The Price of Innocence

by Susan Sizemore

Possessed by Desire

Years ago, a handsome stranger rescued Sherrie Hamilton from a harem and enticed her into becoming his lover before returning her safely home. Now Sherrie is a respectable young widow and mother, chaperoning her young charges through fashionable London society-- until she comes face to face with her erotic dream. For there, across a crowded ballroom, stands the one man who touched the very core of her sensuality, stirring old memories, and a new unbidden desire.

Obsessed by Love

Jack PenMartyn, Earl of PenMartyn, seeks to put his past behind him, yet he's obsessed by the one woman whose pure innocence he stole; the woman who is the mother of the child he never knew he had. He knows that with one false word, Sherrie will expose the secrets of his past. But does he dare to hope that she will give in to the temptation of their reckless passion for a future together?

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Romance, Suspense, Regency

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 6, 1999

About the author

Susan Sizemore's life and interests include such varied activities as medieval costuming and embroidery, being a chef, and working in the defense industry.She is owned by her spoiled rotten, beloved mutt dog, rather than the other way around, and this is just fine with her.Current hobbies include hiking and studying t'ai chi. She travels whenever she can, loves history, loud music, movies, good coffee, and writes constantly.She hopes readers enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them.She has won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award and has been nominated for two Romantic Times awards.

Reviews

[rameau · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Price of Innocence is a product of the 1990's with its big emotions, descriptive language, and just enough of plot to feed my overactive imagination. Had I read it when it was first published in 1996--at the precocious age of thirteen--I would have loved it. For those nostalgic reasons alone, I do love it.

However, this is 2012 and I a twenty-nine-year-old smart alec. Where do I start with this book?

The year is 1887, the place is London, and the author is American. I haven't checked, but it becomes abundantly clear as you read on. American women are charming and America is the old world even to an Englishman who has spent years travelling in Asia.

Excuse me, while the European in me coughs up a hair ball.

The book starts off with a slight mystery of what these two people, Jack and Sherrie, were to each other. Their history is revealed in flashbacks that inundate the story. Two timelines, one from 1887 and one from nine years earlier are told simultaneously and very little finesse, though, I did admire the clever-ish dialogue blends that usually transported either Sherrie or Jack from their memories to the present. These flashbacks are basically just a way to introduce more sex earlier into the story.

Switching between two timelines takes its toll and I was left with a feeling that neither story was told properly. The violent way Jack and Sherrie met for the first time and managed to fall in love despite rape and slavery wasn't handled with enough care or attention to make me believe in their feelings. I might have bought his obsession and infatuation, but I didn't buy hers. Later on, as Jack and Sherrie met for the second time, I wasn't convinced she'd forgiven him nor that he had changed enough to earn her forgiveness. I was told he had reformed, but the author failed to show it through his actions with Sherrie.

The few discussions of substance they had--such as the one about Jack finding out he has a daughter--were either delayed or hampered by the numerous sex scenes. Speaking of which, I do subscribe to the view that less is more, but boy, I've read better smut written by amateurs. Removing all anatomically correct words and replacing them with vague expressions describing bedroom activities doesn't make porn better or more romantic. It just makes it a poor substitute for a skin flick.

I haven't mentioned the villain of the story yet, have I? The Russians did it The slimy Englishman going around saying how everything was going to be or prove to be very useful was the kind of villain they teach you to draw at the comic factory. He had his tag line and a lengthy monologue where he reveals his plans to the hero enabling his ultimate downfall.

For a book with supposedly so much going on, I was bored for long periods of time. It took me days to finish reading something that ideally I should have devoured in one night.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

*sigh* I really, really wanted to like this book. And with the first prologue or chapter ( I can't remember now) it looked so promising. But I think at about 100 pages in was when I realized I couldn't do it anymore. It was not what I wanted it to be.

I think the summary is a bit misleading first off. He kidnapped her and then went on pretty much sexually abusing her as well as mentally abusing her for ... well all of the book I read. It was told in present day (when they meet the second time) and flashbacks (the harem part).

If the flashbacks were the actual novel and the hero wasn't, excuse my language, so much of a dick, I probably could have finished. The writing technically wasn't horrid. The ideas and execution were horrid.

Will I try the author again? Maybe, but its not high up on my to do.

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm. I don't know... While Susan Sizemore is a pretty good author & I like her PNR series. This one just bothered me. Really.

Jack aka at one time Cullan the pirate but really not. Really a spy. Rescues or rather steals a would be sex slave - Sherrie - from some chinese pirates only to turn her into his whore for a month to kind of pay for his rescue of her. She was a virgin at the time.

Since he actually became obsessed with her, he kept her for a few months, not just the one. hmmm. But both of them had this intense passion for eachother. But then she hated him. Not that this is realistic at all, the premise bothered me a little. AND then, the guy didn't grovel & beg forgiveness.

