The price of temptation

[sevenswells]

Oh God, I had the most delightful read: Harlequin-fake historical yaoi novel, lent to me by berylia. It's called "The Price of Temptation" by MJ Pearson and I really can't post the cover in this journal because it's too much bad taste even for me to bear, but you can find it very easily on Google images or amazon.

Where to start? First, it was so good to read a real yaoi book (and not a gay novel, which is quite different, I insist) at last, you know, with pages of paper and printed words, written by a woman. It had the scent and the taste of a Harlequin, except it was gay romance -- I was sighing and smiling cheesily on the subway as I read it, carefully concealing the cover from the eyes of my fellow co-subway travellers.
Second, it wasn't bad at all; the style wasn't exceptional but it wasn't pompous or too flowery -- it can be such a put-off sometimes.
The story was quite good too, with some spectacular developments (including a final scene in a dungeon with instruments of torture and a psycho killer 0____o -- I'm not even kidding ), and most of the characters were convincing or at least engaging. All in all, I felt extremely good by the time I reached the final words, and I'm really wanting to write yaoi of my own now (hah, am I saying I'm being inspired by Harlequin-fakes? I'm afraid so).

That book also left me wondering about its author, though: what kind of woman past her forties would write historical yaoi novel, and in western countries too? I guess she's become a kind of hero to me, that woman. Take a look at her bio, which pwns total respect: "M.J. Pearson's meandering career path has included stints dispatching taxis in Vermont, making pizza in Santa Fe, digging Roman ruins in Israel and studiying nationalism in Scotland." (gotta <3 randomness)
AND she's also managed to kill me by the end of the book in only two sentences:

"What do you do once you've been snatched from the very jaws of mutilation and death? Why, you have some tea, of course, and then go to bed."

BRITISHNESS PWNS THE WORLD! \o/

Comments

[sevenswells.livejournal.com]

Heheheh, read it, adored it, my dahling ^____~ Rampa is my husband, I've married him the first time I read the book.

But I worship you taste, of course an awesome being like you should like British humor and Good Omens! *chompage*