TBR Challenge: Robin Schone - The Lover

Even Desire Has Its Price. . .
Thirty-six year old Anne Aimes is a spinster whose only attraction is her wealth. But her plain looks mask a passionate woman who yearns to know a man's intimate caresses. Michel des Anges--Michael of the Angels--is renowned for his ability to bring women to pleasure. All it will cost her is ten thousand pounds...
Driven by vengeance, ravaged by tragedy, Michael seeks to lose himself in a woman who will demand only physical pleasure. A woman who won't suspect his own aching needs--or his true motive for accepting her terms. Unable to resist the lure of Anne's guileless desire, he plunges her into a deadly web of deception and revenge where the price of carnal ecstasy is life itself...

Comment: One more prompt for the TBR Challenge of this year, hosted by Wendy, the Superlibrarian. The theme for May is "older couple" and I struggled to find something which would not be part of a series. I know I have books I could insert in this category by Mary Balogh, for instance, but I want to read the books in the series in order, so... not yet. Therefore, this book was it.

In this novel we have the story of Anne Aimes, a spinster whose parents died and now she has some freedom to seek things she felt were forbidden to her, such as liaison with a lover. She decides to request the services of Michel des Anges, a renown escort, since she still remembers how handsome he was when she saw him for the first time eighteen years ago.

Michel or Michael, as he is really called, accepts Anne's terms because he has a secret agenda besides teaching her about what pleasure can be like. The problem is that someone else is aware of his movements and, perhaps, Anne might be in danger, but will he let go of the opportunity to defeat an enemy once and for all?

This book had been recommended to me by a friend who gave it four stars around ten years ago and it features a couple with the ages of 36 and 40. Fairly, I would not say people with these ages are "old", at all, but in the world of fiction, especially historical romance, perhaps it might be easier to accept it. Plus, I had no other viable ideas in the TBR I could pick up easily.... I bet that from now on, books I could fit to this theme will come out of everywhere, though...

I had not tried this author's books either until now, so everything would be a surprise.. I was aware that a good part of this book would fit into the erotic category and this is something I no longer feel interested in, but I hoped that the combination of factors which led me to this book would prove to be good ones. However, I am sorry to say, I disliked this novel and the only reason I actually finished was because of the challenge and because I didn't want to look for a different choice.

The story itself is not complicated, Anne and Michael start seeing each other over a contract in which he will teach her about sexual gratification and she will pay him. I was not interested in this and I was not particularly taken by the characters so, I've skimmed most of the scenes in which they are having sex - thus, a lot- but the ones I read here and there showed what felt like a very clinical way of dealing with this. Perhaps realistic and "adult" in comparison with novels where this is overlooked or romanticized, but it did not help me to see the characters and the situation in a likable way.

I've also read the introduction note the author added in which she explains her reasons to write this novel and how frustrating it was that sexuality for women was so secretive and caused so many miscommunication and unfairness in relationships. I do applaud the idea and the need to write something that highlights an issue many might disregard but the execution to me wasn't a good one. I disliked the characters and the interactions between them all, not only between the main couple, but also the  overall plot and the vibe of the novel, which means everything was a disappointment. Due to this, nothing was really interesting, not even the unusual themes the author wanted to address.

I won't go into details about the plot because, frankly, I don't feel like it. To summarize, Michael went through things that have affected his vision of life and relationships, he has suffered what I'd call severe abuse and mental trauma, and Anne was also subjected to an emotional situation which, of course, contributed to her current self image and why she now seeks this experience. Both their traumas, in different levels, are actually quite intriguing and I would not mind seeing them reach happiness after all that they suffered, but the erotic elements and the terrible things described here and there made for a story that just.... no and no.

There is also a villain, who is truly evil I'd say, and several secondary characters who do the villains' bidding. This means the main characters, especially Michael, are always anxious something bad will happen, and the reader feels the same, so... I was annoyed and angry most of the time that things got to this point. Then the villain does something to the heroine, and we learn more of what Michael went though as a child and... argh. No. This story is one to forget quickly.

Since then, I have read some interesting reviews on this book,including some positive ones, and I can see why some readers liked it but to me this was one of those stories I will not think of fondly. I finished the book for the challenge but that was it. Therefore, only one star and that is mostly for the idea that prompted this novel's existence, for the author's note and because it wasn't a big story to go through. I will likely not try anything else by this author.

Grade: 2/10