What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lover #2
Gabriel's Woman
“Only a master could create this kind of erotic and emotionally powerful work.” -RT Book Reviews, Top Pick”
THERE IS NO SIN IN LOVE ...
I wanted to be an angel,
so I took an angels name.
When I had the opportunity
to escape poverty by whoring for men,
I took that, too.
Make no mistake, I am a bastard.
If you touch me, I will hurt you.
And I assure you, I can hurt you
in ways you've never dreamed.
... THE SIN IS IN LOVING.
Desperate, penniless and stalked by a mysterious predator, Victoria Childers auctions off her virginity at the House of Gabriel, a night house where every carnal appetite can be satisfied. But Gabriel, the untouchable proprietor who outbids his patrons, doesn’t want her innocence. Too late Victoria discovers she is a pawn, sent to Gabriel by the very man he will do anything—sacrifice anyone—to kill. Or will he? ... Irresistibly drawn to the dangerously beautiful proprietor who has walled himself away from human touch, Victoria vows to free Gabriel. Their passion plunges them into a masterminded game of desire and death where their only hope for survival is to embrace the past and the devastating truth it hides.
THERE IS NO SIN IN LOVE ...
I wanted to be an angel,
so I took an angels name.
When I had the opportunity
to escape poverty by whoring for men,
I took that, too.
Make no mistake, I am a bastard.
If you touch me, I will hurt you.
And I assure you, I can hurt you
in ways you've never dreamed.
... THE SIN IS IN LOVING.
Desperate, penniless and stalked by a mysterious predator, Victoria Childers auctions off her virginity at the House of Gabriel, a night house where every carnal appetite can be satisfied. But Gabriel, the untouchable proprietor who outbids his patrons, doesn’t want her innocence. Too late Victoria discovers she is a pawn, sent to Gabriel by the very man he will do anything—sacrifice anyone—to kill. Or will he? ... Irresistibly drawn to the dangerously beautiful proprietor who has walled himself away from human touch, Victoria vows to free Gabriel. Their passion plunges them into a masterminded game of desire and death where their only hope for survival is to embrace the past and the devastating truth it hides.
376 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2001
52 people are currently reading
1157 people want to read
About the author
Robin Schone
48 books493 followersUSA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author Robin Schone writes British Victorian novels about love, the legal & social penalties of Women’s sexuality and the occasional dinosaur. She is translated in 15 languages. The Lady's Tutor is a Cosmopolitan "Must Read" erotic novel. RUSQ (Reference and User Services of the American Library Association) chose Scandalous Lovers to “represent the wide range of historical fiction in romance.” Claims RUSQ: "Robin Schone writes sensual, explicit stories...about characters who are frequently older and less beautiful than most romance protagonists. Her history is impeccable; the storytelling is straightforward but emotionally driven."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
May 30, 2013
May 30, 2013 Review Update
I adore this book and decided yesterday to treat myself and read it again. Well, I had an embarrassing moment while reading that I shared on FB. I figured why not share it on my review, too. Maybe it will spark some interest for those who have not yet read the book. Plus, I thought you'd get a kick out of my faux pas. Let's just say I learned WHY it's important NEVER to read erotica in the family room. Boy, did I learn my lesson!
My FB comment: Holy cow!! There's NOTHING more embarrassing than being so absorbed in reading an explicitly erotic sex scene (re-reading Gabriel's Woman by Robin Schone. I love this book and author) that you're oblivious to your 14 year old son silently reading over your shoulder. You should have seen the look of horror on our faces! For different reasons, of course!
4 1/2 Enticing Stars
As much as I enjoyed the first book The Lover, I felt the second book, Gabriel's Woman was a better book. The plot, characterization, and ambiance of the story felt more fleshed out and intriguing.
Honestly, I don't think I've read a more tortured soul than Gabriel. The more I learned about his past and his trials, the more my heart ached for him. Victoria is such an endearing character. She's everything I love in a heroine. Strong and determined while remaining feminine and a little vulnerable. She was the perfect heroine for our tortured hero.
I did not see the plot twist coming or the reason for Gabriel's bitterness toward Michael. I love when a book's plot is cleverly written and, therefore, takes me by surprise.
Gabriel's Woman was emotional, dark, erotic, gritty, sensual, shocking, appalling, thrilling, and utterly captivating. I very much enjoyed this book.
Note: It's very important to read the first book in the series The Lover before starting this one. You will be very confused if you don't.
I adore this book and decided yesterday to treat myself and read it again. Well, I had an embarrassing moment while reading that I shared on FB. I figured why not share it on my review, too. Maybe it will spark some interest for those who have not yet read the book. Plus, I thought you'd get a kick out of my faux pas. Let's just say I learned WHY it's important NEVER to read erotica in the family room. Boy, did I learn my lesson!
My FB comment: Holy cow!! There's NOTHING more embarrassing than being so absorbed in reading an explicitly erotic sex scene (re-reading Gabriel's Woman by Robin Schone. I love this book and author) that you're oblivious to your 14 year old son silently reading over your shoulder. You should have seen the look of horror on our faces! For different reasons, of course!
4 1/2 Enticing Stars
As much as I enjoyed the first book The Lover, I felt the second book, Gabriel's Woman was a better book. The plot, characterization, and ambiance of the story felt more fleshed out and intriguing.
Honestly, I don't think I've read a more tortured soul than Gabriel. The more I learned about his past and his trials, the more my heart ached for him. Victoria is such an endearing character. She's everything I love in a heroine. Strong and determined while remaining feminine and a little vulnerable. She was the perfect heroine for our tortured hero.
I did not see the plot twist coming or the reason for Gabriel's bitterness toward Michael. I love when a book's plot is cleverly written and, therefore, takes me by surprise.
Gabriel's Woman was emotional, dark, erotic, gritty, sensual, shocking, appalling, thrilling, and utterly captivating. I very much enjoyed this book.
Note: It's very important to read the first book in the series The Lover before starting this one. You will be very confused if you don't.
May 26, 2012
@KatLynne
I'm sorry to disappoint you but I really tried to like Gabriel's Woman. Despite its failure it's not the end of the world though. Come to think of it, we have quite a few HR authors in common that we both love, i.e. Jennifer Ashley, Elizabeth Hoyt and Courtney Milan.
I was so thrilled to give Ms. Schone a try but sadly Gabriel's Woman couldn’t live up to my high expectations. It didn’t work out for me at all. DNF. I totally dislike the author's writing style. It feels choppy, stiff, stilted, and incredibly cold and clinical. I felt like I was stuck in a fridge. The story doesn't flow smoothly. Ms. Schone uses a lot of single words too. It’s very distracting. An example:
With food. Shelter. A position.
Her choice.
Life.
Death (inner monologue…again and again)
After a short conversation with Gabriel, Victoria "knew" that he's afraid of being touched. I couldn't relate at all. She said it out of the blue, after all, and it felt far-fetched and didn’t ring true. Maybe she's a clairvoyant? What bothered me as well was the fact that Gabriel and Victoria didn’t spend a lot of time together. Their interaction was quite limited. On top of that I couldn’t feel any chemistry between these two.
Further, the inner monologue is incredibly annoying—it’s so overused. Other overused terms are pain/pleasure…pleasure/pain. It was unnerving. I assume it should be a dark story. That said, it has to be livelier and more dynamic. In fact, the outcome was boring and my interest just petered out. Yeah, a fair-haired angel, a dark-haired angel…the second man…pain, pleasure, death etc., etc. Everything is very, very repetitive. I'm so sorry, folks, Robin Schone is so not for me.
I'm sorry to disappoint you but I really tried to like Gabriel's Woman. Despite its failure it's not the end of the world though. Come to think of it, we have quite a few HR authors in common that we both love, i.e. Jennifer Ashley, Elizabeth Hoyt and Courtney Milan.
I was so thrilled to give Ms. Schone a try but sadly Gabriel's Woman couldn’t live up to my high expectations. It didn’t work out for me at all. DNF. I totally dislike the author's writing style. It feels choppy, stiff, stilted, and incredibly cold and clinical. I felt like I was stuck in a fridge. The story doesn't flow smoothly. Ms. Schone uses a lot of single words too. It’s very distracting. An example:
With food. Shelter. A position.
Her choice.
Life.
Death (inner monologue…again and again)
After a short conversation with Gabriel, Victoria "knew" that he's afraid of being touched. I couldn't relate at all. She said it out of the blue, after all, and it felt far-fetched and didn’t ring true. Maybe she's a clairvoyant? What bothered me as well was the fact that Gabriel and Victoria didn’t spend a lot of time together. Their interaction was quite limited. On top of that I couldn’t feel any chemistry between these two.
Further, the inner monologue is incredibly annoying—it’s so overused. Other overused terms are pain/pleasure…pleasure/pain. It was unnerving. I assume it should be a dark story. That said, it has to be livelier and more dynamic. In fact, the outcome was boring and my interest just petered out. Yeah, a fair-haired angel, a dark-haired angel…the second man…pain, pleasure, death etc., etc. Everything is very, very repetitive. I'm so sorry, folks, Robin Schone is so not for me.
June 18, 2010
5 Stars +
What can I say about this except that this book deserves more than 5 stars and makes me seriously want to reconsider the way I rate books.
Gabriels Woman takes up were The Lover finished and so to apprieciate the story you should really have read Micheal and Annes story first.
Gabriel is haunted man, Victoria a desperate woman. The two become enmeshed in an elaborate contrivance which has it's foundations firmly rooted in the past. Gabriel fears for his life and that of his close friend Micheal. Victoria is an innocent party who has been unwittingly drawn into the 'game'. Whilst Gabriel searches to find the man who seeks to destroy him, he also searches for a past, a small part of him that he believes never existed but he desperatly needs to find. Will Victoria who innocently enters his life whilst trying for one last time to salvage what was an emotionally desolte but secure lifestyle be the one to unlock his past and free him?
Written in an intense style this book unravels slowly, almost like watching someting in slow motion. This has the effect of drawing the reader in, pulling them in tight until you can almmost taste the fear and tension. The writing is sophisticated and erotic in the true sense of the word, no soft porn here. A riviting and emotional read for who like things dark and intense.
What can I say about this except that this book deserves more than 5 stars and makes me seriously want to reconsider the way I rate books.
Gabriels Woman takes up were The Lover finished and so to apprieciate the story you should really have read Micheal and Annes story first.
Gabriel is haunted man, Victoria a desperate woman. The two become enmeshed in an elaborate contrivance which has it's foundations firmly rooted in the past. Gabriel fears for his life and that of his close friend Micheal. Victoria is an innocent party who has been unwittingly drawn into the 'game'. Whilst Gabriel searches to find the man who seeks to destroy him, he also searches for a past, a small part of him that he believes never existed but he desperatly needs to find. Will Victoria who innocently enters his life whilst trying for one last time to salvage what was an emotionally desolte but secure lifestyle be the one to unlock his past and free him?
Written in an intense style this book unravels slowly, almost like watching someting in slow motion. This has the effect of drawing the reader in, pulling them in tight until you can almmost taste the fear and tension. The writing is sophisticated and erotic in the true sense of the word, no soft porn here. A riviting and emotional read for who like things dark and intense.
February 20, 2009
What an excruciating read –and not in a good emotional roller coaster way either. The vast majority of this book is a 2 star read for me. It’s exceptionally confusing and repetitive. I’m all for some suspense, not putting all your cards on the table at the start, leaving the reader guessing and all but this book needed a rewrite because it felt like a first draft that was printed. The French is in desperate need of editing seeing as most of it is either misspelled, wrong or just doesn’t make sense which takes away from what the author was trying to say.
