I loved her medieval series, but am finding her others novels to be of uneven quality.  I HATED Lessons of Desire (and one other one where I can't recall the name) and so far am unimpressed with the Seducer.  Makes me wonder whether I should even bother with Stealing Heaven, which is in my TBR?

I think Stealing Heaven was the last good book she wrote.  When she started with The Seducer series, I stopped liking her work.  

See I enjoyed the Seducer, the Charmer and the rest of that series.  Never read Stealing Heaven.  I didn't hate Lessons of Desire but I was not enamored of it - it could have been better.

I really enjoyed By Arrangement, but the others I read seemed to go sooooo slooooow:  The Seducer, The Charmer, Lord of Sin

The first Madeline Hunter book I read was The Romantic, and I confess:P  I thought it was a stinkburger.  There, now everybody knows *sob*...  I have a bunch of her books set aside to read because so many people rave about her, and I thought maybe I was just defective, but I keep them TBR thinking I'll pick them up eventually and give her another go.  Or maybe not:P  I do have the medievals, so I think I'll read those.

Stealing Heaven is part of her medieval series, so probably worth trying -- though I confess, I've tried to read it at least twice without being able to get through it.

hell's fire, I just ordered The Seducer because I've read so many good things about her.  I'll give it a whirl, though.  I can ditch a book in a heartbeat, so no big deal; just that I really wanted another good author!

See, I like the middle of her Regency series the best -- THE SINNER and THE ROMANTIC.

Most of her medievals are about power struggles which isnt a favorite theme.

I like The Sinner and The Saint. The Charmer is so so and The Romantic is too sappy for me.

Starting the series with The Seducer was not a good idea. It was not a strong book.

I like Lord of Sin, though - shallow that I am :)

June

Karen said:.......I'll give it a whirl, though.  I can ditch a book in a heartbeat, so no big deal; just that I really wanted another good author!

Karen -- she is a good author (or should I say was?).  I have 2 or 3 of her stuff on my keeper shelf.  I recommend By Arrangement.......stick with it because it has a slooooow start.

By Design

Lord of 1,000 Nights.

Update on the Seducer. The pacing of this book is off.  It started off good; really drew me in and then had approximately 150 pages of utter slow-moving boredom in the middle, where we know the hero has a lot of secrets and nothing is revealed nor does much happen to move the plot forward.  This part should be shortened or re-written in my opinion.  I'm liking the ending a lot better.  Once the secrets are revealed, Wow.  Talk about explosive.  I go for the really emotional books.  If it gets an emotional reaction out of me, that's good.  I like highly emotional, good character development and lots of steam.  A little lacking in the steam department so far =(

I am a Hunter fan, though not everyone is - she does tend to build her stories slowly along the way, sometimes more introspective, and sometimes you have to catch the nuances along the way to fully appreciate as you read - but that's fine for me.  The medievals are the best, her strong point.  My favorite of all the meds. is By Design.  The hero of 
Stealing Heaven is the brother of the heroine in By Design and appears in that as a young boy, so I would suggest reading By Design first for that reason. 

IMO, that regency series following the medievals was so-so, but I did like The Romantic, the last,  the best (which she hadn't planned on initially).  Then she started a new series with Rules of Seduction which was back on track for her, a favorite for me,. and I am one of the few who did like Lessons, lol.  Secrets of Surrender not as much, but I am interested to read Christian's story in the next book, Sins of Lord Easterbrook, hope he measures up to my interest.

I remember her having a difficult time for a few years with an ailing mother which distressed her, and possibly her own health at one time (not sure on that) - may have affected the writing (that regency series was written during that time), but I'm liking her stories much better again.  Lord of Sin was ok, but I did enjoy Lady of Sin a lot, I liked the hero in that one.

For someone new to her, I'd suggest starting with the medievals - either By  Design or By Arrangment, or Rules of Seduction, then you have to make up your mind; not everyone is a fan of medievals, or those stories that build slowly and/or her style of writing.

Pam

I LOVED by Design; by Possession was pretty good too, as was by Arrangement.  Lessons of Desire and Rules of Seduction were stinkers I M O. 

Just finished the Seducer.  I officially give it a C+ rating.   Good beginning, great ending, but dragged horribly in the middle.  OK in the steam department.  Could have been an outstanding book if Hunter had moved the plot forward a little more in the middle.  Severe pacing problems.