Rating: 
Summary: Loved the beginning, but then...
Review: it started to go downhill from there, slightly rising a bit at the end! I completely agree w/ the customer from Marlboro, Mass. I could not put this book down the entire time the main characters were on the ship, but once they reached land, I found it to be somewhat frustrating. For example the young man on the "tour". There could have been more to him, or even bringing the young man into the storyline more deeply. I did enjoy this book, however I thought it could have been more than what it was toward the end. A lot more!
Rating: 
Summary: Her best! One of my top five of all time!
Review: Judith Ivory (who has also written as Judy Cuevas) outdid herself with this one. BEAST is both dark and humorous, erotic and sophisticated. It is also absolutely original. To give just one example, it's the first romance I've read where the age gap between the hero and heroine, so typical in romances, actually creates a stumbling block for the hero. Ivory's prose is far above that of most writers in the romance genre. Her rich language and characterizations are comparable only with Laura Kinsale's and Patricia Gaffney's, but her books are unlike anyone else's. BEAST is her best by far. My second favorite of hers is DANCE, written under the name Judy Cuevas.
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: Judith Ivory can really write. She doesn't waste the reader's time making the plot predictable. Her characters are not always perfect...but human with flaws and everything. "Beast" was the first book of hers that I have read, and I really enjoyed it. Her descriptions are vivid, her pacing really moves along. I recommend this book, and look forward to reading others.
Rating:
Summary: Smart, sexy, touching
Review: Judith Ivory's BEAST is smart, sexy and incredibly touching -my favorite combination. Her voice is one of a kind, which makes BEASTa real must-read.
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Summary: How can such a great book be so bad?
Review: Like other reviewers, I believe that the first half of thisbook was fabulous, and the second half terrible. The ocean voyage wasmagical, and the game of not letting Lousie see Charles was downright erotic... Charles was great. He was both sensitive and masculine, and could call up either side of his nature when the moment dictated it...Louise was merely pompous and annoying on the boat until she fell for her pasha. Then she was sweet, giving, and fun (her blindfold made of knickers was a smashing touch). On land, she was a horror--vain, childish, selfish, self-absorbed, deceitful and cold. She completely ruined the book. I recommend checking this book out of a library, or buying it at a used bookstore or auction. Read the first half--then skip to the end. You'll be much happier with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lulu and her Pasha...( 4 1/2 stars)
Review: Louise Vandermeer is beautiful. Beautiful and bored with it. Bored with her beauty, bored with her life...Until her well-meaning parents put her on a ship bound for France where she will meet the man that she has been promised to - Charles d'Harcourt. Louise has never even seen Charles - she doesnt want to. She has absolutely no interest in the arranged marriage, but has given into her parents wishes...still, Louise cant help but be intrigued when she meets a mysterious man aboard the ship. A man that she meets only in the dark. Louise is swept away by him as he becomes her first lover, though he never permits her to look upon his face. For Louise, who has always used her beauty as a crutch, this time in the dark is a real awakening...she feels she can finally be herself and she falls hard for her mystery man.
Charles d'Harcourt never intended to lie. But when he stumbles upon his intended bride and gets a good look at her without her knowledge and overhears her less than complimentary opinion of him - without having met him - well, he devises a plan to teach the young girl a lesson. He will trick her...Louise has no idea that Charles is on the very same ship...so, he approaches her in the dark. His plan is to seduce her and reveal himself only once he is sure that she has fallen for him and expose her true shallow nature. But as Charles spends more time with Louise and she opens up to him, he finds himself the butt of his own joke...he has fallen in love with his own fiance.
"Beast" was a GREAT book. Yet again, Ivory is brilliant. Book after book, I am seeing a pattern...her heroes are UNBELIEVABLE. I love EVERY one of them! Charles was no exception. He had such a fantastic mixture of confidence and insecurity. He saw Louises beauty, but he really did love her for HER...he was so able to look beyond her face and I adored him for it. Louise was very flawed, very human...I loved her, I hated her. No other author can write a character like Ivory IMO. Im telling you, the woman is brilliant.