Sherrie had a daughter out of this and moved to America raising her with a chinese friend May & her husband Ian. While back in London for a spell things happen & said daughter hunts down her father. She's a cute funny touch to this story.

There is a mystery & bad guys through this also.

All in all, the book was good. There are a ton of flashbacks. It kind of bothers me only because the author sets up how you should feel about a character and then flashes back to tell you you're wrong & should feel different.

[RIF · Rating 1 out of 5]

Glad it was only .99-Initially the background info was slightly confusing-she doesn't recognize the father of her child, the man she obsessed over for 9 yrs, including compulsive thoughts of the man she misses even in his presence? By the time I made it halfway and realized I didn't really know anything about these characters, nothing new or intimate was developing bc the author seemed to find it easier to avoid interaction and simply have them mooning about each other or fighting, I started to skim in earnest. I gave up at what I was hoping would at least be the come to Jesus moment when they clear the air and realized there was still a quarter of the book left that was bound to be filled more of the heroes' self flagelation along with a ramping up of the slightly ridiculous side story of a power hungry lord teaching eastern philosophies (should have known better when, at the beginning, the author described him as an evangelist-definitely not an eastern term).

[Kayla Tocco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publisher: TKA Distribution
Imprint: None
Publication Date: December 12, 2011
ISBN: 9781937776091
Genre: Historical Romance
Received via NetGalley

The Blurb:

Sherrie Hamilton is a woman with a scandalous secret past. When she travels to London for a Season of helping to launch her cousins on the marriage mart, she runs into her past. Literally. In the one place she never expected to find a pirate, she encounters the sensuous rogue who kept her as his lover years before.

Jack PenMartyn, Earl of PenMartyn, seeks to put his wicked past raiding the China Sea behind him. One thing he can't forget is the young woman whose pure innocence he stole; the woman who is the mother of the child he never knew he had.

He knows that with one false word, Sherrie will expose the secrets of his past. But does he dare to hope that she will give in to the temptation of their reckless passion for a future together?

My Take:

I have mixed feelings as I write this review. I'm not sure what I think about it or the characters. It's a mixture of feelings I guess. On the one hand I couldn't stop turning the pages, Ms. Sizemore definitely had me captivated, on the other hand the hero is constantly man-handling the heroine. There's, what appears to be to be forced seduction of the sort that yes she enjoys it but she says "no" and tries to stop him and then there's the revelation at the end that even though the hero, Jack has been beating himself up because of his repeated raping of Sherrie when she was his concubine nine years ago and the one time he raped her in present day, that Sherrie did not believe she had been raped at all and that Jack is mistaken. Rather, all her resisting was foreplay. I'm not sure if I believe that it's true and that Sherrie really believes this or if I believe Sherrie is clearly confused about what defines rape etc.

I'm mostly confused because it both bothers me and doesn't bother me. I have a feeling a lot of people will not like this story and hate the hero and at times I did too. I particularly didn't like how toward the beginning of the book he called Sherrie a bitch (not to her face and more as internalization) but I feel it uncalled for, regardless of whether he was jealous or not.

To me, as long as you get past it, you get to see Jack's good qualities particularly with the daughter he never knew he had. You can see his immediate love and caring for the girl and he has these moments when you clearly can tell he loves Sherrie and things do make a little more sense once he reveals some truths toward the end of the novel. Like I said, my mind keeps flip flopping on my feeling for this book. I really liked it and I would read it again, but a lot of it made me mad. Not sure what that says about me :-/

All I can say is that clearly, the pair have a very complicated relationship and that while they love each other, I'm not sure that it's a healthy relationship. At least not through most of the book. The ending seemed to clean some things up so that they were able to get a past a lot of their history that was hurting each other and ultimately I did find myself rooting for the couple to make it and so that they could have their little family and make it a bigger family and I adored their daughter and loved that he hardly even questioned whether the child was his when he found out. He just accepted it and started playing the role of father as though he was meant to all along which for me was a big redeeming quality for him. Also, his need to protect Sherri and Minnie redeemed him quite a bit. There were also a lot of small "sweet" moments, mainly of dialogue, toward the end that I very much enjoyed.

I did feel the whole suspense portion of the story with Lord Summer's fell a little flat to me. It could have been amped up to be more action oriented, but I did like how he was ultimately dealt with.

I guess, even though the book made me mad in parts, it did keep me reading and I did enjoy it and found myself rooting for the couple and I would honestly read the story again so confused on my feelings or not, I think that basically says it all. I just want to warn some readers that they may not be as forgiving on the forced seduction as I was.

My Rating: 3 Lattes



All My Best,

Kayla

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm reading this as part of a project to find "good" things in books and genres deemed "trashy" (romances, horror, certain authors), and have to say--this wasn't a good start.

