Love As Cold As Ice

Published: August 15th, 2012
The Ice Princess (The Princes Trilogy # 4)
By: Elizabeth Hoyt
Forever Yours
ASIN: B003VYBP8I

SEVEN NIGHTS OF SIN

As the madam of Aphrodite’s Grotto, the most infamous brothel in London, Coral Smythe knows everything possible about men’s needs and desires. Yet she’s never experienced the love of a single man—not even that of Captain Isaac Wargate whose hawk-like eyes stare at her with both condemnation…and lust.

SEVEN NIGHTS OF ECSTASY

Captain Wargate heartily disapproves of the sensuous madam who always wears a golden mask. She lures his officers from both his ship and their duty. But when Coral herself is offered up as the prize in a game of chance, Wargate impulsively enters…and wins.

SEVEN NIGHTS OF LOVE

Now the puritanical navy captain has just seven nights to learn everything he can about the mysterious madam and what she knows of a man’s desires. But when Coral is threatened by the new owner of Aphrodite’s Grotto, will Wargate take a chance on the woman beneath the mask…and on love?

Review

   This is the story of Coral Smythe, a madam of the most famous brothel in London, Aphrodite's Grotto.  She has spent her entire adulthood pleasing men and being left feeling cold.  She's never been in love or felt any true pleasure for herself.  It amuses her that the upright Captain Wargate, who comes to collect his men occasionally, seems to disparage and lust after her at the same time.  However, when the new top shareholder of the brothel, a cruel man, offers Coral as the prize in a high stakes game of chance Captain Wargate enters on impulse.  After winning the rights to Coral, he is determined to spend their seven nights getting to know what's underneath the mask she wears.  In such a short amount of time, Issac manages to raise her opinion of men and treat her like a woman instead of a prostitue unlike all the others.  But can they build a lasting relationship on their time together?  I felt cheated at the end of this story.  Yes, I kept in mind the fact that it is a novella and not a full book.  But if she was going to attempt to give Coral a happy ending, it should have occured that it was going to take an entire book to be believable.  I did not believe in the romance pretty much at all.  Issac was practically Puritanical, not interested in lowering himself into the bed of a prostitute.  I also had a really hard time believeing that there was anything like real love between them.  And could Coral really resolve all her issues in only seven days?  No freaking way!  As much as I was interested by the plot, the premise and the execution it just didn't work for me on the same level as the rest of the series did.  I honestly don't approve of novellas as a way to establish complicated plots and resolve them as beautifully as the ideas deserve.  If you're going to tell a story that is slightly complicated but doesn't ride on a intricate completion, that's what a novella is for in my opinion.  Disappointing, but still not a complete waste of time.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This novella was published for the Kindle on June 1st, 2012.*

At The Beginning With You...

Published: August 9th, 2011

Juliet Immortal
By: Stacey Jay
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780385740166


"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

Review

   Everything that you've ever been told about Juliet and Romeo was wrong.  They were in love in medieval Italy, but Romeo sacrificed Juliet for eternal life through a faction of evildoers, the Mercenaries, who spend eternity separating couples who are made for true love by getting one to sacrifice the other.  Juliet was taken into the service of the Ambassadors, rivals of the Mercenaries who fight for the survival of true love, trying to make it into an unshakable bond.  Juliet and Romeo have been rivals for over half a millenia but now it might be coming to an end.  Juliet suddenly finds herself in the body of Ariel Dragland, a seriously miserable teenage girl who has led a fairly painful life with her single Mom, scarred and unable to find the beauty in herself.  She is plagued by a popular boy name Dylan who acted like a creep on their first date, before crashing the car.  This is when Juliet posessed Ariel and Romeo posessed Dylan, attempting to kill Juliet.  Thankfully, a great guy named Ben comes to her rescue.  Before long Ariel finds herself falling in love with Ben, but thinks that it's doomed and he's meant to be with Ariel's best friend Gemma, because they both show the glow of someone who's found their soulmate.  Romeo is meanwhile trying to win Juliet back because he thinks she's his only hope of escaping the service of the Mercenaries and still living forever.  It turns out that Ben and Gemma aren't soulmates - they are each meant for someone else.  We learn more of the politics of the Ambassadors and Mercenaries (Juliet's Nurse was an Ambassador in disguise).  The ending is really shocking, has two parts to it (one for Juliet and one for Romeo) and it involves alternate universes.  I really loved Juliet's alternate universe ending, I thought it was absolutely beautiful.  Romeo's left me feeling creeped out and semi-cheated, especially after the tragedy that led to the necessity of alternate universes.  This entire book was sort of a conundrum - beautiful and twisted at the same time.  I can see why there are so many mixed reviews out there, but my love for the beauty of the way the story was told outweighs my disgust for Romeo's behavior and subsequent ending.  It definitely is not for everyone but I'd recommend trying to read it if you're hardcore for Shakespeare and literature in general. 

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars (Yes that's right, I said 3.75!!!)

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*