The first thing that caught my eye about Harper St George’s books was the covers! They are stunning and I LOVE the eye catching, bright colored dresses. I know we aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover but when a cover looks that appealing, it’s hard to pass up! That’s how I ended up with her first novel on my desk—cover lust!
Imagine my thrill when the book turned out to actually be GOOD too—-not just a pretty face as it were. Sometimes pretty covers do not equal pretty books but in this case the book lived up to my hopes rather than my expectation and I found a new auto buy author so all around a win for me. Since the first book a couple of years ago, I have read all the other books in the series.
But never fear dear readers, even though this is part of a series, all of the books can be read out of order. The author does a good job at keeping the focus on the couple at hand and introducing other couples from previous books in passing rather than having them really be the main focus. So no need to worry about going back and reading other books before diving into this one. If you are looking for a steamy read with great characters this one is for you!
Summary
A scandalous arrangement between a London rogue and an American duchess leads to lavish stakes.
Despite her illustrious title, Camille, Duchess of Hereford, remains what she has always been—a pariah. Though her title means she’s technically accepted by London Society, the rebellious widow with her burgeoning interest in the suffrage movement and her American ways isn’t exactly high on every hostess’s guest list. But Camille starts to wonder if being an outcast is not without its perks when the tantalizing answer to her secret fear appears in the shape of Jacob Thorne, the illegitimate son of an earl and co-owner of London’s infamous Montague Club.
Jacob is used to making deals with his club members—he’s just not accustomed to them being beautiful women. Nor have the terms ever been so sweetly seductive as Camille’s shocking proposition. To finally buy his own club and gain the crucial backing of investors, Camille offers Jacob the respectability of a fake engagement with a duchess. In return, the tempting widow has one condition: she wants Jacob to show her if it’s possible for her to experience pleasure in bed.
The lure of such a bargain proves too delicious to resist, drawing the enterprising rogue and the wallflower duchess into a scandalous game and an even more dangerous gamble of the heart. (summary from Goodreads)
Review
This series has had lot of progression from the first book. In the first book, while I loved it, I felt like there wasn’t the emotional or deep character development that I was hoping for. Ultimately it didn’t bother me enough to not rate this book high, but I do recall wondering when we would get more in-depth characters and as the series has gone one we get more and more into the emotional side of the characters which I am loving! This book being the most emotional yet! Typically with historical romances it’s mostly about the sex and the romance but in this book we get emotion with sex and romance so all around it ticked all the boxes for me! In this book Camille had to work through the trauma of her first marriage and I liked watching her and Jacob do just that throughout the book. With the book dealing with some more heavy content (abusive relationships), it had the potential to be a bit of a downer, but I loved how the author and character guided readers through that content with grace and ease.
Let’s also talk about the elephant in the room—-the sex scenes. I am not a huge fan of crass and over the top sex scenes but neither am I a fan of the generic ‘they kissed and made for the bedroom and woke up with a healthy glow’ situation either. In this book the author struck the perfect balance between sexy and steamy to satisfy fans of more graphic sex, but also managed to make them tasteful for fans who prefer something less porno-ish. It’s a hard thing to do but St George does it with ease and I recall that from her other novels as well! Her sex scenes are always well done and balanced and even if they are a little racy at times, I don’t feel like they are grossly over the top.
The romance between Camille and Jacob was believable and interesting. I liked how they played off each other and helped each other when needed. And I love how a one night stand essentially, turned into something more lasting and real. I thought this was a great romance and I found all the things I was looking for and expecting from St George. I have heard this might be the last in this series and while that makes me sad, I am looking forward to what she writes next! She is a strong writer with interesting characters and steamy romances—-can’t go wrong with that combo!
Book Info and Rating
Format 336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Expected publication: May 23, 2023 by Berkley
ISBN 9780593440988 (ISBN10: 0593440986)
Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley in partnership with HFVBT, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced
Rating: 4.5 stars
Genre: historical romance
The Lit Bitch 