Part of the problem is the layout of the story proper--the leads have already met in the past, so there's no build-up to their relationship. All we get are clunky flashbacks interspersed throughout, when our lead guy (by no means any sort of "hero") kidnapped the heroine from slavers only to make her his sex slave. I gave Sizemore credit because at least he admitted what he did and that he felt remorse for it...until in the very next line the heroine swept all that aside and forgave him too easily.
There's a bad guy, but there's no mystery to it--you know who it is pretty much immediately, and it also doesn't help that he comes off as a knockoff Bond villain, who just wants to Take Over the World.

Also, just as an aside, the edition I have has multiple typos.

[Dabney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Ms. Sizemore,

I loved The Price of Innocence. And, I expect to get grief from a few for doing so. The relationship between your leads, Jack and Sherrie, begins with what could be called at best forced seduction and what will be seen by some as rape. This trope makes many crazy. Before I began writing this review, I read a great Smart Bitch column about rape in romance and marveled at all the ways readers see this dynamic. I thought about how I see it and why. The truth is I often like forced seduction in my romances. As I’ve written elsewhere at Dear Author, I spent much of my teenage years in the 1970’s reading bodice rippers—I still have my well-thumbed copies of Sweet Savage Love and The Wolf and the Dove. For me, there can be a sensual power when one’s control is taken away. Not all forced seduction stories work for me, but, many do. I found the bond between Jack and Sherrie to be blazing—I am deeply fond of blazing—and I was truly drawn into their story.

The book is set in 1880’s Victorian England. Sherrie Hamilton has come to England from America where she’s been living with her eight-year old daughter, Minnie. Sherrie is a young, wealthy widow who has no interest in marrying again. She’s come to London with her aunt and her two younger cousins, Faith and Daisy, the latter of whom are looking for titled Brits to wed. At a party, Sherrie is introduced to Jack, the Earl of PenMartyn. When she sees him, she is instantly, powerfully drawn to him. He reminds of her of someone she’s sure he can’t be, Cullum Rourke, the pirate who, nine years ago, saved her from Malaysian slavers only to take her for himself.

Jack, though, knows instantly that Sherrie Hamilton is his Scheherazade, the eighteen year old girl (he was twenty-four) he had to have from the moment he saw her and whom he kept for three months. Jack’s and Sherrie’s past is shown in flashbacks and each and every one of them is infused with desire and pure passion. Here’s the scene when they first speak. Jack has just freed Sherrie from a cage where she’d been imprisoned by slavers who planned to sell her white-skinned virginity for a great price.

His men gathered around as he pulled the girl out for a closer look.
“Thank you!” she said.
“Don’t.”
Their gazes met, locked, then she looked away, her cheeks bright red. He knew what she’d seen in his eyes. After a long moment she laughed, the tone musical, as clear and sharp as the salt wind that caught the sound and blew it out to sea. It was a brave laugh, slightly mad, defiant, yet reflecting the fear he’d seen in her blue eyes. Beautiful eyes set in a perfect oval face. It had been a long time since he’d seen a blue-eyed woman. Longer still since he’d had one.
He moved closer as he touched her cheek. He breathed in the scent of her as he ran his thumb across the ugly blue-green bruise that marked where someone had hit her. Her skin was warm, soft, flawless. Only a fool would mar it. He wanted to touch it, taste it everywhere, possess it.
“You’re not here to rescue me, are you?”
“No.”
She laughed again. The bright, bitter sound enchanted him. This was not a weak, hysterical spirit. There was nothing fragile to her beauty, despite the exquisite perfection of form and face. She laughed in hell, and that made her priceless to him.
He ran his fingers through her hair. “The price of innocence,” he said, “is what someone is willing to pay to destroy it.”

Jack makes a devil’s bargain with Sherrie. He won’t sell her himself in exchange for her being his willing slave for a month. He takes her to his cabin, she demands they both bathe, they do, and then he begins to touch her.

“You’ll grow to crave it.” Their bodies were perfectly fitted together, skin on skin, but he rose to his knees as he spoke so he could look at her. He hadn’t had her yet. He hadn’t even begun to have her yet, though he’d spent a long time touching her, tasting her, before laying her down on the bed. He’d never waited so long to take a woman before, never wanted to savor like this, to wait and make the roaring need grow into consuming fire. It was agonizing.
He wanted to see the agony and the fire in her eyes before granting them both any release.
So, instead of burying himself inside her, he made himself wait, watch, speak. Her hair was spread out in heavy gold waves across the pillows. Her creamy skin gleamed with a faint sheen of sweat, pale against the black silk bed coverings. He cupped her breasts, smiled as the peaks rose at the soft brush of his thumbs. Her breasts were full and so very soft. He watched avidly as her hands curled at her sides, bunching the black silk in her fists. The triumph of making her want him shot through him, hot as lust, almost as satisfying. “You crave me already.”

