Category: Part of a Series

A Tempest of Desire by Lorraine Heath

On By TracyIn Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

A Tempest of Desire (Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James, #5)A Tempest of Desire by Lorraine Heath

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James, #5

Release Date: December 24, 2024

Needing some solitude, Oliver, Viscount Langdon, and heir to the Earl of Claybourne, has escaped to a private island off the coast of his family’s estate in Cornwall. Ever since he was involved in a railway accident, Oliver has suffered from nightmares and an inability to understand numbers, a disability that he has kept secret from everyone and is trying to come to terms with. Alone on the island, he can drink himself into oblivion and rage at the unfairness of it all. Tonight, a major storm has blown in and it fits his mood perfectly. When he goes out in the storm, he notices someone laying on the beach. Carefully, he brings the woman into his keep and realizes almost immediately who she is – Marlowe, London’s most infamous courtesan and exclusive mistress to the Earl of Hollingsworth, making her off limits. But time spent with Marlowe makes him want more and when he learns that her association with Hollingsworth is over, he will stop at nothing to make her his, but can he offer her what she truly wants?

Marlowe Tittering, known to all as simply “Marlowe”, never imagined she would be a courtesan, she grew up believing that she was the daughter of an earl and expected to marry well and have a family. But when her father disappeared, she and her mother learned the truth, her father was a fraud and left them with a mountain of debt. At first, she worked as a seamstress but was unable to earn enough money to support her mother and pay down her father’s debts. So, when the Earl of Hollingsworth made her an offer, she accepted and until now, she has never regretted that choice. Being Hollingsworth mistress helped her pay her father’s debts and gave her the means to pursue her true passion – ballooning. But when she learns from the papers that Hollingsworth is now engaged, she is upset and acts recklessly, by taking her balloon out with a storm on the horizon. Crashing into the ocean, she never dreamed she would wash up on the shores of the only man she has ever truly desired and the one man in London who seems immune to her charms. But there is much more to the viscount than she imagined and while she tries to save herself from heartache, she can’t help but wish for the impossible.

I have mixed feelings about this book, because while it is superbly written and has likable characters , I had a problem with Marlowe being someone’s mistress at the time of the story – not the fact that she was a mistress, just the fact that she was in a relationship with her protector while she was with Langdon and that he was friends with her protector. Later when they return to London and the situation changed, this became moot and I was better able to enjoy the book. Overall, this was a great story with lots of emotion, relatable characters, cameos from previous characters, understanding, secrets, compassion, steamy love scenes, some heartache and finally a very sweet ending complete with an epilogue. This is definitely not your typical, formulaic historical romance but is it certainly a book I would be happy to recommend. This is the fifth book in the series, but it almost reads like a spin-off and could easily be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Review: The Duke of Deceit by Anna Harrington

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

The Duke of Deceit (The Dukes of Darkness #2)

Barbara’s rating: 3.6 out of 5
Series: The Dukes of Darkness #2
Publication Date: 12/19/24
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 325

What’s a fellow to do when a determined miss steadily turns his blackened reputation as pure as the driven snow? Declare all-out war!

Lucien Grenier, Duke of Crewe has spent years assuring his reputation was so dark no amount of light could penetrate its depths. He HAS to keep it that way for the sake of his brother and the title. If he’s vile enough, people will stay away and won’t dig into the depths of his family. It doesn’t matter that his reputation is all built upon illusion and role-playing and he’s not the vile creature everyone thinks he is. Everyone must view him as vile, despicable, wicked, and selfish. So, he is aghast to learn that a lady is attributing many good deeds to him and rehabilitating his reputation.

Jessamyn (Jess) St Claire has never had a positive male role model in her life and therefore has a general distrust of them. Therefore, it is easy for her to believe that he ruined her younger sister and refused to marry her. Well! She’ll make him pay and she’ll make him marry her sister. Nothing will get in her way.

Thus, the games begin. Jessamyn against Lucien is a match made in . . . where? Jessamin doesn’t have much money, but she’s willing to spend all of it to see that Lucien is rehabilitated so he can marry her sister. Every day Lucien wakes up to some new ‘good deed’ credited to him. Oh!

I liked both Jess and Lucien but failed to follow their logic – especially Jess’s. If this man’s reputation was so black – as a debaucher of women, gambling, etc. – why would she want to tie her poor sister to him for life? Yes, she was ruined – but nobody knew – and yes, she was going to have to give up the child – but – I fail to see why Jess would campaign to put her sister and the baby in the hands of someone who could be so dangerous to them. Even if she turned his reputation to the good side, that wouldn’t mean she had turned the man to the good side. Jess is too manipulative for my taste, but I did love her relationship with her aunt.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I am glad to have met Jess and Lucien. Now, I am curious to see the story between Shay (another Dark Duke) and Sophie. There were plenty of ‘hints’ of things in this book to whet my appetite for that story and I assume it will be the next one.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.