21st out of 273 books
—
454 voters
The Price of Temptation
by
M.J. Pearson
A homoerotic love triangle lands Stephen Clair, Jamie Riley and Julian Jeffries in a situation in which everyone want something and the only way to get it is to scheme and find out how to play one against the other. One tries to avoid financial ruin, one is avoiding his past and one is determined to continue the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed. Fast paced and i...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
September 1st 2005
by Seventh Window Publications
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^^HMMMM JUST CHECK OUT THAT COVER^^
More of my reviews and thoughts on my blog PANTS OFF REVIEWS
THE COVER- I know what you all are thinking, “what the hell is in his pants”? Well truthfully, I have no idea, but I really do love the cover. I love his stance and the other guy kneeling at his feet. I find it to be very sexy, and makes me wanna say, such cheesy lines like “Is that a flashlight in your pants or are you just happy to see me”, or “Is this a stick up and are you here to take my clothes”...more
More of my reviews and thoughts on my blog PANTS OFF REVIEWS
THE COVER- I know what you all are thinking, “what the hell is in his pants”? Well truthfully, I have no idea, but I really do love the cover. I love his stance and the other guy kneeling at his feet. I find it to be very sexy, and makes me wanna say, such cheesy lines like “Is that a flashlight in your pants or are you just happy to see me”, or “Is this a stick up and are you here to take my clothes”...more
Oct 21, 2009
karen
marked it as romance-covers-i-have-loved
the price of temptation appears to be elephantiasis of the testicles.
"The Price of Temptation" is M. J. Pearson's first published gay historical romance. It's set around 1815 and tells the story of Stephen Clair, Earl of St. Joseph, and his secretary Jamie Riley.
Jamie Riley becomes the secretary of Earl of St. Joseph. Stephen is a good-hearted man who collects misfits but at the same time, he can't keep two coins together. And so, Jamie helps his new Master sort his accounts... and falls in love with him. Stephen is determined to seduce Jamie because he grew tire...more
Jamie Riley becomes the secretary of Earl of St. Joseph. Stephen is a good-hearted man who collects misfits but at the same time, he can't keep two coins together. And so, Jamie helps his new Master sort his accounts... and falls in love with him. Stephen is determined to seduce Jamie because he grew tire...more
Strong start, but I found the second half a little disappointing
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 7/10
PROS:
- The relationship unfolds slowly in a way that I found endearing and realistic. It isn’t love at first sight for either man; it’s more that they spend some time together and after a while, each starts to realize that the other has more attractive qualities than he seemed to have before.
- I really liked the majority of the secondary characters....more
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 7/10
PROS:
- The relationship unfolds slowly in a way that I found endearing and realistic. It isn’t love at first sight for either man; it’s more that they spend some time together and after a while, each starts to realize that the other has more attractive qualities than he seemed to have before.
- I really liked the majority of the secondary characters....more
Sep 25, 2011
Elisa Ramblings
added it
I’m deeply regretting to have not read this book before, this is exactly like one of those historical romances I eagerly read when I was a teenager and so loved. There is the dashing scoundrel, and as often it happens he has a wise old aunt who is holding the purse strings; she deeply love her rake of a nephew but she wants for him to settle down for the good of the title but above all for his own happiness. There is of course a vain lover, more interested to that purse than to the gentleman, an...more
I won’t say I didn’t enjoy this, because I did. It was possible to unhinge my research head and treat it as a “romance novel” with all that that genre implies. Brooding hero, delicate (but rather stubborn) hero who isn’t going to let said BH get into his pants unless it’s true love – not if he can help it! (all whilst being swept along by his own desires)
So yes, it’s an enjoyable romance read. I liked the characters in the main. The BH (Stephen) was suitably brooding and sufficiently dissolute t...more
So yes, it’s an enjoyable romance read. I liked the characters in the main. The BH (Stephen) was suitably brooding and sufficiently dissolute t...more
I have a confession to make here: I love Regency historicals. In fact before I discovered m/m, I read almost exclusively m/f historicals. When I began reading m/m, I looked at The Price of Temptation several times as I was interested to see how an m/m book would work in a Regency setting. However, because the book was only available as a paperback, I hesitated to buy, mainly because I was highly embarrassed at *that cover* being seen by anyone whilst I was reading it. Now, however, the book is a...more
First impressions are everything. This is especially important with book covers. I know, don’t judge a book by its cover. Name me an avid reader that doesn’t and I’ll start eating pages from my copy of this book. We all do it because aside from the blurb, it’s the first thing that where a reader can get an idea on what the book is about. So when I see this book cover my reaction is “AWW HELL!”. Seriously, I swear my glasses fogged up there for a moment. So what about the story? It was good...more
An incredibly charming, funny and irreverent read, The Price of Temptation is one ebook I’d love in print. Following reasonably traditional historical romance lines, minus a heroine, this was very entertaining and I cannot wait to read Discreet Young Gentleman.