She does indeed and the two spend—shown in flashbacks—three months as obsessive lovers. Then, one night, Jack sends Sherrie away. She doesn’t know why he makes her leave; he doesn’t know she’s pregnant with his child. Nine years later, Sherrie hates Cullum, not because he raped her but because he abandoned her. Because of Cullum, she married another man—fortunately he managed to get himself shot in a card game early in their marriage—in order to give her daughter legitimacy. Because of Cullum, she’s lost all desire for men—she’s felt nothing from a man’s touch since the day Cullum sent her away.

This is a partial review. To read the rest of the review, please visit Dear Author. http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/ov...

[Cinzia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story set by the author in full Victorian time, but with anti-conventional characters for the time.
Sherrie is a young American widow, who lived a life of adventure, traveling and living in the Far East, but she hides a scandalous secret, in her youth during one of these trips she was captured to be conducted in a harem and become a slave, but an Irish pirate of Irish saved her from that fate, requiring a price for his help: the price of innocence of the young girl. He proposes a deal: she will get her freedom, but for a month she will have to live with the man and be his lover. Sherrie accepts and spent this period with him, after that she can return to her life, but she find out to be pregnant except find out to be pregnant from the man with whom she shared a close relationship, but certainly not appropriate for a young unmarried woman.
9 years later the two of them attend a party in London; he has abandoned the pirate clothes and returned home to become an Earl, having inherited the Earldom after the death of his father and brothers.
Few persons know the truth of his past, the memories haunt him and when count PenMartin Jack finds himself in front of Sherrie, the elapsed time seems to evaporate, and between the two of them must to face the ghosts of the past and live in a present in which the reality of things is anything but simple.
The story impressed me a lot, thanks to Sherrie and Jack extraordinary lives. She is truly outstanding, with her life outside of the rules for women of that time, her courage and even Jack is very very charming at the beginning, in his pirate character.
Unfortunately the" mea culpa" that man begins to recite at some point in history for his sins, the guilt over what he did to Sherrie is a bit boring. Fortunately, at least she has very clear ideas about what is or isn't there was among them.
Also interesting the plot where themselves are involved, which could cause a war between England and the Orient, it helps to make the storyline more interesting compared to what would have been if it had focused on their hot love story.
The real cherrie on the cake in the book is Minnie Sherrie's and Jack's daughter, a 8 years old child exceptional for her spirit of observation, stubbornness and sense of adventure, which has obviously inherited from her parents ' genes. A special child, which gives an edge to the story.
Thanks to Netgalley and TKA Distribution for the vision of the book.

Rating: 3 stars

Title: The Price of Innocence
AUTHOR: Susan Sizemore
Publisher: TKA Distribution


Storia ambientata dall'autrice in piena epoca vittoriana, ma con personaggi molto anti convenzionali per l'epoca.
Sherrie è una giovane vedova americana, che ha vissuto una vita a dir poco avventurosa, viaggiando e vivendo in Oriente, ma nasconde uno scandaloso segreto, in gioventù durante uno di questi viaggi era stata catturata per essere condotta in un harem e divenire una schiava, ma un pirata di origine irlandese l'ha salvata da quel destino, non senza richiedere un prezzo per il suo intervento: il prezzo dell'innocenza della giovane ragazza. Le propone un accordo: potrà riavere la sua libertà, ma per un mese dovrà vivere con l'uomo ed essere la sua amante. Sherrie accetta e trascorso il periodo potrà fare ritorno alla sua vita, salvo scoprire di attendere un figlio dall'uomo con cui ha condiviso una relazione intensa, ma non sicuramente appropriata per una giovane donna non sposata.
Destino vuole che 9 anni dopo i due si incontrino nei salotti bene della nobiltà inglese; lui nel tempo ha abbandonato le vesti di pirata ed è tornato in patria per rivestire il ruolo che gli compete nella società, avendo ereditato il titolo di conte dopo la scomparsa del padre e dei fratelli.
Quasi nessuno conosce la verità del suo passato, i ricordi lo tormentano e quando il conte Jack PenMartin si ritrova davanti Sherrie, il tempo trascorso sembra volatilizzarsi, e tra i due si rende necessario un confronto per affrontare i fantasmi del passato e vivere in un presente in cui la realtà delle cose e' tutt'altro che semplice.
La storia mi ha colpito molto, grazie soprattutto alla particolarità dei personaggi di Sherrie e Jack. Lei è veramente eccezionale, con la sua vita al di fuori delle regole per le donne dell'epoca, il suo coraggio e anche Jack e' molto molto affascinante all'inizio, nel suo personaggio di pirata.
Purtroppo il mea culpa che l'uomo comincia a recitare a un certo punto della storia, coi sensi di colpa rispetto a quello che avrebbe fatto a Sherrie è un po' ammorbante. Per fortuna almeno lei ha le idee ben chiare su quello che c'è o non c'è stato tra loro.
Interessante anche il complotto in cui si ritrovano coinvolti, che potrebbe causare una guerra tra Inghilterra e Oriente, aiuta a rendere la trama più interessante, rispetto a quello che sarebbe stata se tutto si fosse incentrato sulla loro storia d'amore infuocata.
La vera ciliegina sulla torta nel libro e' Minnie la figlia di Sherrie e Jack, una bambina di 8 anni eccezionale per il suo spirito d'osservazione, la testardaggine e il senso dell'avventura, che ha evidentemente ereditato dai geni dei suoi genitori. Una bimba speciale, che dà una marcia al racconto.
Si ringraziano Netgalley e la TKA Distribution per la visione del libro.

