Lessons of Desire (Rothwell Brothers Series #2)

Great books!!! You really should read this series!!

I really enjoyed reading this series. This was my first purchase of Madeline Hunter books, and im glad i did.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'm STILL reading this one...

I bought this book months ago & I still haven't gotten half-way through. I usually love her books, but I'm just having the hardest time getting into this one. I'm hoping that the next time I pick it up I will make it over the hump... & find myself immersed in another of Mrs. Hunter's wonderful stories. Either way, I won't give up on Hunter. I have enjoyed too many of her books to jump ship over one book. I just thought I should let others know that I wouldn't try this one as my first by Mrs. Hunter- & that if you do purchase it, it may take a while to get into the story. Wish me luck!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Miserable main character

This book was a disappointment. I have read other Madeline Hunter novels and loved them, but this one was disappointing. The main character, Phaedra, was unlikeable. Her behavior didn't make sense, and the fact that the hero liked her at all also didn't make sense. She was a miserable person with a huge chip on her shoulder.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A DElightful romance

In London, Lord Elliot Rothwell informs his sibling Christian that he failed to find the manuscript. He learns from his other brother¿s wife Alexia that the owner of the manuscript her friend Lady Phaedra Blair is in Italy. Phaedra inherited her father Richard Drury¿s memoirs that have much of the Ton worried as it will expose many of them to scandal. Richard¿s partner in a small press Merris Langston was blackmailing people before he died Phaedra owns that too.---------------------- In Naples Phaedra is stuck in her apartment under house arrest having caused a duel in which a favorite relative of the king was hurt. Elliot arrives and Phaedra begs from her window for her rescue. He succeeds but the local agent believes Phaedra and Elliot are engaged, and expects him to keep her out of trouble. Elliot asks Phaedra about her dad¿s manuscript that contains a passage on his father. He offers her money to delete it, but she refuses. She says a man sent another officer rumored to be his wife¿s lover to Cape Colony where he died. Elliot says it is a lie Phaedra says prove it and she will remove it. As they travels around Italy in spite of the manuscript they fall in love, but she rejects his offer of marriage.--------------------- Having the female oppose marriage brings freshness to the sub-genre even as the relationship between the lead couple nicely evolves over the course of the tale his refusal to steal the manuscript or demand it when he legally can makes him an honorable person. Although the lead female takes too many ridiculous unnecessary risks due to her need to be independent, Regency romance readers will enjoy learning the separate truths about her mother and his father.--------------------- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A modern woman's dilemma

This book surprised me. It is deep, well-written and deals with a modern woman's dilemma: how does one who has been brought up on "feminist" ideals actually find a healthy balance between an innate, and perfectly natural, need for a serious, loving relationship with a strong, decent man and still retain one's independence of being?

Phaedra is not your usual romance heroine and there were times when she took her struggle for independence too far. But she evolved from her experiences, and at times her inner struggle was poignant and profound. I came to care for her, and could feel sympathy for her fears.

Elliot was simply a 5 star hero. Ms Hunter's skill at keeping Elliot an alpha-hero, and yet also having him grow as a man, overcoming his own personal fears of dominance and control, without losing the essence of his masculinity, was a marvel to read. His characterisation is impeccable.

My one complaint about the book is not unique to Ms Hunter's books, but one I have for many romances these days: the unfortunate use of gynaecological descriptions during the erotic scenes. Why, oh, why, in the middle of a steaming scene, do we have to have a bucket of cold water thrown in our faces with the use of highly unromantic words describing female genitalia, no matter how medically or technically or politically correct they are???

Ultimately, though, this book is well-plotted, with all loose ends neatly tied up; it has a satisfying and believable ending and it has kept me thinking days after I finished reading it: no mean feat for a romance these days!

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