I think reading romance is even more subjective than most novels... personally I preferred to NQAH to Duke of Shadows. I'm know that's partly because I personally identified strongly with Bryony. Plus I once had a friend - a wonderful, witty, intelligent, seemlingly self-confident woman - who went through with her wedding even though she knew the groom had slept with an escort his friends had "given" him at his bachelor party. The marriage was never right and disintegrated in divorce years later. So there was a lot I could relate to from the very beginning. Plus I like a lot of interpersonal tension in the development of romance plots. Plus I have some interest in Indian history and I prefer military stories to spy stories. :)

I can see how someone different wouldn't have a single one of those factors helping them get into the story.

One thing this thread did for me - I'm finally reading Private Arrangements again when I swore I wouldn't. 

And Camden is still a louse:P

Lol, just had to jump back on here & say... Reading PA again reminded me exactly why I despise Camden & I haven't mentioned it before.  He starts out really sweet & sensible - seems like the PERFECT match for Gigi - and he turns into such a spiteful, vindictive b@$%^rd!  A man who can nurse a grudge for that much of his life has some serious issues.  It's usually all they can do to remember which drawer their underwear are in:P

It's true - I can't tell you how many times I've apologized to my husband for being bitchy and he hadn't even noticed. 8-0

I thought Duke of Shadows was a so-so book (3 stars), more or less disliked Delicious (2.5) but liked NQaH (4 stars), somewhat.   At least she's getting better.

*some spoilers*

This book has a cheating hero, OK, so he cheated - before - the H/H was intimate, but its still a betrayal.   I didn't like the way heroine handled the situation when she found out, after the marriage, during the separation, and especially when he founds out the truth.    I just didn't find this book overly satisfying.  The book had so much potential and I mostly felt let down. 

Good book but not very satisfying imo.   

Well, I just finished reading PA again, and I know people are going to be shocked, but I'm going to have to revise my opinion somewhat.  This book is actually way better than I ever gave it credit for being.  I still don't like the timeline; that ten year thing was just too long, IMO, but obviously the H&H needed some significant time to do a LOT of maturing in.  I have to admit that Camden is not *quite* irredeemable.  The awful things he says to Gigi when he first shows up again & demanding sex are really nothing more than irrational bluster - venomous as they may be.  He doesn't have any cards in his hand & he's completely panicked and bluffing.  That makes sense; twisted man sense maybe, but it's understandable - as twisted man sense goes:P  I think what I liked most about it are the revelations they both have toward the end.  Him, how their situations have reversed, and how he, as a mature, intelligent man (and not a 19yr old girl) is doing the very same type of thing to Gigi that she had done to him 10 years earlier.  I guess that was when I considered him worth going back to.  And I guess that I agree with ST's message that if you stoop to cheating in order to win something, no matter how good your reasons may be, you pretty much deserve to lose it.  Painfully.  Moralistic as that might be, it really is a good life lesson.  Overall, I'd say that there's a good bit more character development going on there than I originally gave it credit for.  I gave this book a B+ (I think) the 1st time I read it, but really, it deserved better.  A solid A or possibly an A-.  I need time to digest & decide.

Kim

I can't disagree with you more.  A B+ is generous.  I'd give it a C at best.  Didn't like it.

I loved the Thomas book, but admit I'm struggling to get through the lates Elizabeth Hoyt book, the last in the Four Soldiers series.  I think I'm on my third week of trying to finish it.

Gigi was better than Camden, no doubt, but she was annoying too.  I did kind of wonder myself if ST realized just how reprehensible Camden's behavior was.  The guy who shows up ten years later, wanting to reconstruct his marriage was okay, but the fact that he had let ten years go by, and didn't see fit to do anything about his marriage until it becomes apparent that Gigi is ready to move on, was unforgivable, IMO.  I wanted that HEA, but I never got over being annoyed that she had to forgive him in order to get it.  What Gigi did, IMO, was bad, but not nearly bad enough to warrant what he put her through over a period of ten years.  It simply boggles the mind.   He should have gone back after the miscarriage.  He could have troubled himself to jump out of that boat in Austria, but no, he waits until she decides she wants a divorce.

