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История Евы Мейсон, преуспевающей тележурналистки и фотомодели, ни на секунду не позволит вам скучать, если вы любите жизнь и ее радости. Страсти, ревность, измена и секс, всегда сопутствующие любви, будут сопровождать вас до конца романа, действия которого разворачиваются на берегу лазурного залива Сан-Франциско и в самых фешенебельных районах города. Вы побываете на аристократических приемах, совершите экзотическое путешествие на яхте в компании молодых прожигателей жизни, примете участие в пикантных сборищах поклонников свободной любви — и все это благодаря американской писательнице Розмари Роджерс, которая пишет о женщинах и для женщин.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
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222 people want to read
About the author
Rosemary Rogers
113 books420 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
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October 12, 2020Warning: spoilers
It's hard to know what to make of this book.
It's pretty much a sex fest with emphasis on rape.
Eve is a model. She is friends with another model, Marti,(lesbian ), who she shares the flat with. She is also hung up on her useless and faithless boyfriend David.
Chpt 3:Eve pays for going to her therapist peter by letting him have sex with her. She spends the sessions talking about how much she loves David, before begging Peter to f*** her.
Chpt 4: gratuitous scene of lesbian sex with marti and Stella.
Chpt5: info on Stella is then provided detailing her marriage, a lesbian encounter with Mim, which is interrupted by her husband, who then proceeds to beat and rape her violently ( gratuitous description)
Chpt 6: Stella is jealous of eve. She has told David that eve and Marti had sex once . Character Gloria introduced. She fulfills all the boss's secret sexual desires and introduced him to the 'orgy scene'. She sets up a house party where everyone else are swingers save eve and David. Eve goes to bed and another man joins her? When she realises it ' s not David, she tells him to leave but he doesn't stop. David walks in on this ( staged by Gloria) and creates a scene. He breaks up with Eve and then has sex with Gloria.
Chpt 7: David is furious with Eve and when he sees pictures of Eve we get an internal diatribe where he calls her all the names of the day. So he calls up Gloria and there is more gratuitous sex.
Chpt 8:Eve meets Brant Newcombe (millionaire) at a party but is warned that he is dangerous and does not like him.
Chpt 9: She tells Marti about this and she reveals that when she was just out of school, Brent asked her to be one of a group of 6 , including a chaperone, on a yacht cruise to the Bahamas. In fact there was no chaperone and the party was her and 5 guys and they pretty much raped her until they got to jamaica when they brought some prostitutes on board and they watched her have sex with these women - this was when she realised she was a lesbian
Chpt 10: David asks Eve out for dinner. We get a lengthy mental monologue detailing his contempt for women and that he only wants her as a mistress and not a wife ( David is not a likeable individual ) . Eve declares her love and they get back together.
Chpt 11: However this is an open relationship as David 'wanted her - but he wanted other women too' , she knows that he is off with other women on occasions so she continues to date other men and see Peter the therapist ( who should be struck off)
Chpt 12: enter David's 17 yr old sister Francie. She wants to be a play boy model and is modelling for pictures, with Brant Newcombe and his friend Jerry. They both have sex with her and take porno pictures of each other. Francie gets off on pain and the sex becomes fairly violent but they all have another go.
Chpt 13: Brant and Francie havemore violent sex, where he hits her, calls her a whore ( and worse), slams his hand into her face etc.
Chpt 14: description of Francie's enjoyment of being spanked by her dad, and her gang rape by 4 boys at her school - though she got to like it. Francie describes this to Brant and they have backdoor sex in the shower.
Chpt 15: back to Stella. It turns out that she has decided to see if she likes men after all and that David has been teaching her all. More gratuitous sex scenes.
Chpt 16: descriptions of what Francie is getting up to at Brant's orgies. 'she was a sadists dream come true' . She lets anyone do anything - to prove to Brant she loves him ( this is just nasty). At one stage she is almost 'screwed to death' by a rock band.
Chpt 17: Francie and David have an argument. He spanks her and she almost orgasms. He tells her he will send her to a shrink. Eve comes along and warns David about brant and that Francie could be in trouble if she was associating with him. David and eve have sex.
Chpt 18: eve goes to a party at brant's home. She sees Francie being auctioned off and notes that she has whip marks. Eve tries to intervene but brant approaches her.
Chpt 19: brant takes eve to the bar, he gives her a spiked drink and then drags her to his 'playroom', he hits her, forces her to the bed, strips her etc. She resists but is unco-ordinated due to the drug. He forcefully performs oral sex on her. Other people come into the room.they are all drugged up. They take indecent pictures of eve. She is then raped by an untold number of men in what turns out to be a group orgy. Brant goes last and she passes out with the pain.
Chpt 20: eve wakes up to find brant there. He has had a physician look at her to check she is ok. He blames her for not getting enough of the drug and giving in and having fun ( WTF???)
Chpt 21: brant drives her home. He kisses her and then pushes her out of the car. Background on brant given.
Chpt 22: turns out brant was in a sexual relationship with his aunt sylvia in his formative years
Chpt 23: eve returns home and sees David. He does not believe her account of events, even when he sees her bruises. She throws him out ( the only good decision in the whole book?)
Chpt 24: jerry ( one of the gang bangers) rings looking for eve to come to another party. She tells him where to go and threatens legal action re what happened. They then try and pay eve off but she rips up the check and sends it back. Marti convinces her not to take any further action for the sake of her career. She is offered a possible position on tv and goes to new York.
Chpt 25: new York. She has sex with Randall, who would be her future co presenter. This is thankfully consensual but does involve anal sex.
Chpt 26: flight home. Brant has seat beside her on plane. He asks her to marry him because she had 'kept on fighting' and wouldn't be bought off - again WTF???
Chpt 27: David and his new lover go to greet the plane. When eve sees them, she agrees to go with brant. She is nervous of going into his house - but hey it's ok as he promises not to coerce her. He suggests they have sex to see if she can bear him after what happened and one thing leads to another etc.
Chpt 28: the sex
Chpt 29: they discuss marriage and money and have more sex.
Chpt 30: they are on a boat and have more sex. Brant says 'I'll try to learn to take you only when you're ready . I'm not used to that , but I'll try' ; eve " you'll have to be patient with me. I don't like being hurt". WTF!!!
Chpt 31: Stella decides to marry rich older man George. Eve tells Marti that she will marry Brant.
Chpt 32: arrangements for the wedding. Reference to eve being afraid of Brant's cruelty.
Chpt 33: brant meets her parents. They get on well.
Chpt 34: they marry. Have sex. Go to sir Lanka for 6 months. David hears about the wedding and is angry.he has sex and anal sex with gloria.
Chpt 35: eve and brant throw civilised party. Eve is pregnant.
Chpt 36: baby born everything wonderful. Brant gets malaria and calls out for Sylvia. Eve challenges him about this. He responds by asking her if she wants to be f*****. He throws her on to the floor, holds her down with her arms pinned behind her back and rapes her, roughly. He then forcibly and painfully sodomises her but in the end she gets off on it. He apologises and says he needs time to think about whether he needs to return to his old life.
