Seduction

In this riveting popular history, the creator of You Must Remember This probes the inner workings of Hollywood{u2019}s g... (more)

In this riveting popular history, the creator of You Must Remember This probes the inner workings of Hollywood{u2019}s glamorous golden age through the stories of some of the dozens of actresses pursued by Howard Hughes, to reveal how the millionaire mogul{u2019}s obsessions with sex, power and publicity trapped, abused, or benefitted women who dreamt of screen stardom. In recent months, the media has reported on scores of entertainment figures who used their power and money in Hollywood to sexually harass and coerce some of the most talented women in cinema and television. But as Karina Longworth reminds us, long before the Harvey Weinsteins there was Howard Hughes{u2014}the Texas millionaire, pilot, and filmmaker whose reputation as a cinematic provocateur was matched only by that as a prolific womanizer. His supposed conquests between his first divorce in the late 1920s and his marriage to actress Jean Peters in 1957 included many of Hollywood{u2019}s most famous actresses, among them Billie Dove, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Lana Turner. From promoting bombshells like Jean Harlow and Jane Russell to his contentious battles with the censors, Hughes{u2014}perhaps more than any other filmmaker of his era{u2014}commoditized male desire as he objectified and sexualized women. Yet there were also numerous women pulled into Hughes{u2019}s grasp who never made it to the screen, sometimes virtually imprisoned by an increasingly paranoid and disturbed Hughes, who retained multitudes of private investigators, security personnel, and informers to make certain these actresses would not escape his clutches. Vivid, perceptive, timely, and ridiculously entertaining, Seduction is a landmark work that examines women, sex, and male power in Hollywood during its golden age{u2014}a legacy that endures nearly a century later. (less)

"A brilliantly original history that explores the shifting cultural mores of courtship, told through the lives of remark... (more)

"A brilliantly original history that explores the shifting cultural mores of courtship, told through the lives of remarkable women and men throughout history. If sex has generally been a private matter, seduction has always been of intense public interest. Whether the stuff of front-page tabloid news, the scandal of nineteenth-century American courts, or the stuff of literature across the eras, we are fascinated by stories of seduction and sex. In the first history of its kind, Clement Knox explores seduction in all its historical and cultural incarnations. Moving from the Garden of Eden to the carnivals of eighteenth-century Venice, and from the bawdy world of Georgian London to the saloons and speakeasies of the Jazz Age, this is an exploration of timeless themes of power, desire, and free will. Along the way we meet Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughter Mary Shelley, and her friend Caroline Norton, and reckon with their fight for women's rights and freedoms. We encounter Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world, who became entangled in America's labyrinthine and racialized seduction laws. We discover how tall tales of predatory vampires, hypnotists, and immigrants were mobilized by Nazis and nativists to help propel them to power. We consider how after seduction seemingly vanished from view during the Sexual Revolution, it exploded back into our lives as The Game became a multi-million bestseller, online dating swept the world, and the ongoing male fascinating with manipulating women was exposed. In a big-thinking cultural history told through an extraordinary range of stories and sources, Knox explores how our ideas about desire and pursuit have developed in step with the modern world. This is a bold, modern charter of seduction, from the birth of the Enlightenment to the explosion of romantic literature and right up to our contemporary moments of reckoning around 'incel' culture and #MeToo." -- (less)

Surrender: From the dazzling ballrooms of glittering London society to magnificent, cursed estate in the distant wilds o... (more)

Surrender: From the dazzling ballrooms of glittering London society to magnificent, cursed estate in the distant wilds of Yorkshire, comes the deliciously wicked story of a thoroughly unconventional courtship -- and a thrilling midnight rendezvous that could only lead to love... At four and twenty Victoria Huntington thought herself quite adept at fending off fortune hunters until she came under siege from Lucas Colebrook, the darkly disturbing new Earl of Stonevale. Amidst the brightly plumed birds of the town, Lucas was a hawk. And when he held out the lure of moonlit rides and wild, reckless midnight escapades, Victoria found herself powerless to resist. But becoming Stonevale's companion in adventure was far more dangerous undertaking than Victoria could ever imagine. For the attractive Earl would use her every weakness to woo her, to win her, and ultimately to wed her. And soon the amber-eyed lady would find herself ensconced in a crumbling mansion deep in the English countryside... where the real reason for her hasty marriage becomes all too apparent...and where the ghosts of her dark-stained past are waiting to rise up in a terrifying plot that will threaten her life, her honor, and the only man she could ever love. (less)

Perfect for readers of Abbi Glines, Seduction returns to the Devil's Den, a Texas strip club where hearts can't hide whe... (more)

Perfect for readers of Abbi Glines, Seduction returns to the Devil's Den, a Texas strip club where hearts can't hide when the chemistry is right. The night Marisela Gonzalez rides up to the Devil's Den on her motorcycle, running from trouble and looking for her sister, she finds more than a place to hide out and work her red-hot body. She meets a guy brave enough to stand by a tough, terrified nineteen-year-old girl who's been in the wrong place with the wrong jerk one too many times. And he's ready to show Marisela how a real man treats the woman he desires. An ex-cop taking over as the club's head of security, Craig Hanson can handle anything--except the urgent need he suddenly feels to hold Marisela tight. Commitment has never been his thing, but all that changes when Craig finds something too real to deny between them. Sensual and vulnerable, Marisela's got a scary past. And when it comes knocking, Craig goes all in to protect her--because seduction is the ultimate game changer.Advance praise for Seduction "I devoured Seduction in one sitting. Craig and Marisela are H-O-T, hot! I'm completely hooked on this series and am looking forward to Sin."--USA Today bestselling author Jamie K. Schmidt Praise for Violetta Rand's Surrender "Surrender is a new adult romance for those who like their romance on the down-and-dirty side, with their heroines still surprisingly innocent and their heroes as knights in slightly tarnished armor."--Library Journal"Edgy and kick-ass, Surrender is a sizzling romance that you'll be hard pressed to put down!"--Stacey Kennedy, USA Today bestselling author of the Club Sin series "Surrender is a wonderful journey of passion, pleasure, and the true meaning of love. You know a book is great when you're still turning the pages at three in the morning to read 'one more chapter.' I will confess right up front, Garrick is my new book boyfriend. The man is hot, hot, hot!"--USA Today bestselling author Sandra Owens "A gritty, well-paced, enthralling read, Surrender hooked me from the start."--Bestselling author Kathryn le Veque Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title. (less)

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As the Club Destiny series heats up, New York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards delivers a steamy, erotic tale of ... (more)

As the Club Destiny series heats up, New York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards delivers a steamy, erotic tale of lust and seduction. Ashleigh Thomas might have made the biggest mistake of her life. Uprooting life as she knew it, moving back to Dallas to be closer to her family, she finds herself much closer to the one man who she had never been able to say no to. Attempting to hide the fact that she moonlights as an erotic romance author, she quickly finds herself in his arms and his bed, hoping he'll fulfill some of those deep, dark desires she has always written about but never experienced for herself. Alex McDermott has spent the better part of a decade trying to convince himself to stay away from the alluring Ashleigh, but when she moves back home, he finds he's no longer willing to resist the overwhelming desire she inspires in him. But he's got a secret too-- one that might just push Ashleigh out of his life for good. And that's something he's not willing to let happen. It doesn't take long for the heat between them to ignite into a wildfire of lust, but can they stop hiding from each other and, more importantly, stop holding back? (less)