Customer Reviews

Seduction In Mind

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a difficult book for Susan Johnson devotees. I have read virtually everything by Susan Johnson, and have found that her books typically are either about interesting characters with some good sex thrown in (Temporary Mistress) or about some interesting sex with good characters thrown in (Wicked, Silver Flame).

Seduction in Mind seems to push the boundaries of character development in a romance: while the hero is a typical SJ tall, dark, handsome rake, the heroine is notably different. A twice-widowed artist who occasionally models nude, Alexandra has lovers, suggests the possiblity of bi-sexuality (in one brief statement only, and although the impression is of a comment made in a fit of anger, it is never explained fully nor revisited), and has enough money to do as she pleases. A side plot also depicts sibling incest - great big ICK, but effective as a startling plot development.

The whole book has the feel of SJ reaching towards new boundaries, but still halfway confined to the "typical" romance plot. For instance, while the heroine is a modern woman with lovers, she still blushes furiously at insinuations and has issues with Sam's (the hero) past reputation. Also, her constant agonizing over his reputation borders on hypocritical and naive at times. The sex scenes - Johnson's specialty - are more quantity than quality, particularly if you have read a few of her previous books.

For all the negatives, though, this has some true bright spots. The flashes of humor, the attempt to give romance readers something other than a 17 year old blond virgin as a heroine, the hero who takes the initiative in bringing up babies and marriage...

Bottom line: Johnson has written better, but she's also written much worse, and this seems like a book that's leading the way to a more mature, disciplined writer.

READ AMAZON SYNOPSIS and in addition to that:

This is my third book of Ms. Johnson and once again, compared to SINFUL, this one pales and is somewhat a disappointment. I find this book a little on the light-weight in terms of the plot, the romance and the character development. It is only heavy in one thing and that is sex. Sam and Alex are likable in most part but not impressive nor do they leave intriguing marks. Villains are effortless and twisters were too easy to feel any excitement or relief. There's inconsistencies here and there, in terms of character portrayals, dialogue and dates of scenes. What bothered me most are the sex scenes, which in most part I find rather unnecessary. It's too explicit and could be bordered to soft porn materials. The dialogue and some of the vocabulary used are also too obscene for my liking. Mind you, I've read and enjoyed light and even heavy sex scenes in my romance reading, provided it's mixed with passion or affection. I expect a more lovable and heart warming love-making scenes in my romance books. This is not under erotica genre, afterall. The main essence of SEDUCTION IN MIND is simply lust and sex. Since Sam and Alex couldn't keep their hands off each other, they decided they are in love and will get married to save the trouble! Ugh....not my kind of romantic reading material.

The reason why I didn't rate this book lower than 3 stars despite my above complaint is primarily because I read the book all the way to the end without having to drag myself. Base on the three books I've read of Susan Johnson, she is never dull. Her style of risque will challenge readers to read on. There's also moments of treats such as the tasty banters between the Sam and Alex - that have brought smile to my face. So, In fact, if you already have this book on hand, I'd say go for it and read it. Who knows you might enjoy it more than I have. However, I would not recommend this book as one of those MUST READ or the one you have to go out of your way to get.

There is a difference between a romance story and a sex story, and this is definitely not the former. He is hardly my idea of a sexy man -- he has slept with everyone in town, still sleeps with prostitutes, and can't go one night without. He shows no interest in any of the women in his life outside of there function as a disposabe ... toy. How is it he has anything to share with a woman besides . . . well . . . I guess he has one of those!

There is no development of character, only what they were at the start. Her paintings don't reflect any growth or change, when her personality has gone from being so-so about sex to a wanton, insatiable, multiple-orgasmic woman virtually overnight. There is no basis for love to have grown between them that I could discern, even by the end, what -- a whole week later? So how DO they suddenly learn to love -- both are without passion for any other person in the story, and are both estranged from their families.

And I am not keen on how the f* word is used here, describing the activity that brings them both to a spiritual and monogamous awakening. That is NOT my idea of romantic or sexy dialogue. ....

Still engaged in my quest to find other historical writers worth reading, I decided to give Susan Johnson a try. But as soon as I turned to page 2 of the book and saw the baronet Frederick Leighton addressed as 'Sir Leighton' instead of Sir Frederick I knew I was onto a loser with Johnson.

Despite the author's prolific use of footnotes to demonstrate her knowledge of English history and customs, she gets some very basic elements completely wrong. Apart from the example above, her heroine, the twice-widowed Alexandra, is referred to throughout as 'Miss Ionides'. Whatever Alexandra's preference in the matter, any woman who had been married would have been called by the surname (or title) of her last husband. That was her name legally; Alexandra should have been referred to as Mrs Coutts.

The main characters, especially the viscount and his male friend, sounded far too contemporary; in fact, much of their dialogue was both modern and American, so I couldn't possibly take them seriously as Victorian aristocrats. As for Sam's language and vocabulary when with Alex... not credible. No gentleman would speak to a lady, even his lover, in those terms.