VOTO: 3 stelle

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like this fiery and well suited couple. Lots of history, amazing adventures - pirates, spies, plot to overcome the crown, drugs and poor behaviour were very entertaining. The H has overcome his addiction, she has not overcomes her love for him. It should have been great, but the writing style was uneven. So much anger, and the past disrupted the current day story. It was a good read.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4-4.5 rounding up bc I came back for a reread.

Poor Jack, thinking he'd found his wife and child and could now have a calm, civil life and then he finds out they are even bigger rogues at heart than he is.

[Love love · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to page 45. With too many eye rolling moments and subpar writing , I decided to toss it into the DNF pile

[Peggy Groharing]

Really enjoyed book

Have read this book 3 times and still love it. Never get tired of reading it and will surely read it again

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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, 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.

[Samamtha clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherrie, a strong willed widow whose parents left her. Raising Minnie with the help of two of her closest friends May and Ira.

Jack an Earl who is trying to make up for his past. Helping fund several organizations.

Sherrie and Jack have a past together that both have found hard to put behind them and move on with their lives. Running into each other at a ball in London. They find that they most work past the troubled past, so their daughter can have a better life.
Jack and Sherrie both have a hard time dealing with changes they both have made since parting ways nine years before.
The way the story flows is really good. The characters are amazing. The way they interact with one another is really believable. I love the way Sherrie, Minnie, May, and Ira have built a family unit together, And have for the longest relied on just each other.
The relationship between Sherrie and Jack is very touch and go. Sherrie having a hard time forgiving Jack, for forcing her to leave. And Jack felt as if he is unworthy for her love and forgiveness. The sex scenes were very hot and steamy. The Price of Innocence is very action pact book.

The Price of Innocence by Susan Sizemore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sherrie, a strong willed widow whose parents left her. Raising Minnie with the help of two of her closest friends May and Ira.



Jack an Earl who is trying to make up for his past. Helping fund several organizations.



Sherrie and Jack have a past together that both have found hard to put behind them and move on with their lives. Running into each other at a ball in London. They find that they most work past the troubled past, so their daughter can have a better life.

Jack and Sherrie both have a hard time dealing with changes they both have made since parting ways nine years before.

The way the story flows is really good. The characters are amazing. The way they interact with one another is really believable. I love the way Sherrie, Minnie, May, and Ira have built a family unit together, And have for the longest relied on just each other.

The relationship between Sherrie and Jack is very touch and go. Sherrie having a hard time forgiving Jack, for forcing her to leave. And Jack felt as if he is unworthy for her love and forgiveness. The sex scenes were very hot and steamy. The Price of Innocence is very action pact book.



View all my reviews

[SoBeA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from net galley, and received no compensation for this review.

I have no idea what to rate this.

 On the positive side it's engrossing. I tried reading two other other books I received from net galley as well, but couldn't get into either of  them...but the price of innocence pulled me in, and forced me to keep going and going and going. 

The story is told from the H, the h's point of view, interspersed with flashbacks  
From the two leads first met, and a few bits from the villains point of view.

I loved the beginning of the book...the back story was fascinating, and I generally don't like flashbacks, but here they're almost as good as the current story!  But the moment the characters go from I hate you/ can't forgive you to the ILY's the story weakens, at least IMO.....it sorta felt like one moment are characters are at odds, the next all's well in the world, like someone flipped a switch, and we're magically transported to the last phase of the book, where all is forgiven, only it comes off as too sudden to be believable. Oh and the scene where we finally learn why the H and h were initially separated..that was a bit of let down as well...the back story was going so good until that point, I think that's when I started to lose interest in the books as a whole.

Also the bad guy was only  sorta bad...half the time it seemed like he was a conman, pulling one over on the H and h, the rest he was a manipulative nuisance with illusions of grandeur...and everything seemed to be resolved a little to easily...

