Rating: 
Summary: What a dreadful book
Review: This is labelled as the author's version of her first novel ever. Like all first novels, it really should have been relegated to the bottom drawer, kept as an embarrassing example of how not to write, in this case, how not to write a 'romance.' The book starts out with a masturbating heroine in the 20th century and a husband practically raping his wife in the 19th to get his conjugal rites at last. The sexually frustrated wife Elaine somehow swaps bodies with the frigid wife Morrigan-I read the whole book and never grasped how this happened. But willing to suspend my disbelief and revulsion I read on. An on and on. And the book only got worse, if possible. Every single 'romantic scene' was the husband trying to exercise his conjugal rights, though it took him ages and lots of very repetitive groping to do so. His idea of foreplay is to grab her nipples or see how many fingers he can fit. Even worse was the incest, near-beastiality with a bull, and every single bodily function known to human kind being performed in front of Elaine/Morrigan to show her who is boss by either her loopy relatives or her husband. Since she is so fearful of giving the game away that she is from the 20th century she hardly ever speaks throughout the entire novel except to say, "No, don't," as the supposed hero forces himself on her once more. Her objections to the hero are very real, for apart from being so revolting, she is in essence committing adultery against her husband in her own time If I didn't know better I would have said this was a parody of a romance novel, but the writer's alternating of gothic horror with slapstick shows she really has no idea how to stick to one thing and do it well. Even more ludicrous is that the Neanderthal hero Charles is supposed to be an expert on Tantric love practices designed for maximum gratification. But apart from showing her some mildly spicy pictures in the kama sutra he is plain vanilla missionary position all the way, and every single experience she has with him is painful on the physical level and degrading on the mental one. Even a 20th century guy would get two black eyes for the revolting things he does and the way he treats her, let alone someone in 1883. Then we are supposed to believe they have fallen in love and he is glad that she has come from another century and can't go back to her own time? They never even have a conversation. Even after she is nearly raped and killed he ignores her for three days while he tries to decide whether or not to lock her in a loony bin! Finally, the villain of the piece, a creature who can supposedly go into any body at all, and used to be Morrigan, murders various people and becomes the randy Pillsbury doughboy-the author's words, not mine. And decides that it wants to know what it is like to have sex with itself with Elaine in its former body. I mean, really! This book is easily the worst example I have ever read of an author doing anything to shock the readers even at the expense of basic common sense and taste. ... Not erotica, and certainly not romance, I would give this negative stars if I could. It was laughably bad when it wasn't totally disgusting. And I am no prude! A romance is two people falling in love and becoming committed to each other, respecting each other so the sex is meaningful, not the sex becomes meaningful because they decide they are stuck with each other and they are better than nothing.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: "Awaken, My Love" is Robin Schone's first book and I have to applaud her on this effort! Basically an slightly overweight 39 year old computer analyst Elaine,who is sexually unsatisfied by her stuffy passive husband, Matthew, ends up switching bodies with skinny 21 year old Morrigan (back in the 19th century) by the magical process of masterbating. A very pious and sexually unresponsive Morrigan had just been de-virginized by her stud husband of a year Charles Mortimer. Elaine, in Morrigan's body, has trouble dealing with an ugly religion zealot (and not to mention very very violent) Hattie (1st beeyatch from hell),as well as a cold husband who wants to seduce her. Throw in 2nd, 3rd, 4th beeyatches from hell in from of Morrigan's aunt and 2 cousins as well as theme of incest, molestation, Druidism, murders...the list is long...(Don't even think about blinking when reading this novel!). This all culminates in Elaine finally succumbing to Charles' advances after many scenes of heated foreplay complete with Indian sex books and with a evil Morrigan fighting to get back her body and many other subplots that is too complicated to explain. Elaine sometimes whines too much, especially in the beginning, but at least Mrs. Schone makes clear the motivation of both of the main characters. However sometimes I just want to strangle the two because several things couldve been prevented if they actually said something to each other in the beginning. Frankly I gave this book 5 stars because of Mrs Schone's genuine talent to depict a deeply convincing emotional relationship between the hero and heroine, especially in the one to one scenes, without all the annoying secondary characters always wanting to be so evil. I enjoyed the wedding ring and black swan motif that was so skillfully interwoven through the novel. Robin Schone is an excellent writer when it comes to writing about relationships so concentrate on this book for the romance and don't pay so much attention to the secondary subplots.
