"intelligently written and highly entertaining sensual story"
Piers Aaron had been in love with the beautiful Princess
Fen since the first moment he'd seen her, but as a
commoner and servant knew that the class distinctions
between commoner and royalty could never be overcome.
Hearing her cries for help one evening, Aaron came to her
aid, even though it appeared there was no reason for her
alarm. In spite of the noble suitors her mother, the
Empress, paraded before her -- Princess Fen was drawn
inexplicitly to Aaron. Initially thinking to seduce and
use him as her lover Fen was unprepared when her heart
became irresistibly entangled and intoxicated with love.
However, someone else in the palace was determined that
Princess Fen would be theirs and summoned an ancient evil
that came dangerously close to killing her. I was immensely pleased with this entry from author
Michelle Pillow whose intelligent and well-written story
was hard to put down. The new world she created was very
interesting and her character building was great as she
fashioned her leads into people whom you cared about. Her
approach to the special gifts Fen and her brothers had was
imaginative but what I most loved was the ghostly presence
of Fen's noble ancestors -- in particular her grandmother
Zhang An whose ribald assessments of Fen's suitors were
hilarious, and her sister-in-law Francesca who wasn't
afraid to offer Fen her advice on matters of the heart and
how to deal with the Empress. The dialogs were both witty
and intelligent and the passionate encounters between
Aaron and Fen were tasteful and steamy! The identity of
who was summoning the evil that dogged Fen was kept secret
right up to a very surprising finale. As Book 2 in this
author's Zhang Dynasty series it stands alone with no
effort at all. Bottom line is at 120 pages this has all
the elements you would expect from a full novel all rolled
into a fast-paced, intelligently written and highly
entertaining sensual story. Loved it!
Reviewed by Marilyn Rondeau
Posted May 23, 2007
|
|
He was beneath her station in life, a servant, and yet Princess Fen was drawn to Piers Aaron as no one before, unable to resist the temptation to seduce the commoner into her bed despite her mother's decree that she must marry a man of noble birth, a man chosen for her by her mother. What she hadn't expected was that he would seduce his way into her heart.
|
