Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable and poor
Review: Poor is the only appropriate word I can come up with for this book. Most romances require that we suspend our disbelief to a certain extent, but some part of the story has to hang together or we can't do that. The characterization in this book is completely incredible and unbelievable to me -- the actions and personality descriptions of the main characters do not match. Some of the historical details may be accurate but not the aggregate or the overall picture. The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is that I did read it all the way through!
Rating: 
Summary: A fun and sensual read from a great writer
Review: Poor Isabella Leslie! She is beautiful, intelligent, and newly rich due to the death of her beloved grandfather. But Isabella is now alone, without a protector, and is powerless. Her relatives want to get control of the money by forcing Isabella to marry her odious cousin. However, she has other ideas and flees to the refuge of...a house of ill repute. This, however, is where Isabella's luck changes. For the madam, Molly, immediately takes a liking to the girl and offers her a safe haven. Molly's favorite customer, Dermott Ramsay, the Earl of Bathurst, takes a liking to Isabella, too, and decides to help her out of her predicament. For Molly and Isabella have found a solution to Isabella's problem. If the virgin Isabella is "ruined", she will be unsuitable for marriage and free from her family's machinations. And, who better to "ruin" Isabella than the handsome, wealthy, and extremely sensual Dermott?The very willing Isabella and the very eager Dermott have their assignation. It is amazing bliss for both of them, and the one night they plan to spend together turns into a week. Isabella cannot help herself and falls in love. But the Earl has made it clear from the beginning of their relationship that he is NOT the marrying kind. What is a girl to do? Isabella runs back to Molly, who decides to do a little matchmaking. Perhaps, if Isabella were to be launched into society, and constantly be flaunted under Desmond's nose, he might change his mind about her. Or will he? Sparks fly as Molly's plan is put into motion... I really enjoyed this book. It had everything that I have come to expect from a Susan Johnson novel - great lead characters, lots of sensual lovemaking, and wonderful, witty dialog throughout. The story in this one was a little lacking in depth, and perhaps didn't have as many historical details as other of Ms. Johnson's novels, but it sure was a fun read! Don't read it expecting to see anything new - but expect to have a good time!
Rating: 
Summary: Raunchy isn't romantic
Review: Someone must have told Ms. Johnson that throwing around four-letter words is a substitute for character development and plot. What emerges is an implausible premise held together by a string of livid sex scenes. I skimmed through it in a couple of hours, hoping for an improvement as I waded to the end. It was just a wasted $5.99 and two hours. It was cover-to-cover bilge. Tell me this isn't the new trend in "historical romance."
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing, not even borrowing.
Review: Susan Johnson's books have been recommended to me, so I thought I would give it a tried and was DISAPPOINTED. The story line was predictable, the diaglogue was stilted and unbelievable, and the love scenes were tepid, the author must have thought throwing in four letter profanity would heat it up but it did not help this lifeless storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: TEMPORARY MISTRESS is a disappointment
Review: TEMPORARY MISTRESS is lucidly not one of Ms. Johnson's best efforts - the characters like Isabella and Dermott bears uncanny resemblance from her past novels where the storyline of "a profligate falling into the chains of love and redemption" is blatantly over-recycled. No doubt that Ms. Johnson continues her trademark of sparkling sensuality and abiding passion, but the monotonous tone and predictible storyline has extricated some of the authority that Ms. Johnson possesses in her unique form of story-telling and her penchance for the colourful history. The dialogue slips into a blase mess and one remains impassioned over the characters. Which is too bad - the wits of the heroine Isabella was clearly undermined and the hero Dermott with the scarred past in India was left much to be explored. Raunchy and entertaining - when it comes to compliment SJ's works, overshadows her potential, because her hallmark Brazen and Braddock series showcases the vibrant tapestries of history and romance intertwined. TEMPORARY MISTRESS marks a grave disappointment to the diaspora of fans for her rich novels - and we can only just hope this trend is temporary.
Rating:
Summary: Yuck!
Review: This book is often intriguing, with strong characters, but it veered into the crass rather than the romantic. The relationship was more about sex than love. Dermott was really bad to her, hurting her deeply. Isabella is just as sex-driven. Implausibilities abound, and terms and sayings are just too modern.
Rating:
Summary: based on meaningless sex, no love involved
Review: this is my first susan johnson book and i was utterly disappointed. it begins with interest, but ends without much play of emotions. if you like your romances raunchy, this wouldn't even meet par. the sex is unimaginative and dull, the characters completely without feeling. it's hard to tell whether dermott and isabella are in love or are just in lust. i wasn't able to feel any kind of devoted passion between the two. a complete waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Review: This is my first Susan Johnson book and it is probably not my last.
