Lessons of Desire
by Madeline Hunter
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Book Reviews of Lessons of Desire
Book Review: Insightful and wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book. I felt Phaedra's characterization was right on. Her dislike of marriage, and her strong negative reaction to being married was completely believable to me - many women during that time period equated marriage with a type of death: death of any kind of rights, death of spirit, death of freedom, death of soul. We forget that marriage was akin to being owned - Phaedra could love, and still not not NOT have any good feelings regarding marriage. Her entire identity was bound to her unmarried state; marriage threatened everything for her.
I thought Madeline Hunter captured this precisely.
The entire book held me. I thought it daring, extremely well-written, and reading it brought me joy.
A fabulous read.
Book Review: Lessons in painting "feminists" as silly
Summary: 2 Stars
Ok, so we all know that it's uncool and unrealistic, these days, to write a romance novel where the hero is miraculously changed by a heroine's love from knave to knight. So why oh why would we respond well to a story about a supposedly principled heroine (with silly and rootless principles) that the hero must change? Ultimately, the heroine doesn't stand by ANY of her principles, nor does she CHOOSE to give them up. Instead, circumstances conspire to make it "easy" for her to live as everyone else does. While the prose was fine, the heroine was difficult to swallow, and a wonderful hero was ruined by taking her so seriously. (Plus, was ever a plot so dull?) My recommendation is to pass on this one, ladies! [Stick with earlier titles!]Book Review: Annoying, irritating heroine
Summary: 2 Stars
Ugh. A good character might start out shallow, whining etc. but changes into a more mature, practical, interesting character via personal growth and love.
But she's an extremist and we're supposed to respect her because she makes sacrafices. Ok, I get it. But it would have been more interesting if she had fallen in love with a religious fanatic. At least they would have challenged each other. I'm all for unconditional love but ... the essence of attraction is that hopefully we're sent someone who will help us grow up and stop living so selfishly.
And then the description of her clothes! She wore black so she didn't have to clean her clothes regularly. That pretty much killed the ambiance for me.
Book Review: Heroine Very Irritating, Leads Don't Mesh Well
Summary: 2 Stars
I'll try to make this review to-the-point. Phaedra Blair is an interesting romance lead, but her "deal" didn't flow well with me. The heroine is obnoxious rather than stubborn, manipulative and childish rather than independent. Elliot Rothwell would have been a great male lead with a different female. Phaedra Blair really overpowered him in this book. That and the setting did not intrigue me at all. Phaedra comes across as extremely annoying, and intimacy between her and Elliot Rothwell seems forced at best. I enjoy Madeline Hunter immensely, but this book we could have done without.Book Review: The worst of the series so far!
Summary: 3 Stars
I did not really care for the heroine and her philoshpy of free love. Especially since it wasn't truly her philosphy, but her mother's and she seems to be holding onto it out of loyalty. This at the expense of her hero and herself. The only redemption was the final understanding of the importance of committment in a relationship. However, she caused the hero so many problems without ever doing anything to really endear herself. I was left wondering why he even bothered with her.
The brother Christian is a true scene stealer and I eagerly await his story.