Susan Sizemore (1951–2020)

Cleopatra Fraser is a great heroine - the scholarly spinster type, but with a difference. After a brief prologue that takes place in Egypt, we next meet her in Scotland, upon the eve of an academic conference meant to showcase her and her father's archeological findings. She's the brains behind the operation, her father merely a figurehead more obsessed with discovering the resting place of Alexander the Great than considerate of the concerns, feelings, and needs of his three daughters. He show more works Cleopatra to the bone, takes credit for her work, and he can because she's a woman. I didn't like her father to say the least. Even though she is a doormat in this respect, somehow this doesn't make Cleopatra seem weak to me. She's restricted more by her gender than her father, who is really more neglectful and oblivious than anything else. And Cleopatra's strengths shine through despite her repressed situation in Scotland - she's more used to the freedoms and adventures of exotic lands than the niceties of the "civilized" world. We get glimpses of her life and who she is in that different setting through flashbacks to her time spent in Egypt and Greece. I wish that the book could have taken place in Egypt - it's my favorite setting and there are sadly so few romances that take place there. The flashbacks are still powerful and evocative though, and paint a picture of Cleopatra as a gun toting, intelligent, fearless woman.

The flashbacks are also instrumental in revealing piecemeal Cleopatra's relationship with Azrael "Angel" David Evans. He seduced her ten years ago, when she was just sixteen, and he worked with her father on a dig in Egypt. Their ways parted afterwards, but have crossed and recrossed in various encounters and adventures throughout the ten years since then. This includes a professional rivalry, each outwitting and chasing after the other in an attempt to get their hands on the same treasure, the treasure that Cleopatra finally won and that is supposed to go on display at the conference. A secret cult organization thing is also after this treasure, and provides for some action/adventure near the end. As fierce rivals with a lot of history, good and bad, between them, Cleopatra and Evans have plenty of chemistry. I liked how their relationship grew, how the romance was built up through the flashbacks and the catalyzing events of the story. Particularly how they each treat and regard their one night of sin together. Evans is an overbearing, brash American, but as he gradually comes to recognize his feelings for Cleopatra for what they are, he becomes less abrasive. And he falls for Cleopatra hard - or rather realizes he's always been obsessed with her. Whether fighting or loving, either way, they're both equally matched. The Price of Passion is a fun read, with some really beautiful moments - even if it is a tease with regards to the Egyptian setting. show less

Thrust back in time against her will, the heroine finds herself in an abandoned tower in a strange time. Not all is lost. She's an historian and she has a bad of tradable goods so not only does she have something to boarder with, she's capable of speaking the language of the villagers around her. There she encounters the young handsome knight who takes an instant liking to her. He takes her back to his keep and hires her as the lady of house until he can fetch his betrothed. They develop a show more deep and lastly friendship, she heroine feeling a maternal loyalty to the carefree man. Her life is content, as much as possible so far from home. Then she meets the hero. He's a wandering Knight, having no property as his own, he's charged by the king to catch and kill the rebels in the forest. Though he is strikingly handsome and big and strong, he's arrogant and all too tempting. She makes a habit to stay as far away from him as she can but he doesn't make it easy. Despite the fact that he seems to dislike her as much as she him, he tends to find a reason to be around her or to bug her. He's mysterious and confusing and she finds herself falling in love with him. I can't stress enough just how much I loved this heroine. My god she was something amazing. This was probably the most realistic time travel romance I've read since Outlander. She is sent back in time by her boss and instead of putting u a hissy fit like most females do in this genre, she intergrades well into her surroundings. She accepts her lot in life and follows their customs as much as she can from her education as well as what she learns along the way. She's stoic and graceful when in the presence of those around her, never letting on that she's any different from them. She uses no modern phrasing, she's not a feminist and she's a smart, witty and very capable woman whom they all admire. The hero comes around periodically in the beginning but even though they claim to dislike each other, the sexual tension is there. The signs are clear that he's beginning to develop feelings for her but his pension for violence-however justified-is a major issue for her. In fact, the only time she ever freaks out over the world she know lives in is when there's a battle or when the hero must kill one of her attackers. I loved the twist at the end when you find out who the hero was. I thought it cleaver and well played as I never once clued in to the mystery. Overall, this was a stellar novel with characters that I absolutely adored. One the best books of the genre, defiantly. show less

