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Count Maxime's Virgin Mass Market Paperback – December 30, 2008

by Susan Stephens (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 76 ratings
See all formats and editions
When Tara is paraded under Count Lucien Maxime's nose, he's taken with her sweetness…and her wonderfully voluptuous figure.

Naked and nervous, Tara finds herself in the count's bed. She realizes too late that everything is paid for…including her. Stripped of her innocence and her heart, Tara vows never to make the same mistake again. Then tragedy throws her into the count's path once more. She has something he wants. And she won't be leaving until he gets it….
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harlequin Presents
  4. Publication date
    December 30, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    4.22 x 0.5 x 6.61 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    037312791X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0373127917
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Stephens is passionate about writing books set in fabulous locations where an outstanding man comes to grips with a cool, feisty woman. Susan’s hobbies include travel, reading, theatre, long walks, playing the piano, and she loves hearing from readers at her website. www.susanstephens.com

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harlequin Presents; Original edition (December 30, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 037312791X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0373127917
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.22 x 0.5 x 6.61 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 76 ratings

About the author

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Susan Stephens

Susan Stephens

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April 2024

Coming June 2024…

3 HIGHLAND ROMANCES: anthology with CAROLE MORTIMER and ANGELIQUE ARMAE

Out now…

UNTOUCHED UBTIL THE GREEK’s RETURN

BOOK #11 in the ACOSTA series!

KIDNAPPED FOR THE ACOSTA HEIR

Another fast, hard ride with the bad boys of polo

*Meet the hottest man in polo

*Travel like a superstar on Alejandro Acosta’s superyacht

*Discover the sumptuous side of London, before exploring a luxury ranch located in the vast expanses of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Spain.

HEAT, PASSION, CONFLICT, AND LOVE TO MELT YOUR HEART!

USA Today Bestselling Author, Susan Stephens, has sold over 10 million books in both contemporary and fantasy romance. Translated into 26 languages across 109 countries, Susan believes one hundred per cent in the fun and escape to be found within the pages of a book.

A professional singer before meeting her husband on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta, in true romance style, they met on Monday, became engaged on Friday and were married three months later.

Sue enjoys entertaining, travel, and going to the theatre. To relax she reads, cooks and plays the piano, and when she's had enough of relaxing she throws herself off mountains on skis, or gallops through the countryside singing loudly

BLOOD AND THUNDER

(Books 1-4 - also available as a collection)

1. ALEXEI

2. DANTE

3. DIEGO

4. CESAR

5. CONOR

HOT HEX

1. WARRIOR WITCH

2. ROYAL WITCH

3. CHRISTMAS WITCH

4. FIRE WITCH

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
76 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Des Budiman
2.0 out of 5 stars Less chemistry in the end
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2017
Verified Purchase
The first parts of the book have intrigued me but I just did not know why I could not get the feeling and chemistry in the end. To me, the novel version is more intriguing prolly because it is hard to portray all parts of the story in one manga.
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Another Frequent Online Shopper
4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful surprise, with wonderful characters to love.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2009
Tara, the heroine in this story, is such a mega push-over at first. But she is *meant* to be, so the transformation of her character will be all the more powerful for the reader later; and this combination is very effective in making us champion our heroine's causes. Tara finds her backbone early-on in the story, and keeps going strong.

By the last page, I felt that warm happy glow that every reader yearns to feel when they finish a book, and was determined to write a review for others so they hopefully wouldn't pass this book by; and as a way to also thank the author for such a wonderful book.

This book has delightful characters, which are Tara the large-sized sweet-natured, happy & amusing young woman; and Count Lucien, the kind & sexy hero of our story. Think of Lucien as an Alpha-wannabe. Ultimately, he loves Tara too much to be mean towards her for very long--refreshing!

Lucien meets Tara and her sister, Freya, when they all meet up with his brother Guy for dinner. Freya is the unscrupulous sister of the story, and she is using Tara in order to try to snare Guy, who is rich. Tara has a Reubenesque figure, and is quite shy about it. Lucien thinks Tara is the sexiest creature he has ever seen; and while she thinks she is totally unappealing, he thinks she is a bit of a femme fatale on the make for rich guys! A lot of humor is found just in that bit of the story, which is a breath of fresh air.

One thing I really love in a story is an author who gives her characters a sense of humor, or at least can note the humor in several situations. Susan Stephens does this, and Tara & Lucien are both such lovable characters.

There is drama in the story too, but you'll read as wimpy young Tara transforms into a woman beautiful in spirit, with a new self confidence that warms the heart. You'll be cheering her on like I was, and Lucien comes to realize she is not the low-life he thought she was pretty soon in the story, but has his own issues to work past, in order to admit his love for Tara.

