Cry for Passion

Cry for Passion is definitely a departure from your run of the mill erotic romance novels. It is set in Victorian England and the strictness of the times, particularly regarding sexuality and women's rights, sets a very severe stage. There is much to learn here about how far women have come, and how far they still have to go. Our heroine, Rose Clarring, is on a mission to save herself from a passionless and lonely marriage. Toward this end, she seeks out barrister Jack Lodoun to win her a divorce. Jack knows how futile such a venture would be, but nevertheless finds himself irrevocably drawn to Rose. Against his better judgment he challenges her to show him - personally - why passion and love should overrule matters of law, tradition and reputation. In a world where erotic romance is often synonymous with werewolves, vampires, and fairies, Robin's vulnerable and flawed characters are undeniably human. She removes the stereotypical hero and heroine from the genre, and instead gives us complicated protagonists like Jack and Rose. Separately, they are simply a man and woman who struggle with grief and guilt, with despair and loneliness. Together, they embark on an intense intimate journey, one that teaches them that shared passion can bring healing and even victory. And did I mention that this story is hot??? There is plenty of integrity to the storyline, but Robin did not sacrifice the reason we buy erotic romance novels in the first place. We are there to experience the passionate exploration between Jack and Rose and she takes us through every step of their intimate journey. Robin's books always contain scorching and unique sexual encounters and this book is no exception. In fact, some of the scenes they share are so intense and personal that the reader might almost feel they should look away. Almost... If you like your erotic romances plenty hot, but also with a plot and purpose, Robin Schone's Cry for Passion will not disappoint you.

It had been love at first sight for Jonathon and Rose Clarring. After a whirlwind courtship the happy couple marries, a blissful future had been lain out before them. However, when he is suddenly rendered infertile, their ideal life quickly came to a complete halt. For Rose, it doesn't matter that she will never have children, so long as she has Jonathon's love. Jonathon, however, sees things far differently. He soon becomes consumed with his inability to reproduce. Many long and lonely years pass, until finally, Rose can not only no longer bear her husband's misery, but her own loneliness as well. She realizes that although he doesn't desire her any longer he will never willingly let her go. The only way out is for her to divorce him. Jack Lodoun is a man at the top of his game. Rose approaches him about seeking a divorce from her husband, even as a successful barrister, Jack knows it is an impossible achievement. No woman, unless abused or deserted by her husband, would ever be granted a divorce. He cannot help her out of the marriage, yet, he can't help but sympathize with what she has been suffering. Jack knows far too well what a woman feels when she is not desired by her husband. He had loved a woman much like that. He loves her still. But, she had never truly been Jack's to begin with, and all too soon the only woman he ever loved had been taken from him. With the yearning for love lost haunting him, Jack finds himself uncontrollably drawn to Rose. In a way, they seem to understand each other as no one else can. Her desperation and want to feel passion again seeming to mirror his own. Until inevitably, these two people turn to each other for the physical comforts they had both been denied for so long. She loves her husband. He loves his former lover. It was a mutual understanding. For Rose and Jack, it hadn't been about love. It was about honesty, trust and understanding. This was a tale of two people both longing for something they could never have and--if only for a moment--finding a reprieve from their hunger within each other's embrace. Two lovers needing each other to heal the past in order to find a way to truly live again. Cry for Passion, in my opinion, is NOT so much a romance novel. Instead, it is a tale that for a specific moment in time gives us a glimpse into the lives of two people, both at the height of their own inner turmoil. I personally think that Robin Schone is an amazingly talented author. Her voice is very unique. Her writing is tight and to the point, yet, her use of words is almost poetic. She is an author who finds a way to delve deeply into the darkest recesses of human desires and emotions. She dares to be different. Each of her characters are completely unrefined and her tales, highly erotic.

I don't know if anyone else is aware, but if you email Robin Schone, she will reply to you personally. I found this out 2 years ago when I read "Scandolous Lovers", the first book in her Women and Mens Club series. She writes the most wonderfully descriptive love scenes I have ever read and I own all of her books. "Cry for Passion" continues the stories of the members of the club who have been subpoenaed to testify on Frances Hart's behalf. They lose families, jobs, and friends trying to do what was right. It details the relationship between Rose Clarring and Jack Lodoun (the prosecuter in Frances' case). She leaves her husband for Jack and the drama that ensues is pure Victorian Melodrama at its best. Ms. Schone once again draws our attention to the mistreatment of women during this period and entertains us with a really good love story.

If you have not read Scandalous Lovers, this is still going to take your breath away, but it will be so much more powerful if you read Scandalous Lovers, which is the back story for this book. I have read every book by this author. Robin Schone is in a class all her own. This is far more a feminist historical novel than an erotic love story, but it is also an amazing erotic love story. This story is a must read if you have any interest in 19th century British legal history, especially as regards women, morals, and the sexual roles of men and women, how that relates to class, the rights and power (or lack thereof) of women in various strata of society. Like it's predecessor, Scandalous Lovers, I put it in a category of it's own, and something akin to A Handmaids Tale in the feminist power it has. It also presents the awakening understanding of men to the need for change in how women are treated and the need for women to have power over their lives in society. This story is rich in history and presenting one the incredible social, political and personal evolution of an incredible woman's (Rose)sensual, sexual, and over all life awakening after being married for 12 years to a man who has ignored her for 11 of those years because he has become steril. She realizes he has relegated her to role of a breeder whose services he no longer requires. She challanges the prosecuting attorney who, in the court proceeding in Scandalous Lovers, ruthlessly but inadvertently makes her a person sconed by society, to help her obtain a divorce. She wants to experience passion and not be viewed as having the limited role in life as a procreator. Like Scandalous Lovers, this love story takes my breath away, not only from a sensual or sexual standpoint, although there is ample heat in that department, but rather from the heart wrenching personal and private and shared perspectives of both a man and a woman trying to find a passionate, close relationship, in Victorian England, and the awakening to their sensual selves, and their true needs, desires, and inner selves. The heart and gut wrenching realization, that there is no way they can legally pursue their relationship without serious consequences, including destroying both Rose's and Jack's positions in society. This is a magnificent book! The author has a sound and impressive knowledge of British history, especially of this time period, and of British Law of the time. I finished this book in one day and cannot stop thinking about it and Scandalous Lovers, which I reread just before this book. This is definitely NOT light escapist erotic fiction, but it is a page turner. I know this is a book I will read again, and again, and again. No one out there writes like this author!