Customer Reviews

Secret Pleasures

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I haven't read very much of Ms. Devine's work, but if it's all like this, no thank you. The reason I read this book was because of the favorable reviews, so I'm here so others don't waste the time and money.

The 2 biggest problems with this book were: 1--her excessive use of italics. Yes, I understand that it was to denote the central characters thoughts, but I felt it was ineffective because 1-half the novel was italicized, 2-the characters thoughts were also expressed in unitalicized sections, and 3-often they were very fragmented, trailing off (...) without finishing the thought/sentence. 2--genre confusion. Devine starts out with a sexy idea, a woman accidentally stumbles onto a sensual realm she didn't know existed and goes on to discover new sides of her own sexuality. But from that point on, things go south. This novel would have been better served written as erotica because the constraints of the romance genre, e.g. emotional intimacy, only having one sexual partner, etc. limit what could have been a good piece of erotica. The lack of emotional connection between the main characters and scant plot in this book cannot be overcome by sheer number of sexual encounters. If you want explicit sex scenes with good plot, try Susan Johnson, Virginia Henley, and the earlier work of Bertrice Small, but stay away from this book.

The plot is sketchy and convoluted at best. bizarre. And what is with the overuse of the word "ramrod." That's not sexy, not a turn-on. Overall, "Secret Pleasures" is an unsuccessful attempt to combine the erotica and romance genres.

Having never read Thea Devine before, I didn't know what to expect - and couldn't help but compare this author to my other favorites: Brenda Joyce, Virginia Henley, Susan Johnson, Laura Kinsale, etc. The relationship between the two characters was strange and seemingly impersonal, until you got to the amazing intimacy that they only shared behind facades of fake names and forbidden houses of pleasure. This was a very interesting way to see the main characters interact, but although its extremely erotic, I wouldn't call it "romance". Its definitely hot enough to keep your attention throughout the entire book, but you must wait until the very end to find any real emotional connection between the characters. This was a little disheartening to me. However, I will definitely pursue more of Ms. Devine's writing, and hope to see a deeper connection between characters than just amazing sex.

I found this book exciting, thrilling and wonderful. It was one of Ms Devine's better novels. Ms Devine has always written juicy novels that are on the cutting edge of romance and pure unadulturated sex. Her character Roark is both intelligent and sexy to a fault. He is the type of man any women would love to be romanced by. His shrewd powers of deduction along with his innate sexuality is a force to be reckoned with

There is no confusing Thea Devine's work with any one elses. She is at the forefront in descriptive eroticism. There is sex galore, everywhere!!! SECRET PLEASURES traces one woman's road from a quick and unexpected violent act making her a widow (and the chief suspect) through treachery and debauchery and then back to some degree of normalcy. This book questions family commitment and loyalties. It also looks into the secret night lives of "respectable" people. The reader is taken into "gentlemen's" clubs consisting of rooms where anything one wishes can be obtained if he (or she) can pay. SECRET PLEASURES is a different kind of book. It doesn't really fall into what we consider romance. There is not much emotional attachment and the storyline is farfetched. But I must admit, it was hard to put down.

