover the traitor that is hurting the English cause. He wonders if Drury Lane actress Jewel is in cahoots with Riddington as French spies. He forces Jewel to deal with him and soon falls in love again and eventually exonerates her. When he learns the truth of what his deceased grandfather and the odious Riddington did to Jewel, Lucien feels shame. Still before he can make it right, he must stop the sly cleverly disguised Caliban from giving away more secrets that hurt the English.

Regency readers will enjoy THE PRINCE OF PLEASURE, an entertaining espionage romance starring two individuals whose love turn to hate and disrespect due to the machinations of his relative. The story line is loaded with action, but the audience will tire of Dare's betrayal lament and empathize with the heroine except when she relatively easily forgives him. Nicole Jordan demonstrates why she is sub-genre favorite with royally pleasurable novel.

Harriet Klausner

I was very disappointed in this book, especially after reading the strong reviews here (that's why I went out and bought it!) I've read other of Jordan's books and this was, by far, the least interesting of the ones I've read. The plot is treadworn and the relationship between the heroine and hero was very confusing. One moment they're vowing to revenge themselves/punish one another and the very next they're engaged in hot sex (which wasn't, in my view, very erotically described.) I felt Jordan was trying to have her cake and eat it too. The two protagonists were resisting/misunderstanding/punishing each other while simultaneously enjoying each other sexually. Yuck!! In romance it's resistance first, then the sweet reconciliation. Don't waste your money. If you want to read this get it at the library.