My only complaint with this book was that I found the beginning a little too slow and the ending a little too fast...because of this, I knocked off half a star, but everything in between was exquisite. If you have never read Judith Ivory, you should really give her a try. As for "Beast"...a keeper for sure.
Rating:
Summary: Beast
Review: Not your typical romance or romance writer. This book is very well-written and the story is a spin on Beauty and the Beast. There is so much depth to the story and Ms. Ivory is a wonderful storyteller. Also, there are steamy scenes that are also very imaginative and do not follow the usual formula.
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Summary: Can two very flawed characters find happiness?
Review: Reading this book, I was hard pressed to figure out who the "beast" of the title really was. True, the "hero" was disfigured and met his lady only under cover of darkness, but the lady in question was no true beauty, either. Much is made of her physical beauty, but she is a very spoiled, sheltered, and selfish 18-year-old with a VERY teenagerish outlook on life. Much is made of her honesty, but she hardly thinks twice about lying to her family and husband about a shipboard romance. Much is made over her desire to make something of her life, but she ends up mooning over her lost love, being cruel to those who love her, and then--pregnant. There is the requisite happy ending, but by that time I was so annoyed with the foolishness of both of them, I really didn't care. In terms of plot, though, the first half of the book is dynamite, a great set-up. The arrival in Marseilles is an expertly written piece of work. And Ivory is true to her characters, even if they do annoy the heck out of you. I won't be keeping this one, but I will remember it.
Rating:
Summary: Can two very flawed characters find happiness?
Review: Reading this book, I was hard pressed to figure out who the "beast" of the title really was. True, the "hero" was disfigured and met his lady only under cover of darkness, but the lady in question was no true beauty, either. Much is made of her physical beauty, but she is a very spoiled, sheltered, and selfish 18-year-old with a VERY teenagerish outlook on life. Much is made of her honesty, but she hardly thinks twice about lying to her family and husband about a shipboard romance. Much is made over her desire to make something of her life, but she ends up mooning over her lost love, being cruel to those who love her, and then--pregnant. There is the requisite happy ending, but by that time I was so annoyed with the foolishness of both of them, I really didn't care. In terms of plot, though, the first half of the book is dynamite, a great set-up. The arrival in Marseilles is an expertly written piece of work. And Ivory is true to her characters, even if they do annoy the heck out of you. I won't be keeping this one, but I will remember it.
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Summary: Excellent writing, but needed and epilogue. . .
Review: Somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean 1902 - This was not your usual historical romance �and in the opening chapters you will definitely meet �the beast� or more accurately Charles Harcourt, Prince de Harcourt. The opening chapters find him acting quite the scoundrel as he informs his sexual partner, the married wife of a French diplomat, that he would be getting married � and that the bride to be was on the same ship - ostensibly on her way, with members of her family, to meet him in Marseilles. Tossed naked out of his stateroom by his paramour, he accidentally witnesses his affianced �bride� cavorting with one of the ships crew and decides to get to �know� this little beauty after eavesdropping and hearing himself described in less than glowing terms because of a disfigurement and lameness injury. Not wanting the very beautiful young Louise Vandermeer, to recognize him, he baits and seduces her letting her think he is an Arab sheik � never letting her see him � always under the cover of darkness. Unfortunately, Louise falls deeply in love with her phantom lover, and Charles, once he gets to know the �real� Louise finds himself falling deeply in love. The dilemma of course, is now the 18-year-old Louise is no longer a virgin, and Charles, is too cowardly to admit to being her shipboard lover. Neither of these two are very endearing in the first half of the book � the older Charles acting rather beastly in seducing an 18 year old virgin � even if she was not a �sweet� girl and somewhat spoiled and vain of her spectacular good looks. What you do have though is a very spicy and very arousing seduction that is really rather erotic in it�s own way as the mature Charles unleashes the passions of his �technically virgin� fiancé. As with most romances, all things do work out in the end once Louise makes Charles �suffer� as she pines for her �phantom� Arab sheik. This was a pretty stimulating and amusing read.
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