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Title: Sinful by Susan Johnson ISBN: 0-553-29312-5 Publisher: Fanfare Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Sinfully Romantic
Comment: This is the 1st book of St. John Series. Read Wicked (story of Beau, Sinjin's son), the second book of the series.
After reading this book, I didn't write a review for it right away as I normally would have. I always write a book review ( esp. when I am taken by the story) as soon as I finished the book, that way the story is still fresh in my mind. However, this book seems to have puzzled me. I like the plot, the hero & the heroine. I enjoyed the book immensely, no doubt about it but there was something either wrong or missing to it. I didn't know what it was until I read it the second time.
Sinjin St. John, Duke of Seth is like most hero in every historical romance novel. He is handsome, rich, a rake & England's most eligible bachelor. However, he has a dark past which made him vow never to marry or fall in love again. Sinjin's life seemed prefectly content until Chelsea Fergusson appeared in his carriage with scandalous yet tempting request. She begs Sinjin to take her virginity, to save her from unwanted marriage. This is one of my favorite scenes - Her naive comments, suggestions & statements on how to go about this request & Sinjin's reaction to it is simply amusing. Sinjin noted that Chelsea is clearly a high breed lady ( despite her scandalous request ) and among other things, sister of his friend, Duncan... so naturally, he painfully refused the request & took her home. But the head strong & determined Chelsea will not be deterred....
The immediate story line of this book is pretty much causal - rich, handsome, eligible rake hero and a head strong, intelligent & beautiful heroine who is arranged to an unwanted marriage by family to improved financial status or to pay off gambling debts. However, what made their story much more appealing though is the way they both intensely react to each other. Sinjin & Chelsea didn't follow propriety or rules of the society. They were sorta a rebel. Yes, they try to be discreet but passion & the strong attraction interfered with common sense. I highly enjoyed Chelsea's character. She is innocent yet seductively naughty & straight forward. She wasn't afraid to feel & react to their passion, which are all new to her. As for Sinjin, sex was definitely not new to him but there's an unexplainable urge of desire only Chelsea can satisfy (temporarily). He was always careful and have never caroused beyond brothels or married woman. Chelsea however, he sought after... She was a risk he was pleasantly willing to take. They both least thought nor expected LOVE.
The only thing that bothered me about this book is Sinjin's abrupt change of character towards the end. You'll have to read the book to know what I mean. Given the circumstances, I could understand his bitterness... but his cold & rude treatment towards Chealse was simply uncalled for, (given the circumstances that she wasn't entirely at fault) & it dragged on for quite a long time too. I was disappointed because Sinjin was such a gentleman to Chelsea in the beginning of the book. He was sooo smooth and controlled. He was kind, thoughtful, playful & gentle to her. Almost as if you can see that he truly cares for her. His intense attraction towards her in the beginning was too much to abruptly just turn around like that. He became very insulting, degrading Chelsea & very hurtful. To the extreme! This really irritated me, perhaps I just feel so sorry for Chelsea that i am not reading through reasons. Chelsea's character also changed towards the end, she was too understanding, too accepting & too forgiving... She was reaching out to him with all her heart, waiting... waiting... waiting for Sinjin to come around, which is kindda devastating. She blamed herself more even if they were both force into that situation together. After what she's been through (esp. that awful stormy night), I rather think that Sinjin should be the one to do the reaching out most.
Well, despite that small troubled comment above, the whole story/book in general is entertainingly romantic & heart quenching. I surely recommend it! Despite the ordinary immediate plot, the steamy love scenes & twists somehow contributed in making this book unconventionally different from the usual historical romances novels that I have read by far.
Rating: 3
Summary: 5 stars for the beginning, 1 star for the middle and end
Comment: The beginning starts off soooooo well. It's so naughty and nice, you know you like 'em that way. Sinjin is a wonderful bad boy in style. He's rich, so debonair, and has a good balance of wham-bamming and gentle caresses. Ahh. so very sinfully rich The girl Chelsea, I must say, is a truly wonderful character who isn't the usual prude. I got to give her extra points for being curiously intelligent type instead of the pompous academic *****. and she's also sexually curious, but not to the point of well..dirtiness.
All goes lovely in the book UNTIL Sinjin departs from his lady love, after all, he's a bad boy and has many duties to fulfill. Then the plot AND characterization falls apart. I see evidences of rush, procrastination, and this books surely wouldn't hurt to get another revision to get the narrative smoother.
This is not your feel-good book. Some of the scenes rather hurt emotionally. The conflicts are rather extreme. Sinjin's character totally changes to weirdness. He turns into what you might call- a sensitive guy (Yucko).
Things don't go as well for Chelsea. She goes through some hell, making you just want to cry with her.
The other flaw of this book is the theme of the arranged marriage. I am sick of people getting forced to get married by officious relatives. The quarkiest part of this theme is that the love comes AFTER the marriage.
I absolutely did not appreciate the toning down of the characters in Sinful. I wish they were allowed to be more consistent. Such great potential for this book gone wasted. *Sigh*
Rating: 1
Summary: Yuck!
Comment: I have read several of Susan Johhson's novels and have enjoyed most of them throughly. I was very disappointed and had trouble finishing Sinful. The alpha male character was just disgusting. His treatment of the heroine and his perverted sexual appetites were very distasteful. Perhaps the book would have been more palatable to me if the character of Sinjin had any redeeming qualities, but I couldn't for the life of me believe that anyone as self absorbed and hedonistic as he could possibly love anyone else. Ms. Johnson wrote a sequel to this book, Wicked, about Sinjin's son Beau. He is even more sickening than his father. I would advise not bothering to read Sinful or Wicked, and instead trying any of Ms. Johnson's other books. Hopefully, you won't be left with a bad taste in your mouth.
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Title: Wicked by Susan Johnson ISBN: 0553572148 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Pure Sin by Susan Johnson ISBN: 0553299565 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 November, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Forbidden by Susan Johnson ISBN: 0553291254 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 August, 1991 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Brazen by Susan Johnson ISBN: 055357213X Publisher: Fanfare Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Taboo by Susan Johnson ISBN: 0553572156 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 03 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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