The story is supposed to continue off The Lover but it’s really hard to understand anything from the convoluted writing. The first 100 pages are very hard to follow and up to about page 250 it reads like weird avant-garde historical fiction instead of a historical romance. It’s such a dark and dreary story too. Schone’s books are not your usual romantic fare which is what makes them a treat but this one is just too depressing. There’s an excessive amount of violence, talk of death and dying and abject misery throughout the novel that isn’t balanced with love that you hardly feel between the couple. The h/h aren’t even together until you’re a good half way through the book and some of the sex scenes are just plain yuck. Gabriel is not nice at all to Victoria until the end of the book and you have to wonder what she sees in him. The first time they have sex is just horrible –he’s a coward and an idiot, two traits you don’t want to see in a hero. He’s too damaged and her incessant need to save him is annoying. All the talk about angels got on my nerves and was just plain dumb at one point –there must’ve been some hidden meaning there but I didn’t get it. Throughout the book I kept saying to myself “when are they going to fall in love? Where is the ‘love’ already!” I absolutely adored her previous book The Lady’s Tutor and The Lover was pretty good too. She really brought out the love story but not here. This is Gabriel’s story who’s lived a life of hell and only knows how to prey on other people until Victoria comes into the picture. You’d think that’s where the love story would start and I guess in some way it does but it’s just not a “nice” story.
The only thing that saves this messy read is the last 20 or so pages with a big turnaround in the writing that warrants a 3 star rating. A lot of things were still unresolved but Schone gives a very satisfying ending –too bad she couldn’t do that for the rest of this frustrating book :-/
**If you liked Judith James Broken Wing then you’ll probably like this story –the hero and how the story “progresses” are very similar.
The story is supposed to continue off The Lover but it’s really hard to understand anything from the convoluted writing. The first 100 pages are very hard to follow and up to about page 250 it reads like weird avant-garde historical fiction instead of a historical romance. It’s such a dark and dreary story too. Schone’s books are not your usual romantic fare which is what makes them a treat but this one is just too depressing. There’s an excessive amount of violence, talk of death and dying and abject misery throughout the novel that isn’t balanced with love that you hardly feel between the couple. The h/h aren’t even together until you’re a good half way through the book and some of the sex scenes are just plain yuck. Gabriel is not nice at all to Victoria until the end of the book and you have to wonder what she sees in him. The first time they have sex is just horrible –he’s a coward and an idiot, two traits you don’t want to see in a hero. He’s too damaged and her incessant need to save him is annoying. All the talk about angels got on my nerves and was just plain dumb at one point –there must’ve been some hidden meaning there but I didn’t get it. Throughout the book I kept saying to myself “when are they going to fall in love? Where is the ‘love’ already!” I absolutely adored her previous book The Lady’s Tutor and The Lover was pretty good too. She really brought out the love story but not here. This is Gabriel’s story who’s lived a life of hell and only knows how to prey on other people until Victoria comes into the picture. You’d think that’s where the love story would start and I guess in some way it does but it’s just not a “nice” story.
The only thing that saves this messy read is the last 20 or so pages with a big turnaround in the writing that warrants a 3 star rating. A lot of things were still unresolved but Schone gives a very satisfying ending –too bad she couldn’t do that for the rest of this frustrating book :-/
**If you liked Judith James Broken Wing then you’ll probably like this story –the hero and how the story “progresses” are very similar.
November 17, 2010
This was a very nice follow up to the first book, The Lover. Any time I saw Gabriel in that book he stole the scene. I was fascinated by him and wanted to know who he was, how he thought, and what led him to the point he was at today. I didn't understand how he could love Michael and seem to hate him at the same time. I just needed to know why.
This was very much a story about Gabriel. I know it's advertised as an Erotic Romance but just like with The Lover, that wasn't the appeal for me. I liked the darkness and mystery of both of the books more than the actual romance. If I had to classify it I'd probably call it a love story at the most. While they both involve two people falling in love, the way they are executed and the rules that they follow are completely different. A love story is a side concern in the overall story whereas a romance is the main focus of a story. I'd say the main focus here was Gabriel's growth and healing.
Even though the focus wasn't necessarily on Victoria, she still managed to shine. Her desperation and her conflicted view of her sexuality really captured my attention. I found her very interesting and enjoyed watching her gain confidence in it being okay to desire someone.
Learning the truth about Gabriel didn't disappoint me. I was shocked and fascinated to learn the truth about his complex feelings for Michael. His fear of intimacy and the reason behind it was heartbreaking. I wish I could have just reached through the book to give him a hug. Although knowing him that probably wouldn't have gone over that well...
I found Gabriel's past interesting and sad. I can't tell if his feeling or lack thereof was a blessing or a curse in his line of work. How sad that he longed to feel what he could give.
The tone in this book was just as slow and repressed as in the first book. The author once again strives to write in riddles and half-speak to keep the reader confused and in the dark. It does get a little irritating after a while, but I was willing to ride it out just to see how it would all unfold.
The only major irritation I had with this story was the constant use of the term "angels." Michael and Gabriel are names of angels, yes, I get it. It was used incessantly in the first book too, but for some reason it just irritated me more in this one.
This was very much a story about Gabriel. I know it's advertised as an Erotic Romance but just like with The Lover, that wasn't the appeal for me. I liked the darkness and mystery of both of the books more than the actual romance. If I had to classify it I'd probably call it a love story at the most. While they both involve two people falling in love, the way they are executed and the rules that they follow are completely different. A love story is a side concern in the overall story whereas a romance is the main focus of a story. I'd say the main focus here was Gabriel's growth and healing.
Even though the focus wasn't necessarily on Victoria, she still managed to shine. Her desperation and her conflicted view of her sexuality really captured my attention. I found her very interesting and enjoyed watching her gain confidence in it being okay to desire someone.
Learning the truth about Gabriel didn't disappoint me. I was shocked and fascinated to learn the truth about his complex feelings for Michael. His fear of intimacy and the reason behind it was heartbreaking. I wish I could have just reached through the book to give him a hug. Although knowing him that probably wouldn't have gone over that well...
I found Gabriel's past interesting and sad. I can't tell if his feeling or lack thereof was a blessing or a curse in his line of work. How sad that he longed to feel what he could give.
The tone in this book was just as slow and repressed as in the first book. The author once again strives to write in riddles and half-speak to keep the reader confused and in the dark. It does get a little irritating after a while, but I was willing to ride it out just to see how it would all unfold.
The only major irritation I had with this story was the constant use of the term "angels." Michael and Gabriel are names of angels, yes, I get it. It was used incessantly in the first book too, but for some reason it just irritated me more in this one.
August 11, 2016
I adore Robin's unique talent that blends emotionally intense love stories with graphic erotic scenes. I've been anxious for this book since Gabriel's introduction in the prequel, The Lover.
Gabriel is one of the most tortured heroes I've read. He and Victoria both have been damaged by the actions of others. Here, we journey with them through heartache and pain as they each learn to trust again. It's a poignant, sensual, erotic read and one that I loved!
Gabriel is one of the most tortured heroes I've read. He and Victoria both have been damaged by the actions of others. Here, we journey with them through heartache and pain as they each learn to trust again. It's a poignant, sensual, erotic read and one that I loved!
July 13, 2011
I read
The Lover
yesterday and Gabriel's Woman today, and I agree with those who say that they're best read in order. I enjoyed - though was a little conflicted about - The Lover, but I really loved Gabriel's Woman. They are both very emotional and somewhat difficult reads, because there is such horror that is faced. Both Gabriel and Michael are tortured souls, haunted by the unbelievable things they have survived.
The ages of the main characters were very unusual for romance and something that I appreciated: Gabriel is 40 and Victoria is 34. Victoria was a wonderful heroine; strong, yet vulnerable. I thought that the portrayal of Anne and her inner conflicts was better done than Victoria, however her transformation is very fluid, and subtle in a way that makes it seem all the more real. I did not get the same sense of heartbreaking loneliness as I did with Anne, and in this I was a little disappointed. Victoria had a compelling history and background, the perfect makings to starkly show how constrained and repressed and alone she has always felt, but it didn't come across as strongly as it could have.
Gabriel was an absolutely wonderful hero and his tragic and heartbreaking story were most definitely felt. I liked Michael a lot in his book, but I think Schone did an even better job here in her creation and writing of the hero. Gabriel is complex and has a very disturbing history, but throughout the story he remains accessible and understandable. The fact that he cannot bear to be touched and hasn't been in 15 years made it so that his relationship with Victoria had to progress a lot more than the Michael-Anne one before they slept together. This made it seem more authentic and as his walls begin to break down and he starts to let her in, you really get wrapped up in their romance and want so badly for these two broken people to together finally find happiness.
One of my complaints with The Lover was that while it's supposedly an erotica, I really did not feel very strong or sizzling chemistry. It was almost too dry and detailed. It wasn't horrible and the fact that Michael and Anne's relationship is so well-written makes it so that you still feel the passion between them, but it hadn't been what I was expecting. Here, I didn't have as much of an issue on that subject and thought that the chemistry was better. However, it still didn't give me any "Where's a fan when you need one" moments that one sometimes get with regular and more "mainstream" HRs, which again surprised me.
There were twists and turns, but not as many as with The Lover. We're given more obvious breadcrumbs as we go and having already learned things from the first book, it's easier to piece things together. There are still some great surprises though, and I thought they were supremely well-done and definitely caught me off guard. While the bad guys in both books are absolutely psycho and sick, this one and the things that are done made a little more sense. Don't get me wrong: it's still crazy and far-fetched, but I found it easier to accept.
The relationship between Michael and Gabriel is shown a little in the first book, and from that we already know the unbelievably strong bond that these two men have with one another. We're given even more insight into their relationship here and I just plainly loved it. I thought their (brotherly) love for one another was beautifully portrayed and didn't feel any confusion regarding the depth or nature of their relationship. Schone touches on some very sensitive issues and I thought it only showed them both to advantage and made them seem that much stronger and more amazing for what they had survived, and been able to maintain despite it all. I think I read in another review that this is almost as much a Gabriel-Victoria story as a Gabriel-Michael story and I have to agree. Not in the romantic sense - their love is purely fraternal and friendly in nature - but it's an integral part of the story and of Gabriel's ability to finally be at peace and let himself be happy.
Random Notes:
* I liked the little snippets we got of the staff who worked in the House of Gabriel and seeing their fondness and love for him. It was sweet and cute how they reacted to his developing relationship to Victoria.
* Ending was better (more complete, not abrupt) than the other book's, though again I wanted an epilogue - with one or two kids would have been great. I would love to see Gabriel and Victoria as parents.
* Some dangling threads in the subplot or character histories. Not essential, but would have liked those to be tied off (ex: Victoria's family).
(Written July 12, 2011)
The ages of the main characters were very unusual for romance and something that I appreciated: Gabriel is 40 and Victoria is 34. Victoria was a wonderful heroine; strong, yet vulnerable. I thought that the portrayal of Anne and her inner conflicts was better done than Victoria, however her transformation is very fluid, and subtle in a way that makes it seem all the more real. I did not get the same sense of heartbreaking loneliness as I did with Anne, and in this I was a little disappointed. Victoria had a compelling history and background, the perfect makings to starkly show how constrained and repressed and alone she has always felt, but it didn't come across as strongly as it could have.
Gabriel was an absolutely wonderful hero and his tragic and heartbreaking story were most definitely felt. I liked Michael a lot in his book, but I think Schone did an even better job here in her creation and writing of the hero. Gabriel is complex and has a very disturbing history, but throughout the story he remains accessible and understandable. The fact that he cannot bear to be touched and hasn't been in 15 years made it so that his relationship with Victoria had to progress a lot more than the Michael-Anne one before they slept together. This made it seem more authentic and as his walls begin to break down and he starts to let her in, you really get wrapped up in their romance and want so badly for these two broken people to together finally find happiness.
One of my complaints with The Lover was that while it's supposedly an erotica, I really did not feel very strong or sizzling chemistry. It was almost too dry and detailed. It wasn't horrible and the fact that Michael and Anne's relationship is so well-written makes it so that you still feel the passion between them, but it hadn't been what I was expecting. Here, I didn't have as much of an issue on that subject and thought that the chemistry was better. However, it still didn't give me any "Where's a fan when you need one" moments that one sometimes get with regular and more "mainstream" HRs, which again surprised me.
There were twists and turns, but not as many as with The Lover. We're given more obvious breadcrumbs as we go and having already learned things from the first book, it's easier to piece things together. There are still some great surprises though, and I thought they were supremely well-done and definitely caught me off guard. While the bad guys in both books are absolutely psycho and sick, this one and the things that are done made a little more sense. Don't get me wrong: it's still crazy and far-fetched, but I found it easier to accept.
