Reviews for Club

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

Review # 1 was written on 2009-02-09 00:00:00 Peter M�ller Hansen Rating: 3.5 / 5 I can't say why, but this book never really completely engaged me. I never really connected with the characters or the story or had a need to keep reading when I had other things to do. I liked it enough; it was an interesting, unique tale, but something - and I don't really know what - kept me from really getting into this book. The Club is author Sharon Page's first mass market paperback release (her previous were all trade paperbacks). Set in regency England, it's about a widow, Jane, who is desperately searching for her best friend Del, who has disappeared. Her search leads her to an exclusive sex club, where she knows Del's ruthless husband forced her to go. Once there, she runs into Del's brother, Christian. Christian had been gone from England for many years, after dueling with and killing his lover's husband. But after receiving a letter from his sister pleading for help, he returns to England. Year's before, the two had shared a teasing, tormenting "friendship" but now that they are partnering together to find Del, passions erupt. As they learn more about the twisted circumstances of Del's disappearance, their feelings grow. Both, however, see marriage as something they can't have. At the same time, neither wants to give the other up. First, though, they must solve the mystery endangering both their lives. This is the fourth book I've read by Sharon Page, and when I first heard about this one, I thought it would be comparable to the other three (the Hamilton Sisters series) in that it would be an erotic historical romance. So I was surprised when I went to buy it and saw that it was an MMP from Dell (and that they labeled it romance when it should have been labeled a historical romance). Which made me wonder what type of story it would be, how erotic. You don't generally find erotic stories first published in MMP format. This story ended up being much darker than I thought it would be. The name, and the synopsis, kinda leads you to think the H/H will get involved in a sex club, exploring the sensual side of life. But in reality, The Club (the sex club, not the book) is a rather sinister place for the most part. Jane's best friend, and Christian's sister Del, is forced to go their by her tyrannical husband, and forced to engage in group sex. And other very nasty things discovered throughout the story give the club a bad reputation. The H/H never actually get involved with the sex-capades, just view them a couple times. Adding to the darkness of the story is the fact that both Jane's and Del's husbands were abusive bastards. They have a lot of emotional scars because of what was done to them. So the story isn't a light one. But it is pretty unique. I haven't read a regency historical that delved into the darker side of life before (at least not that I remember). Sexually, the book straddles the line between erotic and non-erotic. The sex is more graphic than your typical romance, but compared to a true-blue erotic romance, or even just one of Page's past books, it's much tamer. The sex is pretty basic stuff, too. There's some voyeurism of more risque stuff, but between the H/H, things stay mostly vanilla. Which I admit disappointed me some. There was a great opportunity for sexual exploration, but it never materialized. The romance was pretty sweet, though. Jane and Christian were very caring and protective of each other. ...and yet, there was just something that didn't engage me about this story. And I honestly don't know what it was. Perhaps it was because I was expecting something more erotic, more exploratory. Or maybe it was just something about the story itself. I just don't know. So in the end, this was an okay-good book. It tells a unique, well-written tale. There's some pretty hot sex, and I liked the characters. For me, it was missing a little something, but I think it's a book that a lot of people will like. I wouldn't suggest picking this one up for its erotic content though (as some of her previous readers might do) because it's not all that erotic. But if you like a steamy, historical romance that's a bit darker than normal, then you might like this one. WARNING, this book contains: mildly explicit sex, oral sex, a little ass-play, mildly descriptive voyeurism of various sexual acts at a sex club, talk of domestic abuse, and mentions of rape and murder

Review # 2 was written on 2009-02-09 00:00:00 Thomas Carner This book is a mess. It's a tiresome, long and just plain blah read. Such a letdown being that it's been touted as Page's foray into mainstream historical romance but with a bit extra spice. Spice aplenty there is, but it's shoved in all over the place and just doesn't seem to fit with the characters. One of those sex for the sake of sex novels at times that you often find in erotica. What really bothered me about this story are the sub-stories, there are too many of them and they just keep on coming which explains why the book is 408 pages. It really needs more focus. It meanders from one thing to the next which I found irritating. There isn't enough development between the h/h either but all of a sudden they love each other. Very left field here. There's also too much focus on the suspense aspect of the book. People who are dead are suddenly alive, mysterious events keep happening, evil men abound etc etc . Too much. Some of the sex is totally out of place with the characters. One that comes to mind is the rimming scene that was just there to "shock" the reader I thought. There's supposed to be a kind of love hate history between Jane and Christian but it's not there. Barely a barb was exchanged and whatever was was hardly worth mentioning. It is a very dark story at times. The club is a seedy place where twisted men get together to "explore" a sinister side of sex that's not all that consensual. Most of the women are trapped in loveless marriages with sexual deviants and have been psychologically as well as physically hurt. This is the background of the story and the reader is led to believe that things will happen to the h/h at this club but the back blurb is misleading because nothing really happens there. It's the starting point for the heroine to find her friend and the hero to find his sister who has disappeared. This was the kind of book that I hoped would get better but never did. It has a lot of potential. A swingers' club of sorts, an extra dose of hot sex, murder, mystery but it's a mish mash of a story that just doesn't get you to connect with the characters. I found myself counting the pages to the end, skimming parts and just wishing it would be over. Sharon Page writes some good historical erotica (check out Sin for some top notch scorcher ménage scenes) but this attempt at a mainstream regency historical romance is a dud.