Customer Reviews

A Promise Of Romance (Yaoi Novel)

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

 

 

Well the story is basically about a boy who goes to England to study theater, he meets a prostitute who is the only person that helps him, one day his friend the prostitute gets really sick and gives him the mission of delivering a ring to a person who she calls "god", however she ends dying,
On the other side of the country an aristocrat young man lives his life spending all the money that his parents left him drinking, however there is a condition for him to get all of his inheritance and is that he needs to get married before turning 26, in order to do so he needs to give to his future fiancée a ring, turns out that he gave out his ring to a prostitute, so with the help of his journalist friend they decide to go look for the prostitute that has his ring and make a deal for a fake marriage,
He meets with Satsuki (Japanese boy that calls himself May because everyone in England has problems pronouncing his name, satsuki is the old way to say may in Japanese) finds out that Brenda the prostitute is dead and decides to make the deal with Satsuki, who ends up accepting because was having financial problems.

**** So this a very common story, you already know how is it going to end, but even so it doesn't make it any boring, is really entertaining, the art is really great, and you get to know about the aristocracy in England, I do recommend it for someone who is looking for a story full of romance, not too many strong scenes, however a rape scene is included. So if you have spare money and you are a yaoi fan this is a must in your collection,

Satsuki is a young Japanese guy who searches to gain his life in London. He always wanted to be an actor, but when he is refused by the most important actor school in Japan, he decided to try his fortune in London; there is maybe a bit of misplaced proud in it, since probably Satsuki doesn't want to face the fact that him, the one who always had the main character role in the high school plays, was rejected and instead his best friend, the one who always looked upon to Satsuki was accepted.

In London Satsuki is not doing very well; he is lonely and has very little money, and he is too proud to ask help to his family. So when a young nobleman, Edward, asks him to cross-dress and to play the role of his fiancee, Satsuki accepts. It's not only the money, it's also the fascination with the high society in which Edward lives. Edward needs to marry in order to not losing his inheritance, and marrying Satsuki, he is sure that he will have no problem to invoid the marriage.

Edward is not a bad guy, maybe a little spoiled, but all in all he is only lonenly, as lonely as Satsuki. In Satsuki maybe Edward finds more a friend than other. And when it's time to express his feelings, he is too open, and this clashes with Satsuki's culture.

First of all the plot... it's not very convincing. How can Edward and Satsuki marry without problem? Doesn't Satsuki need a birth certificate, where obviously it's stated that he is a man? True, in England same sex union are legal, I believe, but this is not what Edward's parents' will states.

Second the relationship between Edward and Satsuki: it could be a very good example of Pretty Woman's tale, there is also the scene where Edward takes Satsuki out to shopping in the best fashion boutique... but how the relationship evolves between the two it's without a strong basis, it's all too obvious and the author doesn't give us much reason to believe in it... the only sex scene is almost a rape! Actually if not for the rape scene, this book would be a good example of young adult novel, and with an young adult target too.

The title explains it all. This novel is a light easy read and great to have around when you need a injection of yaoi fluff. Their is not much smex scenes the story focuses on the real feelings that are steadily growing between the two as they pretend to be lovers.

Satsuki is the typical uke that is far prettier and girlier than every woman on earth to the point men often force him to crosdress. Edward is the typical ungodly perfect in every way rich boy. Now add in the fact Satsuki is a poor kid attending an acting school while Edward finds that he'll lose his inheritance if he doesn't marry soon and you can guess about the whole book with ease.

I will say like 99% of all yaoi the seme does rape the uke. I have no idea why this is so popular but it's here. (Why yaoi ukes always fall for rapists is beyond me.) I will say it's done tactfully compared to other stories by stopping midway and going straight to the aftermath. Their are only two sex scenes in the whole book and this is merely one of them.

I would have liked to see a little more depth or even a single page afterward telling what the hell happened to them since Satsuke is never found out.

All in all a decent read. I do suggest buying it straight from the publisher. (June) since it's only $7 rather that the crazy huge prices some of these store try to get by with. It's defiantly worth $7 but not worth $40.

I loved this book a lot! It was a little light, but it had a certain innocence to it because it wasn't hardcore yaoi. All in all a brilliant and captivating story you won't want to put down and be craving more when it's over. It's a tale set in England and it's about a poor student named Satsuki or "May" who comes from Japan to get farther in his acting career and a young aristocrat named Edward Argyle. Edward's parents died when he was twenty and he inherited many things including a mass amount of money but if he does not marry before his twenty-sixth birthday then all of it will go to his incompetent cousin. "It all started with a ring" is a phrase that has a major impact throughout the book and you'll feel so many things during this story.

Here we have the typical plot of a Harlequin Romance from the 1980s. A young middle class woman is somehow convinced into a temporary marriage with a rich, aristocratic male. Of course since this is yaoi the young woman is actually a young man in drag. I've never really liked this plot and even having the woman be a man didn't keep it from being bland and boring. And bland describes the characters to a tee. The book meanders along in its slow, humdrum way with almost no indication of romance. Then, out of the blue and what I thought was out of character, the aristocrat brutally rapes the uke. YUCK! It's a painful horrible experience for the uke (which is actually pretty realistic). But does the uke leave or go to the police? No, he's mad for a few weeks and then falls in love with his rapist. What a load of cr*p. The end is abrupt and unsatisfying. Save your money on this one.