Rating: 
Summary: The First, and Not the Last
Review: Keeping in mind that this was Ms. Schone's first book, I rated it four-stars. I know what she is capable of as a writer, and this novel only hinted at the deep storytelling that was to come in subsequent books and shoter works. The opening of the novel was definitely an eye-opener, and I enjoyed the unusual plot device. I don't understand why some publishers balked at a depiction of the heroine pleasuring herself. Considering that practically every type of coupling is allowed in romances these days, I really don't see what all the fuss was about. Ms. Schone also depicted foreplay during menustration, another radical concept. I also liked Elaine, the heroine--basically for the same reasons that I have liked all of Ms. Schone's female protagonists: She is not some perfect size six who has never been touched. Elaine's problem is that she just hasn't been touched the way she wants to be--a situation that many women actually face. Elaine is a woman who is sexual, but is stunted from fully enjoying sex by a husband who just doesn't get it. An amusing moment of the book is Elaine's discovery that nineteenth century women didn't shave their legs. That being said--the out-of-body situation was a little nonsensical, and it was difficult to figure out just what was going on. The male protagonist, Charles, was definitely a man on the edge, and it took quite a bit of time for me to warm up to him. Ms. Schone played a little with the gothic trope of the madwoman in the attic, except that Elaine is quite sane. Morrigan's relatives were quite heinous, and I was waiting for Elaine with her twentieth century sensibilities to take them down a notch. 'Awaken, My Love' was not Ms. Schone's best book, but it is highly readable. Just know that her style gets better with each new novel.
Rating: 
Summary: There Might Have Been a Good Book in There Somewhere
Review: This was the second book by Robin Schone I have read. The first one was My Lady's Tutor. I thought it was rather stulifying with an over the top villain. I had heard that this book, Schone's first, was liked by people who found her others tiresome. Overall it was stulifying with an over the top villain. Things I liked about the book: 1. The heroine in the beginning. Middle-aged, dumpy Elaine in a dull marriage gets a second chance in the body of Morrigan, a thin twenty-one year old upper class lady. Yay, good for Elaine. 2. The initial confusion that Elaine had after she was propelled into the past and a less than happy situation. Elaine's attempt to edge into the role of Morrigan. I can even accept Hattie the Harridan, which at first was a rather fun twist on the motherly old family retainer who protects the heroine. Hattie is a beldame with a taste for the more punitive aspects of the Christian religion and clearly has dominated Morrigan. Things I didn't like: 1. Whether you are right or left handed has everything to do with the body and has nothing to do with who is living in your head. This could have been an interesting situation, but instead it is just an annoying distraction. 2. I do not believe that a 39 year old modern woman who has been married for 17 years has NEVER been french kissed. I just do not believe it. 3. Why does the hero put up with his wife's obnoxious relatives who clearly she does not even like? 4. Oh, no, another over the top villain. This one is really over the top. Sorry, I don't buy the villain at all. Schone's villians strongly suggest that she has some gender issues. Why are all of the females in this book (aside from the heroine and her maid) two dimensional monsters? Why does the author equate being overweight with either being sexually unfulfilled and/or ill mannered and evil? Did it ever occur to Elaine while she was staring at her hairy legs that attacking those hairs with a straight razor might make everyone think she was, well, unhinged? By the time it got to the climax, I just didn't care. The author had made too many blunders, the plot was weak and the only character who appeared to be more than two dimensional was Elaine.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not as good as I'd hoped.
Review: I was really excited about this book. I love reading time travel books however, this one was lacking. Charles just wasn't the type of hero that I like to read in a book. Elaine was boring and unimaginative. This is only my second Schone book, so hopefully the next one will be better. I would recommend this book, just don't go rush out to get it.
Rating:
Summary: Awaken My Love
Review: I liked this the least of any of Robin Schone's books I have read. It was rather stale. The woman who replaces his wife's body was an unattractive middle ager. She acted like she was afraid of something or someone throughout the book. The wife was just mean and you could have no sympathy for her. The hero was delightful and deserved better than either one of them. Some how you can't just see the two of them living happy every after. There is no love in this story and very little erotica. People read Schone for the sex not a bad plot. It is the only one of her books I will not re-read.
