His attraction to her is astounding, as is their interaction with each other. Sarah charms Sebastian with her old fashioned manners and uppity attitude, despite her new station in life. She even goes so far as to call herself a courtesan, and not a prostitute or whore as others are wont to maliciously label her. Though her life isn't going the way she expects right now, she still holds onto a dream that someday a man will rescue her, a man who will not care about her soiled past. That man though is right under her nose, though neither Sarah nor Sebastian realize it. As his plans for revenge continue, Sebastian finds that he doesn't want to hurt Sarah. In fact, all he wants to do is to make love to her. When he takes her virginity, the jig is up for him. He has to find a way to make amends for all the trouble he's caused her. As long as she doesn't find out the truth of how she came to be living in a high priced brothel, things are bound to be fine. Unfortunately, the truth has a way of revealing itself. Will Sarah and Sebastian's growing love be able to escape unscathed from the torment of the past or are they doomed to suffer an unrequited passion for each other?

Courtesan is the story of a fallen woman and the man who drove her to it. Intense and emotional, Sarah and Sebastian have a lot of problems to work out before they can find their happy-ever-after. Sebastian is a hard man to get to know due to the difficulties he faced growing up. He has turned into a hardened man and is not afraid to take out his punishments on Sarah. However, readers will definitely detect an underlying core of caring and vulnerability in him as the story continues. I admit I was getting fed up with him at some points but I'm glad I stuck with the story to see it all play out. Sebastian definitely turned into a hero I could admire. Sarah is similarly a confusing character. One minute a prim and proper high society woman, the next moment she's the flirtatious coquette. It's a bit unnerving to watch her switch roles so often, but one comes to find out that that is just her personality. She's whimsical, priggish, but always kind. Watching these two warily circle each other in the game of love was refreshing and very satisfying. The Courtesan isn't your average historical romance story. It has its own spicy tone that will keep you reading until the very end.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Sarah W
October 9, 2005