Chpt 37: eve has a drink following this attack and she realises she loves Brant - WTF!?! He comes back within hours as he misses her. She tells him she loves him. He says that's what he had been trying to tell her but he struggles to say the actual words. That's ok - just show me....
Each chapter is about 7-10 pages max. Pretty much every chapter has a gratuitous sex scene. The whole thing is just bizarre.
Maybe it is a child of the 70s with sexual promiscuity due to the availability of the pill and drugs being all the rage but i don't know how it got published.
This is car crash territory and I could not in all consciousness give it any stars.
None of the characters are remotely likeable and the men are actively hateful. The writing and the characters are emotionless and flat. You never get any sense of why they are doing any of these things. In particular the sex is generally brutal and just comes across as unpleasant. No body has any respect either for themselves or anyone else.
This is a fairly disturbing read.
I suppose my lasting reaction was WTF - literally!
It's hard to know what to make of this book.
It's pretty much a sex fest with emphasis on rape.
Eve is a model. She is friends with another model, Marti,(lesbian ), who she shares the flat with. She is also hung up on her useless and faithless boyfriend David.
Chpt 3:Eve pays for going to her therapist peter by letting him have sex with her. She spends the sessions talking about how much she loves David, before begging Peter to f*** her.
Chpt 4: gratuitous scene of lesbian sex with marti and Stella.
Chpt5: info on Stella is then provided detailing her marriage, a lesbian encounter with Mim, which is interrupted by her husband, who then proceeds to beat and rape her violently ( gratuitous description)
Chpt 6: Stella is jealous of eve. She has told David that eve and Marti had sex once . Character Gloria introduced. She fulfills all the boss's secret sexual desires and introduced him to the 'orgy scene'. She sets up a house party where everyone else are swingers save eve and David. Eve goes to bed and another man joins her? When she realises it ' s not David, she tells him to leave but he doesn't stop. David walks in on this ( staged by Gloria) and creates a scene. He breaks up with Eve and then has sex with Gloria.
Chpt 7: David is furious with Eve and when he sees pictures of Eve we get an internal diatribe where he calls her all the names of the day. So he calls up Gloria and there is more gratuitous sex.
Chpt 8:Eve meets Brant Newcombe (millionaire) at a party but is warned that he is dangerous and does not like him.
Chpt 9: She tells Marti about this and she reveals that when she was just out of school, Brent asked her to be one of a group of 6 , including a chaperone, on a yacht cruise to the Bahamas. In fact there was no chaperone and the party was her and 5 guys and they pretty much raped her until they got to jamaica when they brought some prostitutes on board and they watched her have sex with these women - this was when she realised she was a lesbian
Chpt 10: David asks Eve out for dinner. We get a lengthy mental monologue detailing his contempt for women and that he only wants her as a mistress and not a wife ( David is not a likeable individual ) . Eve declares her love and they get back together.
Chpt 11: However this is an open relationship as David 'wanted her - but he wanted other women too' , she knows that he is off with other women on occasions so she continues to date other men and see Peter the therapist ( who should be struck off)
Chpt 12: enter David's 17 yr old sister Francie. She wants to be a play boy model and is modelling for pictures, with Brant Newcombe and his friend Jerry. They both have sex with her and take porno pictures of each other. Francie gets off on pain and the sex becomes fairly violent but they all have another go.
Chpt 13: Brant and Francie havemore violent sex, where he hits her, calls her a whore ( and worse), slams his hand into her face etc.
Chpt 14: description of Francie's enjoyment of being spanked by her dad, and her gang rape by 4 boys at her school - though she got to like it. Francie describes this to Brant and they have backdoor sex in the shower.
Chpt 15: back to Stella. It turns out that she has decided to see if she likes men after all and that David has been teaching her all. More gratuitous sex scenes.
Chpt 16: descriptions of what Francie is getting up to at Brant's orgies. 'she was a sadists dream come true' . She lets anyone do anything - to prove to Brant she loves him ( this is just nasty). At one stage she is almost 'screwed to death' by a rock band.
Chpt 17: Francie and David have an argument. He spanks her and she almost orgasms. He tells her he will send her to a shrink. Eve comes along and warns David about brant and that Francie could be in trouble if she was associating with him. David and eve have sex.
Chpt 18: eve goes to a party at brant's home. She sees Francie being auctioned off and notes that she has whip marks. Eve tries to intervene but brant approaches her.
Chpt 19: brant takes eve to the bar, he gives her a spiked drink and then drags her to his 'playroom', he hits her, forces her to the bed, strips her etc. She resists but is unco-ordinated due to the drug. He forcefully performs oral sex on her. Other people come into the room.they are all drugged up. They take indecent pictures of eve. She is then raped by an untold number of men in what turns out to be a group orgy. Brant goes last and she passes out with the pain.
Chpt 20: eve wakes up to find brant there. He has had a physician look at her to check she is ok. He blames her for not getting enough of the drug and giving in and having fun ( WTF???)
Chpt 21: brant drives her home. He kisses her and then pushes her out of the car. Background on brant given.
Chpt 22: turns out brant was in a sexual relationship with his aunt sylvia in his formative years
Chpt 23: eve returns home and sees David. He does not believe her account of events, even when he sees her bruises. She throws him out ( the only good decision in the whole book?)
Chpt 24: jerry ( one of the gang bangers) rings looking for eve to come to another party. She tells him where to go and threatens legal action re what happened. They then try and pay eve off but she rips up the check and sends it back. Marti convinces her not to take any further action for the sake of her career. She is offered a possible position on tv and goes to new York.
Chpt 25: new York. She has sex with Randall, who would be her future co presenter. This is thankfully consensual but does involve anal sex.
Chpt 26: flight home. Brant has seat beside her on plane. He asks her to marry him because she had 'kept on fighting' and wouldn't be bought off - again WTF???
Chpt 27: David and his new lover go to greet the plane. When eve sees them, she agrees to go with brant. She is nervous of going into his house - but hey it's ok as he promises not to coerce her. He suggests they have sex to see if she can bear him after what happened and one thing leads to another etc.
Chpt 28: the sex
Chpt 29: they discuss marriage and money and have more sex.
Chpt 30: they are on a boat and have more sex. Brant says 'I'll try to learn to take you only when you're ready . I'm not used to that , but I'll try' ; eve " you'll have to be patient with me. I don't like being hurt". WTF!!!
Chpt 31: Stella decides to marry rich older man George. Eve tells Marti that she will marry Brant.
Chpt 32: arrangements for the wedding. Reference to eve being afraid of Brant's cruelty.
Chpt 33: brant meets her parents. They get on well.
Chpt 34: they marry. Have sex. Go to sir Lanka for 6 months. David hears about the wedding and is angry.he has sex and anal sex with gloria.
Chpt 35: eve and brant throw civilised party. Eve is pregnant.
Chpt 36: baby born everything wonderful. Brant gets malaria and calls out for Sylvia. Eve challenges him about this. He responds by asking her if she wants to be f*****. He throws her on to the floor, holds her down with her arms pinned behind her back and rapes her, roughly. He then forcibly and painfully sodomises her but in the end she gets off on it. He apologises and says he needs time to think about whether he needs to return to his old life.
