Master Of Seduction [Mass Market Paperback]

The ending stunk. *SPOILER AHEAD* Jack spends his whole life hating Wallingford for many reasons. All of a sudden, when Wallingford shows up on the island, Jack forgives everything because he thinks that's what Lorelei would want. Um, I highly doubt that that much justified anger and hostility would all but dissolve just because Lorelei wished it so.

Lorelei tells both Justin and Jack that she loves them both. Jack is understandably upset by this, but that's the end of it. Yes, I believe you may be able to love two men at once, but I don't find that a particularily compelling storyline in romance novels.

Jack and his crew spend the entire book telling Lorelei how horrible Wallingford and his son are. Yet, no mention is made of anything horrible that Justin has done. Besides being a pasty-faced bore, he really doesn't do anything that deserves Jack or his crew's rage. On the other hand, Wallingford does all of these cruel things and Lorelei seems totally unaffected by it. She never confronts him with the horrible stories she has heard.

Wallingford is supposedly this cruel man. He burns people alive and kills for sport. Now, because he is dying, he becomes this crying mess of a man who everyone forgives and he dies a peaceful death. Come on! And Wallingford's other sons never address the fact that Black Jack is their brother. That is never discussed. Lorelei's reaction to finding out that her ex-fiancee and her current lover are half-brothers is never discussed. It should have been an integral part of the book.

The sex scenes were totally tame. The book is entitled, "Master of Seduction." In my humble opinion, Lorelei did most of the seducing. And once Jack got her into bed, there was nothing all that great about it. This was a man who had supposedly bedded and pleased hundreds and hundreds of women in his lifetime. But his lack of inventiveness and rather boring style of sex belied that fact. For a sex expert, I found him rather lacking. ;)

I wish I could give this 5 stars. This will be the first K.M. book I haven't given 5 stars. But I just found so much lacking in this one. I am going to read, "A Pirate of Her Own" next, so hopefully that's better.

Jack Rhys had a rough life. His mother was a prostitute (is that a pirating prerequisite?), but he's raised himself up from a cabin boy to be the captain of his own ship. He kidnaps Lorelei in hopes of luring her fiancé and his father (Jack's nemesis) into a trap.

Lorelei isn't just feisty in the wallpaper sense, she really is, and I find it refreshing to see a heroine who is self-possessed and confident. She does come across as a little dim sometimes, but on the whole she's likeable.

Jack is a little complicated because of his horrible childhood, but we never really get the satisfaction we need from the build-up of his story because the book ends on a total cop-out.

The romance is nice, and I find myself wishing I could see it in a different setting where it would come off as a little more believable. Jack falls hard for Lorelei, and I'm a sucker for a strong guy who is flattened by gut-wrenching love for his gal.

One of my biggest problems with this book is Jack's pirate ship, which seems more like a fantasy rendition of a pirate ship than reality. All of the pirates are nice. Some of the men have wives on board. It seems that everyone and their brother has a cabin on their own, and I'm beginning to wonder if this is supposed to be some late eighteenth century cruise ship or something. Let's just say that if you're looking for gritty pirate fare this isn't the place to find it.

Overall, "Master of Seduction" is very readable, if a little forgettable. The heroine is cool and the hero is pretty much ok. It gets three stars because it balks at real emotional depth and because the story drags in places, then ends unsatisfactorily.

And the cover? Yuck. And wasn't the hero blonde?