The relationship between Michael and Gabriel is shown a little in the first book, and from that we already know the unbelievably strong bond that these two men have with one another. We're given even more insight into their relationship here and I just plainly loved it. I thought their (brotherly) love for one another was beautifully portrayed and didn't feel any confusion regarding the depth or nature of their relationship. Schone touches on some very sensitive issues and I thought it only showed them both to advantage and made them seem that much stronger and more amazing for what they had survived, and been able to maintain despite it all. I think I read in another review that this is almost as much a Gabriel-Victoria story as a Gabriel-Michael story and I have to agree. Not in the romantic sense - their love is purely fraternal and friendly in nature - but it's an integral part of the story and of Gabriel's ability to finally be at peace and let himself be happy.
Random Notes:
* I liked the little snippets we got of the staff who worked in the House of Gabriel and seeing their fondness and love for him. It was sweet and cute how they reacted to his developing relationship to Victoria.
* Ending was better (more complete, not abrupt) than the other book's, though again I wanted an epilogue - with one or two kids would have been great. I would love to see Gabriel and Victoria as parents.
* Some dangling threads in the subplot or character histories. Not essential, but would have liked those to be tied off (ex: Victoria's family).
(Written July 12, 2011)
December 17, 2011
“Fumier means a piece of shit. Gutters are filled with sewage; I was born in a gutter. I lived in a gutter. A nameless bastard. It wasn’t whoring that made me what I am, it was living.”
- Gabriel
“We do what we must in order to survive.” – Victoria Childers
I loved this book! It packs an emotional punch and the plot is so much better than The Lover. There's suspense, romance, toe-curling love scenes, and a hauntingly beautiful hero that breaks your heart.
The Story
Hunger and desperate circumstances leave Victoria Childers with one precious item to sell: her virginity. She will sell it to the highest bidder at the House of Gabriel, a pleasure house well-known to cater to the upper crust. Her goal is survival.
Raped fourteen years earlier, the untouchable Gabriel, proprietor of the House of Gabriel, is participating in a deadly play of vengeance. Victoria is a pawn in this game. He will protect her to the best of his ability while searching for the nameless rapist. As Gabriel digs for clues through Victoria’s past Victoria will seduce his mind and sense to find a way to his closely guarded heart.
Thoughts and Opinions
I almost cringed at the idea of a female character selling her virginity. It seemed like an old school book device, but usually it’s the heroine is kidnapped then her virginity is auctioned. Anyway, it worked in this story. Robin Schone made Victoria’s desperation real. We see Victoria having searched all other avenues of survival with greasy hair, bones protruding, destitute, and desperate. It was nice that the heroine wasn’t a naïve young miss. Victoria had a plan. She marketed herself for maximum financial gain. She wanted to eat, survive, and find a little bit of safety. I really liked that.
Gabriel is the Dark Tortured Hero. At times, he seems morally ambiguous. He’s ruthlessly efficient and will exploit matters to his advantage. Gabriel’s character doesn’t deviate. He doesn’t crack goofy grins, spout sappy dialogue, adopt adorable little pets, nor carry out any out-of-character benevolent actions. Ironically, when Victoria cracks through his hard shield I wanted something more dramatic. It was a quiet, simple, and poignant event.
Victoria’s goal to seduce Gabriel didn’t initially make sense to me but their budding attraction felt honest as the book progressed. Another thing I liked about the book is that the author wasn’t afraid to write characters of an older age; Gabriel is forty. There was a minor bit of psychobabble though not off-putting.
Closing Comments
Overall, I loved Gabriel's Woman and am glad I read The Lover, even though it's nowhere near as good as this second book. If you like Dark Tortured Heroes then this book is for you. If you want a historical romance without the erotic love scenes then try Lisa Kleypas' Dreaming of You. There is also Ellen O'Connor's western historical
My Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 because Gabriel's intense character
Favorite Moment
- Gabriel
“We do what we must in order to survive.” – Victoria Childers
I loved this book! It packs an emotional punch and the plot is so much better than The Lover. There's suspense, romance, toe-curling love scenes, and a hauntingly beautiful hero that breaks your heart.
The Story
Hunger and desperate circumstances leave Victoria Childers with one precious item to sell: her virginity. She will sell it to the highest bidder at the House of Gabriel, a pleasure house well-known to cater to the upper crust. Her goal is survival.
Raped fourteen years earlier, the untouchable Gabriel, proprietor of the House of Gabriel, is participating in a deadly play of vengeance. Victoria is a pawn in this game. He will protect her to the best of his ability while searching for the nameless rapist. As Gabriel digs for clues through Victoria’s past Victoria will seduce his mind and sense to find a way to his closely guarded heart.
Thoughts and Opinions
I almost cringed at the idea of a female character selling her virginity. It seemed like an old school book device, but usually it’s the heroine is kidnapped then her virginity is auctioned. Anyway, it worked in this story. Robin Schone made Victoria’s desperation real. We see Victoria having searched all other avenues of survival with greasy hair, bones protruding, destitute, and desperate. It was nice that the heroine wasn’t a naïve young miss. Victoria had a plan. She marketed herself for maximum financial gain. She wanted to eat, survive, and find a little bit of safety. I really liked that.
Gabriel is the Dark Tortured Hero. At times, he seems morally ambiguous. He’s ruthlessly efficient and will exploit matters to his advantage. Gabriel’s character doesn’t deviate. He doesn’t crack goofy grins, spout sappy dialogue, adopt adorable little pets, nor carry out any out-of-character benevolent actions. Ironically, when Victoria cracks through his hard shield I wanted something more dramatic. It was a quiet, simple, and poignant event.
Victoria’s goal to seduce Gabriel didn’t initially make sense to me but their budding attraction felt honest as the book progressed. Another thing I liked about the book is that the author wasn’t afraid to write characters of an older age; Gabriel is forty. There was a minor bit of psychobabble though not off-putting.
Closing Comments
Overall, I loved Gabriel's Woman and am glad I read The Lover, even though it's nowhere near as good as this second book. If you like Dark Tortured Heroes then this book is for you. If you want a historical romance without the erotic love scenes then try Lisa Kleypas' Dreaming of You. There is also Ellen O'Connor's western historical
My Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 because Gabriel's intense character
Favorite Moment
"And who am I, Victoria? The boy who died or the angel who's carrying him?"
Victoria fought for control, won. "The angel, Gabriel."
Gabriel's face spasmed, marble splintering into flesh. "Why?"
"Your house is your garden, Gabriel. You take broken people and give them new lives." Victoria remembered the older woman and the younger man, sharing their passion; she remembered Julien, defending the house of Gabriel. "Take joy in your garden."
A harsh, strangled sound escaped Gabriel's throat--he threw his head back, eyes closed, dark lashes spiked. Victoria did not mistake the clear liquid crawling down his cheeks for sweat--they were the tears of an angel.
September 18, 2012
I bought "Gabriel’s Woman" as a 2 for 1 deal when I got “The Lover”. My reading OCD did not help in this matter, so I was unable to stop myself from the mental torture of finishing this harrowing saga.
In the beginning I thought that it was funny – they way the author grabbed at straws, trying to make her book more …Gothic… more …pure… more scandalous… more intellectual... more …poetic… more…just more!
But it was only JUST pathetic.
The word repeat count in this read is monstrous. We can lie to ourselves and say that it was there for poetic purposes...Well, maybe that was the general idea, but the execution? Not really working for me!
Angel.
Angels.
Michael.
Gabriel.
Angels.
The Angel.
The man.
Second man.
First man.
Gabriel.
Angels.
Death.
Angels.
The Man.
Die.
Cold.
Angel.
Michael.
The second man.
Destruction.
Angels.
Virginity.
The Man.
To touch.
Touch.
Silver eyes.
To touch.
Gabriel.
Angel.
The man.
The second man.
Die.
Silver eyes.
Silver eyes.
Hungry eyes.
Angel.
Untouchable angel.
Angels.
Micheal.
Touch.
Gabriel.
Angels.
The man.
Silver eyes.
To touch.
Gabriel.
Angel.
The man.
The second man.
Die.
….do you feel the urge to scream? I most certainly did.
Can you feel your sanity slipping away? I did. I do.
I am willing to admit - the author has ideas. But it all went sour any way.
Why?
Robin Schone did not want to be an author . She wanted to be an artist . To be memorable.
Problem? Being a virtuoso is not something you can make yourself be by sheer willpower. Let us face it – a lot of people can play the piano. But not everybody is freaking Beethoven!
This book had dialogues repeated in a constant loop…just for the sake of drama.
This book had inner and outer dialogues that made no sense as a whole.
This book had sentences that feel like they were inserted by mistake.
This book was long even thou nothing happened in it.
This book had mindless killers with no motives.
This book had the stupidest crime motivated plot EVER. And I mean EVER!
This book bored me to tears.
This book is only good for a bonfire.
And if this book was angling to be any more pretentious it would have challenged one of Tolkin's forest scenes – you know…the ones that last 50 pages with nothing happening in the end.
*gives up on ranting and goes off to get drunk*
In the beginning I thought that it was funny – they way the author grabbed at straws, trying to make her book more …Gothic… more …pure… more scandalous… more intellectual... more …poetic… more…just more!
But it was only JUST pathetic.
The word repeat count in this read is monstrous. We can lie to ourselves and say that it was there for poetic purposes...Well, maybe that was the general idea, but the execution? Not really working for me!
Angel.
Angels.
Michael.
Gabriel.
Angels.
The Angel.
The man.
Second man.
First man.
Gabriel.
Angels.
Death.
Angels.
The Man.
Die.
Cold.
Angel.
Michael.
The second man.
Destruction.
Angels.
Virginity.
The Man.
To touch.
Touch.
Silver eyes.
To touch.
Gabriel.
Angel.
The man.
The second man.
Die.
Silver eyes.
Silver eyes.
Hungry eyes.
Angel.
Untouchable angel.
Angels.
Micheal.
Touch.
Gabriel.
Angels.
The man.
Silver eyes.
To touch.
Gabriel.
Angel.
The man.
The second man.
Die.
….do you feel the urge to scream? I most certainly did.
Can you feel your sanity slipping away? I did. I do.
I am willing to admit - the author has ideas. But it all went sour any way.
Why?
Robin Schone did not want to be an author . She wanted to be an artist . To be memorable.
Problem? Being a virtuoso is not something you can make yourself be by sheer willpower. Let us face it – a lot of people can play the piano. But not everybody is freaking Beethoven!
This book had dialogues repeated in a constant loop…just for the sake of drama.
This book had inner and outer dialogues that made no sense as a whole.
This book had sentences that feel like they were inserted by mistake.
This book was long even thou nothing happened in it.
This book had mindless killers with no motives.
This book had the stupidest crime motivated plot EVER. And I mean EVER!
This book bored me to tears.
This book is only good for a bonfire.
And if this book was angling to be any more pretentious it would have challenged one of Tolkin's forest scenes – you know…the ones that last 50 pages with nothing happening in the end.
*gives up on ranting and goes off to get drunk*
December 16, 2010
There's nothing I hate more then shelling out good money for a book that bores me... Robin's work, NEVER does that! Her work is frank, sensual, and true artistry. Gabriel's Woman delivers that which I think every woman secretly desires. To reach in, touch, and heal the man she loves. Many times "mainstream" romance novels will not deal honestly with circumstances that happen in character's past for the sake of escapism. I like that Gabriel's Woman not only deals with things truthfully, so as not to insult our intelligence, but it also leaves us with the hope that we can overcome our circumstances, to find love. This book is not for the faint of heart but it is well worth every penny and hour spent in enjoying it.
July 5, 2020
Victoria Childers es una joven institutriz que ha perdido su trabajo. Obligada a vivir en la calle y evitando llegar a la mendicidad recurre a vender su virginidad en el establecimiento más famoso de Londres: “La casa de Gabriel”. Su dueño piensa que ella es la mujer enviada por su enemigo para matarle y compra su virtud con el fin único de la venganza.
