Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780515145069
ISBN: 0515145068
Label: Jove
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Jove
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2008-07-29
Publisher: Jove
Studio: Jove

An All-New Drake Sisters Novel

Bewitching rock superstar Joley Drake can have any lover she wants. But when her life is threatened, her dangerously sexy bodyguard is the only man she needs. There’s just one problem: his shadowy reputation as a secret Russian hit man may put Joley in even greater peril…

Customer Rating:
Summary: Intense!
Comment: Enjoyed the book immensely! In true Christine Feehan fashion, each chapter ends with you dying to get to the next chapter to see what happens.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hanon Exercise Rather Than Chopin
Comment: Even though Ilya is one of my favorite secondary characters, I was disappointed in this book.

I found the musical analogies forced and discordant, to the point I started skimming the description until I reached dialogue. I don't mind when an author has their character see, taste, smell, or feel music--if it's done well.

In her Dark series, Feehan has been sucussful using music as an additional or enhanced "sense"--particularly in "Dark Symphony" (Byron and Antonietta's book) and with her Dark Troubador characters.

Part of my disappointment occurred because I had just reread Marjorie Liu's "Soul Song" and her Hunter Kiss series where the author is extremely successful using music as an enhanced sense.

I started the book expecting Chopin (or at least Scott Joplin) and ended up with Hanon.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Ouch, not really that great, except for one thing.
Comment: I have never written a book review on Amazon before but this book compelled me to send one in. Be warned that there are some spoilers for the story in this post so if you want to be totally surprised skip this review.

I've been reading Christine Feehan for a long time and I keep wondering if her writing skills will improve at all. Apparently the answer is no. This book could have been half it's size and done the job it needed to do. How many times does the reader need to know Joley doesn't allow underage girls at her parties, or that the band "family" was destroyed by drugs and alcohol.. oh yeah and loose women? Apparently the answer is many, many times.

I've read every book that this author has written, and I can't honestly say if I'll buy another one. Not only were things repeated over and over and over, but the characters felt fake to me. All the members of the band, even Joley and Ilya themselves don't feel true to the characters we were introduced to in previous books. I mean Ilya goes from being raised in a severly abusive environment to all the sudden being able to love Joley with all his heart? That just doesn't ring true to life, and I know that this is a romance but hopefully some of real life is in a book.

One good thing that Feehan does do is handle the relationship between Brian and Nikitan very well. She doesn't preach about it being bad or good, she just simply shows love between two characters that happen to be male. Kudos to her for dealing with this with sensitivity and grace. It's the only reason this review got 2 stars instead of just one.

To all the Feehan fans out there, please go read some Sherrilyn Kenyon or J.R. Ward if you want good, well written paranormal romance. To Mrs. Feehan, please take a basic workshop in writing a fiction story, even though you are published you could be such an awesome writer if you just change a few things.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Bad :-)
Comment: This is the book that a lot of people that read this series have been waiting for. Joley Drake, the bad girl. Well you learn that she's not so bad afterall. This isn't a stand alone book. You probably do need to read the beginning part of the series in order to get all the relationships and why people are acting like they are. However, Ms. Feehan does a good job of backtracking to fill in if you are reading this book without the others. I really enjoyed the interaction between Joley and Ilya in this book. You felt like they were connected intellectually not just physically. This book wasn't a pure romance novel since there has been a 5 previous book built up. You know about their attraction to each other so you don't even need that. This book is about the mystery that has been a backstory with Joley throughout the series. You get closer and closer to finding out about the Russian mob. You also meet Joley's second family, her band. I found two members of the band fully developed but most of them were just throwaway characters that didn't add to the story. I was also a little disappointed that the Drake family didn't play a larger part in this story. However it does foreshadow the next book about Elle and Jackson and how things may all come to a head. I'm definitely looking forward to it. I would recommend this book to all Christine Feehan lovers and especially those that have been following the series all along.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable soap opera
Comment: I'll get the tough part out of the way first. Initially I couldn't like Joley Drake. She's fabulously beautiful, wealthy, and famous. She's loved and protected by everyone (so much so that it felt cloyingly too-sweet). She grew up in a large, happy family. She's one of the 'beautiful people,' and boy howdy is it difficult to identify with a heroine like that. Particularly when she seems to find every reason possible to whine about her life and problems. Yeah, I get that fame isn't so wonderful, and being beautiful and sexy has its down-sides. But that doesn't make it any easier to take Joley seriously when she's freaking out over whether people would really like her any more if they knew she kinda likes it when Ilya is strong and controlling toward her.

The book also had the feel of a soap-opera. Everybody's rich and famous, drop-dead sexy, in organized crime, etc. Everybody has a stalker, or a dark secret, or an estranged wife, or an illegitimate child. Some of the side plots are really well-played and portrayed, but that didn't change the fact that the sheer number of them was ridiculous.

Still, I gave this book a four out of five, and it's time I explained why. First of all, some of those side plots really did have a lot to them. There's a romance that was just beautifully portrayed. Second, Joley becomes more likable early enough in the book to keep her from being a real problem. Third, the 'who's trying to kill Joley and why' plot is quite interesting. There's more to it than normal for a romance novel, and it did keep me guessing.

Finally, and most important, is Ilya himself. Until the first time we get into his head, he comes across as the exact same kind of domineering, controlling, arrogant 'alpha male' lead that shows up in far too many romance novels, and that too often has very little actual personality. Ilya, however, has a complex and layered personality. His need for control is explained and understandable, and neither simple nor straightforward (nor total). He and Joley had plenty of chemistry, and if you're looking for a romance with a sexy male lead, this is definitely it! [Usual adult material warning: explicit sex scenes.]

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