The Dream Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, evocative....
Review: A beautiful story, like all of Ms. Kinsale's work. Her richly imagined, unconventional characters with very real flaws and internal conflicts makes her books unusual in the romance genre and the reason I keep coming back time and again. I eagerly anticipate her next effort...

Rating:
Summary: This was a very different story....
Review: Another tortured hero but for a different reason and in a very different locale. I liked Selim but never could abide the wishy-washy Zenobia. Trying so hard to be an English lady but still thinking by the Bedu.laws. I still prefer a heroine with a backbone that can speak up and not hide behind assumptions that are usually, if not always, wrong. Like Arden, I was always looking for Selim to find her way out of the awful creature she allowed his Mother to create

Rating:
Summary: LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: Even tho' her heroines are difficult to like, I'm enjoying Laura Kinsdale's books so much!! (I did read one dud, "Uncertain Magic", but most have been great.) Her HEROES are like no other writer's. I didn't think she could top "Flowers From the Storm" but "The Dream Hunter" is excellent. Maybe Zenia was just a tad too stubborn for my taste...but she is so well written, you know why she is. Keep 'em coming, Ms. Kinsdale!

Rating:
Summary: LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: Even tho' her heroines are difficult to like, I'm enjoying Laura Kinsdale's books so much!! (I did read one dud, "Uncertain Magic", but most have been great.) Her HEROES are like no other writer's. I didn't think she could top "Flowers From the Storm" but "The Dream Hunter" is excellent. Maybe Zenia was just a tad too stubborn for my taste...but she is so well written, you know why she is. Keep 'em coming, Ms. Kinsdale!

Rating:
Summary: LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: Even tho' her heroines are difficult to like, I'm enjoying Laura Kinsdale's books so much!! (I did read one dud, "Uncertain Magic", but most have been great.) Her HEROES are like no other writer's. I didn't think she could top "Flowers From the Storm" but "The Dream Hunter" is excellent. Maybe Zenia was just a tad too stubborn for my taste...but she is so well written, you know why she is. Keep 'em coming, Ms. Kinsdale!

Rating:
Summary: One of my Top favorites of all time
Review: For me, a romance novel works when I feel that somehow, the hero and the heroine's love makes them each a better person than they would be without each other - that sense of "connection and belonging." This book is definitely worth the read. I'm not a big Kinsale fan; in fact, the only other book by her that I've liked is "The Shadow and the Star."
The hero, Lord Winter, is definitely likeable. He seems to have the typically pampered aristocratic life, but the lack of warmth in his familial relationships and extreme shyness cause him to seek a sense of purpose in travel to exotic locales. Zenia, the heroine, has had a rough childhood, with only a mother who is one of those larger than life characters that can be overbearing. Without a stable family background, Zenia is also lost. She seeks an identity for herself by secretly hoping to go back to England and become an English lady. Lord Winter and Zenia meet. They then go through a series of events and misunderstandings that bring them together then pull them apart. Some people found this journey to be annoying because they could not understand Zenia's motivations. Zenia's extreme resistance to a seemingly perfect match is understandable within the context of her childhood.
Overall, it is truly a touching, realistic depiction of two people who are seeking an "anchor", which they could find only in each other.

Rating:
Summary: One of my Top favorites of all time
Review: I've read through the reviews, and do understand why some people may not like the book as much -- we are so used to both characters all ready for love and with totally secure attachment styles. however, real life is not like that, many people (and I'm sure readers can identify with this) grow up with pretty messed up atachment styles -- we want so much to be loved, but are so scred ot rejection or being hurt as well.
I loved this book because the characters are human -- you understand why they do what they do (they at consistently... unlike some other characters I've read who *suddenly* change in the middle of the story), even if you ache for them or don't necessarily agree with their choices.

Rating:
Summary: lovely
Review: I've read through the reviews, and do understand why some people may not like the book as much -- we are so used to both characters all ready for love and with totally secure attachment styles. however, real life is not like that, many people (and I'm sure readers can identify with this) grow up with pretty messed up atachment styles -- we want so much to be loved, but are so scred ot rejection or being hurt as well.
I loved this book because the characters are human -- you understand why they do what they do (they at consistently... unlike some other characters I've read who *suddenly* change in the middle of the story), even if you ache for them or don't necessarily agree with their choices.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book from one of romance's finest writers
Review: Laura Kinsale continues her tradition of writing romance with unusual settings, flawed characters you want to root for, and a beautiful, unique style. The plot revolves around a search through the desert for a mythical mare known as the String of Pearls. Arden Winter never suspects that the Bedu boy acting as his guide is in fact a girl of English parentage desperate to return to the homeland she's never visited. The two at first seem like opposites. She grew up in the wilderness, but longs for the security of England. He grew up under the constraints of an English gentleman's upbringing, but wanted adventure and danger. It turns out, though, that they have more in common than they first suspect. Kinsale is the best at creating tortured characters whom you desperately want to find happiness, and then making you doubt that they will, not an easy thing to do in a genre novel. This one is one of my favorites of her work.

Rating:
Summary: definite keeper
Review: Not so much the love story as the character study and brilliantly subtle feel of the settings keep you reading this book. Laura Kinsale is the best. No sap, just real people with true problems trying to cope in an imperfect world. I've read all of her books and found something that grips the imagination in every one of them. Keep them coming Ms Kinsale!