En primer lugar, error mío ha sido no saber que esta era la segunda parte de “The lover”, no ha sido un trauma pero quizás hubiese sido mejor para comprender al personaje, esto nunca lo sabré.
De Robin Schone hasta este momento me habían gustado bastante sus novelas y ésta parecía tener todos los ingredientes para ser un bombazo aunque no ha sido así. El personaje de Gabriel nos puede dar muchísimo juego; Gabriel es un hombre que ha pasado por muchos estadios en su vida: mendigo, ladrón, prostituto (como él deja bien claro a lo largo del relato). Y es que además todo el juego que se le podría sacar con su sexualidad, sus traumas y esos sentimientos tanto por Michael como por Victoria y por el hombre que “lo rompió” y que no llegaron a desarrollarse de manera satisfactoria.
Gabriel tenía todas las cartas para ser un personaje interesante por lo que antes comentaba, es complejo y eso me fascinaba de él pero si no lo desarrollas bien acaba por ser un mero intento y esto es lo que me ha parecido... continúa en: https://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/2...
En primer lugar, error mío ha sido no saber que esta era la segunda parte de “The lover”, no ha sido un trauma pero quizás hubiese sido mejor para comprender al personaje, esto nunca lo sabré.
De Robin Schone hasta este momento me habían gustado bastante sus novelas y ésta parecía tener todos los ingredientes para ser un bombazo aunque no ha sido así. El personaje de Gabriel nos puede dar muchísimo juego; Gabriel es un hombre que ha pasado por muchos estadios en su vida: mendigo, ladrón, prostituto (como él deja bien claro a lo largo del relato). Y es que además todo el juego que se le podría sacar con su sexualidad, sus traumas y esos sentimientos tanto por Michael como por Victoria y por el hombre que “lo rompió” y que no llegaron a desarrollarse de manera satisfactoria.
Gabriel tenía todas las cartas para ser un personaje interesante por lo que antes comentaba, es complejo y eso me fascinaba de él pero si no lo desarrollas bien acaba por ser un mero intento y esto es lo que me ha parecido... continúa en: https://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/2...
December 20, 2011
Gabriel's Woman by Robin Schone.
This was one of the weirdest, wackiest, most confusing, bizarre, sexual, and surprisingly compelling books I have read. I have never been so confused at the beginning of the book. Who was the first man? Who was the second man? Who the hell was Michel? Who was the other woman? The evil woman? The evil man? The angel? Gabriel? Remember that scene in Moonstruck where the grandfather says "I'm so confused!" and he has tears in his eyes? That was me reading the beginning of this book.
Then we got to the internal dialogue. Which went on and on and on and on...for the entire book. Super melodramatic. Sentence fragments. For emphasis.
Extremely raw, blatantly sexual love scenes.
A horribly tortured hero, which reminded me of Zsadist in many ways. Raped, body and soul, almost beyond redemption. But the love and understanding of a remarkable woman brought him back from the edge. Gave him hope. Gave him a future. (Notice my sentence fragments...hee hee!).
The plot line (when I finally figured it out) became very suspenseful and engaging. Although the final climatic scene was totally over the top. Nevertheless, I kept going because Gabriel and Victoria were fascinating characters and I wanted to see what was going to happen to them. By the end, I couldn't put this book down.
It was often heart-breaking, very intense, and strangely satisfying. I almost DNFed it at the beginning because I had no freakin' clue what was going on. By the final page, I was a Robin Schone fan. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but she got me.
Grade: A
This was one of the weirdest, wackiest, most confusing, bizarre, sexual, and surprisingly compelling books I have read. I have never been so confused at the beginning of the book. Who was the first man? Who was the second man? Who the hell was Michel? Who was the other woman? The evil woman? The evil man? The angel? Gabriel? Remember that scene in Moonstruck where the grandfather says "I'm so confused!" and he has tears in his eyes? That was me reading the beginning of this book.
Then we got to the internal dialogue. Which went on and on and on and on...for the entire book. Super melodramatic. Sentence fragments. For emphasis.
Extremely raw, blatantly sexual love scenes.
A horribly tortured hero, which reminded me of Zsadist in many ways. Raped, body and soul, almost beyond redemption. But the love and understanding of a remarkable woman brought him back from the edge. Gave him hope. Gave him a future. (Notice my sentence fragments...hee hee!).
The plot line (when I finally figured it out) became very suspenseful and engaging. Although the final climatic scene was totally over the top. Nevertheless, I kept going because Gabriel and Victoria were fascinating characters and I wanted to see what was going to happen to them. By the end, I couldn't put this book down.
It was often heart-breaking, very intense, and strangely satisfying. I almost DNFed it at the beginning because I had no freakin' clue what was going on. By the final page, I was a Robin Schone fan. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but she got me.
Grade: A
February 3, 2017
Me atrapó de principio a fin... aunque a veces entender al protagonista quien deseaba acabar con el. No terminaba de encajarlo... contado de manera delicada... con mucho erotismo mezclado con vivencias de una sociedad constreńida... con determinados temas... repetí su lectura con lo cual ya dice lo mucho que me gustó.
July 12, 2014
Gabriel's Woman is an amazing, gripping page turner. It follows on from The Lover, the stories are about two male whores, both beautiful, one dark, one fair....fallen angels. I think I enjoyed Gabriel's story more but it would be impossible to read and understand without having first read Michael's/Michel's tale.
The background to this fascinating read is dark, dangerous, sinister and poignant. Gabriel was a street urchin in the gutters of Paris, at the age of 13 he meets Michel/Michael stealing a loaf of bread to survive and the two lost boys forge a bond that will never be broken. They are rescued from the streets and trained to whore by a madam, Michel dark and beautiful for the ladies, Gabriel, fair and angelic for the men. Gabriel suffers a terrible physical abuse in his twenties from which he never recovers, he becomes the angel who will not touch or be touched, his whole life becomes centred on finding the 'first man' and 'the second man' the perpetrators of the unspeakable acts against him.
Gabriel has opened a high class house for prostitution, the day Victoria Childers inveigles her way into his house to sell her virginity sets off a chain of events that are horrifying and unstoppable. For the first time in many years Gabriel is tempted into physical contact, the consequences of which spiral their lives out of control.
This is the story of a lovely, loyal woman who herself has been unloved and uncared for, looking to ease the frustration she feels but always wanting someone of her own to love and a tortured, beautiful man who believes himself incapable of any kind of love, especially physical. Victoria begins to teach Gabriel to hope again but 'the second man' has an evil agenda, as well as being determined to destroy the slowly emerging affection between these two lonely souls.
Robin Schone has a quite remarkable descriptive talent, I've said it before but her ability to capture the dark, sinister atmosphere of the Victorian underworld is quite remarkable, even her description of murky foggy London, transports the reader to smell, taste and feel, "The London Air was damp and chill. Yellow fog embraced the city". "Childish voices permeated the yellow gloom that blanketed London".
I love the writing style of this author, against my own better judgement I have come to look forward to her books although erotic Historical is not my choice of genre, the fact that I want to read all Ms. Schone has written is a good indicator of the power of her writing, the originality of the story of these two fallen angels and the women who save them is wonderful story telling. Her protagonists are never perfect, there are nearly always both physical and mental flaws but we end up loving them anyway and can empathise with them. Despite the Americanism's which normally spoil a story for me when written specifically about England, I can award no less than 5 stars as this was such a gripping, original plot and love story.
The background to this fascinating read is dark, dangerous, sinister and poignant. Gabriel was a street urchin in the gutters of Paris, at the age of 13 he meets Michel/Michael stealing a loaf of bread to survive and the two lost boys forge a bond that will never be broken. They are rescued from the streets and trained to whore by a madam, Michel dark and beautiful for the ladies, Gabriel, fair and angelic for the men. Gabriel suffers a terrible physical abuse in his twenties from which he never recovers, he becomes the angel who will not touch or be touched, his whole life becomes centred on finding the 'first man' and 'the second man' the perpetrators of the unspeakable acts against him.
Gabriel has opened a high class house for prostitution, the day Victoria Childers inveigles her way into his house to sell her virginity sets off a chain of events that are horrifying and unstoppable. For the first time in many years Gabriel is tempted into physical contact, the consequences of which spiral their lives out of control.
This is the story of a lovely, loyal woman who herself has been unloved and uncared for, looking to ease the frustration she feels but always wanting someone of her own to love and a tortured, beautiful man who believes himself incapable of any kind of love, especially physical. Victoria begins to teach Gabriel to hope again but 'the second man' has an evil agenda, as well as being determined to destroy the slowly emerging affection between these two lonely souls.
Robin Schone has a quite remarkable descriptive talent, I've said it before but her ability to capture the dark, sinister atmosphere of the Victorian underworld is quite remarkable, even her description of murky foggy London, transports the reader to smell, taste and feel, "The London Air was damp and chill. Yellow fog embraced the city". "Childish voices permeated the yellow gloom that blanketed London".
I love the writing style of this author, against my own better judgement I have come to look forward to her books although erotic Historical is not my choice of genre, the fact that I want to read all Ms. Schone has written is a good indicator of the power of her writing, the originality of the story of these two fallen angels and the women who save them is wonderful story telling. Her protagonists are never perfect, there are nearly always both physical and mental flaws but we end up loving them anyway and can empathise with them. Despite the Americanism's which normally spoil a story for me when written specifically about England, I can award no less than 5 stars as this was such a gripping, original plot and love story.
August 12, 2019
I don’t read a historical “romances” as they are not my go to books due to some of the dialogue and prose within the story BUT this one took me by surprise.
Robin Schone has written a sensual period romance. Her writing is explicit, the sex is burning and there were no silly euphemisms for sexual words – she said it as it is. The plot was original and I thought it was written with tastefully.
Unfortunately I did not read the prequel and only got to understand what Gabriel and Michael had gone through in this novel.
Living a life of prostitutes (they knew no other) each one had their own flair – Gabriel was tutored to service men whilst Michael was tutored to service woman. Gabriel the untouchable Angel, Michael the scarred Angel.
Gabriel had been raped at 13 and because of this is unable to stand the touch of others until Victoria Childers arrived in Gabriel's House a tavern where every carnal desire could be satisfied.
Here Gabriel provides shelter, employment and hope. Victoria offers her virginity to the highest bidder with the starting bid being the same as the amount Gabriel was sold for years ago. He outbids everyone and takes Victoria to his home. He is very suspicious of Victoria and can’t make up his mind whether she is an innocent victim or a paid assassin. Gabriel soon realizes that Victoria is a former noblewoman who has been turned out into the streets and is now being used as a pawn by others to get to him. Victoria is terrified of her own sexuality because her father raised her to believe sex is sinful and women are sinful creatures.
I loved the way Robin Schone builds the relationship between Victoria and Gabriel. The mounting sexuality between them leading to a level of trust and awakening.
So despite not choosing to read this genre I have to say that I can’t help admire this authors writing style, the intensity of this story and her evaluation of male-female relationships.
For me this went much further than “historical erotica”. It was a physiological thriller, an emotional and powerful story dealing with and uncomfortable and dark world.
Would I recommend it? Yes and despite knowing the outcome of this story book I am going to read The Lover and I am sure I will be looking at other novels by this talented author. (less)
Robin Schone has written a sensual period romance. Her writing is explicit, the sex is burning and there were no silly euphemisms for sexual words – she said it as it is. The plot was original and I thought it was written with tastefully.
Unfortunately I did not read the prequel and only got to understand what Gabriel and Michael had gone through in this novel.
Living a life of prostitutes (they knew no other) each one had their own flair – Gabriel was tutored to service men whilst Michael was tutored to service woman. Gabriel the untouchable Angel, Michael the scarred Angel.
Gabriel had been raped at 13 and because of this is unable to stand the touch of others until Victoria Childers arrived in Gabriel's House a tavern where every carnal desire could be satisfied.
Here Gabriel provides shelter, employment and hope. Victoria offers her virginity to the highest bidder with the starting bid being the same as the amount Gabriel was sold for years ago. He outbids everyone and takes Victoria to his home. He is very suspicious of Victoria and can’t make up his mind whether she is an innocent victim or a paid assassin. Gabriel soon realizes that Victoria is a former noblewoman who has been turned out into the streets and is now being used as a pawn by others to get to him. Victoria is terrified of her own sexuality because her father raised her to believe sex is sinful and women are sinful creatures.