Oh then there's the kid. The H and H's daughter is eight years old, ( so she'd what? Be in second grade,third?) but only rarely acts like it..most of the time she acts years older....if she'd had a greater presence in the book, I probably would've taken at least a half star off my rating, but as she's mostly only in it on the periphery of the story she's more like a minor irritation ( I sorta feel like an ass saying that about a child, but I'm consoling myself with the fact that she's not real, lol)

There's also quite a few secondary characters, none take over the story thankfully, but none stand out either....they were all, IMO, more backdrop then any memorable presence.

One last thing, the first two sentences in the summary:

Years ago, a handsome stranger rescued Sherrie Hamilton from a harem and enticed her into becoming his lover ...

Yeah, that's totally misleading....for starters when they meet he does rescue her, but not from a harem,...she does end up in one later, but that was mostly due to her involvement with him..also he doesn't seduce her so much as force/ manipulate her...we don't get a lot of details, but at least to me, it definitely wasn't a seduction. 


Okay so rating...I guess if you really them, 4.5 stars for the beginning, until the "I love you's" then the story goes down to 3, maybe even 3.5 stars.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review available at Seductive Musings .

Years ago Jack was a pirate and attacked a Malay war junk to steal whatever treasure it had on board. Sherrie was the treasure; she was kidnapped and locked in a cage, the plan being to sell her to a Singapore brothel. Jack could stick with that plan and sell her to the highest bidder but instead he makes her a proposition. She agrees to belong to him for one month, at the end of the month he’ll release her.

This book picks up on their story 9 years later when the meet again in London.

Sherrie has the facade of a respectable widow, underneath she is anything but. She’s seen and done so much in her life that nothing scares her anymore. She approaches life as an adventure and she is going to enjoy it. She was helpless in her past but has overcome that to become a dominant, independent and powerful woman.

Jack is racked with guilt. He hates the things he has done in the past and cannot forgive himself. Nobody really knows who or what he is, including Jack himself.

I’m going to describe this book in two parts, the first half and the second half. I was a little bored with the first half due to all the inner dialogue and flashbacks. The experiences and stories both characters had from Asia were what kept me going. The Asian connection intrigued me because it’s so different from other historical romances. No doubt about it, this book is unique. I instantly liked Sherrie but had a hard time with Jack because he was so difficult to understand and came across as one dimensional.

It is a slow read in the beginning because of all the flashbacks and the way Jack and Sherrie are dancing around each other while nothing concrete is happening. Once you’re finally caught up on their history and they actually have a meaningful conversation, the story picks up fast. All the details in the first half of the book are building up for what is to come. Everything starts to come together and the second half of this book is where I was really pulled into the story. That’s when I decided I loved both Sherrie and Jack. They have such a strong animalistic and passionate attraction, it feels right and makes you root for them. I always enjoy seeing two strong-willed people battle each other and themselves before finding their happiness together.

It’s a fun and interesting book packed with action. I’m glad I took a chance on it, I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t want it to end!

[Gisele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meninas, mais um 5 estrelas!! Ótimo livro da Suzan Sizermore, que eu nunca tinha ouvido falar, mas que o Dear Author (dearauthor.com), recomendou com um resenha daquelas!

Há muitos anos uma menina, Sherie, foi feita prisioneira de piratas na Ásia e estava prestes a ser vendida como escrava branca, até que um outro "pirata" salva a vida dela. Mas esse outro pirata, Cullum, que depois conheceremos como Jack, Conde de PenMartyn, ao invés de libertá-la, a torna sua escrava. Eles fazem um acordo, ela iria ser dele por um mês e depois ele a libertaria, esse mês se transforma em 3 meses, e ambos se tornam viciados um no outro, sexualmente e afetivamente.

Ele é o Tigre Banco e ela a sua tigresa.

O livro trata daquele tema que sempre é bem polêmico, o abuso sexual. Jack, assim como vários leitores, se corrói de culpa, pois tudo o que ele pesa é que ele estuprou, várias vezes, uma menina contra a vontade dela, manipulando-a, fazendo ela querer ele conta a vontade dela. Ele até pensa em suicídio.

Sherie já não pensa assim, ela também estava lá e pra ela - e pra mim também - ela participou de tudo, a princípo claro, não querendo, mais como ela mesmo disse, ele nunca machucou ela e ainda por cima, lhe apresentou prazeres inimagináveis. A raiva dela é só uma, a de ele ter mandado ela ir embora.

Nove anos depois eles se encontram em Londres, ele como conde, não mais exercendo suas funções de espião da Coroa Britânica e ela como uma rica viúva americana. Ele reconhece na hora a sua Sherazade, ela só depois, mais a atração é imediata.

