Sleeping Beauty

Publisher's Summary

The beautiful courtesan Coco Wilde is famous for her ability to keep the wealthiest men in 19th-century London hanging on her every smile. But she maintains a careful emotional detachment from all admirers. When she meets Sir James Stoker, however, the raven-haired Coco is attracted by his radiant smile and dangerous eyes. Determined to capture her, James must find out how to break the spell of indifference Coco has cast around herself. As the passion between Coco and James awakens, Sleeping Beauty heats up with the intensity of their love-making. Vivid images, tumultuous emotions, and exotic settings add to the drama of their sizzling romance.

When Sleeping Beauty was first published, it was chosen by the Romance Writers of America and Romantic Times as one of the top 10 books of the year. A steamy retelling of the well-known fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty uses the classic children's story as a springboard to a very adult quest.

©1998 Judith Ivory (P)2001 Recorded Books

Critic Reviews

"A beautifully romantic fairy tale, exquisitely told and infinitely satisfying." (Booklist)
"Ivory...enchants her readers with intense sexual tension, understated but powerful symbolism, great plotting and sympathetic characters who buck tired types." (Publishers Weekly)

Very entertaining and different

This novel was better than most romantic novels in that the heroine was an experienced woman rather than a brainless first timer. I enjoyed a more mature, less predictable read. Their first love encounter reminded me of "Body Heat", sizzling.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Violet Primm is Davina Porter

First, let me say I remember reading this in middle school and I liked it. It wasn't a Flowers from The Storm but it was a great read, as are all of her books. My favorite is The Indiscretion, but I digress. Her Judy Cuevas books are great too. When I heard the sample, immediately I tried to find more info about Violet Primm through Google, because being a devout Outlander fan since 2000s I knew that voice sounded familiar. And look and behold, even back in town 2010 or 2011 someone thought she sounded like the Goddess, Davina Porter. And they are on point. This is Davina Porter. I can't really find anything else on Audible read by her. Not a lot on Google. I haven't even started to listen to this book yet, but Hey I will listen to Davina Porter read the phone book ( remember those?) and I remember loving the book when younger. I will enjoy this.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

move to the next

the writing was longwinded - dry and hard to get into. It fell short accross the board. even the reader could not get this one up and running.
I did not retain one thing in the book - it was as if each chapter was a book on its own since it felt totally disconnected from the rest. I could not tell you one thing about any one character! no impact on me whatsoever - except for the annoyance factor as to have listened to it!

8 of 11 people found this review helpful

Way too much pondering.

Needed more depth of plot and depth of relationship development. It seemed like nothing happened in the first half of the book.

Too often the author used artificial means to draw out conflicts. Someone in love did not act the way someone in love would act. Example: a bad guy is going to frame James for two crimes. Coco hears this. She and James are in love. When Coco next sees James she does not warn James about the bad guy’s plans. She thinks to herself James is smart he can take care of himself. She tells him nothing! Later things happen, but I couldn’t get over her initial silence.

Another example: Coco was supposed to meet James. She did not show up, so James went to find her. He sees her leaving a man’s home. Instead of asking what she was doing there, he goes through lengthy ponderings and assumes she was seeing the man for sex. He says something insulting to Coco. She replies that she was visiting her aunt who worked there. Why did she visit her aunt instead of meeting James? Apparently the aunt meeting went longer than she planned. That may be reasonable, but I saw it as something contrived for James to worry, be angry, and ponder about.

Later James was supposed to meet Coco, but he didn’t show up. There was no reason he couldn’t have gone to her for a moment to explain the problem.

I did not understand the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale comparison. Coco was a courtesan with many lovers in her past. James is her new love. There is a bit of the older woman, younger man thing, but it’s not significant. She is 37. James is 30. At times she worries that she is too old for him.

NARRATOR:
I plan to avoid any book narrated by Violet Primm. Her voice sounds like an elderly smoker. Not soft enough for Coco the heroine. She would say part of a sentence in a screechy high pitch and another part in a grimy growling low tone. This was for men and women. Her voice was irritating and grating.

Genre: historical romance, older woman younger man

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Really horrible

This book was really boring and I was only able to get halfway through. The characters are uninteresting and their romance is slow to develop and I found myself just not caring about it. I wish I could get a refund for this purchase.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Not Pleased

I disliked this book because there was little or no conversation between the characters. It was more narration than actual conversation. It was boring.
The characters were introspective. The story line was slow moving and unimaginative.

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

Judith Ivory scores again!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

These characters are fascinating and they have a rare chemistry. Really a fun read because of their interaction.

What other book might you compare Sleeping Beauty to and why?

Judith Ivory is incomparable except to Judy Cuervas, her other name. Dance by Cuervas is similar.

Have you listened to any of Violet Primm’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not paid attention to names, except Patrick Tull, Anna Fields, and Frederick Davidson, but I think Violet Primm was very good and I would definitely listen again to her recordings and pay more attention to names now that I can get more books through Audible. I am not sure, but I think she did The Widow's Kiss which I enjoyed.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt anger for the bad way the characters were being treated. I was involved and I loved the older woman, younger man theme.

Different

Odd tale for Judith Ivory and the ending is unbelievable.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

A clever take on a fairy story

A beautiful, in depth love story with the background of a fairy story. Beautifully crafted as usual by Judith Ivory and perfected by the talented narrator Violet Primm/Davina Porter.