I know others will give the story away, which is what some people look for in order to decide if they even want to buy a book; but I can't bring myself to spoil some of the surprises for readers, and hope the above review will be enough for most people.

This is a Keeper-shelf book, for me!
One person found this helpful
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DruEl
2.0 out of 5 stars One of the worst romance novels I've read
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
I had to skip pages of this book. It was poorly written and read like prom at one time. I wish I could return it.
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E.Capri
1.0 out of 5 stars Emotional abuse and a flimsy plot
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2009
I read this book in two days it wasn't great but neither was it horrible; the main characters Lucien and Tara weren't the most exciting people.

The plot of the story is Tara and Lucien met through their siblings, Lucien's brother and Tara's sister who is out to land a wealthy guy, drags 18 yr old Tara along on a double date to distract and entice Lucien, while her sister workers on the younger brother. Tara who is painfully shy, with low self-esteem and always comparing her weight and appearance to her "prettier, slimmer older sister", she practically hero worshiped her and was willing to do anything to gain her older sister's approval.

Lucien the jaded aristocrat is attracted to Tara and takes a liking to her, all the while being aware of her sister's gold-digging motives and also suspecting Tara of being in cahoots with her, despite misgivings on both sides the two share a mutual attraction that leads to a one night stand, that leaves the young and impressionable (now no longer a virgin) Tara with the notion that she is in love with Lucien. I don't understand because he never gave any indication that he felt anything for her outside of lust, and to make matters worse he leaves money beside the bed after its all said and done, apparently enough cash for Tara to put herself through school to pursue a degree in childcare.

Fast forward two years later both Tara and Lucien's siblings are married to one another, had a child and now are both died, leaving their child orphaned. Tara is now 20 yrs old and in care of her infant niece. Lucien has come back into her life after two years of no contact, only to claim custody of their niece and also believing that Tara has slept with his deceased brother, a claim that was made by Tara's sister sometime with in the intervening years.

Within hours of reuniting Tara and Lucien jump back into bed together, he still holding her in a mixture of lustful contemptuous feeling and not much else, meanwhile she's still harboring this delusion of unrequited love. After some initial bickering and bulling on Lucien's part they come to the conclusion that Tara should temporarily move into Lucien's home to make the transition of custody smoother for their niece.

For the rest of the book Tara attempts to find some self-esteem while Lucien flat out tells her he doesn't and can't love her, but he is willing to make her his mistress until he decides to marry someone he deems suitable for the role of his wife and countess.

I think being that the heroine was so much younger than the hero these two were mismatched from the start. The heroine's naïve and dogged determination to find the good in people who constantly emotionally abuse and use her, from her sister, brother-in-law and Lucien, it all got on my nerves. Also, her willingness to accept whatever was dished out to her while fully realizing she was being treated like a doormat, but still allowing it was plain annoying after the first few chapters.

The bullying personality of Lucien's character was all that was his substance he had no redeeming qualities, although the author tried her best to make him sound like "little boy lost" which I guess was suppose to explain and excuse his actions towards Tara. I didn't get the impression he cared about her outside the bedroom. Their happily ever after didn't ring true to me, not to mention there were so many gasps in the story. I never understood why Tara's sister accused her of sleeping with her husband. This was not one of Susan Stephens best work, I've read better from her
10 people found this helpful
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kasey0517
1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth The Time
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2009
If I could, I would give this book 0 stars. This would have to be the most frustrating, annoying, irritating pathetic book ever written. The heroine is ditzy, with a capital D. She has no substance, no personality, nothing. I couldn't read the book without wanting to gag, or throw it across the room, hoping it would slam into a wall. I cannot believe that any decent editor would allow this kind of rubbish to be printed.

Tara and Lucien are blah. There is nothing about them that makes them stand out, makes them 'pop'. Its the same old tired story. Virgin meets experienced man, is seduced then abandoned. Two years later he shows up again, only because he gold digging sister and his brother are dead and he doesn't want his niece raised by someone with such low morals (hello - pot calling kettle black?) so he comes up with the idea that he needs to pay her off to get her out of his, and their nieces life.

*Yawn*

Last Susan Stephens book ever.
8 people found this helpful
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Thuy-Trinh
1.0 out of 5 stars ...WOW
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2011
With the exception of the 4 star review, I'm going to have to agree with everyone else's reviews. This romance was AWFUL. I found myself skipping ahead in the chapters just so I wouldn't ruin my quiet time with intra-personal rants about how awful the characters and plot was. I DO NOT recommend this book to anyone; unless you plan on using it as lining for a hamster cage or something...
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Top reviews from other countries

tracey spencer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
Good
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