Chpt 37: eve has a drink following this attack and she realises she loves Brant - WTF!?! He comes back within hours as he misses her. She tells him she loves him. He says that's what he had been trying to tell her but he struggles to say the actual words. That's ok - just show me....
Each chapter is about 7-10 pages max. Pretty much every chapter has a gratuitous sex scene. The whole thing is just bizarre.
Maybe it is a child of the 70s with sexual promiscuity due to the availability of the pill and drugs being all the rage but i don't know how it got published.
This is car crash territory and I could not in all consciousness give it any stars.
None of the characters are remotely likeable and the men are actively hateful. The writing and the characters are emotionless and flat. You never get any sense of why they are doing any of these things. In particular the sex is generally brutal and just comes across as unpleasant. No body has any respect either for themselves or anyone else.
This is a fairly disturbing read.
I suppose my lasting reaction was WTF - literally!
May 13, 2010
Casual sex, lesbian sex, rape, anal sex, incestuous sex, s&m sex, gang-bangs, money, drugs, celebrity, a marriage proposal out of nowhere AND a HEA, to boot! Pretty heady stuff for a 12 year old. No wonder I loved the book so much!
Only Rosemary Rogers, she of the overwrought dialogue ("Good God, you bitch! You witch-woman, Eve!") and use of the romance novel as an endurance contest for abusive behaviour, could write a book like this. I've just re-read it for the first time in about 15 years, so here goes....
The Insiders is the story of Eve Mason and Brant Newcomb - she is a television reporter and former model, he is a gorgeous bad boy millionaire wanted by everyone.
This book spends a lot of time (the first 18 chapters, as a matter of fact) introducing us to a whole bunch of people mostly having a whole bunch of sex with each other. We meet Marti, Eve's lesbian roommate; David, Eve's ex - a sexist jerk with a madonna/whore complex; Stella, fair-weather lesbian and secretary to David; Gloria - slutty "assistant" to the senior partner at David's law firm; Peter, Eve's sometime lover and psychiatrist friend of David's; and Francine - David's messed up little sister. All of these introductions involve LOTS OF SEX.
We spend a few chapters finding out what a doormat Eve is for her boyfriend David. We also find out a bit about Brant's past - he was raised by a millionaire grandfather and has become jaded and arrogant.
We watch as Eve is manipulated into going to find Francine, who has run away. Eve finds her at Brant Newcomb's mansion being auctioned off to a stoned group of partygoers. Things go from bad to worse -- Brant offers her a drink (drugged, of course) and takes her to his playroom for a "little talk". Little talk becomes a gang-rape, with Brant the last to have her. David, of course, does not believe any of her story. He blames her for the events of the evening and breaks up with her.
A week or so later Brant sits beside Eve on an airplane and, then, apropos of nothing, he PROPOSES! He tells Eve, "no swinging parties, no 'old friends', no drugs". He asks her to think about "the whole, old-fashioned bit...marriage, kids, no other women for me and no other men for you". WTF!? Turns out, he admires her spirit - she never gave up fighting during the gang-rape, so why not get married? HUH?
The last 100 pages is the romance between Eve and Brant -- not much time to redeem himself for leading the gang-rape, but he almost does it. There is some conflict in the last chapter (again with rape and anal sex, yikes!) but they make up and there is an HEA.
Buried in these pages are the beginnings of a pretty good romance novel. Too bad Rosemary Rogers didn't finish writing it. This book gives us a skewed picture of love - the idea that the guy leading the gang-bang is the love of your life is just messed up. Reading it as an adult I would have liked to have seen more pages written to disabuse us of that notion, and to tell more of the love story between Eve and Brant. As a 12 year old it was more like "who cares, more SEX!"
Having said that, it was written in 1979, it is a Rosemary Rogers novel, and it is still pretty sexy. I think I remember all of her books having this "flavour" to them.
I don't love this one as much as I did, but love it still I do.
This book review has been provided by the No Book Left Behind Campaign - A Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous group initiative to review the un-reviewed.
Only Rosemary Rogers, she of the overwrought dialogue ("Good God, you bitch! You witch-woman, Eve!") and use of the romance novel as an endurance contest for abusive behaviour, could write a book like this. I've just re-read it for the first time in about 15 years, so here goes....
The Insiders is the story of Eve Mason and Brant Newcomb - she is a television reporter and former model, he is a gorgeous bad boy millionaire wanted by everyone.
This book spends a lot of time (the first 18 chapters, as a matter of fact) introducing us to a whole bunch of people mostly having a whole bunch of sex with each other. We meet Marti, Eve's lesbian roommate; David, Eve's ex - a sexist jerk with a madonna/whore complex; Stella, fair-weather lesbian and secretary to David; Gloria - slutty "assistant" to the senior partner at David's law firm; Peter, Eve's sometime lover and psychiatrist friend of David's; and Francine - David's messed up little sister. All of these introductions involve LOTS OF SEX.
We spend a few chapters finding out what a doormat Eve is for her boyfriend David. We also find out a bit about Brant's past - he was raised by a millionaire grandfather and has become jaded and arrogant.
We watch as Eve is manipulated into going to find Francine, who has run away. Eve finds her at Brant Newcomb's mansion being auctioned off to a stoned group of partygoers. Things go from bad to worse -- Brant offers her a drink (drugged, of course) and takes her to his playroom for a "little talk". Little talk becomes a gang-rape, with Brant the last to have her. David, of course, does not believe any of her story. He blames her for the events of the evening and breaks up with her.
A week or so later Brant sits beside Eve on an airplane and, then, apropos of nothing, he PROPOSES! He tells Eve, "no swinging parties, no 'old friends', no drugs". He asks her to think about "the whole, old-fashioned bit...marriage, kids, no other women for me and no other men for you". WTF!? Turns out, he admires her spirit - she never gave up fighting during the gang-rape, so why not get married? HUH?
The last 100 pages is the romance between Eve and Brant -- not much time to redeem himself for leading the gang-rape, but he almost does it. There is some conflict in the last chapter (again with rape and anal sex, yikes!) but they make up and there is an HEA.
Buried in these pages are the beginnings of a pretty good romance novel. Too bad Rosemary Rogers didn't finish writing it. This book gives us a skewed picture of love - the idea that the guy leading the gang-bang is the love of your life is just messed up. Reading it as an adult I would have liked to have seen more pages written to disabuse us of that notion, and to tell more of the love story between Eve and Brant. As a 12 year old it was more like "who cares, more SEX!"
Having said that, it was written in 1979, it is a Rosemary Rogers novel, and it is still pretty sexy. I think I remember all of her books having this "flavour" to them.
I don't love this one as much as I did, but love it still I do.
