Reviews for The Pleasure Slave

The average rating for The Pleasure Slave based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-08-22 00:00:00 Chris Swink 3 Stars...I liked it. Ok so...If you've read "Fantasy Lover" by Kenyon ('02) than you've pretty much read "The Pleasure Slave" ('04)...Same basis, but where Kenyon's dreamboat rose out of a book, this one comes from a jewelry box. Both men are put there by a madder than hell sorcerer, and if I remember correctly it's for the exact same reason. And although I'm a sucker for a great "I'm a rock hard warrior willing to fulfill your every desire" book I would like to give you some advice...Save yourself some money and read one or the other...

Review # 2 was written on 2012-06-07 00:00:00 Paul Gencik Re-read. Old rating 4 stars. New rating 2 stars. I've been in a major romance slump lately. So it only made sense to me that I should re-read the books that I've already rated highly but read so many years ago that I don't actually remember them all that well. Because a good book is a good book, right? So, the plot. Somewhere very far away, a thousand years ago, super-amazing-gorgeous-warrior-amazing-lover aka Tristan was sleeping with an absolutely horrible woman named Zirra. He's well aware of how awful she is so I don't really understand that. Anyway, he makes it clear that it will always just be sex and she refuses to believe that. When he finally makes it really really really clear, she freaks out and curses him to be a slave to her pleasure and stuffs him in a tiny jewelry box a la genie. He has to be a slave to the pleasure of any woman that possesses his box and the curse will only be lifted when he finds true love. After that, he'll be transported back to his home from wherever he happens to be. Due to some shady politics going on, the box is taken from Zirra and sent far away to protect that tenuous peace on his home planet. A thousand or so years later, the box ends up in a flea market where Julia, our heroine is shopping for her antique shop. She is drawn to the box and buys it. While cleaning it, she pops it open and Tristan appears. He explains that he is there for her pleasure and she makes it clear that she wants nothing from him. Tristan is taken aback by this and the two of them begin to fall for one another. Zirra, of course, is still alive in Imperia and still wants her sex slave, so she does her best to find Tristan. So much of this book rubbed me the wrong way. Tristan endured neglect to the point of abuse as a child and then was forced into sexual slavery for centuries. He had to do everything his *shudder* "masters" commanded him. However distasteful, however degrading, he had no choice. How did my younger self somehow gloss over this really disturbing fact? When he finally understands that Julia really isn't going to use him for sex he thinks she so incredibly kind and then, of course, decides he wants to sleep with her for the fun of it. And as for Julia, she had a disastrous date when she was 16 that ruined her self-esteem and doomed her to a life of virginal awkwardness. She hasn't dated since that one horrible date. Tristan just can't believe Julia isn't going to command him to clean her toilets or murder a non-existent husband and Julia is just so excited that a man could actually find her size 8 body appealing. So of course it's true love. REALLY? YOU PEOPLE NEED TO GET OUT MORE. As others have mentioned, the fact that Zirra was eventually cursed the same way she cursed Tristan did not feel like revenge. It was just disturbing. So now she has to spend an eternity as a sex slave. Was she unhinged and homicidal? Yes. But sentencing her to an eternity of non-consensual sex just doesn't sit right with me. Tristan endured it for a thousand years. What if Zirra endures it for 4 thousand? 10 thousand? I mean, anyone in a box is immortal. This didn't really feel like the right time for the whole "eye for an eye" thing. I didn't feel it was justice, it was just rapey and wrong. Death would have been better. I found the idea of Tristan and Julia's relationship while Tristan was hers to command so...weird. He was still physically bound to do anything she said. If the roles were reversed people would be chucking this book out the window. It really ruined so much of the romance. It was like a constant cloud of weirdness that floated above everything that was supposed to be sexy or swoon-worthy. Honestly, the only reason I'm giving any stars is the fact that everything that wasn't part of the romance was pretty damn funny. I actually laughed out loud when Tristan kept murdering phones in an attempt to protect Julia. Despite any complaints I have about Gena Showalter's books, they always manage to make me smile and occasionally laugh like a mad woman. However, I will most definitely not be reading this again.