I loved the way Robin Schone builds the relationship between Victoria and Gabriel. The mounting sexuality between them leading to a level of trust and awakening.
So despite not choosing to read this genre I have to say that I can’t help admire this authors writing style, the intensity of this story and her evaluation of male-female relationships.
For me this went much further than “historical erotica”. It was a physiological thriller, an emotional and powerful story dealing with and uncomfortable and dark world.
Would I recommend it? Yes and despite knowing the outcome of this story book I am going to read The Lover and I am sure I will be looking at other novels by this talented author. (less)
July 5, 2014
★★★★☆
7.4.14
Now that I've finally read The Lover
, some scenes in this book make a lot more sense, although you could read this a stand-alone and still enjoy it, after all, I read this three years ago and only just read The Lover.
This is Gabriel's story. Like Michel/Michael, he also was trained as a prostitute, however, he was meant primarily for men, and he identifies as heterosexual for the most part. This continues from the end of The Lover and is a bit of a suspense as the second man who has still not been found and when Victoria appears in his rebuilt brothel, he is extremely suspicious that he has been setup.
This follows along similar lines of Michael's book where Victoria finds her sexual empowerment and slowly heals Gabriel's deep psychological wounds by just being herself, once Gabriel can bring himself to trust her.
Another intimate look at Victorian times and mores.
6.2014 - Rereading since I recently read The Lover
when it came out in ebook (Yay!). I had originally borrowed and have since purchased my own copy. Review to come.
2011 A definite reread. I need to find The Lover
in ebook format.
7.4.14
Now that I've finally read The Lover
, some scenes in this book make a lot more sense, although you could read this a stand-alone and still enjoy it, after all, I read this three years ago and only just read The Lover.This is Gabriel's story. Like Michel/Michael, he also was trained as a prostitute, however, he was meant primarily for men, and he identifies as heterosexual for the most part. This continues from the end of The Lover and is a bit of a suspense as the second man who has still not been found and when Victoria appears in his rebuilt brothel, he is extremely suspicious that he has been setup.
This follows along similar lines of Michael's book where Victoria finds her sexual empowerment and slowly heals Gabriel's deep psychological wounds by just being herself, once Gabriel can bring himself to trust her.
Another intimate look at Victorian times and mores.
6.2014 - Rereading since I recently read The Lover
when it came out in ebook (Yay!). I had originally borrowed and have since purchased my own copy. Review to come.2011 A definite reread. I need to find The Lover
in ebook format.
November 21, 2015
4,5 el libro me súper atrapó, una narrativa distinta, oscura, seductora que te deja con ganas de saber más. Las escenas eroticas muy bien narradas, de una forma delicada.
April 21, 2021
I read Gabriel's Woman 20 years ago, and it sticks in my memory because it's a book I couldn't finish. I got about halfway through or so, then skimmed to the end simply to see how it concluded. This was one of the most un-erotic erotic stories I've encountered. It wasn't anywhere as gross as The 120 Days of Sodom or violently bizarre as Story of the Eye or as boringly redundant as Anne Rice's foray into literary porn with her Sleeping Beauty series as A.N. Roquelaure. It just wasn't pleasurable. It was sex without joy; it was sterile.
Honestly, give me Bertrice Small's vivid purple prose and juicy euphemisms any day if the other option is this for erotica.
Robin Schone's choppy writing style never appealed to me.
It seemed as if every paragraph she wrote was just one sentence long.
Or even just one word.
Like.
This.
I also found the writing in Gabriel's Woman both melodramatic yet impersonal. The authorial tone, the angst, the stoic hero, the unemotional heroine, the detached sex scenes all seemed designed to make the reader feel uncomfortable, rather than to titillate the senses.
Frumpy, middle-aged Victoria is being stalked by an unknown stranger. Her only option to save herself, she decides, is to auction herself off in a whorehouse, because even though she may be past her youth, she's still a virgin. Gabriel has an interest in the man behind the stalking, so he buys Victoria, and the two settle into a weird relationship where they bond through gross, unromantic sex.
Gabriel had been forced into prostitution as a child along with Michael, the hero from Schone's prequel to this book, The Lover. Because Michael had dark hair, the bordello Madame chose him to service the needs of women and decided that the angelic-looking, blond Gabriel would for men.
Obviously, this guy has a lot of issues: self-loathing, internalized homophobia, and discomfort with the feelings of shared trauma and friendship he has with Michael. At one point the villain asks Gabriel--sorry to be blunt here--if he would suck Michael's dick in order to save Michael's life and Gabriel emphatically says no, while Michael, secure in his heterosexual nature, would have been willing to do so to save his friend's life. Ok, whatever.
I understand what Schone was going for, all about the healing power of love, but I'm going to be honest and say it put me out of my comfort zone. I could see that Schone was trying to approach themes similar to those found in D H Lawrence's Women in Love, especially in regards to whether a man can equally love both a man and a woman at the same time in the same way. Schone was definitely reaching for literary complexity, not merely writing an "ordinary romance novel." She was aiming for greatness.
But if you reach for the stars and miss, it's hard and long fall down.
There's one love scene where the heroine has anal sex with Gabriel, so to better understand the violations Gabriel experienced. Schone describes his penis like a huge log inside of Victoria's anus and maybe I'm just too much into scatological humor, but anytime I've heard someone referring to a log in their ass, it means they badly need to take a dump!
Now, that sounds awfully insensitive of me, as it was a serious scene meant to convey pain, but, except for that one poop joke, I felt nothing. Not revulsion, not sympathy, not voyeuristic excitement, just nothing.
Gabriel's Woman was a critic's darling (if I recall correctly, one professional reviewer gave this book an excellent rating, not because they enjoyed it, but because they felt the book was so important it deserved nothing less) and it has a fairly high rating here on Goodreads.
Perhaps this was a case of "It's not you book, it's me," but as I've DNFed every Robin Schone book I've come across, it's more that her writing style doesn't mesh with my reading tastes.
It happens. Different boats, different floats.
Honestly, give me Bertrice Small's vivid purple prose and juicy euphemisms any day if the other option is this for erotica.
Robin Schone's choppy writing style never appealed to me.
It seemed as if every paragraph she wrote was just one sentence long.
Or even just one word.
Like.
This.
I also found the writing in Gabriel's Woman both melodramatic yet impersonal. The authorial tone, the angst, the stoic hero, the unemotional heroine, the detached sex scenes all seemed designed to make the reader feel uncomfortable, rather than to titillate the senses.
Frumpy, middle-aged Victoria is being stalked by an unknown stranger. Her only option to save herself, she decides, is to auction herself off in a whorehouse, because even though she may be past her youth, she's still a virgin. Gabriel has an interest in the man behind the stalking, so he buys Victoria, and the two settle into a weird relationship where they bond through gross, unromantic sex.
Gabriel had been forced into prostitution as a child along with Michael, the hero from Schone's prequel to this book, The Lover. Because Michael had dark hair, the bordello Madame chose him to service the needs of women and decided that the angelic-looking, blond Gabriel would for men.
Obviously, this guy has a lot of issues: self-loathing, internalized homophobia, and discomfort with the feelings of shared trauma and friendship he has with Michael. At one point the villain asks Gabriel--sorry to be blunt here--if he would suck Michael's dick in order to save Michael's life and Gabriel emphatically says no, while Michael, secure in his heterosexual nature, would have been willing to do so to save his friend's life. Ok, whatever.
I understand what Schone was going for, all about the healing power of love, but I'm going to be honest and say it put me out of my comfort zone. I could see that Schone was trying to approach themes similar to those found in D H Lawrence's Women in Love, especially in regards to whether a man can equally love both a man and a woman at the same time in the same way. Schone was definitely reaching for literary complexity, not merely writing an "ordinary romance novel." She was aiming for greatness.
But if you reach for the stars and miss, it's hard and long fall down.
There's one love scene where the heroine has anal sex with Gabriel, so to better understand the violations Gabriel experienced. Schone describes his penis like a huge log inside of Victoria's anus and maybe I'm just too much into scatological humor, but anytime I've heard someone referring to a log in their ass, it means they badly need to take a dump!
Now, that sounds awfully insensitive of me, as it was a serious scene meant to convey pain, but, except for that one poop joke, I felt nothing. Not revulsion, not sympathy, not voyeuristic excitement, just nothing.
Gabriel's Woman was a critic's darling (if I recall correctly, one professional reviewer gave this book an excellent rating, not because they enjoyed it, but because they felt the book was so important it deserved nothing less) and it has a fairly high rating here on Goodreads.
Perhaps this was a case of "It's not you book, it's me," but as I've DNFed every Robin Schone book I've come across, it's more that her writing style doesn't mesh with my reading tastes.
It happens. Different boats, different floats.
January 20, 2022
Avete chiesto a madame René come sedurre un uomo. Ve lo dirò io. Quando ha fame, dategli da mangiare. Quando soffre, offritegli speranza. Quando non ha un posto dove andare, dategli un letto in cui dormire. Per sedurre, bisogna creare l’illusione della fiducia.
4,5 - Come credo di aver detto altre volte, sempre affrontando quest'autrice, o si trova ipnotico il suo stile o se ne prova una sorta di repulsione: io mi inserisco nella prima ipotesi.
Ho pensato che se l’uomo aveva un’anima, esisteva dentro la donna.
Robin Schone scrive agli inizi del 2000 e il suo approccio è subito apparso di rottura: più che un eros romanzato, al centro delle sue trame troviamo una sensualità molto materiale, spesso cruda. Le parti del corpo sono chiamate con il loro nome, senza fronzoli, c'è una ricerca costante di indagare sulle dinamiche fisiche e sulle reazioni del corpo con taglio scrupoloso (soprattutto il piacere femminile è descritto nel dettaglio, spesso sottolineando la lentezza con cui si raggiunge l'apice, la frustrazione del mancato appagamento, il bisogno di trovare una sinergia con il partner).
La Schone è sempre stata una grande sostenitrice dei diritti delle donne ed è per questo che nei suoi libri non troverete ochette che sbattono le ciglia e svengono al primo sguardo del predatore maschile. Soprattutto in questa serie, le sue donne patiscono la fame o le imposizioni familiari, non sono più giovanissime, sono state vittime sessuali oppure sono state respinte perchè non conformi ai canoni richiesti. Victoria è una ex-governante licenziata senza referenze, in sei mesi si è ridotta sul lastrico, viene coinvolta in una trappola per disperazione e ingenuità.
Proprio questo la porta a incontrare l'angelo biondo della serie, quel Gabriel tanto bello quanto tradito e abusato, un uomo anche lui non più giovanissimo (quarant'anni) che ha consacrato la propria vita alla vendetta.
La storia è strettamente correlata al volume precedente, per cui non consiglio di leggerla da sola, è troppo complessa per orientarsi. Soltanto se avrete già conosciuto i due angeli e il loro passato di sofferenza potrete apprezzare l'ultima chance di Gabriel per ritrovare se stesso.
Narrazione lenta, va detto, ma la Schone ama dare piccoli colpi di scalpello, infliggere ferite e colpi di scena graduali, mettere a nudo ogni emozione devastante con un certo gusto sadico.
Se cercate una storia romantica, passate oltre. Per mio gusto personale, una lettura forte ma che merita.
4,5 - Come credo di aver detto altre volte, sempre affrontando quest'autrice, o si trova ipnotico il suo stile o se ne prova una sorta di repulsione: io mi inserisco nella prima ipotesi.
Ho pensato che se l’uomo aveva un’anima, esisteva dentro la donna.
Robin Schone scrive agli inizi del 2000 e il suo approccio è subito apparso di rottura: più che un eros romanzato, al centro delle sue trame troviamo una sensualità molto materiale, spesso cruda. Le parti del corpo sono chiamate con il loro nome, senza fronzoli, c'è una ricerca costante di indagare sulle dinamiche fisiche e sulle reazioni del corpo con taglio scrupoloso (soprattutto il piacere femminile è descritto nel dettaglio, spesso sottolineando la lentezza con cui si raggiunge l'apice, la frustrazione del mancato appagamento, il bisogno di trovare una sinergia con il partner).