This book review has been provided by the No Book Left Behind Campaign - A Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous group initiative to review the un-reviewed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2015
Rosemary Rogers writing a contemporary romance in the 70s. Yes, indeed, it's packed full of crazy. Ms Rogers breezes her way through every taboo, dark or forbidden theme that our contemporary writers are still puzzling over. Unfortunately...this book showed me that we have not moved forward at all. Forget the rapey, plot driven insanity, there is a freedom in these 70's romance novels that does not exist anymore. Women in romance books today are angsty virgins or aren't virgins because bad bad things have happened to them. Or they are so beautiful that their beauty encumbers any plot that the writer may of had. Which then eviscerates every other female character on the alter of the the main characters bouncy mammary glands, shiny hair, petite but long legged beauty(?) and the muscled, tattooed, Dom Hero who becomes her(cause she ceases to exist when the man decides she is worthy of his whip or whatever else).
What went wrong?
What went wrong?
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April 21, 2018Why did I read this again! Oh yeah, my best friend from back in high school found this in her Mom’s cabinet a couple of years ago, but her Mom found out so we never got a chance to check it out. Now after graduating college, our curiosity got the best of us so we decided to read. But now I feel like bleaching my eyes out. What did I just read!?!?!
This book is a shocker considering it was published before I was born and I had this naive idea that people didn’t write things like this back then! I did know of all that druggy, sex, and mostly because of the recent discovery of the OCP that lead to a lot of wild decisions in the 60-80’s but looking at my aunt and uncles and my parents, who would have thought? Not stereotyping though. Every generation loves romance but I tell you this was not romance! This was I don’t know what to call it. I could say I read a contemporary version of maybe a small part of maybe Game of Thrones.
So the story:
The h is in a relationship with a moody, arrogant, good for nothing boyfriend who has a sex freak of a sister. And while the h is in a relationship, she goes to a psychologist ,who is also a friend, for therapy but instead of therapy, instead of paying in cash like normal people do, the h paid by having sex with him and allowed the pervert to videotape/record it as well. Sick. And meanwhile the h’s bf has no intention to stay with her since he thinks she is a loose woman and he on the other hand can have sex with anyone while they are still in a relationship, so he had no right to talk, such a hypocryte.
Now enter our H, I don’t think he’s a hero. He’s a perverted psycho. So our H is from a very rich family and has all this heartache because his aunt, yes his aunt, with whom he had an affair broke his wee little spoilt bratty heart. So there is incest there. Not only that, H also makes use of an underaged girl (16-17 yrs old I think) ( aka the h’s boyfriend’s younger sister). He degrades her and his friend and he take nude pictures of her and they both have sex with her. And the H also humiliates and hits her during sex since the freaky teenage girl who requires mental help likes being hurt since she was gang raped by teenage school boys her age when she was in the ninth grade! . I mean aren’t ninth graders supposed to be sweet and innocent and have interest in things like science, art, or humanities, etc?
So now our heroine needs to rescue her bf’s kid sister from the clutches of the evil H (h had met H previously at a party where he had made a proposition to her). So h goes to the H’s debauched party and what happens there: she is raped, not only by every single drunk and drug addict present there but also by the H and what’s worse, it’s all recorded.
I guess a NO simply does not mean NO! But hey H is impressed, no one struggled like her! I’m surprised she didn’t end up in a hospital, women who get raped by one person end up in a hospital bruised requiring physical and mental treatment. This h apparently doesn’t need hospital, a friend of the H who is a doc checked her up while she was unconscious in his bedroom and then the H nonchalantly takes her home that very same night.
I mean seriously, she was raped by both men and women at a party that accounts for almost 20-30 people and she didn’t get a single STD and she didn’t get any traumatic injury???
After this incident the H admires her. So the h (btw she’s a reporter) goes to NY where she has sex with another reporter because she thinks its better that way and he also gives her the back door action as well which she doesn’t say no to.
Now on her way back, she “coincidentally”meets the H who is sitting on the airplane seat right next to her and proposes marriage to her. I knew she was dumb but I didn’t know she was this dumb:
1) she didn’t get traumatised by the rape nearly as much
2) she threatened to report the incident but never actually did,
3) her bf dumped her/ didn’t believe her right after he found out about the rape and she had zero self respect(he dumped her for the second time, the first time he dumped her and they got back together, they were in an “open relationship”).
4) and finally she said yes for marriage to her rapist who instigated a gang rape!
Wait there’s more, they get a happily ever after but the H rapes her again after they have a baby who is sleeping in the room next door. Then he blames her for getting angry and the rape. But then again they profess their love after a few more pages of drama and live happily ever after!
Phew, this was by far the worst book I have ever read. I don’t know what it was doing on a good friend’s mom’s bookshelf and I really don’t want to know. But all I know is, these types of books if published in this day and age will cause any feminist a field day. (I don’t know if there are any books like this published recently but it would create rage).
And there are other equally disturbing stories described thoroughly about other characters in this novel.
By the way , after reading the rape part and then her yes to marriage, I couldn’t stomach it anymore so I skimmed through it and well I was apalled as you can tell.
I cannot recommend this to anyone.
This book is a shocker considering it was published before I was born and I had this naive idea that people didn’t write things like this back then! I did know of all that druggy, sex, and mostly because of the recent discovery of the OCP that lead to a lot of wild decisions in the 60-80’s but looking at my aunt and uncles and my parents, who would have thought? Not stereotyping though. Every generation loves romance but I tell you this was not romance! This was I don’t know what to call it. I could say I read a contemporary version of maybe a small part of maybe Game of Thrones.
So the story:
The h is in a relationship with a moody, arrogant, good for nothing boyfriend who has a sex freak of a sister. And while the h is in a relationship, she goes to a psychologist ,who is also a friend, for therapy but instead of therapy, instead of paying in cash like normal people do, the h paid by having sex with him and allowed the pervert to videotape/record it as well. Sick. And meanwhile the h’s bf has no intention to stay with her since he thinks she is a loose woman and he on the other hand can have sex with anyone while they are still in a relationship, so he had no right to talk, such a hypocryte.
Now enter our H, I don’t think he’s a hero. He’s a perverted psycho. So our H is from a very rich family and has all this heartache because his aunt, yes his aunt, with whom he had an affair broke his wee little spoilt bratty heart. So there is incest there. Not only that, H also makes use of an underaged girl (16-17 yrs old I think) ( aka the h’s boyfriend’s younger sister). He degrades her and his friend and he take nude pictures of her and they both have sex with her. And the H also humiliates and hits her during sex since the freaky teenage girl who requires mental help likes being hurt since she was gang raped by teenage school boys her age when she was in the ninth grade! . I mean aren’t ninth graders supposed to be sweet and innocent and have interest in things like science, art, or humanities, etc?
So now our heroine needs to rescue her bf’s kid sister from the clutches of the evil H (h had met H previously at a party where he had made a proposition to her). So h goes to the H’s debauched party and what happens there: she is raped, not only by every single drunk and drug addict present there but also by the H and what’s worse, it’s all recorded.
I guess a NO simply does not mean NO! But hey H is impressed, no one struggled like her! I’m surprised she didn’t end up in a hospital, women who get raped by one person end up in a hospital bruised requiring physical and mental treatment. This h apparently doesn’t need hospital, a friend of the H who is a doc checked her up while she was unconscious in his bedroom and then the H nonchalantly takes her home that very same night.
