Review: Steamy Romance with True-to-Life Characters
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2013
Usually I don't give 5 star reviews, simply because there are so many fake reviews on Amazon that nobody I know believes you're telling the truth if you give something a perfect score.  "A Lady's Pleasure" deserves the rating.This book is a bit shorter than the average novel but don't let that deter you.  Too many authors reach the desired novel length by inserting boring filler.  Ms. Schone tells a riveting tale without additives and every word here is choice.If you're used to one dimension stock romance genre characters, the hero and heroine in this book may come as a surprise.  The hero isn't rich or titled.  The heroine isn't beautiful or beloved.  Instead of fantasy people with outrageous names, Ms. Schone gives us a slice of poignant reality and characters who might have actually existed.  These three dimensional characters create passion which nearly sears the pages to a crispy crunch.Those who are looking for a sweet romance should avoid this book, because the love scenes are graphic.  However, the sex is not gratuitous; every line reveals swelling emotion which drives the plot forward.  Normally, I would find it difficult to believe that two people could fall in love during such a brief interlude, but Schone's marvelous characters had me utterly convinced that this was a tale of soulmates who were meant to be together.Too many romances lack what Debra Dixon refers to as GMC (Goal, Motivation & Conflict) which is the driving force behind a compelling read.  Other authors fall back on high-stakes conflict generated by an evil mastermind.  "A Lady's Pleasure" derived wonderful GMC from just two lonely people in search of basic yet fleeting human contact, and she made the plight of these character so real that I despaired for them.  Rarely have I been so caught up by such a simple plot, but I found this book difficult to put down.For honesty's sake, I must confess I won this book in a contest, but that didn't influence my opinion of the book in any way.  I've downloaded many free books and have won several in contests (I enter about 75 contests every month) and I never let that fact stand in the way of my reviews.  In fact, as a writer myself, I tend to be very picky and difficult to please.  Other than a few editing issues (there's one page where someone apparently neglected to hit 'enter' at the end of a few paragraphs), I could find nothing to complain about.If you're looking for historical romance that doesn't hold back, I recommend this book with all my heart.