Stephen is such a likable rogue, one cannot help but want someone to take him in hand. He’s rather flighty and not remotely interested in anyone other than himself. Or so he’d like you to think. Underneath this raffish exterior he has odd...more
Stephen is such a likable rogue, one cannot help but want someone to take him in hand. He’s rather flighty and not remotely interested in anyone other than himself. Or so he’d like you to think. Underneath this raffish exterior he has odd...more
M.J. Pearson. Why you no write more? -.- I really really really liked this story especially the progression of the love between the characters. Stephen not even looking twice at jamie to noticing he is a gem, then Stephen sneaking kisses and touches while Jamie is sleeping, to FINALLY realizing he(they) is(are) in love. I didn't like the part where Jamie left for a week and some change to live in terrible places and get his stuff stolen. And I wish their coming together and reconciling had been...more
Jamie's nothing special when it comes to looks. His face and build are plain, but he does have killer blue eyes, hair with stunning highlights, and a more than passable backside. All that's left of his mother, his last living relative, is a small portrait. He ends up working for Stephen Clair, first as a secretary to track Stephen's schedule, but quickly proves his usefulness with numbers and managing money. Stephen's staff loves him and Stephen himself falls for him. Jamie's character is intell...more
Meh. Just okay. Not horrible. Not fantastic. This one was uncannily close to The Desire for Dearborne, exact same basic plot. Hunky lonely aristocrat who has no problem paying for his companionship until some green innocent (yet educated) little country boy enters the scene. Aristocrat's jealous boytoy tries to off the "country mouse" (to protect his own position) and needs to be saved. The love scenes were pleasantly steamy though, and I enjoyed the historical context and setting.
Regency MM romance.
It is romantic, funny and quite light in spite of some angst near the end.
Typical regency plot, the Rake and the Innocent. Great secondary characters:
- The Rake's lover, greedy & diabolical but beautiful like a fallen angel.
- The Rake's best friend, his only real friend.
- The Rake's old, rich and eccentric auntie
- The sarcastic butler,
And a few others.
The Innocent is, of course, all alone in the big bad world!
This book is a delight
It is romantic, funny and quite light in spite of some angst near the end.
Typical regency plot, the Rake and the Innocent. Great secondary characters:
- The Rake's lover, greedy & diabolical but beautiful like a fallen angel.
- The Rake's best friend, his only real friend.
- The Rake's old, rich and eccentric auntie
- The sarcastic butler,
And a few others.
The Innocent is, of course, all alone in the big bad world!
This book is a delight
I actually really liked this book. I mean I love fomulaic cinderella type trashy romances... my only complaint is that Jamie (the protagonist) reads like a woman, and if I wanted to read a book with a female protagonist I would've read one. That aside it was surprisingly entertaining. So much so I think the author is trying to kill me: as a result of staying up until 3am reading this I nearly severed a finger at work...
I absolutely loved this story! I loved the deliciously cheesy cover and the nostalgic romance elements of the m/f historical novels that I used to devour and this is perhaps one of my favorite books of all time now. I adored Jamie and the 'seduction scene' was unbearably erotic. I would highly recommend it. I hope more m/m romance authors emerge who write these types of books. They're escapism at it's finest!
I enjoy Pearson's fond homages to classic bodice-rippers and historical mf romances, but, unfortunately, I didn't think this one was as good as either Discreet Young Gentleman or Helpless. Especially egregious were both of the MCs -- MC Stephen was much too weak and vacillating to get much sympathy from me, while MC Jamie was too much of a Mary Sue to grab my interest.