I mean seriously, she was raped by both men and women at a party that accounts for almost 20-30 people and she didn’t get a single STD and she didn’t get any traumatic injury???
After this incident the H admires her. So the h (btw she’s a reporter) goes to NY where she has sex with another reporter because she thinks its better that way and he also gives her the back door action as well which she doesn’t say no to.
Now on her way back, she “coincidentally”meets the H who is sitting on the airplane seat right next to her and proposes marriage to her. I knew she was dumb but I didn’t know she was this dumb:
1) she didn’t get traumatised by the rape nearly as much
2) she threatened to report the incident but never actually did,
3) her bf dumped her/ didn’t believe her right after he found out about the rape and she had zero self respect(he dumped her for the second time, the first time he dumped her and they got back together, they were in an “open relationship”).
4) and finally she said yes for marriage to her rapist who instigated a gang rape!
Wait there’s more, they get a happily ever after but the H rapes her again after they have a baby who is sleeping in the room next door. Then he blames her for getting angry and the rape. But then again they profess their love after a few more pages of drama and live happily ever after!
Phew, this was by far the worst book I have ever read. I don’t know what it was doing on a good friend’s mom’s bookshelf and I really don’t want to know. But all I know is, these types of books if published in this day and age will cause any feminist a field day. (I don’t know if there are any books like this published recently but it would create rage).
And there are other equally disturbing stories described thoroughly about other characters in this novel.
By the way , after reading the rape part and then her yes to marriage, I couldn’t stomach it anymore so I skimmed through it and well I was apalled as you can tell.
I cannot recommend this to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2012
Whoa.
I read this book because I heard it was terrible, particularly, note-worthily terrible, but even so I was taken aback. It's a sheer utter car crash of terribliness. Terrible.
I may have to pull some quotes to prove how terrible this terrible is, but I'm not sure I can bear to open the book again. Hmm.
Know I'm doing a bad job of saying is bad without saying why it's bad so
I shall therefore bombard you with with numerous out of context quotes because frankly context doesn't help.
I read this book because I heard it was terrible, particularly, note-worthily terrible, but even so I was taken aback. It's a sheer utter car crash of terribliness. Terrible.
I may have to pull some quotes to prove how terrible this terrible is, but I'm not sure I can bear to open the book again. Hmm.
Know I'm doing a bad job of saying is bad without saying why it's bad so
I shall therefore bombard you with with numerous out of context quotes because frankly context doesn't help.
March 24, 2010
WTF WTF WTF
Two stars because this romance is so unconventional and is quite memorable. Aside from all the rape and incestuous themes, when the HEA approached I wish the author had spent more time exploring this relationship because it felt too rushed to make sense.
Two stars because this romance is so unconventional and is quite memorable. Aside from all the rape and incestuous themes, when the HEA approached I wish the author had spent more time exploring this relationship because it felt too rushed to make sense.
December 3, 2013
Read this as a tween - shocked the shit out of me. My god my paperback fell apart I reread this bad boy so many times. Even today almost 40 years later, total fabulous smut.
November 20, 2014
Wow. I think I have PTSD after reading this book. It's a good book if you can stomach the depravity. I felt the evolution of the anti-hero and heroine's relationship could have been more detailed with more resolution. Plus, I would have like more details on all the side characters at the end of the book. Oh, and this is definitely NOT a romance.
January 21, 2014
First of all, I like trashy novels. But you'll have to read this one for yourself to believe it. Definitely not the book to get your "how to pick up girls" advice from.
I can only wonder who the audience was for this book, and what twisted stuff was going on in their pretty little heads back in 1979.
I can only wonder who the audience was for this book, and what twisted stuff was going on in their pretty little heads back in 1979.
Read
April 16, 2014I pinched this book from my parents' bookshelf was I was a tender young teen, read it in secret with my heart pounding and one eye on the door, for fear of getting caught. ;) Guess you could say this was my "gateway book" to erotica/erotic romance. I must re-read it one of these days. :)
August 25, 2024
This book was totally crazy but in an addicting way. Many things happen in this "romance" that would not pass today and I loved it!
July 4, 2017
What can I say about The Insiders that I haven't already said about
The Crowd Pleasers
? Well, The Crowd Pleasers was a children's novel compared to the WTFery that is The Insiders. Let's see in EVERY chapter we have rape, lesbians, gangbang rape, S&M, more rape, incest, rape, drugs, and did I mention rape?
The story is ridiculous: corporate lawyer David and television newscaster Eve are a power couple who break up when David is made to believe that Eve cheated on him. They get back together because neither of them can stop thinking about how hot the sex is. However, David now treats Eve like she's a whore and has lost almost all respect for her. Eve puts up with the abuse because she loves David and maybe, just maybe, he'll want to marry her.
Then there's a side story about Eve's lesbian roommate Marti and her lover Stella whose ex-husband tries to rape the gay out of her. Seriously.
Meanwhile, David's 17 year old sister Francie (who tries to seduce David in a huge WTF scene) is into rough play sex: she likes to be smacked around and used - the more drugs and violence involved the better. Enter sexual sociopathic billionaire Brant Newcomb who makes Francie his resident sex toy at his weekly orgies.
When David finds out about Francie he sends Eve to Brant's mansion to retrieve her. Eve and Brant have met before, and Brant has told her in no uncertain terms that he will fuck her and he does. He drugs her, rapes her, and then allows his friends to gangbang rape her – all while filming the entire thing, but only after he auctions off Francie for $50 to a guest because he's bored with her.
Eve tells David what happened and he doesn't believe her - in fact he thinks she enjoyed it. Eve's friend Marti tells her to forget it ever happened because, you know, this kind of thing happens to girls all the time. Why make a fuss?
When Eve is offered a job as host of a New York City morning talk show and has two weeks to get her ducks in a row before moving she suddenly finds herself torn between David, the douche, and Brant, the sociopathic rapist. Who will win her heart? Or will she remain helplessly single forever?
For real.
The frustrating thing is The Insiders is a train wreck that I couldn't stop reading - even at its most offensive and misogynist.
Yet, I am still left with the same question The Crowd Pleasers left me with: What the hell is wrong with Rosemary Rogers?
The story is ridiculous: corporate lawyer David and television newscaster Eve are a power couple who break up when David is made to believe that Eve cheated on him. They get back together because neither of them can stop thinking about how hot the sex is. However, David now treats Eve like she's a whore and has lost almost all respect for her. Eve puts up with the abuse because she loves David and maybe, just maybe, he'll want to marry her.
Then there's a side story about Eve's lesbian roommate Marti and her lover Stella whose ex-husband tries to rape the gay out of her. Seriously.
Meanwhile, David's 17 year old sister Francie (who tries to seduce David in a huge WTF scene) is into rough play sex: she likes to be smacked around and used - the more drugs and violence involved the better. Enter sexual sociopathic billionaire Brant Newcomb who makes Francie his resident sex toy at his weekly orgies.
When David finds out about Francie he sends Eve to Brant's mansion to retrieve her. Eve and Brant have met before, and Brant has told her in no uncertain terms that he will fuck her and he does. He drugs her, rapes her, and then allows his friends to gangbang rape her – all while filming the entire thing, but only after he auctions off Francie for $50 to a guest because he's bored with her.
