Rating: 
Summary: A Reprint of a 1995 Book - But Still Good
Review: BEWARE - THIS IS NOT A NEW TITLE!This is one of Thea Devine's best - especially if you like them strange and sexy.
Rating: 
Summary: My first Thea Devine read
Review: Having never read Thea Devine before, I didn't know what to expect - and couldn't help but compare this author to my other favorites: Brenda Joyce, Virginia Henley, Susan Johnson, Laura Kinsale, etc. The relationship between the two characters was strange and seemingly impersonal, until you got to the amazing intimacy that they only shared behind facades of fake names and forbidden houses of pleasure. This was a very interesting way to see the main characters interact, but although its extremely erotic, I wouldn't call it "romance". Its definitely hot enough to keep your attention throughout the entire book, but you must wait until the very end to find any real emotional connection between the characters. This was a little disheartening to me. However, I will definitely pursue more of Ms. Devine's writing, and hope to see a deeper connection between characters than just amazing sex.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING SEX
Review: I DO LOVE STORIS THAT HAVE VERY SEXY SCENES AND WHILE THIS BOOK HAD A LOT I THOUGHT THE SEX WAS VERY BORING AND NOT IMAGINATIVE- WE HAD NO CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS AND I GOT VERY BORED- THE STORY INTSELF WAS UNINTERESTING- I LIKE A BOOK THAT GETS YOUR HEART RACING AND YOUR BLOOD POUNDING- WHERE YOU REALLY CARE IF THE TWO CHARACTERS GET TOGETHER - I LIKE SEX SCENES THAT ARE NOT ALL THE SAME - A LITTE MORE RACY THAT JUST THEM DOING IT EVERY OTHER PAGE-IT'S HARD TO BELIVE THAT SEX CAN GET BORING BUT BELIVE ME THIS BOOK IS- I LOVE MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS- SAVE YOUR MONEY- FOR A GOOD BOOK READE ALWAYS BY LYNDSAY SANDS-NOT THIS SLEEPER
Rating:
Summary: BORING SEX
Review: I DO LOVE STORIS THAT HAVE VERY SEXY SCENES AND WHILE THIS BOOK HAD A LOT I THOUGHT THE SEX WAS VERY BORING AND NOT IMAGINATIVE- WE HAD NO CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS AND I GOT VERY BORED- THE STORY INTSELF WAS UNINTERESTING- I LIKE A BOOK THAT GETS YOUR HEART RACING AND YOUR BLOOD POUNDING- WHERE YOU REALLY CARE IF THE TWO CHARACTERS GET TOGETHER - I LIKE SEX SCENES THAT ARE NOT ALL THE SAME - A LITTE MORE RACY THAT JUST THEM DOING IT EVERY OTHER PAGE-IT'S HARD TO BELIVE THAT SEX CAN GET BORING BUT BELIVE ME THIS BOOK IS- I LOVE MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS- SAVE YOUR MONEY- FOR A GOOD BOOK READE ALWAYS BY LYNDSAY SANDS-NOT THIS SLEEPER
Rating: 
Summary: No romance, just erotica
Review: I found myself really bored with this book. The characters seem to have no emotional attachment to each other at all, and there is very little plot. Neither the hero nor the heroine have any appeal for me at all. The only reason I give the book 2 stars is because I did stay around long enough to find out who the killer really was, so although I was bored I did finish the book which I can't say about every book I've read. This book needs a lot more story and character development before I can rank it any higher than this... This book is a reprint of a book published in 1995.
Rating:
Summary: No romance, just erotica
Review: I found myself really bored with this book. The characters seem to have no emotional attachment to each other at all, and there is very little plot. Neither the hero nor the heroine have any appeal for me at all. The only reason I give the book 2 stars is because I did stay around long enough to find out who the killer really was, so although I was bored I did finish the book which I can't say about every book I've read. This book needs a lot more story and character development before I can rank it any higher than this... This book is a reprint of a book published in 1995.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Thea Devine Has Written
Review: I found this book exciting, thrilling and wonderful. It was one of Ms Devine's better novels. Ms Devine has always written juicy novels that are on the cutting edge of romance and pure unadulturated sex. Her character Roark is both intelligent and sexy to a fault. He is the type of man any women would love to be romanced by. His shrewd powers of deduction along with his innate sexuality is a force to be reckoned with
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I haven't read very much of Ms. Devine's work, but if it's all like this, no thank you. The reason I read this book was because of the favorable reviews, so I'm here so others don't waste the time and money. The 2 biggest problems with this book were: 1--her excessive use of italics. Yes, I understand that it was to denote the central characters thoughts, but I felt it was ineffective because 1-half the novel was italicized, 2-the characters thoughts were also expressed in unitalicized sections, and 3-often they were very fragmented, trailing off (...) without finishing the thought/sentence. 2--genre confusion. Devine starts out with a sexy idea, a woman accidentally stumbles onto a sensual realm she didn't know existed and goes on to discover new sides of her own sexuality. But from that point on, things go south. This novel would have been better served written as erotica because the constraints of the romance genre, e.g. emotional intimacy, only having one sexual partner, etc. limit what could have been a good piece of erotica. The lack of emotional connection between the main characters and scant plot in this book cannot be overcome by sheer number of sexual encounters. If you want explicit sex scenes with good plot, try Susan Johnson, Virginia Henley, and the earlier work of Bertrice Small, but stay away from this book. The plot is sketchy and convoluted at best. bizarre. And what is with the overuse of the word "ramrod." That's not sexy, not a turn-on. Overall, "Secret Pleasures" is an unsuccessful attempt to combine the erotica and romance genres.
Rating:
Summary: Sex without Romance or Intensity
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. Other reviewers have already noted there is no emotional connection between the main characters. Throughout the story the female protagonist (Genelle) knows almost nothing about the male protagonist (Roak) except that she is in lust with him whenever he's around. There are plenty of sex scenes, but unlike good erotica there isn't sufficient sexual tension (or intensity) to really get things going. The book is essentially a dozen scenes of stranger-sex (each scene almost exactly the same) overlaid by a flimsy (and dull) murder mystery. Yes, the "underground" sex industry in London is referred to, but somehow the peep shows and cross-dressing are bland with Devine's depiction. There are far better romance novels, erotic romance novels, and erotic novels that you could spend your time on. The only redeeming aspect about this book is that Genelle is more sexually adventurous (read the prologue) than most romance heroines, thus putting her on a more level playing ground with Roak.
Rating:
Summary: probably her best
Review: Ms. Devine always delivers hot erotic writing. Unfortunately recently the story lines accompaning her erotic interludes have gotten more and more unbelievable and strange, to the point of being annoying(?) I guess it depends on the reader. I loved her at first. This is one of her last good reads, even if it too branches off into unnecessarily twisted plot devices- it never equals the quality of her erotic portions. Since when does good erotica have to be morbid, abusive, or wicked- I confess Anne Rice style is not my turn on and that seems to be the model. Warning: I am commenting on the trend of her novels more so than on this particular one. I'd still buy this one, I guess....what other such detailed female erotic "romance" writer is there to choose from. Do share if you've come across others.
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