Gwen’s review of Passion For the Game by Sylvia Day
Historical romance published by Brava (Kensington) 29 May 07

This historical romance is set largely amongst the aristocracy in Georgian England. The heroine, Maria, Lady Winter is a beautiful, strong woman who is in a very real fix. The hero, Christopher St. John, is a beautiful, strong man and is also in a very real fix. Luckily, they are thrown together and manage to help each other out. All while being true to themselves, and all while falling in love. I LOVED THIS BOOK! Oh sorry, did that slip out too early? I normally save the opinion until after I say something about the book’s premise.

This book is related to Day’s Ask For It (out now) and A Passion For Him (coming in October, and with my favorite cover model, Nathan Kamp).

This is an amazing book. While reading, I was blown away by so many things, it’s tough to know where to start and it will be tough to not sound like a silly fangirl. This was the first Sylvia Day book for me, but it won’t be the last. It’s tempting to say it seemed so good because what I’ve been reading lately hasn’t – but that isn’t the case; I’ve read some pretty damn good books lately. Passion For the Game is just that good.

The emotional development between the two main characters is deliberately paced and extraordinary. The erotic scenes are seriously steamy and help move the story; fair warning – during these scenes Day uses words that some may find distasteful (e.g., starts with “c” rhymes with “hunt”), but the use is appropriate for the characters and the historical period. The suspense and adventure are top-notch. All woven into a believable, emotionally charged plot that is so tightly written that my attention didn’t wander or waver. I laughed, I cried, I panted, and I enjoyed the hell out of myself. To the point that I didn’t get much sleep last night while I finished the thing.

Maria is one of the strongest heroines I’ve ever read about. She’s still very much a woman, but she’s her own woman. She protects those she loves. Leads an unapologetically independent life and has, frankly, very little use for men beyond friendship. It was a very nice change to see a strong female character who stays true to her personality and motivation throughout the book.

And, good lord, I adore Christopher. I hope one day I find a man who is so willing to open himself up to love. Takes him a while to figure it out, but the progress and changes you see in his realization is riveting.

Maria and Christopher find a believable “soul mate” pairing in each other. If you know me, you know I abhor the concept of “soul mating” in a novel – I find it trite and, well, corny. However, with these two characters I believed it. I know. Shocker, but it’s true. I CAN be wrong about some things. Maria and Christopher are truly so much alike, they know what the other will do, almost before they do it. They still manage to surprise each other – in oh-so-fun ways – but there’s a certain solace for them not having to explain themselves to each other. Especially considering the lives they’ve lead to that point. It’s wonderful to read how they break through each other’s barriers, learn to trust, and learn to love.

My favorite scene in the book is between Maria and Christopher on a settee. It was so emotionally raw, so sensual, that I had tears in my eyes reading it. The feeling I had while reading it last night is still with me, in fact. It was just gut-wrenching in its primitive sexuality and profound emotion. I won’t say more about it – I don’t want to ruin it for the rest of you.

BUY THIS BOOK! You will regret passing it up if you don’t. Thank you, Ms Day, for providing me one of the most memorable experiences of my romance reading career.

Grade: A+

     Summary:

     For the notorious Lady Winter, seduction and duplicity are required to survive. Cunning and precision are the tools of pirate Christopher St. John. Pitted against one another, they are a surprise waiting to happen…

     SET A CRIMINAL TO CATCH A CRIMINAL

     Christopher St. John and Maria, Lady Winter are infamous in Society for their misdeeds and their charming allures. Wherever they go, scandalized whispers and covetous glances follow. A ruthless pirate and a widow whose two husbands have met untimely deaths, the wickedly renowned figures are even more intriguing to the authorities. Now they’ve been set on the most provocative of tasks – St. John is released from prison to learn the “Wintry Widow’s” intimate secrets, while Lady Winter is charged with performing a similar deception in reverse. One will succeed. One will hang.

     FROM BALLROOM TO BEDROOM, THEY’RE PERFECTLY MATCHED

     With the fate of loved ones in the balance, the unlikely couple embarks upon a battle of wills and wits that takes them from glittering ballrooms to the depths of the underworld to the candlelit pleasures of the bedroom. As they fall helpless to a desire and startling affinity neither expected, the deadly web of their subterfuge closes in, forcing them to make a choice. Individual freedom? Or an audacious scheme to keep an impossible yet irresistible love…

     Read an excerpt.