La Schone è sempre stata una grande sostenitrice dei diritti delle donne ed è per questo che nei suoi libri non troverete ochette che sbattono le ciglia e svengono al primo sguardo del predatore maschile. Soprattutto in questa serie, le sue donne patiscono la fame o le imposizioni familiari, non sono più giovanissime, sono state vittime sessuali oppure sono state respinte perchè non conformi ai canoni richiesti. Victoria è una ex-governante licenziata senza referenze, in sei mesi si è ridotta sul lastrico, viene coinvolta in una trappola per disperazione e ingenuità.
Proprio questo la porta a incontrare l'angelo biondo della serie, quel Gabriel tanto bello quanto tradito e abusato, un uomo anche lui non più giovanissimo (quarant'anni) che ha consacrato la propria vita alla vendetta.
La storia è strettamente correlata al volume precedente, per cui non consiglio di leggerla da sola, è troppo complessa per orientarsi. Soltanto se avrete già conosciuto i due angeli e il loro passato di sofferenza potrete apprezzare l'ultima chance di Gabriel per ritrovare se stesso.
Narrazione lenta, va detto, ma la Schone ama dare piccoli colpi di scalpello, infliggere ferite e colpi di scena graduali, mettere a nudo ogni emozione devastante con un certo gusto sadico.
Se cercate una storia romantica, passate oltre. Per mio gusto personale, una lettura forte ma che merita.
August 16, 2020
I may be one of the few but I think The Lover was better than Gabriel's Woman. The romance between Gabriel and Victoria was off for me - I didn't vibe with either character and certainly not with them together.
There are intriguing dualities at play here to compare to The Lover if you have read it. I always like to think about how authors have slightly tweaked their series formula, what decisions they made that changed the direction of the plot or the nature of the characters. Michael is purchased by a virgin heiress in The Lover while Gabriel purchases a woman's virginity in Gabriel's Woman. There is still the threat of the Man, now this time called the Second Man. Michael seeks love while Gabriel is untouchable. I didn't really enjoy reading Gabriel's Woman and have to admit, I was skimming so I could get to the point where we find out who was the Second Man. The sequel does offer a more complete ending to the secrets between Gabriel and Michael.
There are intriguing dualities at play here to compare to The Lover if you have read it. I always like to think about how authors have slightly tweaked their series formula, what decisions they made that changed the direction of the plot or the nature of the characters. Michael is purchased by a virgin heiress in The Lover while Gabriel purchases a woman's virginity in Gabriel's Woman. There is still the threat of the Man, now this time called the Second Man. Michael seeks love while Gabriel is untouchable. I didn't really enjoy reading Gabriel's Woman and have to admit, I was skimming so I could get to the point where we find out who was the Second Man. The sequel does offer a more complete ending to the secrets between Gabriel and Michael.
May 28, 2023
I think this writer tries way too hard to be avant-garde. She keeps making veiled references to things we don’t have any knowledge of anyway, writing in half or quarter sentences and giving us the characters cryptic thoughts. STOP referring to characters as “her ex employer’s husband” or “the man with the blue black hair”. People refer to others by their NAMES in their thoughts not their characteristics. It’s unnecessarily confusing for the reader.
Another thing, we don’t have to have so much useless drama for every single idiotic conversation. I paraphrase:
“I am a woman”
His silver eyes darkened. They showed fear. The fear left.
“You are.”
“Then why don’t you want me?” Her question bounced off the damask walls and careened around the room with galloping echoes.
“Why?” His voice was silvery and seductive. It wound around her ankles, hips and nostrils.
“Yes, why?”
His eyes were limned by the crackling fire. They held regret. The regret left. “Because I have reasons.”
“Reasons?” Her breath caught in her throat like a giant purple balloon of intense and crippling fear.
His eyes grew dark again. They held anger. The anger left. “Yes, reasons”
And so on. Every conversation that would normally fill a quarter of a page takes pages because we need to stop and see the character’s visceral reaction to Every Single Word! So-much- drama thrown in when the story already HAS loads of ups and downs. Trust that your reader is intelligent enough to know which words have made an impact without being told.
And the issue with going deep into the character’s mind after every line is that the reader loses the thread of the conversation that’s taking place.
The author is also fond of not only telling us how words echoed/reverberated/ bounced around the room after they’ve been said, but of also recounting entire conversations sometimes seconds after they’ve been uttered. Unnecessary. I feel like the book is following the Cat in the Hat recipe, namely using only a certain list of words to tell a story. Someone please count how many times angel, death, beg, second man and fourteen years were mentioned. I bet it’s insanely high.
The characters were highly confusing. We keep being told that Victoria is a staid, repressed governess but we don’t actually SEE it. She seems to be constantly and unashamedly naked, she asks the most crude personal questions of people who are strangers to her and she has no shame in being a voyeur to people’s private moments. The questions she asks aren’t even hot. She wants to know what Gabriel calls his um.. male parts, if he ever begged for release, if he rises to the occasion with women. She needs a muzzle! She tells him she wants to know, wants to know what is what liked to be raped. Her next comment is that she wants to know what it’s like to be part of someone. Which is it lady? Those two things should not have been in the same conversation. At best, she sounds like a scatterbrain . At worse, she’s making his rape sound romantic.
We’re told she constantly fended off her employer’s advances but a few anonymous dirty letters makes her so hot that she’d like to sell herself for sex . Yes, it’s for food and shelter but the author makes a bigger deal about her wanting to have her desires fulfilled so what are we supposed to believe? The author occasionally reminds us that she’s an innocent by having her blush randomly . So she can watch two people going at it without feeling shame but she turns pink at being thought of as a tease? Uh huh.
I had to keep reminding myself that Gabriel is forty because nothing in his character gave that away. He could have been a morbid twenty year old for all the difference his age made. And I really wanted him to be forty. I like when authors give their characters the patina of maturity that age can bring.
And what’s with all the clinical yet graphic sexual description? It’s kind of meh on the hotness scale. Scenes that were meant to be hot were just weird. The voyeur scene I guess could be seen as a modern woman watching a porn flick. Only I don’t know many women who would watch while mentally describing what was happening to their bodies in clinical terms. And having Gabriel over her shoulder while he recounts his time with a different (!) woman in almost PTSD fashion made it so I just wanted the scene to be over asap.
And this woman has some incredible powers: Gabriel describes a raunchy scene and she can feel it in intimate detail despite being a virgin who has never even been kissed. She sucks his finger and can somehow feel her OWN tongue doing things to herself . He licks her and she can feel him reaching her womb. Huh? And she can climax five seconds into foreplay, as well as having about twelve o’s in the space of a hour without Gabriel having to do much but stand there. Literally, he just tells her to do it and Boom! What a woman. But what an unsatisfied reader. All I could think of was how uncomfortably sensitive a woman would be down there after so much in so little time.
She even has an o while they are having a serious conversation about how there’s a deranged killer after them because she was making Gabriel promise to do very specific kinky things to her if they survive.
My brain couldn’t keep up with the weirdness of any of the scenes. And don’t even get me started about the scene where she has a sweet childhood memory of her mother reading bedtime stories that popped into her head as she is viewing adult toys. WHY?!?!
We’re told ad nauseam that G is the greatest of prostitutes but very few of their scenes together have him do anything except use her without actually seeing to her pleasure. No, I don’t count him telling her to explode for him as doing anything.
Naturally, forty-eight hours into her relationship with Gabriel she knows exactly what he needs, even as those closest to him were never able to. She wants him to rape, yes rape her so she can feel his pain. This isn’t a story where the heroine is shown to be severely mentally damaged from the start. She hasn’t known this man for more than two days but she wants him to abuse her. For what reason? Why would a healthy woman invite a man to hurt her? You can only do this with your characters if you’ve established an extremely enduring relationship where a partner wants to “erase” the other’s pain or with characters who are so twisted that it works. This woman, a semi virgin, who has “been” with one man once, is asking to be raped as Gabriel was raped. It didn’t come across as realistic.
And I had to snort when Gabriel leaves Victoria mid bliss at one point and she describes a gaping feeling inside her, like a tunnel. I know the author meant her heart but the play on words was unintentionally awful. Just like , “The tears he could not cry leaked from the tip of his crown”. Yes, it means all the disgusting things you think it does. And the writer made that reference more than once.
Getting through the book became a chore early on and it shouldn’t have been because the storyline was an interesting one. But the writing and the characters made it a slough because I couldn’t care about them. They spent so much of the book wallowing in self pity and being angsty that there was no need for me to feel sorry for them, they were doing a great job on their own.
I don’t see myself reaching for another one of Ms. Schone’s books.
Another thing, we don’t have to have so much useless drama for every single idiotic conversation. I paraphrase:
“I am a woman”
His silver eyes darkened. They showed fear. The fear left.
“You are.”
“Then why don’t you want me?” Her question bounced off the damask walls and careened around the room with galloping echoes.
“Why?” His voice was silvery and seductive. It wound around her ankles, hips and nostrils.
“Yes, why?”
His eyes were limned by the crackling fire. They held regret. The regret left. “Because I have reasons.”
“Reasons?” Her breath caught in her throat like a giant purple balloon of intense and crippling fear.
His eyes grew dark again. They held anger. The anger left. “Yes, reasons”
And so on. Every conversation that would normally fill a quarter of a page takes pages because we need to stop and see the character’s visceral reaction to Every Single Word! So-much- drama thrown in when the story already HAS loads of ups and downs. Trust that your reader is intelligent enough to know which words have made an impact without being told.
And the issue with going deep into the character’s mind after every line is that the reader loses the thread of the conversation that’s taking place.
The author is also fond of not only telling us how words echoed/reverberated/ bounced around the room after they’ve been said, but of also recounting entire conversations sometimes seconds after they’ve been uttered. Unnecessary. I feel like the book is following the Cat in the Hat recipe, namely using only a certain list of words to tell a story. Someone please count how many times angel, death, beg, second man and fourteen years were mentioned. I bet it’s insanely high.
The characters were highly confusing. We keep being told that Victoria is a staid, repressed governess but we don’t actually SEE it. She seems to be constantly and unashamedly naked, she asks the most crude personal questions of people who are strangers to her and she has no shame in being a voyeur to people’s private moments. The questions she asks aren’t even hot. She wants to know what Gabriel calls his um.. male parts, if he ever begged for release, if he rises to the occasion with women. She needs a muzzle! She tells him she wants to know, wants to know what is what liked to be raped. Her next comment is that she wants to know what it’s like to be part of someone. Which is it lady? Those two things should not have been in the same conversation. At best, she sounds like a scatterbrain . At worse, she’s making his rape sound romantic.
We’re told she constantly fended off her employer’s advances but a few anonymous dirty letters makes her so hot that she’d like to sell herself for sex . Yes, it’s for food and shelter but the author makes a bigger deal about her wanting to have her desires fulfilled so what are we supposed to believe? The author occasionally reminds us that she’s an innocent by having her blush randomly . So she can watch two people going at it without feeling shame but she turns pink at being thought of as a tease? Uh huh.
I had to keep reminding myself that Gabriel is forty because nothing in his character gave that away. He could have been a morbid twenty year old for all the difference his age made. And I really wanted him to be forty. I like when authors give their characters the patina of maturity that age can bring.
And what’s with all the clinical yet graphic sexual description? It’s kind of meh on the hotness scale. Scenes that were meant to be hot were just weird. The voyeur scene I guess could be seen as a modern woman watching a porn flick. Only I don’t know many women who would watch while mentally describing what was happening to their bodies in clinical terms. And having Gabriel over her shoulder while he recounts his time with a different (!) woman in almost PTSD fashion made it so I just wanted the scene to be over asap.
And this woman has some incredible powers: Gabriel describes a raunchy scene and she can feel it in intimate detail despite being a virgin who has never even been kissed. She sucks his finger and can somehow feel her OWN tongue doing things to herself . He licks her and she can feel him reaching her womb. Huh? And she can climax five seconds into foreplay, as well as having about twelve o’s in the space of a hour without Gabriel having to do much but stand there. Literally, he just tells her to do it and Boom! What a woman. But what an unsatisfied reader. All I could think of was how uncomfortably sensitive a woman would be down there after so much in so little time.
