FINAL DECISION: Entertaining and sweet redemption for women who are more pear shaped than fashionably thin, PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE provides a warm conclusion to the Essex Sisters quartet.

THE STORY: Miss Josie Essex has obtained the unfortunate nickname ‘the Scottish Sausage” because of her full figure. Abandoning the possibility of a traditional courtship, Josie is persuaded by family friend, the Earl of Mayne to throw away her ugly restrictive corset, obtain some clothes to flatter her curvy figure and realize the attractive possibilities of her own body.  When Josie is almost ruined by a boorish rakehell, Mayne steps up to save her.

OPINION:  I enjoyed this book precisely because Josie, the young woman with a poor self-image of herself, the woman who is taunted by bullies having been given the moniker “the Scottish Sausage” manages to claim the man who has gotten away from every woman in this series (including Josie’s own sisters). In this story, there is something especially lovely about the jaded Mayne falling for the lively youngest Miss Essex.  Josie is not a stereotypical sweet gentle miss. She is tart and argumentative and simply wonderful.

I honestly am usually more interested in the hero than the heroine, but this book was one where I so identified with Josie that I focused on her journey.  While she is young, I love how she is able to keep Mayne once she catches him.  I loved her personality which is so different from the mousey wallflower one might suspect.  She feels like an incredibly well rounded and complex character.

One of the interesting parts of this book is how James has Mayne and Josie fall in love in the quiet.  There is no “ah, ha” moment. Yet, by the time the big moment comes at the end of the book, it is clear that these two are perfect for one another.  Mayne has been bored with life, not truly engaging with life.  Josie is so full of life, that she pulls Mayne with her.

My one quibble with the story is that I thought that Josie deserved a bit more in her happy ending with Mayne. After he had been matched with so many women, I would have liked something just a little more demonstrating his devotion to Josie alone.

There is also a secondary romance involving Mayne sister.  I enjoyed that romance as well and it neatly wrapped up all the characters from the series.

WORTH MENTIONING:  The epilogue has a little “in the future”

CONNECTED BOOKS:  PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE is the fourth book in the Essex Sisters series.  It can be read as a standalone but is a great culmination of everything that has happened in the series.

STAR RATING:  I give this book 4 stars.

FINAL DECISION:  This book started out slowly because there are so many characters and situations to set up as this book kicks off the Essex Sisters series. Once the story focused on Tess and Lucius, however, I loved how it went.  Took too long to get there, however.

THE STORY:  When their father dies, the four Essex sisters become wards of the Duke of Holbrook.  The duke means well, but he is a drunkard and a bit clueless about what to do with his four unexpected wards.  The oldest sister Tess realizes that she needs to marry quickly so that she can help her younger sisters marry well.  While Tess gets engaged to an earl, she can’t stop thinking about Mr. Lucius Felton who is just too complicated and tempting for Tess.

OPINION:  This book started out slowly for me.  There are multiple storylines and characters that clearly will be explored during the other three books in the series.  This book sets the table and because of that, this book takes a long time to get going.  There are some false starts until the real romance between Tess and Lucius really gets started.

Once the romance and storyline switches to focus on Tess and Lucius, I loved it.  The two end up being so sweet together.  The contrast between their marriage of convenience and Tess’s sisters marriage of passionate love becomes clear as Lucius falls deeply in love with his wife and the care the two have for one another becomes clear.

I especially liked how Lucius quietly cares for those important to him.  He feels deeply and I loved how he makes things happen.  He is hero that I really liked and not at all like the rake that I expected from the blurb.  Rather, he felt like a real gentleman with a little naughty streak.  Despite his intentions, he clearly falls for Tess and he can’t help how much he wants to care for her.

Before Tess and Lucius gets together, I was a bit annoyed by her character as she appeared clueless at times.  The mixing and matching of the men and women gets sorted out, however, and then the story begins to really take shape.

I hope that the future books in the series can build upon the ending of this book which was strong.

WORTH MENTIONING:  This book sets up all four books in the series and thus has a lot of characters material and set up to get through.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU is the first book of the Essex Sisters series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3.5 stars.