When the heroine spacecraft is under siege and she's taken to an alien POW camp, she knows that shes in real danger. As princess to her people, she knows that if anyone should get even a hint of her true identity, she'll be used in the war and more lives will be lost. This is something she can't allow to happen, so she goes undercover. Stuck underground with the other captured soldiers, she meets the magnificent heroine, General of their prison and the only thing keeping all of them sane. He show more is charming and larger than life, someone with whom she feels safe with, someone she can trust. He's enraptured by the new addition to their hellhole and her intelligence and ability to speak the enemies language makes her a vital part of the team. But not only that, he's drawn to her spark and her beauty. He's known around camp for being a free man with the ladies. They are drawn to him and he takes them into his bed with pleasure but makes it perfectly known that he expects no strings attached. But with the heroine, he desires something more. Deep inside he recognizes his mate. When a former bodyguard is sent to kill her, to make sure she isn't used by the enemy, he snaps and he can no longer fight the urges he feels to both protect her and possess her. But he also knows that it's only this predicament they find themselves in that come bring about such a union. The outcast vampire and the Princess together? What a laugh. It's actually the heroine who pushes the relationship, especially when finding out that it's only her blood that he can feed on now. When the enemy begins to close in on her in the camp, they must do everything they can to escape and survive. I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought it had great characters and a bucketful of passion and drama. I did think more than a little odd, however, that the author would suddenly pack up in the middle of the series and send the characters to space.... I mean, WFT, it made no sense!! But that being said, I forced myself to treat this book as a stand alone from the Prime series and in doing so, I could allow myself to enjoy the writing, not thinking about how absurd this was. I loved the hero. Strong, dark at times, but about to laugh and tease. I loved the heroine because she was an equal balance of fragile and strength. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone, or to allow anyone to die because of her but when she needed comfort or a shoulder to cry on, she could rely on the hero. She was also sarcastic at times, deadpan at others but she could handle herself in the prison, mentally if not allows physically. As I said, I really liked this book even though it's set in out-freakin-space!! show less

The Price of Innocence
By Susan Sizemore
TKA Distribution
Pub. 12/21/2011
eBook courtesy of NetGalley

***Some Spoilers***















Scheherazade Hamilton, now known as Sherrie Hamilton in this historical romance set in the reign of Queen Victoria, is a woman with an adventurous past. She is an American living in England, who has traveled widely but is now attempting to settle down with her eight year old daughter, her two stalwart friends, May and Ira Gartner, and her Aunt and two nieces. What most people, show more save May, who was with her for awhile during this time, is that nine years earlier, Sherrie had been captured and sold as a slave to a pirate, who kept her to feed his personal desires and as his possession. Eventually, he lets her go, along with May, for her own safety. She is crushed by this, as over the period of time they have been together, she has fallen in love with him and thinks he is simply discarding her. Other than that section being a bit Stockholm Syndrome-ish, the rest of the novel is interesting and well-paced. The only thing that balances that slightly is that the pirate, Cullum Rourke, is just as much in love with her, only he doesn’t realize it. The two are insatiably attracted to each other by the time he sends her away.

They meet again at a ball nine years later, where Sherrie learns he is now Earl Jack PenMartyn.
She leaves as soon as she can. Her daughter, Minerva (Minnie) is just as precocious as her mother, who she has heard talking in her sleep, and sets out to visit her father, Jack PenMartyn.
The fact they have a child together forces Sherrie and Jack to communicate, and neither of them have lost any of the passion they felt for each other nine years earlier. Sherrie is full of rage about it, and May advises her to confront it. Jack is full of guilt, and doesn’t know what to do about it—he tends towards depression and guilt as his means of dealing with what happened.

What makes the book work, however, is the mystery involving Lord Gordon Summers, who is amassing a group of followers through his mysticism and charisma. Jack and Sherrie continue to meet repeatedly, either through Minnie or other social events. Sherrie is concerned about Lord Summers because he has ensnared her young niece into his following, Jack because he is suspected of criminal activity of some sort. Important figures from Jack’s past, and Sherrie’s, in some cases, pop up and the plot becomes even more complicated, though it does make sense. Everything comes to a head when Lord Summers kidnaps Minnie.

It all works out in the end—Sherrie manages to confront Jack with what has made her so angry all these years, and he manages to resolve the guilt he has been feeling during the same period of time. Yes, the book is primarily a romance, but it also is about family, with a good solid mystery to keep it from becoming strictly a book about how Sherrie and Jack can’t keep their hands off of each other. There is love and compassion in Ira and May’s marriage as a foil to the disconnect and fear of communication between Jack and Sherrie. Sherrie has not and most likely will not lose her fire, and Jack will most likely continue to love that about her. Now, what they’ll do about Minnie, seeing as she’s very obviously their child in her courage, intelligence, and persistence, would be another interesting story. show less