Reviews for After the Kiss

The average rating for After the Kiss based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-01-14 00:00:00 Fabiola Gonzalez What impressed me in this book is that it managed to engage all sorts of feelings: it started as light and humorous, it turned into sober and sweet in the middle only to end up in anguish. I haven't read another book like that till now. The hero and heroine meet under humorous circumstances, when the heroine stambles upon the hero and his twin nieces as she tries to escape her guardian's advances and visit her cousin with whom she's in love in London. She is extremely tall and odd looking while he is considered the best looking man in the ton, aptly named 'The Beau'. He decides to escort her during her visit in London and of course they get to know each other better. However, when they arrive in London and meet her cousin the mood shifts; it turns sober as the feelings get more serious. She is attracted to the Beau as he in her, but neither of them is ready to accept that attraction or act on it. And the heroine still believes her future lies with her cousin until a passionate kiss changes the future of everyone involved. The second part is dark and deeply emotional with the hero coming back from Waterloo scarred and turned into a Beast rather than Beau. A beast, who now lives isolated from anyone in regret and sorrow. However, he has his nieces to think about and after they got rid of the last 7 or 8 governesses, he has to come up with a more permanent solution: a wife for him who'll act as close as a stepmother to them. After all, they did seem to get along famously with Miss Eliza Sheringham more than a year ago, not to mention how well he got along with her. But knowing she would never agree to marry him after the way he treated her, he resorts to blackmail. And so, their marriage begins. But Eliza is not a woman to leave open wounds festering. She tries to drive her husband out of his misery and solitude but it seems to be a loosing battle as the situation between them deteriorates day by day. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions: from lighthearted banter to sweet, tender encounters until the angsty, emotional scenes in the end, I couldn't put it down; I read it in almost a day. Highly recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-06-10 00:00:00 Mark Emory I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book 4 stars or not, a very hard time. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, I found both Eliza and Marcus to be likable characters, the twins were charming and the story was good without being overly complicated and bogged down with too many plot twists and turns. I liked the book a lot actually. What I didn't like were the few scenes with forced (upon) sex between Eliza and Marcus. Marcus is angry and bitter over his lot after returning from the war, he is physically scarred and as well as emotionally. There is tremendous guilt over his personal losses among which are the possible death of his brother, his self imposed estrangement from the twins, the guilt over his best friends death and his guilt over not having stepped up to and done the right thing by Eliza when he had the chance. He uses Eliza's dire circumstances and her love for the twins to force her into accepting a marriage that he wants on his terms only. His terms: Eliza is his at night but she is forbidden to see him or interact with him during the day. Marcus is so angry and twisted by this time that he is unable to be gentle with Eliza, unable to believe she might love him for who he is, unable to sort out his feelings for her without letting pure lust rule his actions. I had a hard time with the "love" scenes, they were uncomfortable and quite honestly, nothing short of rape. I know the book was written in 1991 and this kind of love scene in romance novels was more common then but frankly, there is nothing sexy or enticing about it.