Eve tells David what happened and he doesn't believe her - in fact he thinks she enjoyed it. Eve's friend Marti tells her to forget it ever happened because, you know, this kind of thing happens to girls all the time. Why make a fuss?
When Eve is offered a job as host of a New York City morning talk show and has two weeks to get her ducks in a row before moving she suddenly finds herself torn between David, the douche, and Brant, the sociopathic rapist. Who will win her heart? Or will she remain helplessly single forever?
For real.
The frustrating thing is The Insiders is a train wreck that I couldn't stop reading - even at its most offensive and misogynist.
Yet, I am still left with the same question The Crowd Pleasers left me with: What the hell is wrong with Rosemary Rogers?
February 3, 2019
030219 from ??? 80s: read again. i have always liked this more in that a girlfriend liked it (she read it as an eager tween...) but no i did not much find myself in its characters, for her or any woman, or emulate the dom, play-rape with much impassioned conviction, try as i sometimes did... this is contemporary (late 70s) version of bodice ripper/rape fantasy that might outrage some feminists, disturb men who 'cherish', even encourage occasional male rectal-portals who are, by the female-driven popularity of its time, convinced that every woman just wants to be raped...
i read it at least twice with her. i tried to understand her excitement, which was very. morality/sexuality/art are no more necessarily connected in alliance or rejection, this popular work says, than fantasy and reality are necessarily connected in alliance or rejection. rapists do not need fictional encouragement. victims should not be fictionally victimized in their minds with some ideas of responsibility for assault. and womens' fantasies are fantasies (i want to be free to be raped! or, what do women want 2?) . i do not think i have known an unusual section of women, i might not like politics/psychology of this anymore than romances involving windy heath and madwomen in attics, but yes some women (many?) have (recurrent? elaborate? disguised?...) rape fantasies, so it is not too surprising that such rapes will become lazy 'romantic love' tropes for books of many readers, of varying literary qualities, languages, cultures, genres, expected age of readers etc....
i have rather another take on lolita, for there it is a girl and rape is rape and is never used for fantasy by any woman i have known. and then on the other, i have no tolerance for 'classic' celebration of racism in GWTW...
i read it at least twice with her. i tried to understand her excitement, which was very. morality/sexuality/art are no more necessarily connected in alliance or rejection, this popular work says, than fantasy and reality are necessarily connected in alliance or rejection. rapists do not need fictional encouragement. victims should not be fictionally victimized in their minds with some ideas of responsibility for assault. and womens' fantasies are fantasies (i want to be free to be raped! or, what do women want 2?) . i do not think i have known an unusual section of women, i might not like politics/psychology of this anymore than romances involving windy heath and madwomen in attics, but yes some women (many?) have (recurrent? elaborate? disguised?...) rape fantasies, so it is not too surprising that such rapes will become lazy 'romantic love' tropes for books of many readers, of varying literary qualities, languages, cultures, genres, expected age of readers etc....
i have rather another take on lolita, for there it is a girl and rape is rape and is never used for fantasy by any woman i have known. and then on the other, i have no tolerance for 'classic' celebration of racism in GWTW...
March 11, 2013
Rosemary Roger's contemporary trash is just as enjoyable as her historicals. In some ways this one hits home a bit more for me because it examines the way love can be a destructive and demeaning force. Every character in the book is either using someone or being used in the name of love or lust (usually lust). Unfortunately, I think Ms. Rogers wasn't sure of the direction of the book for the first 1/3 or so because the perspective changes constantly and many characters given their own chapters and introspective monologues disappear in the latter half. Francie, the obnoxiously whorish younger sister of David, comes to mind as one of the more pointless characters developed. I feel the relationship between Brandt and Eve could have been developed much earlier on and more in-depth. By the end it is their relationship and internal journeys that define the book.
On the subject of Brandt Newcomb, I hated him with a passion after what he did to Eve. I'm used to rape in old school romance and it usually works somewhat as forced seduction but the gang rape in this book is very brutal and humiliating. I also hated how he abused and used Francie. I kept hoping at first that he would be hit by a car or something, but eventually you warm up to him...a LITTLE. I didn't expect to root for his relationship with Eve but they actually make sense towards the end of the book.
As for David, what a bastard. I can't think of any redeeming qualities for him. He has got to be the most selfish, misogynistic, asshole in all of assholedom. He also took the Madonna-Whore complex to such an obnoxious level that it almost felt like a parody. If a woman loved him, she was "weak". If a woman slept with him, she was a "bitch" for some reason. And if a woman was raped, she was "asking for it". WTF?
On the subject of Brandt Newcomb, I hated him with a passion after what he did to Eve. I'm used to rape in old school romance and it usually works somewhat as forced seduction but the gang rape in this book is very brutal and humiliating. I also hated how he abused and used Francie. I kept hoping at first that he would be hit by a car or something, but eventually you warm up to him...a LITTLE. I didn't expect to root for his relationship with Eve but they actually make sense towards the end of the book.
As for David, what a bastard. I can't think of any redeeming qualities for him. He has got to be the most selfish, misogynistic, asshole in all of assholedom. He also took the Madonna-Whore complex to such an obnoxious level that it almost felt like a parody. If a woman loved him, she was "weak". If a woman slept with him, she was a "bitch" for some reason. And if a woman was raped, she was "asking for it". WTF?
September 12, 2013
This is certainly one of those books that you can't judge by it's cover.
On the cover of this book it says,
"A searing tender story of uninhibited love."
There is a love story of sorts, but it is in between all the pages of orgies, S&M, gang rape, and affairs.
On the cover of this book it says,
"A searing tender story of uninhibited love."
There is a love story of sorts, but it is in between all the pages of orgies, S&M, gang rape, and affairs.
June 17, 2012
Kind of disturbing.
June 30, 2012
An unconventional romance but memorable. A 'sick' contemporary romance!
April 24, 2024
I read this because it is discussed in Janice Radway's Reading the Romance in the "Failed Romances" chapter. And I agree with Radway that it does fail as a romance, but I think that's because it's a romance intertwined with a morality tale and the morality tale dominates most of the book. Well, and because Rogers isn't the greatest writer.
Brandt, the hero of this book, is constantly thinking things like, "Sometimes... he wondered about everything—his whole way of life. Why did he bother? Always looking for new kicks, new women, new entertainment." or "what is everything about? The parties, the orgies, the constant search for new faces, new kicks—it was all getting stale and pointless" or "He [had been] only twenty. He felt as if he had done everything; there had to be something new to experience, some way to stop thinking." For most of the book, Brandt knows he has everything society says should make him happy, and he also knows he's miserable to the point of suicidal.
