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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mary Barnes has had enough of being unwanted and unloved by her cruel stepmother and half sisters. All she wants to do is escape her life and find love and happiness. So when a mysterious peddler offers her a magic elixir to make the man of her dreams fall in love with her, she jumps at the chance.
Jordan Winthrop, the heir to the Earl of Sunderland, is debauched, bankrupt and handsome to boot. When he comes to Barnes Manor to marry Mary's half sister, he finds himself instead lusting after Mary. But is it real or is it the potion? And what will Jordan do when he realises he must make a choice between money and the woman he's beginning to think he might never want to let go?
You can always count on Cheryl Holt to deliver a satisfying read. This novel sticks to her tried and true theme of impoverished/put upon lady who gets tangled up with a cynical, jaded lord leading to love but not before seemingly insurmountable obstacles are dealt with.
I felt that this novel had more emotion and angst than is usual for Holt but that's not a bad thing at all. Jordan was your typical dissolute, cynical scoundrel but his panic and confusion at finding himself falling in love were a delight to read. Mary was also a well-drawn out character although I would have liked to see more of her feelings rather than just let us believe she had all of a sudden fallen in love. The other characters were horrible and lovely as required yet none of them felt stereotypical, each adding something to the story.
As this is billed as an erotic love story there's a fair amount of steamy sex but even then, I didn't find it as hot as Holt's previous books.
We also have a secondary love story which I liked very much and, as another reviewer stated, didn't overshadow the main story at all.
There are a fair amount of Americanisms in the text and at times the characters speak in too modern a manner to be truly indicative of the Regency times. But if you're looking for some escapism and want a fun, entertaining read then I would definitely recommend this book to you. 4 stars.
(This book is the first in the Spinster's Cure trilogy that includes Taste of Temptation and Dreams of Desire.)
Jordan Winthrop, the heir to the Earl of Sunderland, is debauched, bankrupt and handsome to boot. When he comes to Barnes Manor to marry Mary's half sister, he finds himself instead lusting after Mary. But is it real or is it the potion? And what will Jordan do when he realises he must make a choice between money and the woman he's beginning to think he might never want to let go?
You can always count on Cheryl Holt to deliver a satisfying read. This novel sticks to her tried and true theme of impoverished/put upon lady who gets tangled up with a cynical, jaded lord leading to love but not before seemingly insurmountable obstacles are dealt with.
I felt that this novel had more emotion and angst than is usual for Holt but that's not a bad thing at all. Jordan was your typical dissolute, cynical scoundrel but his panic and confusion at finding himself falling in love were a delight to read. Mary was also a well-drawn out character although I would have liked to see more of her feelings rather than just let us believe she had all of a sudden fallen in love. The other characters were horrible and lovely as required yet none of them felt stereotypical, each adding something to the story.
As this is billed as an erotic love story there's a fair amount of steamy sex but even then, I didn't find it as hot as Holt's previous books.
We also have a secondary love story which I liked very much and, as another reviewer stated, didn't overshadow the main story at all.
There are a fair amount of Americanisms in the text and at times the characters speak in too modern a manner to be truly indicative of the Regency times. But if you're looking for some escapism and want a fun, entertaining read then I would definitely recommend this book to you. 4 stars.
(This book is the first in the Spinster's Cure trilogy that includes Taste of Temptation and Dreams of Desire.)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I absolutely loved this book! I generally am rarely disappointed with the books of Cheryl Holt but obviously some are better than others. I felt this was one of her very best. The characters were genuine and likeable and the secondary storyline did not detract from the main story as can sometimes happen. Although I expected a happy ending there was heartbreak en route and I felt genuinely moved by the circumstances. I could not put the book down and read it in one sitting and that has not happened for a very long time. I can't wait for her next offering!!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
What happened!
28 April 2010
Format:Mass Market Paperback
OK who abducted Cheryl Holt and can you please release her. Ms Holt has always been one of my favorite authors and I have read most of her books. "Promise of Pleasure" fails to carry two proposed details...promise and pleasure. To the reader that is. It reads like a children's novel with a few, and I mean very few sexualized situations with PG ratings. Not that sex is everything but if you are going to add it, do it right!