As for the story... sorry, but apart from when I was being jerked out of it by the anachronisms and inaccuracies it bored me from start to finish. As another reviewer commented, there was no romance in here. The book could have easily been marketed as an erotic novel, certainly; the sex scenes are detailed and very crudely described, with plenty of four-letter words. I have no idea how the characters fell in love with each other; there was no love story here.

Not recommended.

Susan Johnson has once again delivered a great romance with interesting lead characters. I was hooked from the first page when Sam announced his interest in the lovely Alex Iodines and promptly set out to "woo" her into his bed and finally his heart. I have reread this book several times because I love the romance and erotic elements, plus there are no distractions of historical descriptions and events (wars etc..) to interfere with Alex and Sam's story. The sex scenes are right on target for Ms. Johnson and I would describe them as steamy and erotic that only she knows how to write.

A beautiful woman in denial, while a young man lust after her, while fantasizing himself in her bed, and what naughty things could happen if she became HIS lover........
It all depends on what you seek in a romance novel. If you want non-stop sex then this is the book for you, if you find books that are about loving each other, and getting to know each other before they go seek sex, then find another book. I personally choose the first choice, so i enjoyed this book, and am now reading more of the author's books. So i hope you enjoy the book, and am like me!

Okay, after all the disappointments in Johnson's books of late, I was not so eager to read her latest books. But somehow a friend of mine gave me "Seduction in mind", so I was like, what the heck. So I read it, with a very low expectation, so as to avoid being disappointed.

Surprisingly, it was not bad. It's okay, reminiscent of her earlier novels like "Pure Sin". I like the heroine's attitude - she does not sulk all the time, she is independent, she has pride, and she is not being unnecessarily difficult. I just don't like the fact that she poses nude for paintings. That was really TOO liberated, and yes, rather unsurprising that she invites 'lewdness'.

The hero, Sam, is okay too. Not too excessively self-centered, and is a widower.

What irritates me about this book :
Farida and Mahmud. Egypt is too far-fetched. And the incestuous nature of their relationship is rather unnecessarily lewd. Doesn't contribute much to the story, so I wondered whether Johnson put it in just to spice things up, but she fails miserably. Farida and Mahmud have easily-forgotten roles that their plots can be eliminated from the book without any major consequences. There is not really much plot, if you read this book. I mean, the existence of Farida's manipulative greediness and all that is supposed to add intrigue, but I don't think so. It sounds so lame.

Like I said, if you have low expectations of this book, it's not so bad. Really. It's even quite nice.

The title is rather inappropriate, I guess. At first, I thought it was about a guy betting with his friends to see whether he can seduce a particular lady, but it turned out to be a much sweeter story than that. So maybe Johnson should change the title to reflect what the story is all about instead of putting lewd titles for advertisement/publicity purposes.

I'm a long-time fan of Susan Johnson, but I'm wondering what happened here. I thought the plot had a lot of potential (rakes being some of my favorite people), but too much sex seemed to take precedence over the story line. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Steamy is great, but not at the sacrifice of a good story.

Samuel Lennox, Viscount Ranelegh finds himself besotted and intrigued by Alexander Ionides, a distinguished lady who poses nude for artists. Their seduction blossoms into love and passion but their relationship is overwrought by Sam's despicable ex-mistress Farida, the objection of their parents and his debauched reputation. Alex finds herself ensnared into a web of sex - and knows that love is impossibly distant considering Sam's libertine ways, but soon she finds that Sam's interior is not devoid of tenderness. His ex-wife makes a cuckold out of him - and he swears marriage as an anatema, but will their love be strong enough to surmount the barriers?

SEDUCTION IN MIND coming from erotic romance writer Susan Johnson cannot stir much impact. Indubitably, Alex with her independent and resilient persona makes an interesting couple with the mischievous and bold Sam. Their dialogue is kinky and twisted with sexual innuendo; their passion stirring and deliciously scandalous. However, they alone cannot sustain a plot that is nondescript and banal; readers wonder whether the drama tangible in Ms. Johnson's previous books is mysteriously absent. The characters and villains are made too sketchy to ever impress and the strength of the book is bolstered only by the central characters in trifling matters on sex and marriage.

Susan Johnson's prose is getting succinct and stories cut straight to the point without any preliminaries. There is no subtleties or grand historical details; SEDUCTION IN MIND is exactly evident of that - it languishes into a cornucopia of sexual scenes without any foreplay or climax to stimulate readers' interest.

Worry no more. SJ's still got it! She hasn't lost her touch.

I devoured this book in 24 hours. If you're a SJ fan, you'll love this book. If you like character driven books full of SJ's usual trademarks such as clever sexual banter and hot & sweaty lovemaking, then this book is for you.

Thank goodness there's no kidnapping, murder plots, or adventures in the high seas to pad this love story. That leaves more room for us to get to know Sam and Alex(the heroine). SJ is the Queen of quick & snappy adult comebacks and she burns up the pages with them. And what woman doesn't want to read a book about a man bent on pursuing the woman of his desires? If that's not romantic...

p.s., Unlike some books that uses those tiny tiny letters so you have to squint to read, this book uses a bigger (font)print so it's much easier to read.