I believe that this was Pearson's first novel, which would explain why it is not as good as the others I've read. Read the other...more
I believe that this was Pearson's first novel, which would explain why it is not as good as the others I've read. Read the other...more
Books like this keep forcing my further and further out of the Romantic Closet. I'd prefer to be known as a grump, thank you very much, but this story makes me melt. For one thing, it does not apologize for having two male leads, nor does it have to - it's all so matter-of-fact, so natural in this world that it makes one almost believe that this IS the way it was back in the Regency era, and society has deteriorated since then. Stephen's household full of loving misfits speaks right to my heart,...more
Wonderfully written, but the separation between the two main characters near the end is rather long, at least a 1/4 of the book. Still, it was an incredible read and very, very heartwarming and charming (with some laughter thrown in for good measure.) ;) The cover though, is a bit (cough, cough) well, shall we say 'too much of a good thing'? :)
First of all I wouldn't call this a "love triangle", cause Stephen is not really in a relationship with Jamie while he's fucking Julien ('cause if he was I wouldn't have read this 'till the end).
And second, the real reason a read this book: THAT COVER.
Almost brought me to my knees (literally) ;).
I loved this book, couldn't put it down 'till the last page; I'll definitely re-read this.
And second, the real reason a read this book: THAT COVER.
Almost brought me to my knees (literally) ;).
I loved this book, couldn't put it down 'till the last page; I'll definitely re-read this.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Not as much as Discreet Young Gentleman, but still, it was well written. It's a bit clichéd, you know; young ingenue improves the life of worldly older man and then falls in love with him, but it's a cliché we know and love. I never really connected with any of the characters, but I did love Aunt Matilda; that woman was awesome. My one major sticking point with this book is that the entire plot relies on a series of misunderstandings and coincidences and I'm none...more
An interesting historical novel, I liked that it didn't deal with the whole angst of the society finding out or needing a wife, which is often used in such stories. I'm not sure it was really possible to live like that at the time but hey it's fiction!
Jamie is a very loveable character, which I cannot say about Stephen or Julian. Stephens going to Julian time after time annoyed me a great deal. He knew that actor was shallow and only after his money and that Stephen himself was deeply in depth,...more
Jamie is a very loveable character, which I cannot say about Stephen or Julian. Stephens going to Julian time after time annoyed me a great deal. He knew that actor was shallow and only after his money and that Stephen himself was deeply in depth,...more
This is the other MJ Pearson novel I totally love. I've read it at least three times and keep coming back to it when I want Regency romance. It's original, engaging and honestly, quite believable. Too often you read these romance novels and after the first two chapters you're over it because it's so unbelievable. Pearson knows how to write a story that flows from chapter to chapter and she never once makes you think you're reading something that couldn't happen. It's really the perfect example o...more
More like 1 1/2 stars.
This is the first gay romance novel from this writer. Her second book, Discreet Young Gentleman, is much better. This one is like a gay Barbara Cartland romance. Every single cliché is there up to the young, innocent love interest chained up in a dungeon at the mercy of a very dark villain. I was laughing and not because it was funny. The book cover is so bad and as predictable as the plot of this story. Better only read her second book.
This is the first gay romance novel from this writer. Her second book, Discreet Young Gentleman, is much better. This one is like a gay Barbara Cartland romance. Every single cliché is there up to the young, innocent love interest chained up in a dungeon at the mercy of a very dark villain. I was laughing and not because it was funny. The book cover is so bad and as predictable as the plot of this story. Better only read her second book.
I loved this book! I haven't read a good historical, well any historical, lately and I didn't even know I was missing it. I enjoyed the twist the story took near the end and the unexpected actions of the bad guy. I also liked that Jamie made Stephen work for it and didn't just roll over and give in. This book also had a fantastic and deep cast of side characters that were wonderful and three dimensional. 5 stars!
ETA: I just bought this book with the new cover (borrowed it upon first reading) and...more
ETA: I just bought this book with the new cover (borrowed it upon first reading) and...more
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M. J. Pearson’s meandering career path has included stints dispatching taxis in Vermont, making pizza in Santa Fe, digging Roman ruins in Israel and studying nationalism in Scotland. Currently residing in Indianapolis, M. J. is hard at work on a new romance novel.
More about M.J. Pearson...
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Dec 19, 2010 12:27am
May 05, 2012 01:25pm