Kim, thats exactly how I felt about PA and why I didn't like it. Just like you said, I kept on thinking that yea what Gigi did was bad but not bad enough for the hero to mad and separate for 10 DAMN YEARS!!! I read books where worse things were done by both H/H but they managed to recover within short period of time.

On the other hand, I loved NQAH and is my keeper shelf.

I didn't get as excited about that Elizabeth Hoyt book as I did the first three.   I am not sure why, but the main character lacked ANY charm  and I just can't buy that any woman as intelligent as the Heroine seemed to be, could fall in love by looking at a painting!!!!??  I liked the second one and the third one alot better.  Forgive me for not including titles, but we have come home early and started celebrating the four day weekend!

I couldn't finish To Desire a Devil! I put it up for swap before I finished it.

To Desire a Devil is on my TBR, but I admit I've been a little disappointed with Hoyt lately. I got bored a ways through her last one, so with the Four Soldiers quartet I only finished the first 2, and although I enjoyed the 2nd one, I haven't liked or been interested in any of her heroines in this series. I feel like The Raven Prince and The Leopard Prince were her best, and I wish she would write more stories/heroines like those.

As for NQaH, I loved the first half when the pair were traveling through India, but not so much the second half when they were holed up at the fort. The tension between them and mixture of strong emotions I got from the hero really pulled me into the story, and the heroine was so unique and complex. The second half fell flat for me, but I loved the first half enough to make it a keeper for me. I pretty much finished this book in a night. I wasn't able to finish Thomas's 2 previous books, however, although I put more effort into PA, but dislike of the main couple made me lose interest, and the flashbacks throughout the book jolted me out of the story sometimes. After NQaH though, I am looking forward to her future releases.

Crud!  I have the Hoyt in my TBR.  And more Sherry Thomas on the TBR!

I'd *better* like SOME of them!  

One of my favorite Hoyt's is To Seduce A Sinner - I adore Vale and Melisande.

Kim, you're going to get me reading PA again, and I just read it for the first time a few weeks ago. :)

 I have to admit that Camden is not *quite* irredeemable.  The awful things he says to Gigi when he first shows up again & demanding sex are really nothing more than irrational bluster - venomous as they may be.  He doesn't have any cards in his hand & he's completely panicked and bluffing.  That makes sense; twisted man sense maybe, but it's understandable - as twisted man sense goes:P

Heh. You're probably right about his point of view, but he did hold a trump card - whether or not to divorce was his decision. He may have known that he wouldn't force her to stay indefinitely against her will, but she didn't know that.

I think what I liked most about it are the revelations they both have toward the end.  Him, how their situations have reversed, and how he, as a mature, intelligent man (and not a 19yr old girl) is doing the very same type of thing to Gigi that she had done to him 10 years earlier.  I guess that was when I considered him worth going back to.

I really liked him three times in the book - once in Copenhagen (was it there?) when he admitted to himself he'd been an ass for years. The moment you just mentioned above. And the third was the moment when they finally exchanged apologies, and he admitted that the state of the marriage was as much his responsibility as hers. When I read the book, those three weren't enough for me to think she should go back, because I thought the verbal abuse was something no one should have to live with, and I wasn't sure he was capable of change.

And I guess that I agree with ST's message that if you stoop to cheating in order to win something, no matter how good your reasons may be, you pretty much deserve to lose it.  Painfully.

Absolutely - breaking the engagement would have been totally reasonable.  That's not what Camden did. He married her knowing he intended to separate the next day and never told her his intentions until they were married. I think his actions were as dishonest as hers.

Since you've posted this, I've realized how complex Camden's character was. Gigi was straightforward - whatever she wanted, she devised a strategy and went for it. She'd ignore ethical breaches, discomfort, embarrassment. She did what it took.

Camden would buy a necklace and not give it to her. He chased her to her boat but didn't follow on the next one. He went to New York to avoid her and then built a fortune and a house to impress her (did you notice his house was for Gigi?). He crossed the ocean to win her back again and then told her she made him want to vomit.

So after saying all this (sorry so long!) I think what PA needed was a better background for Camden. What in his character made him act so irrationally, and how did he reach a point where he could heal or change? If I had understood him as a damaged hero then I would have been able to accept healing and a happy ending. With no other context for his actions,, I saw him as an abuser who didn't give any real evidence that he would change going forward.