My favorite Thea Devine. Not only is this one wildly erotic, it's also a rarity in the romantic suspense genre - a book so filled with plot twists and tension, that about halfway through you begin to think the unthinkable: the hero and heroine might not end up together! So I'm ashamed to admit, I broke my own cardinal rule and skipped to the last page just to make sure. Otherwise, it would have been downright painful to keep reading. There's no "big misunderstanding" keeping this erotically-charged couple from trusting each other. In fact, her suspicions of him are well-founded. Roak may not be betraying Genelle in exactly the way that she - and we - begin to suspect, but he's definitely decieving her - and since she's paying him a fortune to help clear her of her husband's murder, the stakes are high. Devine masterfully weaves a web of intrigue in this book, keeping the reader almost as much in the dark as the threatened heroine is herself. The only thing we readers know at the outset that Genelle does not is this: her "skilled investigator" was no stranger to Genelle's murdered husband - and he's taking on this assignment for his own reasons, not his client's. The two become lovers, of course (which he has planned from the start) and the sex scenes are as steamy and frequent as fans of Devine have come to expect. But the sexual tension isn't the only tension building as the novel progresses. As Scotland Yard begins to build a compelling case against Genelle, and her arrest for murder begins to appear inevitable, she slowly realizes that nothing is as it seems and that her lover/detective is hiding critical information. In fact, he appears to be using their sexual relationship to distract Genelle from her own investigation. Most chillingly, Roak refuses to either confirm or deny that he has his own agenda...In the hands of a less careful author, it would be hard to believe that Genelle would continue paying her investigator for what amounts to little more than his sexual services. But in Devine's skillfully woven web, Genelle hangs onto Roak because he is all she has. She has no friends, and it seems that everybody who knew her husband - including Genelle's own despicable mother - wants to see Genelle hang for his murder. She is addicted to Roak, for better or worse. And so will you be - if you don't mind tension that will keep you awake until the alarm clock goes off!

The divine Thea has done it again, providing a veritable feast of secret and not-so-secret pleasures. More erotica than romance, Secret Pleasures kept me turning its pages eagerly and left me hungry for more, and also wishing for shopping information for the clothes and accessories! A really hot read, in the best sense of the word -- wear gloves reading this one!

BEWARE - THIS IS NOT A NEW TITLE!

This is one of Thea Devine's best - especially if you like them strange and sexy.

I DO LOVE STORIS THAT HAVE VERY SEXY SCENES AND WHILE THIS BOOK HAD A LOT I THOUGHT THE SEX WAS VERY BORING AND NOT IMAGINATIVE- WE HAD NO CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS AND I GOT VERY BORED- THE STORY INTSELF WAS UNINTERESTING- I LIKE A BOOK THAT GETS YOUR HEART RACING AND YOUR BLOOD POUNDING- WHERE YOU REALLY CARE IF THE TWO CHARACTERS GET TOGETHER - I LIKE SEX SCENES THAT ARE NOT ALL THE SAME - A LITTE MORE RACY THAT JUST THEM DOING IT EVERY OTHER PAGE-IT'S HARD TO BELIVE THAT SEX CAN GET BORING BUT BELIVE ME THIS BOOK IS- I LOVE MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS- SAVE YOUR MONEY- FOR A GOOD BOOK READE ALWAYS BY LYNDSAY SANDS-NOT THIS SLEEPER

This book was an emotional roller coaster. It was very very intense, not just the erotic sensuality, but the darker plot that surrounds the story and all of the hidden secrets that everyone in Genelle's life had. Lady Genelle Tinsale was forced into a marriage she never wanted to a much older man. Suddenly her husband has been murdered and of course Genelle is the prime suspect.

Unraveling the plot of the murder mystery is of course quite interesing especially because Genelle becomes oh so very sexually attracted to Rulan Roak the private detective investigating the murder. Needless to say what develops between Rulan and Genelle is very erotic. I guess it depends on ones point of view whether this was romantic. My own feelings I guess is that if one can find that kind of hot steamy passion in one's life, and if it is erotic, how wonderful.

As they search for the murderer one is taken into the back rooms of the gentlemen's clubs where anyone's wishes can be granted for a price and where the supposed respectable people have more secrets than anyone can imagine.

A very interesting book that I personally could not put down. Maybe my own life has become a bit boring and it was fascinating to escape to a different kind of adventure. Certainly this would not be a book for everyone but I truly enjoyed it and give it a solid five star review.

I found myself really bored with this book. The characters seem to have no emotional attachment to each other at all, and there is very little plot. Neither the hero nor the heroine have any appeal for me at all. The only reason I give the book 2 stars is because I did stay around long enough to find out who the killer really was, so although I was bored I did finish the book which I can't say about every book I've read. This book needs a lot more story and character development before I can rank it any higher than this... This book is a reprint of a book published in 1995.