|
A PROMISE OF ROMANCE (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
|
Reviews
|
|
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KYOKO AKITSU / TOOKO MIYAGI | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | WESTERN / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 180 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | M | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/27/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/20/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | RACHEL BENTHAM |
A tempestuous English lord rankles under the yoke of his family’s expectations. They tell him to marry before his 26th birthday or be cut-off! He has no intention of giving in, despite the devil cousin of his who wants his hand in marriage no matter how she has to get it! He finds his slice of hope with a winsome Japanese actor, the pretty Japanese exchange student Satsuki. Now it’s a question of whether this aspiring actor has what it takes to pass himself off as a woman and bride-to-be to the stormy lord who has claimed him. It’s all a sham, or is it? Can money really buy love? What happens if it blossoms despite all the turmoil against it? Find out in A Promise of Romance! Even though this isn’t set in eras gone by, it has all the feel of debauched Elizabethan era romances about meddlesome and greedy nobles and wayward peasants. Satsuki is the young flower plucked by the temperamental and oh so handsome lord Edward. To add to the Shakespearian flair, the sections of the story are even named after various Shakespearian plays. Their plan to fool Edward’s family and the other nobles run into some shifty characters, the most villainous of which is the evil cousin Angelica. But when she feeds Edward’s jealousy and his wine cup, a violent night of passion might undo the timid love so gently blooming between him and Satsuki. When a possible love rival for Satsuki’s affections appears, will he run into the arms of another for fear of Edward’s temper? Or will it be much ado about nothing? The book reminds me of the romance novels you see in bookstores with the feudal lord on the cover with his bare chest and some voluptuous maiden strewn across one of his muscled thighs, except this time it’s a maidenly man at the lord’s feet! The romance between them doesn’t get explicit until the last act and when that happens...oh my! You’ll be reaching for a fan in no time! The novels tend to be so much more graphic than yaoi manga with all the extra descriptions that get in there. Plus the book has a lovely full color cover page and illustrations hither and yon in the novel showing the handsome lord and his pretty conquest.
IN SUMMARY:
A tempestuous lord, a maidenly male trapped in his web, and the romance that bursts forth! |
