Ravishing Ruby by Lavinia Kent
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Favorite Bound and Determined Novel

“It would have been better if he had never returned from Manchester, having him here made her want things she should not, dream things she should not. And it made her careless.”

FINAL DECISION: Emotional, sexy, hot, RAVISHING RUBY is the story of a “fallen” woman who lives her own life without many regrets and the man she cannot forget. I love how these two fulfill a need in one another.

THE STORY: Ruby is Madame Rouge, a notorious brothel owner. Several months ago, she had an enounter with Captain Derek Price which was emotional and where she revealed her true self — Emma, bastard daughter of a duke and granddaughter of a merchant. The two spent one night together and then Derek left on the way to his marriage. Now he has returned to London with his soon to be fiancee in tow and finds himself unable to forget about Ruby or to stay away from her.

OPINION: This was my favorite of this series. Emotional with characters that I cared about, this book — while sexy and hot — was definitely more about the characters and their relationship than about the sex. In many ways, because the sex was so easy for these characters, they had to struggle with the other parts of their relationship.

I loved Ruby because she accepts who she is and is unrepentant about her sexual past. As she remarks to herself — Derek has had more lovers that she has. While society might judge her differently, she refuses to allow herself to be defined by others. What Ruby does struggle with is her love for others. She fears that she will have to submit to her grandfather’s vision of her future in order to keep them in her life.

In that way, Ruby and Derek’s struggle in this book is similar. They both want to gain the love and affection of their family and thus feel somewhat compelled to force themselves into a role they are not completely comfortable with. Neither likes to be controlled and for that reason they find a kindred spirit in the other and the freedom that their relationship provides.

These two spend a lot of time roleplaying with one another. It allows them to disclose different aspects of themselves that may be hard for them to easy show to another. The scenes are pretty sexy as well.

Because they are so well attuned to one another, the scene when it appears that they are doomed to be parted made me cry (even as I knew there would be a happy ending). Definitely my favorite of the series. In fact, the ending of this book makes me hope that we will learn more about Derek and Ruby in the future.

WORTH MENTIONING: Ruby is a brothel owner and has herself had varied sexual experiences. This book is not for the reader looking for the reluctant prostitute, virgin brothel owner or missish heroine.

CONNECTED BOOKS: RAVISHING RUBY is the third novel in the Bound and Determined series. It can be read as a standalone although I recommend that readers read the novella REVEALING RUBY which is about the same couple and takes place prior to this book.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.