Beast

Rating:
Summary: Good Story
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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing, but needed and epilogue. . .
Review: This is the first novel that I read by Judith Ivory and I loved her writing style. She is intelligent, informative, interesting, and gets into the characters' thoughts and feelings in a very satisfying way. Beast was mostly presented from the hero's point of view and he is the best-developed character. The flow of the story is very engaging, but the third part is a little frustrating. The development of this part is slow and repetitive, although by that time I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't mind. What I did mind, a lot, was the lack of an epilogue that allowed me to enjoy the resolution of the story and the happiness of the characters. After 375 pages, an epilogue was imperative to complete the story satisfactorily and to leave me as a reader contented.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This was a fairly good, and enjoyable book, but did have its problems. Louise is on a ship going to France to meet a betrothed she has never seen. She is supposed to marry the ugly and lame Charles d'Harcourt. What she doesn't know is that he is on the ship with her, and overhears a conversation she has about her deformed future husband. Charles decides to play a joke on this beautiful little girl, so he befirends her in the dark, and ultimetely wins her love. What he didn't count on is that he fell for her in return.

Now they are married, but Louise doesn't know that the man on the ship is the same man she is married to now. Charles will have to make her forget her friend on the ship and to make her fall in love with him all over again. Is he up to the challenge? Will Louise ever get past his looks? If she finds out the truth, will she ever forgive Charles?

You'll have to read the story to find out. While at first, I didn't like either character, they were both odly endearing, which is what they discovered about each other as well. At first Charles seemed cold and mean, but both Louise and the reader grow to find that he is insecure, kind, and caring. Louise is beautiful, but is also vain and wants to marry a good looking man. This is a sentiment that the reader can understand, because who doesn't like beautiful things? However, her vanity doesn't rule her life, and Louise was also charming, and intelligent. I think that the author truly created realistic characters. It is hard to believe in book after book that the beautifl eighteen year old heroine is not in the least vain but is kind, generous, and good. Louise was a realisticly naive eighteen year old with suitable vanity but an awareness of her own faults and a desire to overcome them and make something of herself. I liked these two characters.

Now for what I didn't like. I felt that Charles relationship with his two-year mistress, Pia, was not resolved well enough. I did not believe that he would so easily forget a woman whom he claimed was the love of his life for a naive teenager who he was trying to play an elaborate joke on. I think that situation could have been handled better. That is about the extent of my complaints.

This book was a delightful new twist on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, and I look forward to many other good books by Ivory. Happy Reading!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This was a fairly good, and enjoyable book, but did have its problems. Louise is on a ship going to France to meet a betrothed she has never seen. She is supposed to marry the ugly and lame Charles d'Harcourt. What she doesn't know is that he is on the ship with her, and overhears a conversation she has about her deformed future husband. Charles decides to play a joke on this beautiful little girl, so he befirends her in the dark, and ultimetely wins her love. What he didn't count on is that he fell for her in return.

Now they are married, but Louise doesn't know that the man on the ship is the same man she is married to now. Charles will have to make her forget her friend on the ship and to make her fall in love with him all over again. Is he up to the challenge? Will Louise ever get past his looks? If she finds out the truth, will she ever forgive Charles?

You'll have to read the story to find out. While at first, I didn't like either character, they were both odly endearing, which is what they discovered about each other as well. At first Charles seemed cold and mean, but both Louise and the reader grow to find that he is insecure, kind, and caring. Louise is beautiful, but is also vain and wants to marry a good looking man. This is a sentiment that the reader can understand, because who doesn't like beautiful things? However, her vanity doesn't rule her life, and Louise was also charming, and intelligent. I think that the author truly created realistic characters. It is hard to believe in book after book that the beautifl eighteen year old heroine is not in the least vain but is kind, generous, and good. Louise was a realisticly naive eighteen year old with suitable vanity but an awareness of her own faults and a desire to overcome them and make something of herself. I liked these two characters.

Now for what I didn't like. I felt that Charles relationship with his two-year mistress, Pia, was not resolved well enough. I did not believe that he would so easily forget a woman whom he claimed was the love of his life for a naive teenager who he was trying to play an elaborate joke on. I think that situation could have been handled better. That is about the extent of my complaints.

This book was a delightful new twist on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, and I look forward to many other good books by Ivory. Happy Reading!

Rating:
Summary: A Witty, Modern Day Fairy Tale
Review: This was also my first novel by Ms. Ivory and I couldn't put it down. It is very intelligently written, with witty dialogue, great character development, sensual and fast paced. Yes, both characters were not "perfect", but together their imperfections complimented each other. This book was both funny and "hot", I highly recommend it if you're a fan of Jill Barnett or Brenda Joyce.

Rating:
Summary: While the plot was strong, the characters were disappointing
Review: This was the first Judith Ivory book that I have read. The book started out strong and held my attention throughout Louise and Charles' voyage. The dialouge was interesting and the love scenes were excellent!! However, once the two characters reached land, they seemed to lose the qualities which made them so great. Charles becomes ineffectual and self-conscious, while Louise becomes a veritable shrew. There are moments where the old characters do shine through (the bathroom scene and the garden party). I found the scene where Charles gives Louise a black pearl necklace particularly poignant. The characters do seem to collect themselves and move towards a heroic ending. Which is, if a little anti-climatic, still happily ever after.