Rating: 
Summary: A miss that cost her the mile
Review: You can find out what Shadow Heart is all about by reading the editorial reviews. I don't have a lot of patience with the readers who type out the entire contents of the dust jacket, the back cover, and the forward. I'm going to assume you're perusing the customer reviews to find out what readers thought of the book and why, so that's what I'll share with you. For the most part, Shadow Heart is quintessential Kinsale - the writing richly textured and delicious. But there is a very hot potato in the pages of this long-awaited novel by one of the most repected and loved writers of historical romance. It's no secret to Laura Kinsale fans (of whom I count myself among the most loyal) that Shadow Heart contains S&M sex scenes; as a matter of fact, that is the only kind of sex scenes you will run into in Laura's new book. No matter what you may think of the subject itself being introduced into the romantic genre (and there are many varying opinions about that), the point may be that by making both Elena and Allegreto mutual dealers of pain, Kinsale totally missed a great opportunity to present us with the romance of the decade. Had she written a bigger buildup of Elena's obsession with her "angel" of the past so there was a foundation for the present relationship, then made Elena a reluctant apprentice in the S&M and bondage in an effort to "save" Allegreto's black heart and soul, the scenes could have been made darkly beautiful and believable. As it was, we had to make some lightning-fast adjustments to keep up with the young girl we were first introduced to who was alarmed by the aggressive kisses of a romantic knight, and within a matter of weeks morphed into a disturbing and disturbed seductress. We were given no reference point from which to understand the flowering of the relationship between Elena and Allegreto, other than the point at which they came together to draw blood. As a result, we have a very hard time envisioning a happily-ever-anything for these two. One thing I found extremely interesting about the customer reviews of Shadow Heart (from the point of view of a therapist, which is what I do in my real life) is the inappropriate comments made about the S&M, an ingredient that must have at least surprised if not shocked Kinsale's fans. I think the reviewers were so anxious to give Laura high marks for what is an otherwise great work that they went out in left field, calling the sex scenes "beautifully drawn" and "true expressions of love" and "mild S&M" (which is as much an oxymoron as 'slight addiction'). Let's don't romanticize deviant behavior. If Elena and Allegreto are listening, I have a group you two can join on Wednesday nights at 7:00. As with all things personal, sexual practices are the participants' own business - to a point. I have some regulars in my group who have come close to killing or being killed (nearly bleeding out in one case and suffocating in another) in relationships like the one we are calling an "expression of love". Open-mindedness is one thing, willful ignorance in the name of tolerance is another. Whoops, I've called a spade a spade, go ahead and vote the "NO" button.
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