Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Dangerous Desires by Julia Templeton

COPYRIGHT: 2004
PAGES: 226
SETTING: Historical - Regency Era
TYPE: Erotica
SERIES: No
SENSUALITY Hot

REASON FOR READING: Read somewhere that this book is a very hot regency.

SUMMARY:[from the publisher]
Rochford Manor, outside London, 1810:

When her dying father entrusts her to the care of Dominic Santrell, one of London's most infamous rakes, Arlie Whitman is thrust into a world of elegance and privilege she had never imagined. But her initiation into society is nowhere near as frightening as the powerful desire she feels for Dominic himself. The dark and dashing earl claims that she needs a husband, but Arlie knows she needs only Dominic.

Dominic had vowed never to marry. In his experience, love was, at best, an evening's pleasure. Yet the parade of young men courting his ward is unbearable. Arlie's innocent beauty haunts his dreams. The passion they share cannot be denied...

But desire can be dangerous.
THOUGHTS / OPINION:
DD was my first book by Julia Templeton and I was very disappointed. She tells a story very well but there were numerous problems that just kept adding up until I was thoroughly disgusted with it. I had heard such good things about it too *sigh*. First strike against it was the age difference between the hero and heroine. DD is a ward/guardian story; she is 17 and he is 33! From the very first scenes Dominic's mental lusting for Arlie just gave me the creeps. Dominic is a rake determined never to marry so he sets out to launch her in society and find her a husband. He provides her with lessons in deportment, etiquette and a new wardrobe. But this was Regency England and no mention is made of a FEMALE chaperon. I never thought I was a stickler for historical accuracy but this just set off the alarm bells in my head. I have read hundreds of regency romances from Heyer to Balogh and this premise was not right. For a young female to live under the same roof with a non-relative bachelor would cause a huge scandal in London society but in DD society didn't blink an eye. There were other scenes that creeped me out too, like Arlie catching Dominic and his mistress together. And for a virgin, Arlie was way too knowledgeable about sex.

Gradually, Dominic's lust gets away from him and he seduces Arlie, they have lots of hot sex. Then he convinces her to becoming his mistress and he sets her up in a house. She sits around waiting for him to 'visit' her. She was a real doormat even allowing for her age. He's determined never to marry until the very end when he finds out she's pregnant (duh!) then he marries her. The End. I can't believe I finished it. Lots of hot sex scenes but I couldn't care less. Blech! Templeton's writing style has potential but I think that if she wants to write in the regency era she needs to do more research because there were numerous scenes that just didn't seem to fit the attitudes of the time. I'm not that picky about historical accuracy but this book just seemed way off and it pissed me off.

GRADE: D+

PS: What is wrong with those reviewers over at Amazon? Almost everyone gave it 5 stars. Except for Mrs. N. Burgess (Suffolk, England) who gave it 1 star:
Having bought and read this book, I wonder if my copy does not belong to some alternative reality. The previous reviewers have commented on historical aspects of the story and character developement. Well, the authors knowledge of english social history at the time (1810) is so bad as to be non-existant. For a start a single man would have instantly employed a chaperone when acquiring a female ward of marriagable age, and once an unmarried woman became a mistress she would not have been received in society, she certainly would not have become friends with a Peeress. On a plus point the book did make me laugh though that was probaly not the reaction looked for. If you want fluff, sort of Barbara Cartland with sex, this is for you, if you want history read something else.
Very funny. I wish I'd read this before I bought this piece of work.

6 comments:

Shelly said...

Most of the time I skip Amazon reviews. Or weirdly enough I only read people that give anything but 5 stars. LOL I hate when you get a book and are realllly disappointed by it.

ReneeW said...

Shelly: I never read Amazon reviews before I read a book but like to look at them after to see what others are saying. This time they seemed way out of whack with reality, more than usual anyway. Some readers at AAR were raving about this one but wow, what a waste of money.

CindyS said...

Yikes. Seeing as how I had a problem with Hoyt's first book and the brothel scene I would guess this would push me right over the edge.

The funny part of the review is where she talks about being friends of peerage - that seems to be a rule that is regularly broken, even in traditional historical romance.

He married her because she got pregnant. Wow, I wonder if he would have married the other mistress and had two wives if she showed up preggers too.

CindyS

ReneeW said...

Yeah, the hero was such a slut it was a wonder he didn't have the preggers problem before. The friends of peerage was the least of the historical inaccuracies in DD and like you said shows up in lots of traditional historicals and doesn't bother me as much as the lack of a female chaperone.

I actually like Hoyt's first book in spite of the unrealistic brothel scene but this book has more serious problems and you shoul definitely stay away.

Rowena said...

Oh wow, GROSS! I don't think I'd be able to get passed that...thanks for the heads up!

Jade B said...

I thoroughly enjoyed this blog thanks for sharing.

Wow, I haven't touched my blog in over 6 years and I'm still logged in!  Good thing because I have no idea what my password is.  In ...