Claiming the Courtesan: Anna Campbell

“He would marry her and possess her in every way possible.

“The Duke of Kylemore knows her as Soraya, London’s most celebrated courtesan. Men fight duels to spend an hour in her company. And only he comes close to taming her. Flying in the face of cosiety, he decides to mae her his bride; then, she vanishes, seemingly into thin air.

“Dire circumstances have forced Verity Ashton to barter her innocence and change her name for the sake of her family. But Kylemore destroys her plans for a respectable life when he discovers her safe haven. He kidnaps her, sweeping her away to his hunting lodge in Scotland, where he vows to bend her to his will.

“There he seduces her anew. Verity spends night after night with him in his bed…and though she still dreams of escape and independence, she knows she can never flee the unexpected, unwelcome love for the proud, powerful lover who claims her both body and soul.”

This book took me forever to finish reading. It started off interesting, but it quickly slowed down—which shouldn’t have happened. The plot was interesting and it had a certain tang to it from twists and turns that the readers can’t see coming, but there was just something about the way that it was written that really slowed it down. Maybe it had something to do with the language that was used?

There were A LOT of words used that could have easily been put into plain English. There is a line between someone having an extensive vocabulary and someone who seems like a total Thesaurus nut! I don’t mean that in a bad way (I sometimes use a Thesaurus for my own writing and it really is an exceptional book for any author), but I have a very hard time seeing any reader who hasn’t read as much as I have understanding all of the words that this author used. To read it, one would need a dictionary on hand. The author could have used a few less lengthy or elaborate words and it wouldn’t have affected the flow of the language, but it would have made it much more comprehensible and easier to read.

I really liked the characters and the very original plot behind this book. I just wish it had been a little easier to read. This book probably took me THE longest to read out of any book in my entire life. That may not be a bad thing—if one is reading an epic, but for a romance novel, it was just a bit much.

I will probably end up reading another of Campbell’s works, though I will only tentatively recommend this book.