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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A keeper for those that like their foreplay long and slow!, January 10, 2001
This review is from: Seduced (Mass Market Paperback)
Antonia and Adam do not meet until page 148 in this 532-page novel. I am glad I read the previous reviews that warned me of this long wait. But as Antonia experienced a range of emotions when she wrote about Adam in her personal journal; I went through a maelstrom of emotions that ranged from ennui, acceptance and finally, love and awe for this novel. She won me over slowly but surely and now I wouldn't have had it any other way. I've read many of Henley's books and they were always sure to capture my attention from beginning to end. I was shocked to feel an urge to set aside the book and read another book before I got to page 148. But since she's never disappointed me before, I decided to stick it out and am glad I did. That one enchanted and oh so erotic love scene between the Butterfly and the Leopard is worth the price of the book. Sigh, but you get so much more. Much more detail, history and a lushly sensual ambiance experienced through the eyes of Antonia and Adam. (Hint: more than one love scene!) Some may say this book could have been shorter. Yes, but at what cost? Are you the kind of person that would prefer an instant no-bake cheesecake or a real, made by scratch, baked cheesecake that is rich and creamy? More time is invested in the latter but isn't it worth it when you finally taste it? More attention to detail and more ingredients are needed for the latter but wasn't the time investment worth it? One of my favorite sayings is that there is no short cut to doing things the right way and Ms. Henley once again proved she knew what she was doing. I realize now that the gathering of the ingredients were the first 148 pages. The middle part of the book was a mixing of the ingredients. But the rest of the novel? Sigh; put it in the fire to cook! And boy oh boy, can Ms. Henley cook! And the heat, what a scorcher! And wait until you get a taste of Antonia and Adam. You'll be licking your lips just as much as Antonia and Adam did...among other things! Remember, as you read about the foreplay between A&A, you the reader have been experiencing a very slow and very thorough foreplay from the very first chapter. Sure, do as some of the other reviewers have done and skip the foreplay and read the action parts. But aren't you just cheating yourself? Heck, why not go eat a piece of instant no-bake cheesecake while you're at it? I didn't just read this book, I experienced it. I loved Antonia and Adam. I was enamored of the fact that Adam declared his love first. His shared his feelings for her to savor and thus I got to savor it too. Ms. Henley leaves no doubt in your mind that they were meant for each other. I also loved the fact that even after they declared their love for each other, there were pages and pages to enjoy before the end. Yet it didn't feel as if the ending was padded or contrived just to keep the story going. I was hooked to the very last page, to the very last word! Yes Virginia, the ends do justify the means!
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'm torn between a good plot and too long of a story., July 2, 2004
This review is from: Seduced (Mass Market Paperback)
This book was good but it was too long. It dragged in parts. There were so many subplots that had nothing to do with the book. I mean there was page after page, after page of the prince and his mistress. Not only was it unnecessary, it was BORING, and SICKENING. They were so lovydovy it was gross. I found myself (at times) reluctant to pick it back up. I couldn't even skip the pages and pages of the prince and his mistress because I kept telling myself that of course if had something to do with the plot. WRONG!!
On the good side, it had a very good plot (the reason for 3 stars). But come on even after Tony slept with Adam and talked to him all night, he still couldn't figure out who she was? Okay, she had a mask painted on but don't you think her voice would give her away? Again, this was a good book but very fantastical. Some of the things Tony did, i.e., the duel, the race, etc. were too unbelievable. Isn't the whole reason for reading to be brought into the plot and not keep telling yourself "yeah, right."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
NO EXPLANATION GIVEN, NO RESOLVING ISSUES, THEY JUST LIED TO THE HEROINE, April 15, 2010
One of the big issues in this story apart from him sleeping with everywomen he met, and having a woman body servant, who washes him naked in the bath together, was that he was engaged to the heroine's mother. I hate it when the hero and heroine meet and he's still bedding everyone. Nothing is said whether or not he is still getting washed by his naked body servant. Her mother lied when and told the heroine that she wasn't engaged to the hero. The Heroine never asks never questions, it's pretty sick when the hero goes from the mother to the heroine, and she doesn't even question this, she just jumps into his arms. Very poor writing, extremly upseting for a readers point of view. It's like everything is just whitewashed as if it didn't happen and that it means nothing, sorry if you put it in a story, we as readers really, really need closure. What's the point of reading a book if you don't get closure, you just get lies, it's worse, because she knows her mother lied to her etc, etc, etc. It's just tooo angsty to even worry about, so please don't read, because you don't get closure you just get lies, as I said what is the point of reading this book???
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