I hesitated to buy this book at first because of low ratings but I decided to give it a try. Basically this book is like a soap. The hero, Lord Bathurst is emotionally tortured by the death of his wife and child. Isabella Leslie is a beauty and an heiress. It's not plausible for her to run away from a disgusting marriage bed and end up in a brothel. One thing I can't accept is that the Season welcomes her despite her staying at brothel and being Dermott's "temporary whore". The story is quite lengthy. It takes about 300 pages for Dermott to stop delving into the past grief and realize how much he loves Isabella. There are several burning sex scenes between Dermott and Isabella and some of them are a bit kinky. Despite many criticisms, I still found this book an entertaining read. (At least it did keep me turning the pages). The author also added informative historical notes at the back of the book. (This means she did research extensively on historical facts before writing the book).
Rating:
Summary: Sour
Review: This is my second book of Susan Johnson and compared to SINFUL, this book pales and is somewhat a disappointment. The only consolation of this book is that I read it through the end, that is why I rated it a 2 stars instead of 1. The beginning of the book was so interesting... then it faded to dull. The reason for Isabella to ruin her credibility (by being a mistress) is to escape her selfish & evil minded family. That reason seemed too outrageous. I am sure there are other ways to escape them aside from being a mistress. She is a rich heiress afterall. If she was impoverished, then that reason would have sounded believable. She hired a body guard towards the middle of the book, why didn't she just do this in the begninning instead of becoming a mistress? Anyhow, I still continued reading and pretty much overlook that part. Then, the book mentioned consequences of her choice...As a mistress, she will be cast out by the society yet it never happened to Isabelle. She was still accepted and even became the Belle of the Ball on her coming out debut. Imagine, she also had a coming out debut afterall that trouble??? Now this is far fetch. No matter how beautiful and how rich of a heiress you are, being a mistress and was in fact living in a brothel for a while should dampened her character. Battling these consequences would also have been an interesting read. But no consequences was acted upon. Seems like Isabella's one week tryst with Dermott was simply forgotten. Another complaint is the way Molly Crocker supposedly wanted to help Isabella. With her said connection, she could have helped her in a different way than suggest being a mistress. Dermott was also somewhat a disappointment to me. As a gentleman, he shouldn't have taken advantage of Isabella's circumstances. He knew about her situation to begin with but only in the latter part did he go to Isabella's family threatening them if they harm her. Shouldn't he have done this in the beginning and not taken advantage of her? I know he mentioned how much he wanted her (sexually) but still, Isabella was a well bred, well educated woman and deserve respect. If they developed their relationship differently (aside from sex, sex, sex), they would have been a lovely pair. Last complaint is Isabella's transformation from an innocent virgin to a hotty seductress in bed. Supposedly she had a week's training. Training with no actual performance? Oh C'mon! You have to read the book to know what I mean. It's just too much for me to believe. I am always open minded with books but Susan Johnson didn't make it sound convincing this time. Their sex scenes, dialogue were too obscene and useless. It didn't serve as a delectable spice but soured the book even more.
Rating:
Summary: Ulg.
Review: This was the first Susan Johnson book that I picked up, and after reading all the way through this one (no small feat, I assure you) I have to say that I don't ever want to read another one of hers again. First of all, THE HEROINE IS A BRAT. She's suposedly this virgin, but when given the chance to sleep with Dermott, she gets all, "well, if I'm going to be sleeping with him, I have to be the best, because my grandaddy spoiled me and I have to be the best at everything". You just don't have any love for her, and despite the big sex drive/passion/whatever she has, I thought that she came off as really cold. There was a chapter in there where I found some compassion for her family. If it weren't for the whole 'marry her off to our son and forget about her' bit, I would actually like them more than Isabella. I mean, I didn't exactly live back then, but, if you were known to be, as she put it "Bathurst's whore", you're not exactly going to be lauded as the new Seasons Incomparable deb, now, right? Sure, she had money and beauty (which we GET, not need to repeat the same trite phrases OVER AND OVER, Ms. Johnson), but the whole society's accepting her despite her stay @ a brothel just makes you kind of hate her more. Secondly, Dermott was horrible. I did not find any resemblance between him and a human being throughout the whole book. You kind of get the feeling that the only reason he approaches the girl's family is to make sure that he continues to be the one sleeping with her. Not to mention that the end is completely thrown together and ends with a big PLOP. Please don't buy this book. Go find something good by Johanna Lindsey.
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