Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A good example of a bad romance, March 13, 2009
Books like Maya Banks's THE TYCOON'S PREGNANT MISTRESS are why series romances have a bad reputation. Banks may be good writer, but you can't tell it by this book. Perhaps the series format is too short for her amnesiac story line. I am not normally one of those romance readers that insist that everything be accurate, logical and make perfect sense, but my suspension of disbelief only goes so far. In this vein, I have decided to cathartically list some of the most bothersome aspects of this story. I won't be giving anything away that the book summary doesn't already highlight, so here goes.
1) The hospital releases the heroine, a rescued amnesiac kidnap victim, to a man (the hero) who lies about being her fiancé, and they don't require any proof of his relationship to her even though her abductors are at large and she's still purported to be in danger. 2) Even though she was just released from the hospital, Banks inserts a scene where the hero insists that the heroine get a medical checkup where she has an ultrasound so the doctor can confirm the health of the baby. So the hospital not only violated the laws of the state and the laws of decency by letting some stranger take her home, but they didn't see to the health of her five month old fetus before she was released? I get that this scene was probably an attempt to make this jerk seem caring, but all I could think was, "what kind of quack hospital did they take this poor woman to?" 3) The hero believes himself betrayed by the heroine and seems to genuinely hate her. But instead of simply providing for her care (and thus the care of his unborn child), he lies about them being engaged and proceeds to treat her schizophrenically with equal parts tender care and contempt. 4) His brothers treat her (the recently kidnapped, five-month-pregnant, confused, traumatized, amnesiac woman carrying their nephew) abominably. Their stories will be published soon. I can't wait to skip those. 5) The hero, while believing the heroine to be a lying, conniving, backstabbing, spying witch who slept with him to get at his corporate secrets, doesn't let his contempt stop him from having frequent sex with her even though (let me reiterate) she has been recently kidnapped, held for three months, is pregnant with his child, and is so traumatized she has almost complete amnesia. Ahh, romance!
I was set to give this book one star until I got to the part when the heroine gets her memory back. Her subsequent pain and struggle, along with the hero's guilt and contrition, were so well written it got another star out of me. But it certainly didn't make up for what came before.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maya Bank's 1st Silhouette Desire - Great Read!, January 7, 2009
This was Maya Bank's first Silhouette Desire, and it was excellent! Anyone who has read any of her books published by Ellora's Cave or Samhain Publishing knows what a fantastic writer she is. This book is the first of a three part series she is doing about three Greek brothers - Chrysander, Theron, and Piers Anetakis. This book is Chrysander's story. It starts out with his live-in girlfriend, Marley, finding out that she is pregnant and worrying about how to tell him and what he will think. It is obvious, even from the beginning that he spends a lot of time away from her - sometimes weeks at a time - on business. When she gets home to their apartment, he is waiting for her and they make love before she attempts to talk to him. You can tell right away that he has issues because when she asks him where he thinks their relationship is going, he tells her that they don't have a relationship - she is his mistress. Naturally this devastates her, and due to a serious lack of trust on his part and some cleverly planted "evidence", she doesn't even get a chance to tell him she is pregnant because he kicks her out, thinking she has stolen ideas from his company and sold them to a competitor. After she leaves him, she is kidnapped off the street. Then the story flashes forward to three months later - Marley has just been found by the police in a rundown building having been held by kidnappers for three months - Chrysander sees the story on the news and realizes she is pregnant with his child. When he goes to get her, he finds out that due to the trauma of being kidnapped, she doesn't remember anything but her name - she doesn't remember him, how she got pregnant, anything. He tells her that they are engaged to be married and takes her home with him. On the doctor's advice, he doesn't tell her anything about her kidnapping or anything else - he lets her believe she was in a car accident and that it caused her memory loss. She starts to slowly connect the dots and realize that something is wrong in their relationship due to little things like her not having any maternity clothes that fit her in their apartment - him having houses, property, etc. that she has never visited, and the hostility she senses from his brothers when she meets them. The rest of the story is a series of twists and turns that will leave you breathless and emotionally drained but feeling very satisfied in the end. You can feel the heroine's pain when she regains her memory and remembers all the things Chrysander said to her when he kicked her out, and she believes everything he told her since her kidnapping was a lie - it is also particularly devastating when she remembers that the kidnappers kept her for 3 months waiting for Chrysander to pay a half a million dollar ransom that they requested several times and he never responded to. By the time the villain who is responsible for the whole mess gets whats coming to him or her, I was cheering and clapping. Be sure to check this one out - you won't regret it! I can hardly wait for the next installment.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!!!!, August 10, 2009
This review is from: The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress (Silhouette Desire) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is my first book by Maya Banks, and I can diffinatly tell you it will not be my last. The part where Marley gets her memory back is so emotionally charged, I had to stop and hunt a tissue. I love it when I come across a keeper and especially when I have discovered a new favorite author. Do not miss this book.
Sassy
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|