A fortune hunting amazingly obtuse ariosto male visits a place they call the "Kingdom" to meet and marry a snobby step sister for her money. While on this trip he also brings his "rake" best friend, and his mistress to keep him company for the month they will be there.
The rotten step sister is not aware that the woman he has with him is his mistress and after finding out tells him she won't have him if he carries on his liaison after they are married. He proceeds to insist he will do whatever he likes and has no intention of being with her after their first night together. He doesn't understand her and says that she is "stupider" than he thought. Her word not mine...is stupider a word?
I could have written this book and as you read this review you will well understand how bad that would be! This Spring offers so many great new books so pick up one of those and give "Promise of Pleasure" a pass.
A fortune hunting amazingly obtuse ariosto male visits a place they call the "Kingdom" to meet and marry a snobby step sister for her money. While on this trip he also brings his "rake" best friend, and his mistress to keep him company for the month they will be there.
The rotten step sister is not aware that the woman he has with him is his mistress and after finding out tells him she won't have him if he carries on his liaison after they are married. He proceeds to insist he will do whatever he likes and has no intention of being with her after their first night together. He doesn't understand her and says that she is "stupider" than he thought. Her word not mine...is stupider a word?
I could have written this book and as you read this review you will well understand how bad that would be! This Spring offers so many great new books so pick up one of those and give "Promise of Pleasure" a pass.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1s book in trilogy of where and a few drops from a magical elixir -- leads to romance
24 May 2010
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Cheryl Holt books in the past were very edgy Historical erotic Romance where the evil was disturbingly VERY evil and good always won. I could not put this book down because I was waiting for the evil to emerge but it wasn't to her normal standards.
The concept was that Mary Barnes is Cinderella like character - evil stepmother and stepsister. Viscount Jordan Winthrop needs to marry an heiress and somehow the oldest child of the rich deceased father is penniless. Jordan and Mary start having an affair - while he plans to marry her younger evil step-sister.
I could not put it down - great writing - not quite what I was expecting though --- looking forward to Taste of Temptation (Berkley Sensation) due out June 2010.
The concept was that Mary Barnes is Cinderella like character - evil stepmother and stepsister. Viscount Jordan Winthrop needs to marry an heiress and somehow the oldest child of the rich deceased father is penniless. Jordan and Mary start having an affair - while he plans to marry her younger evil step-sister.
I could not put it down - great writing - not quite what I was expecting though --- looking forward to Taste of Temptation (Berkley Sensation) due out June 2010.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Not Pleasurable at all
8 May 2010
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Promise of Pleasure was more like promise of disappointment, desperation, boredom. You name it anything, but pleasure. I couldn't wait to read this book, because I usually enjoy reading Cheryl Holt's books, but this was like someone else wrote this or it was a rushed project. The heroine, if you can call her that, was a simpering, weak, and a simpleton without a backbone. She looked to Jordan, the hero, to save her/ "change her life." In one scene she begs Jordan to choose her over her sister, even to love her. Who does that? Felicity the "evil" step-sister was portrayed as selfish and self absorbed. She had more of a backbone than Mary and stood up for herself in not accepting Jordan as the cheating scumbag he is. Mary was not only weak, but sneaky and not likeable at all. Bottom line she was having sex with her sister's fiance. No matter how much Holt tried to drum up sympathy for Mary, she was the one who was selfish in all this.
Jordan was just as bad. There was no redeeming qualities to this man. Boo hoo your father doesn't like you, so I am going to be a complete a$*. I didn't understand why Mary fell in love with him. All I can see is she fell in love with having sex not Jordan.
Jordan was just as bad. There was no redeeming qualities to this man. Boo hoo your father doesn't like you, so I am going to be a complete a$*. I didn't understand why Mary fell in love with him. All I can see is she fell in love with having sex not Jordan.
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