This debut novel from 2006 is a sexy historical in the style of Elizabeth Hoyt, Nicole Jordan, and Cheryl Holt. It is set in Regency times.
Grade: C+ (Average)
Sensuality: R
Long Ramblings: I pretty much forgot the plot as soon as I finished the book. Basically, beautiful Julia Freemont is left with huge gambling debts after her daddy commits suicide. She offers herself to a previous suitor whom she had previously rejected. Because he was illegitimate. He accepts her offers and wants to train her to be the perfect mistress s-l-o-w-l-y. So slowly that the first 300 pages is nothing but one looooooong foreplay. I got really bored about halfway thru the book when I could see what the author was doing. And that is pretty much the whole book. There is a small sideplot about someone trying to kill the hero but it’s pretty obvious who is the villain and why he is trying to kill him. It is wrapped up pretty quickly at the end.
Since both Elizabeth Hoyt (The Raven Prince) and Renee Bernard (A Lady’s Pleasure) came out with sensual debut novels in 2006, I think this book fell by the wayside. I’m sure the fact that it’s published by Dorian Press (who?) doesn’t help, either. It’s nowhere near as good as The Raven Prince (which had singular characters with a nice balance of humor, wit, and sensuality and gets my vote for best book of the year) but I would put it on par with the Bernard. If you have already read the Hoyt and Bernard and have no more Nicole Jordans on hand to read, I think this might be a good option.