She even has an o while they are having a serious conversation about how there’s a deranged killer after them because she was making Gabriel promise to do very specific kinky things to her if they survive.
My brain couldn’t keep up with the weirdness of any of the scenes. And don’t even get me started about the scene where she has a sweet childhood memory of her mother reading bedtime stories that popped into her head as she is viewing adult toys. WHY?!?!
We’re told ad nauseam that G is the greatest of prostitutes but very few of their scenes together have him do anything except use her without actually seeing to her pleasure. No, I don’t count him telling her to explode for him as doing anything.
Naturally, forty-eight hours into her relationship with Gabriel she knows exactly what he needs, even as those closest to him were never able to. She wants him to rape, yes rape her so she can feel his pain. This isn’t a story where the heroine is shown to be severely mentally damaged from the start. She hasn’t known this man for more than two days but she wants him to abuse her. For what reason? Why would a healthy woman invite a man to hurt her? You can only do this with your characters if you’ve established an extremely enduring relationship where a partner wants to “erase” the other’s pain or with characters who are so twisted that it works. This woman, a semi virgin, who has “been” with one man once, is asking to be raped as Gabriel was raped. It didn’t come across as realistic.
And I had to snort when Gabriel leaves Victoria mid bliss at one point and she describes a gaping feeling inside her, like a tunnel. I know the author meant her heart but the play on words was unintentionally awful. Just like , “The tears he could not cry leaked from the tip of his crown”. Yes, it means all the disgusting things you think it does. And the writer made that reference more than once.
Getting through the book became a chore early on and it shouldn’t have been because the storyline was an interesting one. But the writing and the characters made it a slough because I couldn’t care about them. They spent so much of the book wallowing in self pity and being angsty that there was no need for me to feel sorry for them, they were doing a great job on their own.
I don’t see myself reaching for another one of Ms. Schone’s books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2010
Well color me disappointed. :(
I had high hopes for this book, because I really enjoyed Gabriel's character in The Lover, and was looking forward to reading his story. Unfortunately, it fell a bit short in my opinion. The twist, while surprising, was a bit contrived (even moreso that "the man" in The Lover), and again the technical jargon during sex was a put-off for me. I don't know if it bothered me more in this book because it was more prolific, or if it was merely my getting bogged down from it having read three Robin Schone books in a row.
What worked for me:
*Oooh the twist as to why Gabriel hated Michael *falls over* Even though it falls under the "contrived" description I mentioned above, it was still a "Say what??" moment, in a good way.
*The concept -- gutter born bastard who's been raped and abused and prostituted all his life to the point that he hasn't touched another human being in over a decade falls for a spinster governess who's fallen on such desperate times that she's auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder. Would've been better had they not had the whole "second man orchestrating everything solely to ruin his life just because of the mess that went down in the first novel with Michael", but hey, I'm not all THAT picky
*How Victoria refused to give up on Gabriel, and how Gabriel longed to find a woman who would accept him for what he was, good and bad, light and dark, and make all that he'd suffered worthwile *swoon*
*Unlike other reviewers, I DID feel that there was love between Gabriel and Victoria. I admit it wasn't the sappy, besotted kind, but was instead the I-don't-WANT-to-love-you type, but still, I felt the love :)
*Still got that issue with the servants I mentioned in my last review, but not NEARLY to the point of the other novels, so I'm counting that as a favorable point :)
What didn't work for me:
*Sex reading like a technical manual. Again. All this talk of vaginas and clitorises (clitori?), and vuvlas and penises and so forth are just flat out not sexy.
*I swear, if she'd referred to the electrical lights as "blinding", or the flyaway hairs on Gabriel's head as "areola" ONE MORE BLOODY TIME, this book would've been in the DNF category rather than read. It's called a thesaurus. Use it.
*The buttsecks made me laugh. I don't think buttsecks is supposed to be funny, but I'm not kidding you, it wasn't until almost a chapter after everyone was done orgasming that I was actually certain that buttsecks had even occurred. I mean, yeah, I knew they'd scrumped, but for an author who's so determined to use the word "vagina" in every third paragraph, you'd think she could've made it a little more clear of what was actually going on. Though, I suppose on further reflection, the absence of the word "vagina" should've been enough to confirm that it was, in fact, buttsecks.
*What the hell is up with the modiste? Just. Really. And forcing Victoria to be naked all the time, from the first undressing to the appointment with the modiste, to the being clad only in a towel while Gaston was in there, to the final twisty bit of being spied on during sex with Gabriel. I swear I was starting to think this was a Jaid Black novel or something. Oi.
You HAVE to read the first book in the series or you won't know wtf is going on. This is more like "Part II" of The Lover rather than a standalone sequel.
So, not to the standard of her other books that I've read, but not quite a wall-banger.
3 Stars
I had high hopes for this book, because I really enjoyed Gabriel's character in The Lover, and was looking forward to reading his story. Unfortunately, it fell a bit short in my opinion. The twist, while surprising, was a bit contrived (even moreso that "the man" in The Lover), and again the technical jargon during sex was a put-off for me. I don't know if it bothered me more in this book because it was more prolific, or if it was merely my getting bogged down from it having read three Robin Schone books in a row.
What worked for me:
*Oooh the twist as to why Gabriel hated Michael *falls over* Even though it falls under the "contrived" description I mentioned above, it was still a "Say what??" moment, in a good way.
*The concept -- gutter born bastard who's been raped and abused and prostituted all his life to the point that he hasn't touched another human being in over a decade falls for a spinster governess who's fallen on such desperate times that she's auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder. Would've been better had they not had the whole "second man orchestrating everything solely to ruin his life just because of the mess that went down in the first novel with Michael", but hey, I'm not all THAT picky
*How Victoria refused to give up on Gabriel, and how Gabriel longed to find a woman who would accept him for what he was, good and bad, light and dark, and make all that he'd suffered worthwile *swoon*
*Unlike other reviewers, I DID feel that there was love between Gabriel and Victoria. I admit it wasn't the sappy, besotted kind, but was instead the I-don't-WANT-to-love-you type, but still, I felt the love :)
*Still got that issue with the servants I mentioned in my last review, but not NEARLY to the point of the other novels, so I'm counting that as a favorable point :)
What didn't work for me:
*Sex reading like a technical manual. Again. All this talk of vaginas and clitorises (clitori?), and vuvlas and penises and so forth are just flat out not sexy.
*I swear, if she'd referred to the electrical lights as "blinding", or the flyaway hairs on Gabriel's head as "areola" ONE MORE BLOODY TIME, this book would've been in the DNF category rather than read. It's called a thesaurus. Use it.
*The buttsecks made me laugh. I don't think buttsecks is supposed to be funny, but I'm not kidding you, it wasn't until almost a chapter after everyone was done orgasming that I was actually certain that buttsecks had even occurred. I mean, yeah, I knew they'd scrumped, but for an author who's so determined to use the word "vagina" in every third paragraph, you'd think she could've made it a little more clear of what was actually going on. Though, I suppose on further reflection, the absence of the word "vagina" should've been enough to confirm that it was, in fact, buttsecks.
*What the hell is up with the modiste? Just. Really. And forcing Victoria to be naked all the time, from the first undressing to the appointment with the modiste, to the being clad only in a towel while Gaston was in there, to the final twisty bit of being spied on during sex with Gabriel. I swear I was starting to think this was a Jaid Black novel or something. Oi.
You HAVE to read the first book in the series or you won't know wtf is going on. This is more like "Part II" of The Lover rather than a standalone sequel.
So, not to the standard of her other books that I've read, but not quite a wall-banger.
3 Stars
January 15, 2011
Moody, Gothic, and So Very Sexy...
Robin Schone once again challenges our notions of female sexuality and male power with Gabriel's Woman. Like her previous short works and novels, neither Gabriel or Victoria are the stereotypical romance couple. Gabriel, a former prostitute and now owner of an exclusive brothel that bears his name, is a man tormented by an act so tragic, that it has shaped him into the untouchable being he now is. Wealthy women will pay any price for his services, but he knows they would never pay the price for loving the man he truly is, nor would they wish to see that part of him.
Victoria is a dimissed governess whose only crime was not responding to a former employer's advances--a situation that was quite the norm in Victorian England. She boldly offers her virginity up for auction inside The House of Gabriel, and commands a staggering sum in the process.
Ms. Schone's use of the gothic style harkens one back to the classic gothic novels of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nearly everything that occurs in this novel happens at night, or in the dark. Strangers from the past, mysterious motives, and the dark deeds that belie the gentility of Victorian England are woven skillfully.
Gabriel could teach Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester a thing about brooding heroes; and like Rochester, he too finds deliverance in the steadfast love of a woman who is as strong as himself. Victoria is a wonderful character, and no shrinking violet--she may not know what will come about in the end, but she dares what other women will not--to love a man with too many scars upon his soul.
His best friend Michael des Anges (from Ms. Schone's previous novel, The Lover) is scarred on his face; Gabriel is scarred both body and spirit.
An interesting note: There is an undercurrent of deep and fierce love between Gabriel and Michael, one that would suggest an almost homosexual bond. Like the frank eroticism, some readers may be put off by this, but I think Ms. Schone handles this matter wonderfully. In fact, I think their relationship goes beyond our notions of love between men, to see a deep and lasting committment that was forged in the most frightful of circumstances.
The eroticism in Gabriel's Woman is sexuality the way it should be written--passionate and intense. Ms. Schone's scenes drew me in and kept me there. Her atmosphere drips with the sounds, scents and sometimes overwhelming emotions of sex. In the shower scene (which I think was wonderfully written), I actually felt as if I were a voyeur, sharing this frightningly intense moment between two souls, and not merely two bodies.
That I believe, is what makes Robin Schone far superior to what has come before in the genre of erotic romance. Ms. Schone doesn't write textbook manuals on the act of sex, nor does she pepper her descriptions with silly metaphors ascribed to the various male and female genitalia (you readers who read steamy romances know exactly what I mean). Robin Schone writes about the emotions of two people who are making love; we see inside of them, and in some ways, become them, in their lust and in their longing.
Once again, Robin Schone has delivered a romantic tour-de-force, a novel that will spark lively and much needed debate. I am recommending all of her books to any woman I see with a romance novel in her hands. I am also recommending her books to men who think they've got the exclsuive rights to anything frank and explicit.
Robin Schone once again challenges our notions of female sexuality and male power with Gabriel's Woman. Like her previous short works and novels, neither Gabriel or Victoria are the stereotypical romance couple. Gabriel, a former prostitute and now owner of an exclusive brothel that bears his name, is a man tormented by an act so tragic, that it has shaped him into the untouchable being he now is. Wealthy women will pay any price for his services, but he knows they would never pay the price for loving the man he truly is, nor would they wish to see that part of him.
Victoria is a dimissed governess whose only crime was not responding to a former employer's advances--a situation that was quite the norm in Victorian England. She boldly offers her virginity up for auction inside The House of Gabriel, and commands a staggering sum in the process.
Ms. Schone's use of the gothic style harkens one back to the classic gothic novels of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nearly everything that occurs in this novel happens at night, or in the dark. Strangers from the past, mysterious motives, and the dark deeds that belie the gentility of Victorian England are woven skillfully.
Gabriel could teach Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester a thing about brooding heroes; and like Rochester, he too finds deliverance in the steadfast love of a woman who is as strong as himself. Victoria is a wonderful character, and no shrinking violet--she may not know what will come about in the end, but she dares what other women will not--to love a man with too many scars upon his soul.
His best friend Michael des Anges (from Ms. Schone's previous novel, The Lover) is scarred on his face; Gabriel is scarred both body and spirit.
An interesting note: There is an undercurrent of deep and fierce love between Gabriel and Michael, one that would suggest an almost homosexual bond. Like the frank eroticism, some readers may be put off by this, but I think Ms. Schone handles this matter wonderfully. In fact, I think their relationship goes beyond our notions of love between men, to see a deep and lasting committment that was forged in the most frightful of circumstances.