In a romance, the hero is saved by the heroine's love; in this book Brandt is saved by choosing to abandon his decadent lifestyle. He decides to settle down, get married (before a priest in a Catholic church, no less), embrace monogamy, and have children. Eve, the heroine, had been chasing "worldly success" and similar pleasures, but by the end of the book she, like the hero, realizes she has been hurting the people she should have loved and (implied) resolves to do better:
"Eve knew now that it must have hurt and confused her [mother] to have one of her daughters turn her back on all the values they'd tried to teach her. "Oh, Mom!" she thought suddenly, wretchedly aware that she'd even, at one time, been ashamed of her large, Catholic, middle-class family."
In contrast, the man Eve thinks she loves through much of the book, David, never questions his own selfishness, never recognizes how he is contributing to his own misery, and does nothing to try to redeem himself. From the git go, he doesn't love Eve, doesn't appreciate the good she does for him or his family, and and never intends to marry her. He also utterly fails to help his 17-year-old sister, who has begun pursuing masochistic sex because nothing else makes her feel alive or important.
When Eve tells him what danger his sister is in, David's more interested in hiding the family shame and protecting himself than in helping the vulnerable girl and ends up sending Eve into danger instead of doing anything himself. He is a complete hypocrite who scorns Eve for doing as he does, and who intends to marry a virginal girl who he can trust to be faithful to him while not in the least intending to be faithful to her.
In contrast, Brandt is anything but a hypocrite, and never shows any concern over the fact that Eve is promiscuous. Although Brandt initially takes advantage of David's masochistic sister out of sheer lethargy, while scolding himself for "giving her what she wants," in the end he sends her off with a psychiatrist "who specializes in disturbed adolescents," and who he believes will actually help her. He also recognizes what Eve has done for David's family and her other good qualities, making it clear that she is as worthy of marriage as he is.
I think the reader is supposed to believe that Brandt, while deeply damaged by his upbringing, is now trying to become a caring person and has taken some major steps in the right direction and will ultimately succeed. I don't think Rogers does a good job of conveying this, but I believe that's the message she's trying to send.
Brandt, the hero of this book, is constantly thinking things like, "Sometimes... he wondered about everything—his whole way of life. Why did he bother? Always looking for new kicks, new women, new entertainment." or "what is everything about? The parties, the orgies, the constant search for new faces, new kicks—it was all getting stale and pointless" or "He [had been] only twenty. He felt as if he had done everything; there had to be something new to experience, some way to stop thinking." For most of the book, Brandt knows he has everything society says should make him happy, and he also knows he's miserable to the point of suicidal.
In a romance, the hero is saved by the heroine's love; in this book Brandt is saved by choosing to abandon his decadent lifestyle. He decides to settle down, get married (before a priest in a Catholic church, no less), embrace monogamy, and have children. Eve, the heroine, had been chasing "worldly success" and similar pleasures, but by the end of the book she, like the hero, realizes she has been hurting the people she should have loved and (implied) resolves to do better:
"Eve knew now that it must have hurt and confused her [mother] to have one of her daughters turn her back on all the values they'd tried to teach her. "Oh, Mom!" she thought suddenly, wretchedly aware that she'd even, at one time, been ashamed of her large, Catholic, middle-class family."
In contrast, the man Eve thinks she loves through much of the book, David, never questions his own selfishness, never recognizes how he is contributing to his own misery, and does nothing to try to redeem himself. From the git go, he doesn't love Eve, doesn't appreciate the good she does for him or his family, and and never intends to marry her. He also utterly fails to help his 17-year-old sister, who has begun pursuing masochistic sex because nothing else makes her feel alive or important.
When Eve tells him what danger his sister is in, David's more interested in hiding the family shame and protecting himself than in helping the vulnerable girl and ends up sending Eve into danger instead of doing anything himself. He is a complete hypocrite who scorns Eve for doing as he does, and who intends to marry a virginal girl who he can trust to be faithful to him while not in the least intending to be faithful to her.
In contrast, Brandt is anything but a hypocrite, and never shows any concern over the fact that Eve is promiscuous. Although Brandt initially takes advantage of David's masochistic sister out of sheer lethargy, while scolding himself for "giving her what she wants," in the end he sends her off with a psychiatrist "who specializes in disturbed adolescents," and who he believes will actually help her. He also recognizes what Eve has done for David's family and her other good qualities, making it clear that she is as worthy of marriage as he is.
I think the reader is supposed to believe that Brandt, while deeply damaged by his upbringing, is now trying to become a caring person and has taken some major steps in the right direction and will ultimately succeed. I don't think Rogers does a good job of conveying this, but I believe that's the message she's trying to send.
June 2, 2020
Това е може би най-отвратителната и най-гнусната, противна и гадна книга, която някога съм чела. Това не е любовен роман, това е.... не знам какво е.
Главната си имаше един годеник, живееше с него и много си го харесваше. Един ден, като научи, че сестра му е тръгнала по лош път, алкохол и наркотици, тя решава да отиде да я спасява. И та отиде наща на един от купон да търси сестрата, и тям я забеляза главния. Той организираше купона. Главния беше фотограф. Хареса си я, и искаше да спи с нея, но тя нали е сгодена, хвана, че го отряза. Главния, реши, че ще й даде да се разбере и изпрати един мъж да пусне наркотик в питието и като я дрогира я завлече с една стаичка. Там искаше да я съблазни да спи с нея, но тя продължи да му се дърпа, което го ядоса адски много. Той беше нагласил камери в стаята да снимат всичко, и след като нашата отказваше да преспи с него се появиха приятелчетата му, пияни и дрогирани, започнаха да го подкачат, че си я крие за себе си, че не иска да я споделя, и за да се покаже колко е "мъж" той отрече да има нещо такова, позволявайки на останалите да се включат. И те й се нахвърлика. Сумати мъже и жени я стискаха, мачкаха и изнасилваха, докато тя се молеше да я оставят на мира, а през това време главният снимаше, а на края и той също я изнасили. След груповото изнасилване, той започна да се осъзнава и я заведе в болница, защото беше пребита и ами... "разчекната". Главната естествено го намрази и в червата. Върна си се при годеника си, и му разказа всичко, ама нямаше как да докаже нищо. По-късно го свари да й изневерява и се разделиха. Главната започна нова връзка, с мъж, който харесваше "грубите ласки", и тук за пръв път срещнах сцена с анален секс в книга.... сега не е нещо често срещано, но когато я четох преди години си беше доста неприятно за четене. През това време, главния беше много заинтригуван, че тя се дърпала докато един куп човека я изнасилваха, затова реши, че ще се жени за нея. След като най-накрая се ожениха, живяха известно време заедно, ама се сдърпаха, той я изнасили (отново...) и я заряза. Обаче от това им изживяване главната беше забременяла. Затова като роди, той се върна при нея, и заживяха "щастливо". Честно казано, това вероятно бих го определеила като кофти порно продукция, отколкото като любовен роман, но авторката е доста неприятна и още преди години се научих, че не съм фен на творенията й.