Rating:
Summary: Awaken, My Love
Review: This is definitely not one of Robin Schones best. I enjoy time travel books. But the heroine, with her bum leg, is just not that appealing. The hero is too dumb to figure out anything is wrong but is just happy he now has sex. Rather rudimentary. The old hag showed the woman did not have the guts to stand up to her and throw her out of the house. The ending was poorly written and I never quite figured what happened to the husband left behind. Except of course he had his wife locked up. I will not re-read, which is what I do with a really good book.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time it took to wait for the re-write
Review: Unfortunately I had heard so many incredible things about this book. I even was on a wait list for the 1st edition for about 3 years. The auction prices were in the [dollar amount] for this book so I just KNEW it would be a terrific read. Well I purchased this revised version and made myself read the entire story, hoping it would get better but alas it never did!!! Which makes me wonder what did she change from the original version (I now own both) I too was extremely frustrated with a 20th Century-39-nine-year-old-woman, being transformed back into time not being able to fight back (at least with words).... I expected her to stand up for herself a lot more. I also didn't understand Charles reasoning for allowing the crazy servant to stay with them. There were so many reasons why I didn't like this book but I don't want to give spoilers I can only recommend that the buyer waits until it comes out on regular "priced" paperback, not trade paperback. I also recommend Ms. Schone's "The Lady's Tutor" over this one. Respectfully Reviewed
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for premise, points off for the rest...
Review: As regular readers of my reviews can tell, I rate my books somewhat differently than others. Not all my five-star books are keepers, and in fact, I am rather fond of some books that received only three stars. I rate books by how well they fit into the genre, and what the author does with the same old story - how to breathe life into the hero and heroine, and their love story. I haven't been thinking about this book as much as I have about GABRIEL'S WOMAN (a difficult but fascinating and very dark read). Yet, this book has its own charm. The first two chapters are famous (or infamous) and very controversial. Schone broke the boundaries of the regency genre by portraying an opening scene where the heroine was masturbating. She follows this up with the equally short and striking second chapter in which the hero is not masturbating, but he must find his own pleasure where his wife will not. This is a story based on the somewhat unlikely premise that a person can travel through time via an orgasm. Leaving that aside, Schone brings out the realities of a 20th century woman finding herself in late Victorian England very well. Elaine takes far too long to assert herself against a witchy maid/companion. She is grappling with several mysteries - firstly, how she has come back in time; secondly, where is the woman whose body she has now come into; thirdly, what is the relationship between this woman and her husband; and lastly, why is Morrigan (the name of this woman) so peculiar? She investigates these mysteries with some indifference and considerable sloth, because she is far more concerned with protecting the revelation of her real identity (and fears of being thought insane) than in finding out the truth. Her passivity will cost her precious time, and very nearly, her life. For most of the book, she does not speak and when she does, her accent appears to have miraculously disappeared or at least not be noticeable to Charles, Morrigan's husband. But in the process, Elaine (in Morrigan's) body will learn much about her body's capacity for pleasure, her stultifying marriage back in the 20th century, and a number of dark family secrets held by Morrigan. Elaine will also have to question the issues of fidelity. Is it adultery to have sex with the husband of the woman whose body she possesses inadvertently? Is it sinful to enjoy those moments? I would have given this book a higher grade except for the following things - firstly, the reappearance of the villain was too overblown, too much over-the-top, and with no explanations as to how the time-travel had been accomplished twice. Secondly, from the outset, I did not much care for Charles - a man who married blindly without looking carefully, and a man who failed to notice and suspect changes in his wife. His sex life seemed to be all that mattered, and there was not very much love in his relations with Elaine/Morrigan. I was also annoyed by Elaine's passivity vis-a-vis Morrigan's original maid and later in other crucial developments. The book contains Schone's trademark sensuality with a *very hot* pillow book scene, where words accomplish almost as much as caresses. But I still consider Gabriel's Woman to be the better book of the two Schone books I have read so far, and the short story "A Lady's Pleasure" to be her masterpiece. Rating: 3.3
Recommended: to lovers of erotic romance; with reservations to all others.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed!
Review: I have to agree with the other reviewers who stated that the book did not live up to expectations. The story was 'darker' and more 'realistic' than I expected - not necessarily good things in a romance. Although Elaine's reactions and fears concerning her travel back in time were realistic, they also made for a very boring heroine. Elaine rarely spoke - which was very annoying. And with two small exceptions, she never stood up for herself. Everyone, including Charles, seemed to bully her. And I found it very hard to believe that she was supposed to be thirty nine years old. Her emotional reactions were more those of an inexperienced teenager than a grown woman. And since she never spoke or displayed any kind of personality, the only reason Charles 'loved' her was because she enjoyed sex - no personal relationship at all. I enjoy travel romances very much, but I would not recommend this one - especially at this price!
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