Courtesan Paperback – December 29, 2011

The tale of an innocent girl pushed or lured by circumstance into a sexual relationship with a man who has a hidden agenda, and who is determined not to love her, is as old as the romance genre. It's a plot which can be told with dozens of interesting variations, and which can make for a satisfying romantic experience. Perhaps one of the best examples would be one of the original modern romance novels,  The Flame and the Flower , by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. The epic love story of overbearing Brandon and gentle Heather is still in print more than thirty years later for good reason -- it's well-written, sexy and a gratifying read.However, this novel is just trashy -- it's not even well-written erotica. It's just embarrassingly horrible. The author has no grasp of dramatic tension and her dialogue is laughably wooden.The characterizations of her hero and heroine are equally ham-handed. The hero, Sebastian, never convincingly embraces his "love" for the heroine, even at the end when he finally produces a marriage proposal. We know why he initially refuses to love the heroine -- he's avenging the death of his mother at the hands of the heroine's heartless father. But I was so convinced of his continued loathing for her that I could not buy into the last three pages when he declares his love for her and falls to his knees, sobbing. As late as the chapter before the epilogue, he actually starts to have sex with his "lady love" with another man, in a yucky threesome right out of some shot-on-video porn movie.And just who is the heroine? Other than learning that Sarah Winslow is an eighteen-year old penniless former rich girl, we don't know her at all. She has no backstory, so the reader has no reason to care about her. For some unexplained reason, she is suddenly content with being the increasingly ill-used sex slave of this mean-spirited "master," to the point where she "falls in love" with him. The author tries to convince the reader that this masochistic display on the part of Sarah is a way of soothing Sebastian's broken spirit and winning his love, but it never comes across as believable.I finished this novel so that I could write a proper review, but that review can really be summed up in one word -- UGH! If you want classy erotica, try Anais Nin's  Delta of Venus  or  Story of O  by Pauline Reage. If you want a hero who starts out mean-spirited and redeems himself, try one of Johanna Lindsey's early works, or perhaps  Whitney, My Love  by Judith McNaught. But don't waste your money on this one.Addendum: I am revisiting this review almost nine months later to say that I found a contemporary author of solidly written erotica which romance readers looking for something sexier may find interesting. Check out  Sweet Persuasion  by Maya Banks. It has a strong story line and strong characters, and is extremely sexy. One reviewer called it Bondage/Domination-Light, which I think is a good description. Has lots of hot sex scenes in it, also.

I bought this book because of the glowing reviews and interesting premise, and now I'm mad I wasted my money. There are some good, even sexy, parts in the middle but overall this book was ruined by the beginning and the end.When Chapter 1 begins the heroine is already in a brothel. We miss the development of how she got there, the angst of her choices, the horror of falling so low. As a result, we never get to know her well or sympathize much. Also it's hard to understand why she's legally responsible for her father's debts; it doesn't work that way. With such a faulty premise, the plot loses credibility.The hero is a heel. I was holding out for him to realize he loved the heroine and redeem himself. He did neither. When the heroine tells him near the end that he doesn't know how to love, I agreed with her. I never felt he loved her. At the end I wanted him to grovel for her forgiveness for what he put her through.This brings me to my pet hate. Authors and publishers who throw in a menage a trois scene without a warning. If I'd been warned this book contained one, I'd never have bought it (and I will never buy another of this author's). Apart from its mere presence, this scene irritated me by being near the very end of the book, when both hero and heroine should be realizing they love each other. After he's taken all her orifices, the hero just decides to pass her onto another rich "protector", offers to find the protector himself, and then volunteers to join them in a menage so the heroine can get used to it. What a selfless guy! He eventually stops the proceedings but only after the stranger's penis is in her anus. Ugh!The heroine was TSTL to accept this situation. Magically even though she was poor before, after this scene she is doing fine financially. What happened? Did the hero help her financially? Why couldn't he do that before he pushed her to prostitute herself to a stranger to pay the debts? Ughhh!!

***This was first posted with "A Kid's Review" underneath; I accidentally hit the "no" box when asked if I was over 13, instead of, of course, clicking the "yes" button.***I have to admit, after reading the first few pages of this book, courtesy of Amazon, I was interested and immediately wished to purchase this novel.The book arrived just yesterday, and I was bored to tears after getting past those pages that I read here. The characters are boring and lack substance. I don't like the writing style, either. Sometimes books are slow to start and grab me after say, the first chapter. But not this one. I trudged on, chapter after chapter, and still couldn't get into Courtesan.So, my advice: don't waste your money on this one. A novel I will suggest about a courtesan is by MC Halliday and it is called: I came Up Stairs (A Victorian Courtesan's Memoirs: 1867-1871). That is definitely a good read and I couldn't put it down.

good story and entertaining