The Pursuit of Pleasure

The Pursuit of Pleasure - Elizabeth Essex Actually I give this book 4 1/2 stars.

Two critical factors I absolutely loved:

1. The Characters - sometimes you read a book and can't differentiate one character from the next. Not so in PoP. You may not always like Lizzie, but you're damn well going to remember her. She's head-strong, passionate, and vulnerable all at once. Ms. Essex constructed Lizzie so three-dimensionally that I was viscerally with her as she felt the highs and lows (and really low, lows) of the book. The fire between Lizzie and Jamie is - wow - undeniably sexy. Even the rough stuff made sense based on how Ms. Essex built their characters and their relationship.

2. The Plot was hardcore. Not your typical historical "fluff" plot. This one has teeth. I appreciated that.

Why I gave it 4 1/2 instead of 5 stars:

Although I enjoyed the complexity of the background plot, at times it was a little hard to follow and a couple of the shadow characters didn't seem necessary - they had one or two short scenes that left me confused instead of in suspense. But this was just my opinion and might not be an issue for anyone else. ;)