Rating: 
Summary: Joy Less
Review: I have been a big fan of Dara Joy and have read all of her books. This book was a HUGE disappointment. I realized when I was half way through the book that it was actually getting me mad. If women ruled the world, I think we could do a better job of it then coming off as crass, rude, obnoxious, bitchy women. The men in the book were boring and wimpy. I'm not sure who should be more insulted over this book, men or women. It does not portray either gender in a positive light.
Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate disappointment
Review: I enjoy Dara Joy's writing but this book was a disappointment. This is the first book of hers that read slow for me and while this book was touted as a highly original turn-about of the gender roles, I have read this theme in many other books. (Marilyn Campbell comes to mind.)
Rating: 
Summary: Ritual of Proof
Review: I finished this book today, 6/7/01. I was dissapointed to say the least. It is a different spin on the male/female relationship. The females have all the power and money and lands, and the men take their names and sire their children and then raise the children and pleasure their masters when it pleases the master. Not a bad idea, however with all the "words" she made up, that you are constantly referring the the dictionary in the back of the book to make sense of certain phrases, enough already. It has shades of Knight of a Trillion Stars in it. I could not wait for this book, but after reading it I could have waited forever and not missed much. I have learned some creative new "swear" words that nobody will be aware that I'm cussing them out. That is why I gave this book a 2 star rating instead of a 1 star rating. P.S. The art on the front of the book does not tie into the story!
Rating: 
Summary: Ms Joy has great writing style....
Review: Ms Joy has great style, which is evident in this book. I liked the book but it wasn't something I would want to keep or read over. This isn't because the book was awful, but personally the subject matter (a woman taking the role of the romantic man of fiction in all ways) was hard for me to like. Growing up believing as I do, and reading romance for years and years, you're conditioned into believing in a certain formula in romantic fiction. Ms Joy has taken a daring new step, in creating this new world, where traditional men and women roles are reversed.
Rating: 
Summary: Hot reverse regency romance
Review: An interesting twist on the typical regency romance genre. Instead of the female being kept innocent until her marriage (fastening in this book), the males of the planet Forus are kept chaste until they are bid upon by the powerful ruling She-Lords. (The title refers to the ceremony proving that a male is a virgin.) Green is older and more worldly than Jorlan, the man she gives her name to and chooses to be the father and care giver of her heirs. This book is not quite as sensual as Rejar or Mine to Take, but the culture that Ms. Joy creates is every bit as dynamic as her Matrix of Destiny series. Expect other books to follow in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: What a FANTASTIC BOOK JOY HAS GIVEN US!
Review: I loved this book,,Joy is back in form and this book includes all the things that we have loved about a Joy book. In Ritual of Proof Dara Joy has given us a whole new world of possibilites. Think new world,,,think semi regency style ,,think male/female rules reversed! all this and a new language and symbolism and steamy hot love scenes...we will be talking about this story for a long time to come. It was a fitting book to start her hardcover debut!
Rating:
Summary: Let's hope this isn't a trend.
Review: I bought this book because I love Dara Joy's writing and was very excited to see that she had a new one out. This was a horrible disappointment. It's a complete role reversal between male and female roles and comes across as ridiculous. If a man had done the things the heroine did in this book to the hero women readers would be crying foul. I hope this is not a sign of a new trend of stories. I would love to see Dara continue with the Matrix series as well as her High Energy and High Intensity series. Anything at all except for another one of these. I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their money on this book, try the library first.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed it, but.....
Review: In some ways, Dara Joy is a victim of her own success - her readers' expectations are so high. I have read all of her books and some, particularly the Matrix of Destiny series, are lifetime keepers. Ritual of Proof is a good book. It is not great - but is still on my keeper list and I am not sorry I bought it in hardback. My complaints are that: 1) while the author can do an incredible job of pulling the reader into an alternate universe, I felt ROP's alternate universe was not fleshed out very well; 2) same compliment for Ms. Joy's skills and complaint for the characters in ROP; and, 3) too much overt emphasis was placed on the role reversal for the sexes - treating this reversal of roles as a commonplace, matter-of-fact situation would have been more believable (i.e, rather than describing the heroine as "the bravest woman" the hero had ever known - call her the bravest "person" or "individual"). On the whole, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. However, I wish Ms. Joy's editor/publisher had allowed her the freedom to develop ROP's alternate universe and characters with the rich texture she does so well.
Rating:
Summary: About Time!
Review: Welcome the typical romance world, only it's a mirror image. Women are in charge, men are virginal, and it's a futuristic regency place. So original, great as a satire, steamy, erotic, interesting. I found myself in love with Jorlan and Green who are really well rounded. It was interesting to read of a world where women are in charge and end up subjegating men just as men did us. Fascinating, but probably realistic. We would be just as petty as men. A few things at the end don't make sense, but the entire novel is beautifully written. The scenery and imagination is lush, the characters fascinating, and the plot slow but you don't really notice. Jorlan is about to be sold to Claudine, the mortal enemy of Green, the woman Jorlan secretly lusts after. To save him Green puts aside her kept pleasurer (um, Mister?) and marries him, introducing him to the world of sensual arts and land management. Jorlan has surprises. He's a skilled intuitive lover because he's a sensitive- he's tied to the planet and has an affinity with all living things. He's aslo a deadly martial arts master posessing knowledge denied men on the planet. Caludine tries to posion Green's people and destroy her, but only with Jorlan's help can Green win. This introduced me to Dara Joy and most of her books have been worthy reads. This was the first I read and I'm still convinced the best. I was sad to visit her site and see River (Green's pleasurer) was going to be the hero in the next novel. I guess we're going back to the viriginal woman, experienced man type romance. Bummer.
Rating:
Summary: Very very good . . . then she had to add that last chapter .
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I liked the new world, I liked the story line, I liked Jorlan and the way he was portrayed.
And then a perfectly good book was ruined by the addition of the last chapter.
I don't know what it was meant to accomplish. Its almost like originally she had a whole new story line and then rewrote the whole thing but forgot to remove the old ending. It was very bizarre and I really hope its not saying what it sounds like (and not just because its totally impossible to fit in with the rest of the story).
So . . . read the book, enjoy it, but when you get to the chapter in italics DO NOT READ IT! It'll make your head hurt . . .
I hope there's a sequel and another book dedicated to River!
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