Como ele já se culpa até, vocês podem imaginar o que ele sentiu quando a viu novamente, por isso a tentativa de suicídio, mais uma menina, Minnie, impede ele de fazer isso.. e que é Minnie? A filha dele com Sherie. Essa pequena, é um caso a parte, 8 anos, absurdamente inteligente. Sabe no primeiro instante em que olha ele, que ele é o pai dela. E é através dela que se dá a re-aproximação dos dois. A autora lança mãe de flash backs pra contar a história dos dois, e é cada lembrando que te deixa doido!!!!

E ainda tem um suspense no livro, um vilão realmente mal, que sabe do segredo deles dois e que está manipulando toda a sociedade britânica. Os personagens secundários também são muito bem descritos e ajudam os dois cabeça-dura a se entenderem.

Vale muito apena!!!! Eu adorei :)

[Arianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The price of innocence,” he said,
“is what someone is willing to pay to destroy it.”


Possesseduta dal desiderio.

Anni fa, un bellissimo sconosciuto salvò Sherrie Hamilton dall’essere destinata ad un harem, convincendola a diventare la sua amante prima di riportarla al sicuro nella sua patria. Ora Sherrie è una giovane vedova e madre rispettabile, in procinto di introdurre le sue due giovani cugine in società… finché non si trova faccia a faccia con il suo sogno proibito. Perché, dall’altra parte della sala da ballo, c’è l’uomo che è riuscito a raggiungere il nucleo della sua sensualità, facendo rivivere vecchie memorie e nuovi desideri.

Ossessionato dall’amore.

Jack PenMartyn, Conte di PenMartyn, cerca di costringere il passato alle sue spalle, eppure è ossessionata dalla donna a cui rubò l’innocenza; la donna che è la madre della figlia che non sapeva di avere. Sa che con una parola Sherrie può far tornare alla luce i segreti del suo passato. Ma può sperare che lei sia abbastanza tentata dalla loro reciproca passione da rischiare un futuro insieme?

Una trama e un intreccio stupendi. Sheherazade era diciottenne quando, in viaggio con missionari in oriente, i pirati la rapirono. Fu un altro pirata a salvarla, la Tigre Bianca, e a chiederle in cambio della sua libertà un mese di servitù. Mentre tra fleshback e rivelazioni il loro passato torna nuovamente alla luce, nove anni dopo, i due amanti si reincontrano. Fra sensi di colpa, rabbia e segreti, si svela un’amore ricco di retroscena culturali e insaporito da tutti quei dettagli di un Oriente e di una Londra in procinto di cambiare secolo. Ho amato in particolar modo il personaggio femminile, grintoso ma molto umano nella sua incapacità di ammettere i suoi sentimenti e di lasciar andare un risentimento lungo di anni. Si è un po’ persa la frizzantezza iniziale verso la fine, quando il personaggio maschile mi perde di spessore diventando da “cattivo” a “tormentato dai sensi di colpa”, e quando la trama un po’ si disfa nel rivedere i fatti iniziali in un’altra luce, ma resta comunque un ottimo romanzo, che sento di consigliare a tutte le amanti dei romance.

Si ringrazia NetGalley per la gentile preview.

[holly quigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You tried to shoot me two nights ago."

"That was foreplay."

Need I say more?

Okay, okay, I probably should say more. Because not everyone is going to like this book. It's a late-90s historical that might border on bodice-ripper, but not quite. It's definitely reminiscent of old-school romance, with the high emotional drama and raging lust. There's the whole forced-seduction thing that's blurred a bit depending on whose POV we're in (which is actually addressed in a conversation between the hero and heroine later on). LOTS of tropes here, too - virgin/whore angst, potential-Stockholm-syndrome angst, the secret bastard child trope, the secret-earldom trope... and much, much more!

But for a lush, yummy, oozy romance novel, it's just so goooood. Seriously, I'd have given it 5 stars except that I got a little bored with the hero's angst and self-loathing. It just ran on a bit long. But the heroine calls him out on it. She also calls herself out on her own bullshit. And she kills Russian spies and shoots maneating tigers. All while being a single mom in her 20s. In the 19th century. Seriously - I loved this book. I picked it up on rec from Dear Author, because I was looking for something swoon-worthy. And I got it. Thank you, DA, this hit the spot!

[Nell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been many many years since I last read this book, and I remembered that when I first read it I was utterly blown away and enchanted by this book. I don’t think I quite recaptured that same feeling, but I thought that the book stood up very well across time and my changes in reading taste.

I think that what I primarily loved about this book was the passion. SS truly captured the feeling of tumultuous passion between Sherrie and Jack, through judicious use of flashbacks intertwined with everything that was happening in the present.

I loved how strong and truly herself Sherri was, she didn’t bow down to dictates of society to be anything other than what she was, a woman of passion and conviction, who loved to travel and take on the world. Jack out of the two of them, was the more damaged. I kind of wish that the book could have delved even deeper into those emotions of guilt for his past actions because there was a wealth of emotional pain there that could have been even further explored, but on the other hand, I was perfectly happy with what I got.

