Customer Reviews

Sheer Pleasures

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

 

 

Sheer Pleasures is vintage Stella Cameron - good writing, lots of action, hideously evil villains, and a hunk of a hero handsome enough to make any good woman do bad things. What Sheer Pleasures doesn't have is a lot of romance, and hard-core romance fans will be disappointed. Action fans will be delighted, however, since Sheer Pleasures is chock full of good guys, bad guys, mystery, mayhem and murder. There's even a car chase. In truth, Sheer Pleasures is really more of a mystery/action novel, with a romance thrown in almost as an afterthought.

The heroine is Wilhelmina Phoenix, a down-on-her-luck lawyer searching for a long-lost friend. Phoenix, as she calls herself, is not having a good life. She loses her job a defense attorney when she rats on her own client - a child molester.

As a heroine, Phoenix has many good points. She's brave, she's tough, she's loyal and she's compassionate. Unfortunately, Phoenix does a lot idiotic things in this book. At one point, when several attempts have been made on her life and people are getting killed all around her, she makes what can only be described as truly stupid decisions. "Come on Phoenix, use a little common sense, please."

Anyway, in her quest to find her friend April, Phoenix ends up in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, at the mysterious club where her friend was last employed. Forget golf and tennis, 'cause this ain't your ordinary country club by any stretch of the imagination. This place discreetly caters to the more perverse interests and tastes of its wealthy clientele, who can take their pick of whatever sexual act or illegal narcotic they care to imbibe. The club counts movie stars, politicians and other public figures among its clientele.

It is at the club she meets one of its owners, Roman Wilde, former Navy Seal and all-around gorgeous hunk. Unbeknownst to Phoenix, he's on the same mission she is -- except that he knows April is dead. He has his own very personal reasons for wanting to find the killer. And once Phoenix and Roman realize that they're working toward the same goal of finding the murderer, sex, romance and love follow. The sex scenes are steamy, although I had a hard time believing that 30-year old Phoenix was still a virgin, for goodness sakes. Somehow this woman managed to go all the way through college and law school without ever going past first base? Give us a break. Virginity in romance novels is highly overrated.

At its best, this book is exciting, suspenseful and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing. There are holes in the plot and they can be distracting, if you let them. The journey gets bumpy in parts, but ultimately Sheer Pleasures gets you where you want to go and gives you a few good thrills along the way.

I was going to trash this book, but really, if everyone wrote the same way what would be the point? I truly hated this book..well Phoenix. It started off well, but she was written as an idiot in a totally implausible setting. Since I am moving I am gladly giving the book away so it may find a home with someone who may enjoy it.

First, I'd like to say, I'm a big fan of Stella Cameron, as a rule. Next, I'd like to say, SHEER PLEASURES was an okay story, (not great), I've read better. Even so, it is still a book that I found mildly entertaining. You might too. Might want to buy it used or perhaps check and see if your local library might have a copy.

This was my first Stella Cameron and I really enjoyed it. As romantic suspense novels go, this is right up there with All the King's Men by Linda Howard and Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown. I loved the eccentricities of the characters in the town of Past Peak and I thought the storyline of Roman and Phoenix trying to get to the bottom of April Clark's disappearance was excellent. I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it!! At times I thought Roman was a little overdone in the sappy department but I just skimmed over the parts that were too cheesy. :) I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a fast-paced, racy romance novel with a twist of suspense. I can't wait to read Nasty Ferrito's story!

This is the first Stella Cameron book I've read, and it will be my last! I can't believe that anyone thought this book was even remotely close to being good. The plot was totally unbelievable. The dialogue and storyline jumped around so much that I often had to re-read passages to figure out what was going on. There was a lot of description, but it was usually about things irrelevant to the story. The author also attempted (unsuccessfully) to juggle too many characters. The result was an inability to relate or connect to any of the characters. Many of the scenes seemed to be absolutely pointless. It was a chore to read this book, and I only finished it on principle. This book was far from leaving a good first impression.

Sheer Pleasures will have you from page ONE. This is the awesome prequel to Guilty Pleasures, which is even more entertaining than its predecessor. Sheer Pleasures is the sexy, romantic, nail-biting story of Roman and Phoenix. Their exchanges are witty and passionate, and the other characters in the book are certainly original. Roman, the tough Navy SEAL is not so tough after all, and neither is his SEAL partner Nasty Ferrito, as you will discover in HIS story (which you will absolutely have to read after finishing Sheer Pleasures!) GO GET 'EM!!

Stella Cameron sure knows how to entertain the readers. I felt like I could really see the pretty areas of Washington and the people and places. The main character ex-Seal Roman, was quite a guy! The lady of the story, Phoenix was also pretty gutsy to try and find out about her dead friend. I think the story of their quest for the truth was very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and a mystery combined. Don't forget to also read "Guilty Pleasures", which continues the story of "Nasty", Roman's partner, also an ex-Seal. There's also "True Bliss", where "Guilty Pleasures" main lady came from. Have fun read them all.

Yes it can. I am not going to go into detail, I see that has already been done. I really enjoyed this book. Its not a classic romance, but for a contemporary read it was well done. The story was unique and moving and I thought the characters were believable, and together they heated up the pages. Overall I would recommend this book if you are not looking for a classic romance. I will be reading this book again.

The author captures the personalities of the two main characters so you
feel like you know them...The plot is realistic...Love scenes
are warm, tender and sweet....Very nice book...