Fallen from Grace

by Laura Leone and Laura Resnick

Book Overview

While trying to save her spiraling career, Sara Diamond befriends her new next door neighbor, Ryan Kinsmore. A soft-spoken younger man with charm and good looks, Ryan leads a mysterious double life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1410401812
• ISBN13: 9781410401816
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Five Star Trade
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Unique and compelling!

Kudos to Ms. Leone for having the courage to write a romance where the characters were forced to deal with a truly gritty conflict with no easy answers. More publishers should be willing to let authors explore such fascinating, dark, and gripping sides to love. Both characters were well-drawn and easy to root for; as a reader, this book made me examine my own feelings about forgiveness and understanding. This is a romance novel that makes you *think* and *feel*. A story with real substance!

A new twist on the traditional romance...

Without giving too much of the book away, let me just say that at first I was wary to read a book about a male prostitute, but after thinking it over for a while, I decided to try it. I'm so glad I did. This was one of the most poignant stories of unconditional love, friendship, and forgiveness that I have ever read. The redemption of the hero's character is something unlike I've ever seen in a romance novel. Any of you out there who know anything about writing romance know that CONFLICT is where it's at. Every writing seminar I've even been to has pushed me to ask myself "How can I up the stakes?", "How can I make it EVEN worse for my characters?" The end is so much more satisfying when we do that. And Laura Leone's book does it in spades. She pens for us a beautiful story of one man's struggle to become worthy and the woman who knows he already is. Simply beautiful, and so worth the time it takes to read it.

Unconvential romance with biting edge- gritty

Laura Leone has risen above the formula that is the hallmark of standard romantic fiction. This is a novel of grit and depth. The frank sexuality and situations depicted do not leave much the imagination- they are supposed to shock and even repulse. Ryan Kinsmore is a handsome young yuppie from initial appearances and his new neighbor Sara Diamond is impressed by his gentle nature, big heart and warmth. She is shocked when she finds out he was a teenage runaway who ended up a male escort- something he stil is 10 years later. Ryan as "Kevin" is a highly paid prostitute and even though he loves Sara he feels unworthy of her love and has little true self-value. His madam Katherine saved him from the streets and groomed him into the suave man he presents to the world but on the inside he sees himself as a scared kid who did anything for money. This book is very much a book of discovery and finding the courage to make a big change as it is a romance. I found Ryan to be an empathetic character and believable. Most stories with prostitutes are women- few are men, yet more and more men work as sex workers today servicing men and women ( watch Law and Order SVU any episode to verify this) and the whole objectification of the service provider and the way they see themselves was done well here. Sara is an interesting woman- she is a writer who is in the midst of her own career turmoil so these two meeting at a critical crossroads is no accident. The love making between Ryan and Sara is sweet once it happens- the emotions and trust issues rule their heads and hearts and bodies. This is an adult story with very adult themes- not for the faint of heart. Story is set in San Francisco and there is a secondary subplot involving Sara facing that someone close to her is gay and her having to accept this. Again- if you are offended- read something else. If you are open to what is in a person's heart and body- this is a great read with many unexpected touches of humor as well as driving pathos as Ryan finds a way out of the life he has lived for so long.

An Amazing Read.....

Wow. This is not like any story Ive EVER read. In the front of the book, the author mentions that romance readers are more interested in a great story than a safe one. She really nailed it when she said that. What a book! "Fallen From Grace" had great characters in its h/h, Sara and Ryan. This book , however, belonged to Ryan. I loved the story. The way it didnt apologize for itself when it got gritty..didnt try to gloss itself over..it was blunt, to the point, real, and so achingly romantic. The main draw for me though ,was definitely Ryan. What a genuine HERO. The things that he overcame..his gentle and sincere treatment of others...his compassion..all of this wrapped up in such an appealing package. He was a bit damaged from his secrets ,yes, but so Wholly a MAN. I LOVED this book..I read it in a matter of hours it was so unputdownable. This is a book that is a keeper for me for sure.

There should be more romances like this one

Sara is a writer who had to move into a cheaper apartment because her publisher decided to discontinue her mystery series. She meets the boy next door, who seems to be everything a woman could want. He's younger, considerate, smart, sweet, gentle, and gorgeous to boot. The more time they spend together, the more obvious it is to each of them that the other is what they want.But Ryan hasn't been totally open with Sara, and before they get too serious he has to tell her that he's a high priced prostitute. Ryan ran away from an abusive home when he was young and was rescued from the streets after being raped; his rescuer was a madam, who trained him to be just what women want. He sees sex as business, completely different from making love.Sara obviously sees it another way. She loves him and wants him, but can't stand the thought of receiving him from another woman's bed.That's the main conflict between the two. The wonderful thing about this novel is that when I heard the premise I thought it unbelievable, but in reading the characters Leone created I completely fell into the story and believed it. Sara and Ross were real people, with real feelings between them, too strong to ignore. And their conflicts weren't contrived, but part of who they were.This is probably the best romance I've read this year - not just because it's original, but because it's genuine. There are no secret babies, no uber-villains, no big misunderstandings, just two people who really need each other and all the problems they have to work through before they have a life together and love. How they do that is one of the more romantic stories I've read.