A great read, that while not as magical as the first time I read it, still makes a heck of an impact and remains a true favorite.

[Pewter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full review available at Dining with the Muses

I got The Price of Innocence from net galley and received no compensation for writing the review.

After trying real hard, I finished the book but I didn't like it.

This was Whitney my love all over again. Actually it was worse than that, Jack was a monster in the truest sense of the word. While I understand perfectly a person is able to change and should be forgiven if they ever come to realize their wrongs, I found the Earl lacking - redeeming qualities.

If he truly loved her like he did, and if he truly felt horribly about it so much so that he believes he's beneath any forgiveness granted to him [this, somehow always look cowardly to me - when you didn't hesitate to shamelessly coerce a woman to be your sex slave, why bother getting shy about begging for her forgiveness. You should be down on your knees, weeping over her feet and then be refused] why did he never try to find out about his precious girl for 9 years?

[Preet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is older release of Ms.Sizemore, which originally was released in 1996. It was released in the kindle format in December of 2011. I think the story transferred rather well, 15 years later. The book opens with this great mystery as to who Sherrie and Jack are to each other, and what has happened to make them so. The passion and chemistry between them is undeniable and extremely hot.

I was a little lost to begin with, but as the book continues, more and more is revealed, and what you find out is just as intriguing. Ms.Sizemore makes it very easy to understand why Jack is torturing himself. I only wish the book had been longer. I checked and couldn't find if there were sequels about Sherrie's cousins or even a prequel. I do wish there had been. I would have loved to read about the Scottish inspector, Sherrie's cousins and Jack's motley servants, Ira and May Gartner, and especially Llhasi and Minerva. But this is a book that stands the test of time, something to commend it.

[Char ღ Denae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit, I grew up on the old bodice rippers but I thought this book was really good. There were some eye-rolling moments, to be sure but I read for entertainment and as an escape from reality so, I want my stories to be a little bit unrealistic. I agree that Jack wasn't much of a gentleman where Sherrie was concerned but she was a scrapper and gave as good as she got. I loved that she didn't let him dwell on his guilt and was actually pissed off that he thought so little of her strength to say that he ruined her. That he said it out of regret and not because he was full of himself, actually gave him extra points on the hero scale in my book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I like my heroes a little on the domineering side but I also like my heroines to be sassy and not take their crap. I also loved Minnie, Sherrie's daughter. She was a hoot!!

[Seriously Reviewed · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was thrown off at first , I must say that the tale quickly pulled me back in. This tale of once lovers, then separated, then finding each other again had some ups and downs. There were a few parts that dragged for me but once the story got going...it really got going and the ride was well worth the slow start :)

A mass of characters all trying to find their place. A hero and heroine who just touch something deep inside. A story that left me feeling as if I had run a marathon. No doubt this one was action packed and filled to the brim with overflowing tension at times, but it worked very well and I am glad to have read it.

A good historical that is a little different than what I would have expected....but in a good way :)

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, my ability to suspend disbelief and overcome a slight distaste for the subject matter comes to my aid.

On the back book cover, it talks about how the hero rescued her from a harem - implausible. He then "enticed" her into becoming his lover. From the descriptions in the book, he didn't 'entice' - he 'coerced.' She didn't seem to have any other reasonable alternatives than the agreement she made. While it is true that her situation was much improved over the harem, her 'undying love' seems to have the taint of Stockholm Syndrome.

Still, it was a very readable book. I particularly liked the precocious 8 year old daughter of the heroine.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this book. It had an exciting premise but any romance novel where the hero calls his heroine a bitch and uses her as a sexual slave is not my kind of book (unless the slavery is completely voluntary-if you know what I mean).

DNF for me. I still love Susan Sizemore though and will not stop reading her novels due to one book I didn't care for.

Check out these other reviews for other opinions:

Seductive Musings
The Romance Reader
The Best Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two long lost lovers meet again and old mysteries get answered. Sherri has come to London with her family and meets a man she never thought she´d see in a respectable setting. Earl of PenMartyn, Jack, never could forget her, and now that he´s got a future maybe she could love him again? At the same time someone is plotting against the Queen and Jack´s service is once again needed.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny story but at the beginning, when she couldn't recognize the man she love I thought she was amnesiac. Anyway two nice characters, at last since he was bad and not eaten by guilt. Minnie is the funniest one anyway and I would have liked to know more about Ira and Mia.
Thans to Netgalley e Avon Books per la preview!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. In fact, I read in just a few hours. It kept my interest completely. The characters were like able and believable. The story line was well revealed as the book went along. I liked the fact that the reader was discovering more and more as the story continued. This is a perfect rainy day read.

[Vidya Tiru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review coming soon.
Disclaimer:Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal opinions formed when I read this book.