Mask of Passion

Rating:
Summary: Very dated
Review: Plot Synopsis: "Danica Morgan had fashioned her own success. First as a top model, then -- secretly -- as a best-selling novelist. She had had enough of the limeliight. She swore she would have nothing to do with Bay Spencer. She would not take the leading role in his movie. She would not be a star. And she would not be one of the women he used so casually and cast aside so brutally.

"But from the moment he appeared at her isolated Oregon beach house, his blue eyes flashing fire and ice, her resolve began to weaken. And before she knew it, she had walked into his trap. She loved him! Had she hidden for so long behind a mask of indifference only to be deceived by a man who wore a mask of passion -- who would go to any lengths, determined to have his way?"

I picked this one up because I've been going through Kay Hooper's back catalog. This, like many of her earlier works, is a category romance. Many of her earlier stories hold up well to the test of time; they are charming, whimsical, fun little reads. This, however, is not one of them.

"Mask of Passion" is straight along the guidelines for early 80's romance. Lots of passion and intensity, both good and bad, and very little of anything that I would describe as "love." There is almost-forced sex ("overcome by passion" -- bah), and lots of jealousy and misunderstanding. It's not -bad-, but it is dated, and for anyone, like me, that has been raised on more modern sensibilities, it's a little tough to take.

A lot of Hooper's early works are worth picking up. Along the lines of her recent trio of reprints, "Enchanted," many of them are amusing reads worth a lazy summer afternoon. This one, though, isn't really worth the money you'll pay for it.

Rating:
Summary: Very dated
Review: Plot Synopsis: "Danica Morgan had fashioned her own success. First as a top model, then -- secretly -- as a best-selling novelist. She had had enough of the limeliight. She swore she would have nothing to do with Bay Spencer. She would not take the leading role in his movie. She would not be a star. And she would not be one of the women he used so casually and cast aside so brutally.

"But from the moment he appeared at her isolated Oregon beach house, his blue eyes flashing fire and ice, her resolve began to weaken. And before she knew it, she had walked into his trap. She loved him! Had she hidden for so long behind a mask of indifference only to be deceived by a man who wore a mask of passion -- who would go to any lengths, determined to have his way?"

I picked this one up because I've been going through Kay Hooper's back catalog. This, like many of her earlier works, is a category romance. Many of her earlier stories hold up well to the test of time; they are charming, whimsical, fun little reads. This, however, is not one of them.

"Mask of Passion" is straight along the guidelines for early 80's romance. Lots of passion and intensity, both good and bad, and very little of anything that I would describe as "love." There is almost-forced sex ("overcome by passion" -- bah), and lots of jealousy and misunderstanding. It's not -bad-, but it is dated, and for anyone, like me, that has been raised on more modern sensibilities, it's a little tough to take.

A lot of Hooper's early works are worth picking up. Along the lines of her recent trio of reprints, "Enchanted," many of them are amusing reads worth a lazy summer afternoon. This one, though, isn't really worth the money you'll pay for it.