Главната си имаше един годеник, живееше с него и много си го харесваше. Един ден, като научи, че сестра му е тръгнала по лош път, алкохол и наркотици, тя решава да отиде да я спасява. И та отиде наща на един от купон да търси сестрата, и тям я забеляза главния. Той организираше купона. Главния беше фотограф. Хареса си я, и искаше да спи с нея, но тя нали е сгодена, хвана, че го отряза. Главния, реши, че ще й даде да се разбере и изпрати един мъж да пусне наркотик в питието и като я дрогира я завлече с една стаичка. Там искаше да я съблазни да спи с нея, но тя продължи да му се дърпа, което го ядоса адски много. Той беше нагласил камери в стаята да снимат всичко, и след като нашата отказваше да преспи с него се появиха приятелчетата му, пияни и дрогирани, започнаха да го подкачат, че си я крие за себе си, че не иска да я споделя, и за да се покаже колко е "мъж" той отрече да има нещо такова, позволявайки на останалите да се включат. И те й се нахвърлика. Сумати мъже и жени я стискаха, мачкаха и изнасилваха, докато тя се молеше да я оставят на мира, а през това време главният снимаше, а на края и той също я изнасили. След груповото изнасилване, той започна да се осъзнава и я заведе в болница, защото беше пребита и ами... "разчекната". Главната естествено го намрази и в червата. Върна си се при годеника си, и му разказа всичко, ама нямаше как да докаже нищо. По-късно го свари да й изневерява и се разделиха. Главната започна нова връзка, с мъж, който харесваше "грубите ласки", и тук за пръв път срещнах сцена с анален секс в книга.... сега не е нещо често срещано, но когато я четох преди години си беше доста неприятно за четене. През това време, главния беше много заинтригуван, че тя се дърпала докато един куп човека я изнасилваха, затова реши, че ще се жени за нея. След като най-накрая се ожениха, живяха известно време заедно, ама се сдърпаха, той я изнасили (отново...) и я заряза. Обаче от това им изживяване главната беше забременяла. Затова като роди, той се върна при нея, и заживяха "щастливо". Честно казано, това вероятно бих го определеила като кофти порно продукция, отколкото като любовен роман, но авторката е доста неприятна и още преди години се научих, че не съм фен на творенията й.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2021
1 star. This is a book that I must have got in a book club decades ago and is part of a pile of books I am reading and either passing on or donating. This one will be donated or destroyed. Times have changed since this was published in 1979 but I think even then this would have been a disturbing and pornographic read. Supposedly about the lives of the rich and famous, the characters are all terrible people, promiscuous and nasty. Our "heroine" is a beautiful woman who sleeps with pretty much anyone who looks at her. She endures a horrific gang rape (which was much too graphically described) and ends up marrying her main rapist, who rapes her again as his wife. The author seems to really enjoy writing about rape as a means of lovemaking, which it isn't. The "hero" is a terribly promiscuous man who is a sadist and treats people like they are disposable-use once and throw away. And the author has all the characters, male and female, refer to women as "bitches" which is just so wrong. I am sorry that I read this book when there are so many other good books to read, but I plan to toss it in the garbage so no one else has to read this rubbish.
June 9, 2021
Smut smut smut. There’s so much smut you don’t know what to do with it all. This was a good read given it’s exotic nature. The only downfall is I hate and I repeat hate how rape was basically normalized in this book! It was made out to seem as if rape just happens and it’s no big deal because the girls run back to the rapist every time and love them for it, so that was a no go for me. Also what happened to Francie ?! I guess if there was a second book I’d probably read it just to know more about what comes of everything. The story was very well written, there was just to much rape and a sprinkle of incest for me to actually enjoy the read without gagging.
January 19, 2025
Like many, I read this book when I was too young and some memorable scenes have lived on in my head ever since. So out of curiosity, I looked it upo again and reread it (lotta skimming!)
This book makes you think a lot about rape, and how people in the 1970s thought about and processed the idea of rape -
Nothing good can come from that, because the 70s were a super dark time in how people thought about this topic, and this book plumbs that darkness.
The main "romance" feels like some kind of stockholm syndrome/trauma bond thing.
It's so weird and wrong........
This book makes you think a lot about rape, and how people in the 1970s thought about and processed the idea of rape -
Nothing good can come from that, because the 70s were a super dark time in how people thought about this topic, and this book plumbs that darkness.
The main "romance" feels like some kind of stockholm syndrome/trauma bond thing.
It's so weird and wrong........
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2020
I could not believe this story. There is rape, gang rape and so much manipulation of women.
I did not like the female in this story. I found her to be weak and no pride or respect for herself.
I could not believe how the story went along and especially how it all came to an end.
It does show how those with money have power and very little regard for anyone else, especially women.
I did not like the female in this story. I found her to be weak and no pride or respect for herself.
I could not believe how the story went along and especially how it all came to an end.
It does show how those with money have power and very little regard for anyone else, especially women.
Read
May 11, 2020Pas fini
avoid
June 16, 2023Hell no. Rape, rape, cheating, cheating, gang bang rape, orgy, lesbian sex, more rape.
Twiggy has spoilers https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Twiggy has spoilers https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 23, 2024
Just one word: DISGUSTING!!!!!!
DNF
DNF
not-for-me
July 9, 2025Note for me - It’s either sociopathic rapist guy or the domestic abuser guy.
Skip. The h is stupid and the guys are abusive. Stay away.
Skip. The h is stupid and the guys are abusive. Stay away.
October 13, 2022
was zum fick war ich lesend
Read
March 4, 2015THE INSIDERS has to be one of the most offensive novels I've ever read and want to spare others the angst. In order to justify my feelings, I need spoil some of the plotline, so if that matters, please come back to this review after reading the book.
After being pleasantly surprised by another best-selling author, Nora Roberts, I decided to give Rosemary Rogers a try. Rogers is given credit for popularizing explicit sex in the romance genre and usually placed her stories in historical settings, but this is a contemporary story--keep in mind it was written in the 70s.
The heroine is supposed to be an accomplished professional broadcast journalist who loses a lot of credibility with readers when she keeps whining about an obnoxious boyfriend. In the end, she ends up marrying another man who led a gang rape against her. She's a great example for all of the doormats out there.
For all the offense I took at the novel FRIDAY, by Robert Heinlein, for the pretty much the same reason, at least Friday was a consistent character with some smarts.
Avoid this deplorable novel at all costs.
After being pleasantly surprised by another best-selling author, Nora Roberts, I decided to give Rosemary Rogers a try. Rogers is given credit for popularizing explicit sex in the romance genre and usually placed her stories in historical settings, but this is a contemporary story--keep in mind it was written in the 70s.
The heroine is supposed to be an accomplished professional broadcast journalist who loses a lot of credibility with readers when she keeps whining about an obnoxious boyfriend. In the end, she ends up marrying another man who led a gang rape against her. She's a great example for all of the doormats out there.
For all the offense I took at the novel FRIDAY, by Robert Heinlein, for the pretty much the same reason, at least Friday was a consistent character with some smarts.
Avoid this deplorable novel at all costs.
Read
June 10, 2014For a time back in the 80’s & 90’s, my reading material of choice was frequently bodice rippers, historical fiction, and regency romances with a few contemporary best sellers thrown in for good measure. Most of them were pretty steamy (blush) &/or overly romantic, but I read them during a time in my life when I found myself as a single parent, and these books fit the bill. I found them to be highly entertaining.
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
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