Passion

I read this book three times just to make sure that I understood what the author was trying to get across. I didn't summarize the plot here (there is plenty of reviews with those), just some details of what I love/hate about this book. First the good stuff. I thought the romance aspect was excellent and a real tear jerker. Valdez really was able to flesh out her characters and make a deep emotional connection. This may sound cheesy, but I really felt that they were two lost souls that were only complete when they found each other. And the end was a killer! You want romantic? THIS IS IT! When they both realized that they could never be together ever again.....I almost died! Sheesh! Bring out the kleenex! The declarations and the circumstances were just heart-breaking. And the ending? ~SUPER SIGH~ who doesn't love an ending like that?! And now the bad or is it weird? First of all, let me say that I'm not at all averse to descriptive love scenes (the more the merrier!) but some of these had me thinking waaaaaay to much -not a good sign. I know most heroes are described as 'above' average in size (well no one wants a guy with a **** the size of a pinky), but Geeze is this man a man or a HORSE? Valdez I think went a little overboard with this. Ok, so he's big but it doesn't stop there. He's soooo big that he hasn't been able to find a woman that can *accept* his entire size into her body, until (lo and behold!) he finds the heroine! And the love scenes beat this point to DEATH! He's got to shift her here and there and just a little bit like that and then tilt her up like this.....AND scream at her to *open* more for him -UGGGG! that was just toooo much. It turned several excellent love scenes into a bad bio class. And really do I need to know that the man can fill a shot glass? Does that make him sexier? Not for me. And then there was the cursing. I don't mind a few words throw in here and there but again I thought that Valdez got a little bit crazy. I don't need F or C words repeated over and over again during love scenes to turn me on. Yeah, some people like that dirty talk, but to me it doesn't fit in a historical romance. Say it once or twice and be done with it. Otherwise your characters sound like common street people and not the nobility you portray them to be. So those parts I just wanted to take a sharpie pen to and cross out. Pretend that they were never written. If they weren't, this could have possibly been one of my favorite romances. That being said, I think a lot of romance readers will like this one. The trend seems to be that authors are adding more and more explicit love scenes (which I'm all for -if they are written well). And while I didn't like some parts, that didn't change the fact that I overall loved the characters and deep emotional romance of the book. If your not easily offended you'll like this one too. A great romance that leave you fulfilled (LOL! pun intended!) in the end.

This is one of my top 10 favorite books EVER! From their first amazingly hot encounter to the heart-wrenching conclusion I was hooked. Regardless of the graphic nature of their sexual encounters and the explicit language, Lisa Valdez has written a compelling and well plotted story. I appreciate that the author has revealed that the sex scenes are actually integral, and metaphorical, to the character's needs and their relationship with each other. Mark, the Earl of Langley, has never been embraced or loved deeply by another woman and Passion is unfulfilled/unfilled--and both find their needs truly met in each other. Understanding this may help a more reticent reader move beyond the shocking beginning and into the dynamic storyline that is alternately tragic and triumphant. Readers may need to keep a box of tissues nearby during the last third of the novel. :)

This book was a wonderful surprise. Lisa Valdez has a big future ahead of her! It was a shockingly steamy Victorian romance with more vivid language than typical, but the real surprise was the story itself. It was an extremely well written and plotted love story. The story was rich with details and emotions, and the ending difficult to predict. There is no doubt that this couple has something very special between them, and that their struggles to find true happiness went far beyond their sexual chemistry. Lisa Valdez does push the boundaries of "normal" by adding the "C" and "F" word to her dialog, as well as adding more raw and descriptive love scenes. I can see why some people would not care for this style, so if you are of a prude nature you may want to pass on this book. Personally, I felt the language was central to the storyline, and I don't know if the story would have been as enjoyable if the vivid details were glossed over with innuendoes and purple proses. Maybe, but I doubt it. The sex scenes were always heated with passion and desire -- and even love, but I never felt they were superficial or gratuitous. It was never "just sex". This book is a keeper, and I am sure to re-read it many more times.

A chance meeting between a widow and a strange man leads to sex behind a screen in a... museum? (hey, I wasn't paying all that close attention to the setting--believe me, you wouldn't either. suffice to say it was public) And that's just the beginning. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it wasn't what I got. With all the explicit sex scenes, you might expect it to be erotica, but there's a depth of emotion in this book that makes it more than that. The good: Explicit sex scenes that don't make you cringe, giggle, or skim. Three-dimensional characters, including the secondary characters. A no-way-out plot that was solved honestly. The bad: If you're at all squeamish about explicit sex scenes or graphic language, this book isn't for you. I didn't expect I'd be needing the Kleenex, and I had to go hunt for some. *sniff* The excellent: The in-depth emotional portrayal of a couple whose passion unlocks the needs and feelings they've kept hidden. The verdict: I've been recommending this to everyone, and Lisa Valdez has shot straight to my must-buy list on the strength of one single book.

This is erotic romance at about the same level of heat I enjoyed from Emma Holly during her brief flirtation with the historical genre (Beyond Innocence, Beyond Seduction). That said, Valdez has a highly original narrative style, lush and smooth as velvet. Her characters are compelled by past betrayals and current isolation to indulge in what can mildly be called scandalous behavior; i.e., some of the most erotic sex scenes I've ever read in a novel from a mainstream publisher. These scenes glitter like silver in a darkened room, as what begins as careless but harmless expressions of desire hurtle toward a confrontation so heartbreaking in its intensity, I hesitated to read on when I saw it coming. As has to happen in the romance genre, to keep us readers from mutinying, things reach a satisfying conclusion. Not a fairytale ending; a satisfying one, the kind where the protagonists have to face their own accountability and come to the right conclusions. Some appealing and rather innocent secondary characters are left to pick up the pieces, leaving the likelihood of at least one tantalizing sequel. I'm hoping there will be two. (One each for Matt and Charlotte.) As for the hero and heroine of Passion - a vicar's daughter born on Passion Sunday and an earl with enormous issues - their story is about the compulsions that drive people to cross forbidden lines, and it is told in unflinching detail. So if you often find yourself wishing that sensual romance would leave more to your imagination, this is not for you. On the other hand, if you are frequently in the other camp as I am, left hungry for more after all the teasing...what more can I say? In a word, yowsa!