When a Duke Loves a Woman (Sins for All Seasons, #2) by Lorraine Heath
Series: Sins for All Seasons #2
Published by Avon on August 21, 2018
Genres: Historical
Pages: 400
Goodreads

FINAL DECISION: I absolutely adored Thorne in this book. He is kind and a true gentleman. Gillie is fierce, strong and independent but caring. And I’ve lost track of the times that Heath has brought me to tears in one of her books — including this one.

THE STORY: Antony Coventry, Duke of Thornley had an extraordinarily bad day. Left at the altar by his bride, Thorne goes searching for her in Whitechapel and finds himself robbed and left for dead. Gillie Trewlove comes across the seriously injured stranger near her tavern and finds herself responsible for nursing him back to health. She also ends up agreeing to help Thorne search for his runaway bride. As the two search, the connection between Thorne and Gillie grows. But these are two people who cannot live in the other’s world no matter how much they may want to.

OPINION: I absolutely loved Thorne in this book. He is such a fine man. From the moment he meets Gillie, he finds his worldview changing, but he is always respectful and kind to those around him. I just love a guy who is willing to turn his world around for the woman he loves. At every stage in this book, Gillie is important to him. He respects her. He wants to understand her. And he puts her above his own wants and needs. Absolutely loved him.

Gillie is a strong and kind woman. Independent, she handles her dominant brothers and never accepts being thought of as inferior because of being female. She knows her mind and has managed to make a profession for herself as a tavern owner. Yet she has a shyness and a desire for quiet that may seem contradictory to the bright woman who manages a tavern and yet it seems completely in character.

I loved these two together. Their different stations seem destined to keep them apart even though they quickly find that they want to try and bridge that distance. What I really liked is that there is not some big external bad keeping them apart, but their own expectations and the world’s expectations.

Heath has a way of writing that rips my heart out. Even though I KNOW there will be a happy ending, I found myself openly weeping during the story. Beautiful and tragic and such an expression of love and hopelessness. The characters, the emotion of the story and the fact that I really cared about these two make this a wonderful read that I will definitely turn to again.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book sets up the next book in the series with Finn.

CONNECTED BOOKS: WHEN A DUKE LOVES A WOMAN is the second book in the Sins for All Seasons series. The romance in this book is self-contained. Although there are overlapping characters in the series, this book can be read as a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

 

Beyond Scandal and Desire (Sins for All Seasons, #1) by Lorraine Heath
Series: Sins for All Seasons #1
Published by Avon on January 30th 2018
Genres: Historical
Pages: 384
Goodreads

“Is there not some part of you, some deep dark part of you, that longs for scandal?”

FINAL DECISION: A bit slow in developing, the romance between Mick and Aslyn builds up to a wonderful finish especially as the two spend quiet time together getting to know one another. In setting up the premise of the series and introducing all the characters, some of the emphasis on the couple is lost for the first third of the book, but the ending was unexpected and made me interested in the next in the series.

THE STORY: Mick Trewlove is the illegitimate son of a duke and a self-made businessman. Determined to get revenge for his father abandoning him to a baby farmer (where he might have ended up dead), Mick intends on ruining the Duke’s legitimate son and seduce the son’s betrothed. Lady Aslyn Hastings has been raised in all comfort and in expectation of marrying the Duke’s heir. But now that her betrothal is at hand, Aslyn feels something missing and is tempted to the scandalous Mick.

OPINION: For me, the highlight of this book are the clandestine meetings between Mick and Aslyn which show growth and companionship and a true relationship. There is great beauty in how these two people find something special together.

Aslyn is a sheltered woman whose future has been planned out since childhood. It was always expected that she would marry her guardians’ son and eventually become a duchess. As this book begins, Aslyn begins to find out that having one’s future planned out means that she has missed so much of her interactions with others (especially men). Because she has never been courted or even flirted with other men because of the expectation in everyone’s minds that she is settled.

When she meets Mick, she is tempted towards the scandalous, but rather than relying on the typical scandal plot line, this book instead focuses on the wrongness of the social rules that brand an illegitimate child with the sins of his parents. This book is deeply interested in the rules and the fates of those illegitimate children and the injustice of the social ostracism.

Mick is up to no good as this book begins, but finds himself challenged by his meeting with Aslyn. As the book begins, he is also trapped by the rules about illegitimacy. He seems to believe that all will be well if he can cause his father to acknowledge him (because being an acknowledged bastard is better). In many ways, his relationship with Aslyn turns his own notions around as well. He is a self-made man who cares about others despite his own perception of himself.

I loved the relationship between Mick and Aslyn as he shows her respect and treats her as a person — not just a beautiful woman. The times that they spent together were gentle and moving. I found their discussions to be a wonderful and quiet way of developing their relationship.

I also really liked the twist in this book which was unexpected and interesting (reading the author’s note at the end gave a insight as well).

The only problem I had with this book was the first third which was slow as it introduced quite a number of characters (which will be the subject of future books). The setup slowed the book down for me, but once the story truly began, I was caught up in the developing relationship between Mick and Aslyn.

WORTH MENTIONING: I love the potential stories of Mick’s siblings.

CONNECTED BOOKS: BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE is the first book in the Sins for All Seasons Series about six illegitimate children raised as siblings. I have hopes that the series will include stories for each sibling.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

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