The eroticism in Gabriel's Woman is sexuality the way it should be written--passionate and intense. Ms. Schone's scenes drew me in and kept me there. Her atmosphere drips with the sounds, scents and sometimes overwhelming emotions of sex. In the shower scene (which I think was wonderfully written), I actually felt as if I were a voyeur, sharing this frightningly intense moment between two souls, and not merely two bodies.
That I believe, is what makes Robin Schone far superior to what has come before in the genre of erotic romance. Ms. Schone doesn't write textbook manuals on the act of sex, nor does she pepper her descriptions with silly metaphors ascribed to the various male and female genitalia (you readers who read steamy romances know exactly what I mean). Robin Schone writes about the emotions of two people who are making love; we see inside of them, and in some ways, become them, in their lust and in their longing.
Once again, Robin Schone has delivered a romantic tour-de-force, a novel that will spark lively and much needed debate. I am recommending all of her books to any woman I see with a romance novel in her hands. I am also recommending her books to men who think they've got the exclsuive rights to anything frank and explicit.
February 24, 2010
A 2* means it was ok, and that is what this book was, just ok.
After meeting him in "The Lover" Gabriel was the most darkest, tortured hero I have ever read about. He was cold and had feelings for only one person, his friend Michael who he prostituted with.The book ended leaving me with the feeling that issues between the two men Gabriel and Michael had been abandoned and left undone.
Gabriel was trained as a boy to pleasure men and women, he now runs the House Of Gabriel(an upmarket whorehouse?)Due to a trauma 14 years earlier he has remained untouched since,focusing on revenge against the two men that have caused his personal demons. With one dead this story centers around his revenge on the second man. Amid all this we have Victoria, a governess that has fallen on hard times. She enters his club one night to sell her virginity, Gabriel thinking that she is working for the second man buys her. He soon realises she is another pawn in the second mans games and decides to protect her. Here the story begins.
This book could have been brilliant but instead it went back and forth too much.Gabriel and Victoria didn't spend enough time together and though this book is labeled "erotic", I think it was page 200 before they even kissed. There are some very erotic scenes in it and also an anal sex scene so be warned if you are skittish.
I finished the book feeling that Gabriel and Michael really loved each other, Maybe RS should have elaborated and focused more on the kiss between Gabriel and Michael.(ok I just wanted them to be together) There was no real chemistry between Victoria and Gabriel and I thought the sex scenes in "The Lover"and "The Ladys Tutor" hotter !!
After meeting him in "The Lover" Gabriel was the most darkest, tortured hero I have ever read about. He was cold and had feelings for only one person, his friend Michael who he prostituted with.The book ended leaving me with the feeling that issues between the two men Gabriel and Michael had been abandoned and left undone.
Gabriel was trained as a boy to pleasure men and women, he now runs the House Of Gabriel(an upmarket whorehouse?)Due to a trauma 14 years earlier he has remained untouched since,focusing on revenge against the two men that have caused his personal demons. With one dead this story centers around his revenge on the second man. Amid all this we have Victoria, a governess that has fallen on hard times. She enters his club one night to sell her virginity, Gabriel thinking that she is working for the second man buys her. He soon realises she is another pawn in the second mans games and decides to protect her. Here the story begins.
This book could have been brilliant but instead it went back and forth too much.Gabriel and Victoria didn't spend enough time together and though this book is labeled "erotic", I think it was page 200 before they even kissed. There are some very erotic scenes in it and also an anal sex scene so be warned if you are skittish.
I finished the book feeling that Gabriel and Michael really loved each other, Maybe RS should have elaborated and focused more on the kiss between Gabriel and Michael.(ok I just wanted them to be together) There was no real chemistry between Victoria and Gabriel and I thought the sex scenes in "The Lover"and "The Ladys Tutor" hotter !!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2010
I seldom ever leave a novel unfinished once I have begun reading it. There are exceptions, however, and this so called "erotic" novel was one of them.
The only comments that I can give after reading the few chapters are even fewer. Her style is like that of Hemingway's, choppy and a stream of consciousness so that I found myself constantly rereading the same sentences and paragraphs just to understand what the author was trying to say. To me, the writing seemed far to staccato to even enjoy. I don't think I will be reading any more of Ms. Schone's erotic novels.
The only comments that I can give after reading the few chapters are even fewer. Her style is like that of Hemingway's, choppy and a stream of consciousness so that I found myself constantly rereading the same sentences and paragraphs just to understand what the author was trying to say. To me, the writing seemed far to staccato to even enjoy. I don't think I will be reading any more of Ms. Schone's erotic novels.
July 4, 2012
I was 100% confused for the first half of the book....then 90% confused at the end. This was the strangest, crudest, weirdest, most confusing "romance" book I've ever read. There is absolutely NOTHING I want to remember about this book. I can't get those wasted hours back.....
January 5, 2019
I think I prefer “The Lover” to “Gabriel’s Woman”... They are both good, but the first book has a lot more of a gothic feel. This one fell a bit more flat. The ending was interesting though, and overall was still well written so I gave it four stars all the same.
One thing I would say is that in both books I do not quite feel like the suspense is ever fully unraveled and explained.
*Spoiler alert, for instance, I’m still not particularly sure if Gabriel really does have sexual feelings for Micheal, and if he does, what is it that has been overcome?
One thing I would say is that in both books I do not quite feel like the suspense is ever fully unraveled and explained.
*Spoiler alert, for instance, I’m still not particularly sure if Gabriel really does have sexual feelings for Micheal, and if he does, what is it that has been overcome?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2012
4.5 Stars - Impressive Book
While this novel is the second book in a dualogy, it is not necessary that you read “The Lover” in order to understand this book. However, you would be in for a slightly better reading experience if you did read it first.
Ms. Schone does wonders in evoking a very vivid picture of pleasure just by using words. And not the words one would normally expect in an erotica novel. This author can make you shiver just by her trademark perfect timing, the words and the style with which they are used. This is prime sensuous erotica and has the added edge of being set in Victorian England.
While some of her inner-dialoguing can get somewhat tedious, I think she uses this repetitiveness to make us really understand the depth of the characters despair and the feelings that they invoke in the reader are going to be either something you love, or something that you will hate. .
In this book, the second of The Angels” dualogy we meet Gabriel once again. We fist met Gabriel in “The Lover”. Gabriel was one of two boys trained from childhood (or close enough to it) to be a prostitute. One boy was trained to please women and one was trained to please men. Gabriel has not touched a woman in over 14 years. Until one night a caped woman enters his brothel to auction her virginity and self off.
Victoria believes that she had friends out on the street. For that is close to where she is living after her last position as Governess was taken so cruelly from her. She has been left with no references and decides that this was her best bet to get the money she would need to live the rest of her life without too much worrying.
What she does NOT know is that she has no friends, she is being used as a pawn by the gentleman who so cruelly raped Gabriel all those years ago. Now people will start dying. But, even though there is suspicion and lies abounding, Victoria becomes mesmerized by Gabriel and his silver eyes and even the kindnesses he shows all the while not trusting her. Who is going to be dead at the end of this book? If any couple deserves a happily ever after it is Gabriel and Victoria.
While I may have somewhat disliked this novel the first time I read it, I’ve recently re-read it and find that as I have matured so have my tastes and enjoyed this book immensely the second time around.
While this novel is the second book in a dualogy, it is not necessary that you read “The Lover” in order to understand this book. However, you would be in for a slightly better reading experience if you did read it first.
Ms. Schone does wonders in evoking a very vivid picture of pleasure just by using words. And not the words one would normally expect in an erotica novel. This author can make you shiver just by her trademark perfect timing, the words and the style with which they are used. This is prime sensuous erotica and has the added edge of being set in Victorian England.
While some of her inner-dialoguing can get somewhat tedious, I think she uses this repetitiveness to make us really understand the depth of the characters despair and the feelings that they invoke in the reader are going to be either something you love, or something that you will hate. .
In this book, the second of The Angels” dualogy we meet Gabriel once again. We fist met Gabriel in “The Lover”. Gabriel was one of two boys trained from childhood (or close enough to it) to be a prostitute. One boy was trained to please women and one was trained to please men. Gabriel has not touched a woman in over 14 years. Until one night a caped woman enters his brothel to auction her virginity and self off.
Victoria believes that she had friends out on the street. For that is close to where she is living after her last position as Governess was taken so cruelly from her. She has been left with no references and decides that this was her best bet to get the money she would need to live the rest of her life without too much worrying.
What she does NOT know is that she has no friends, she is being used as a pawn by the gentleman who so cruelly raped Gabriel all those years ago. Now people will start dying. But, even though there is suspicion and lies abounding, Victoria becomes mesmerized by Gabriel and his silver eyes and even the kindnesses he shows all the while not trusting her. Who is going to be dead at the end of this book? If any couple deserves a happily ever after it is Gabriel and Victoria.
While I may have somewhat disliked this novel the first time I read it, I’ve recently re-read it and find that as I have matured so have my tastes and enjoyed this book immensely the second time around.
August 30, 2012
In The Lover, we met Gabriel, a 40-year-old man, a former prostitute who was taught to please men. He and his best friend Michael met as children and protected each other as they lived and survived on the streets. Now, Gabriel is an adult man, the wealthy owner of a popular brothel. But Gabriel has another nightmare addition to his horrifying past. When he was younger, he was brutally raped by two men. The first man, who made him beg for death or to be let go, is dead. The second man, who made him to his shame and horror beg for pleasure is still alive and now stalking him.
34-year-old Victoria Childers was born a lady. In young adulthood, she fled her father and became a governess. Months later, she was fired from her job without references and forced to slowly sell all she owned and live in the slums. Unknowingly, she is being steered toward Gabriel's direction. She knows that he was a prostitute. She knows that he has serviced both men and women. She doesn't know that he can not bear to be touched since his rape 15 years before. Now she is caught up in Gabriel's horrifying story and finds that she has become the unwitting pawn of "the second man."
Unlike your typical romances, Robin's Schones men are flawed and her women are in their 30's and somewhat plain. Gabriel hates himself, hates his best friend, hates his life, hates his past, and wants desparately to love. Victoria, too, hates her past, her present, and isn't too positive about her future. She needs someone to care for and makes it her goal to remove the pain that is instilled in Gabriel's soul.
There are some shocking realities in this story that Schone is not afraid to tackle. Men do experience rape. Sex is often a mix of pain and pleasure, and there is often a fine line drawn between the two. Contraception is necessary. Schone takes you to the edge of what one finds "acceptable" in romance novels and then gently pushes you over. Her villian in this novel (the second man) is pure evil. She described him so not by the rape of Gabriel, but by trying to turn the innocent love of two boys into something dirty and sexual. The climax of this novel addresses the few loose ends in "The Lover." An intense, suspenseful, an erotic story that will undoubtedly shock many people.
34-year-old Victoria Childers was born a lady. In young adulthood, she fled her father and became a governess. Months later, she was fired from her job without references and forced to slowly sell all she owned and live in the slums. Unknowingly, she is being steered toward Gabriel's direction. She knows that he was a prostitute. She knows that he has serviced both men and women. She doesn't know that he can not bear to be touched since his rape 15 years before. Now she is caught up in Gabriel's horrifying story and finds that she has become the unwitting pawn of "the second man."
Unlike your typical romances, Robin's Schones men are flawed and her women are in their 30's and somewhat plain. Gabriel hates himself, hates his best friend, hates his life, hates his past, and wants desparately to love. Victoria, too, hates her past, her present, and isn't too positive about her future. She needs someone to care for and makes it her goal to remove the pain that is instilled in Gabriel's soul.
There are some shocking realities in this story that Schone is not afraid to tackle. Men do experience rape. Sex is often a mix of pain and pleasure, and there is often a fine line drawn between the two. Contraception is necessary. Schone takes you to the edge of what one finds "acceptable" in romance novels and then gently pushes you over. Her villian in this novel (the second man) is pure evil. She described him so not by the rape of Gabriel, but by trying to turn the innocent love of two boys into something dirty and sexual. The climax of this novel addresses the few loose ends in "The Lover." An intense, suspenseful, an erotic story that will undoubtedly shock many people.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews