The Price of Desire

by Leda Swann

Caroline Clemens comes to a scandalous arrangement with Dominic Savage. Penniless and responsible for four younger siblings following the death of their debt-ridden father, she agrees to become the willing plaything of this darkly dangerous man who has saved her family from the workhouse--and in repayment, she will fulfill his every physical need. . . eagerly and without hesitation. Rather than feel shamed by her long fall from innocence, Caroline...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061176443
• ISBN13: 9780061176449
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Avon Red Impulse
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Read

Really enjoyed this read. Grabbed me on page one. Which is always nice. I wanted it to be longer and go into more detail which I take as a good sign. It kept the characters pretty two dimensional. I had wanted to read more communicating between our leading lovers but all in all very enjoyable. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Swann.

Romance Junkies review of THE PRICE OF DESIRE

Caroline Clemons is the daughter of a bankrupt banker who not only left his family without means to support themselves, but who also killed himself and left Caroline to pick up the pieces. Betrothed to Captain Bellamy, Caroline attends a party with the hopes of convincing her fiancé to marry her sooner rather than later. However, the captain has other plans, plans that do not include a penniless wife and her four brothers and sisters. Terribly frantic and out of options, Caroline accepts a scandalous offer from the notorious Dominic Savage. She will enjoy a night of sensual delights with the compelling man before succumbing to a fatalistic end the next day. Dominic Savage's enigmatic gaze lights upon Caroline Clemons during a lavish party. Knowing that the young widow of a dead banker might be inclined for some company, he begins his blazing seduction only to be told she is engaged and to whom. Letting her know that he will be there for her when she is jilted, Dominic sits back and patiently waits. When he finds her crying quietly, he applies a few touches and fleeting kisses - Caroline is his. Too late, however, Dominic realizes that the widow was in fact a maiden. When she appears to have vanished into thin air the next morning, Dominic will stop at nothing to find her. THE PRICE OF DESIRE took me on an emotional roller coaster. My feelings for Dominic fluctuated from moment to moment - I was alternately mad at him for bargaining with Caroline, then giddy about his prominent feelings of respect and love. His love for Caroline made their relationship complete. While I didn't always like his methods of bringing Caroline into his life - bargaining and setting a price for her to be his mistress - I couldn't help but be in awe of his ability to love Caroline completely and unconditionally. I expected her feelings to be no less and was not disappointed. THE PRICE OF DESIRE is a tie-in with the novel SUGAR AND SPICE, also released by Leda Swann. I was treated to another look at characters first introduced in SUGAR AND SPICE and found myself wanting to go back and re-read both books once more for good measure!

Body and Soul Desire

The desire to have someone body and soul turns into love in this erotic historical romance tale of the beautiful young and innocent virgin Caroline Clemons who suddenly finds herself and her siblings penniless after the suicide of her prominent society banker father. She is depending on the honor of Captain Bellamy to hold to their engagement agreement. When he breaks the engagement and offers her the position of mistress instead of wife, Caroline is devastated. She sees her father's way as the easy way out. As she sits in the conservatory at a society gathering and plans the taking of her siblings life and herself, the handsome and wealthy Dominic Savage approaches her. He is under the misconception that she is the widow of the now deceased banker. He has desired her for his mistress from the moment he saw her across the room. Thinking this is to be her last evening alive, she gives up her innocence to Dominic with such passion that he wants her body and soul. Later that night, Caroline discovers she cannot go through with her plan and the following morning she and her siblings enter the local workhouse. Once again the evil Captain Bellamy tries to manipulate her to becoming his mistress and arranges it so that she is removed from the workhouse. As she and her siblings are being removed to the streets once again, Dominic steps in to rescue her. Now that she has no other alternative and he appears to be more honest and upfront in his offer, and mostly because she cannot forget the passion and pleasure she experienced when he took her virginity, she takes him up on his offer. He takes her and her family in and provides a home, education and dowries. She in turn is to provide him with every desire and pleasure and he will teach her everything he has learned about pleasure in India. At first Caroline is shy and uncomfortable, but soon learns to make the best of the arrangement. When Dominic takes her on a trip to spend time at a house of pleasure called Sugar and Spice, he comes to realize that he does not want to share Caroline with any other man. He discovers that he not only wants her to belong to him body and soul - he now wants to win her heart. He then begins to court her, but when a strange twist of fate causes him to lose his fortune, he can no longer keep her and she moves to the small estate given to her by Dominic in their original agreement. Caroline is then pursued by numerous gentlemen desiring her pleasures, but it is only Dominic that fills her thoughts and desires. When she finally has no choice but to offer herself up for auction in order to continuing supporting herself and her siblings, one bidder offers "...my love for you, because that is all I have to offer." The Price of Desire is a passionate, moving story of hardship, desire, passion and love that is not only a good sensual story, but well-written with substance. An excellent erotic read.

fine historical erotic romance

Her banking father's death leaves Caroline Clemens and her younger siblings in monstrous debt. Her only hope to keep her and her brothers and sisters out of the workhouse is her pending marriage to Captain Bellamy. However instead of her fiancé meeting her, he is courting a different female as the Clemens brood is no longer worthy of his social climbing ambitions. Dominic Savage introduces himself to Caroline and offers her a deal to pay off the debts of her late father Isaac and insure the future of her siblings outside of the workhouse in exchange for her fulfilling his every male desire. Reluctantly seeing no options she agrees to a deal with the handsome devil. Caroline refuses to wallow in pity or shame as she becomes Savage's mistress. He, in turn, teaches her the pleasure of sex including tough love. As she fulfills his desires with passion and he takes what she offers and much more, she falls in love with her "owner", but knows that soon he will discard her just like Bellamy did as a mistress has short bed cycle. Unbeknownst to Caroline, Dominic fell in love with her from the moment he recognized the beating of her courageous heart. This Victorian era (it may actually be Regency) erotic romance showcases the choices a poor person had as Caroline must choose between becoming a kept woman or along with her younger siblings go to the workhouse where the destitute work for room and board (think Oliver Twist). The relationship between the lead couple seems realistic for the nineteenth century (some will say today too) though some readers will be turned off as he bought her, pleasure trained her; and forced her to do things she did not want to do. Still sub-genre fans will appreciate THE PRICE OF DESIRE as Caroline's courage and sacrifice make a fine tale. Harriet Klausner