Customer Reviews

All Night with a Rogue: Lords of Vice

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I really feel like a large chunk of this story was missing. The book reads more like an outline than an in depth exploration of two characters falling in love. The premise sounded like the movie Cruel Intentions, and since I enjoyed that I figured I'd give this a try. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this set up or the characters very much.

Alexius Sinclair, otherwise known as Sin, agrees to a plot his half sister, Belle, hatches. Sin is to seduce and then discard Juliana Ivers because she is heartless and is trying to steal Belle's beau. Sin is more than happy to help out his half sister, but is shocked to discover Juliana is a woman he had met previously and been intrigued by. Juliana's mother has brought her and her sisters to London in hope of arranging advantageous marriages for them. The family has fallen on hard times since their father died five years before. Juliana is not very interested in marriage but becomes intrigued by the rakish Sin after their first meeting together.

This story seemed like it was designed solely to make Juliana suffer in every possible way. Not only is Sin horrible toward her, but her own mother is even worse. It's bad enough to be betrayed by a man you're interested in, but it is so much worse to be betrayed by someone who loved and raised you. It wasn't a little betrayal either! It was a huge one that shocked and disgusted me. I couldn't understand why all the characters weren't more upset with the mother.

We get the lead up in Sin and Juliana's relationship and we get the conclusion of it, but the middle part where we would be expected to watch the characters grow to love each other was only told, not shown. Weeks were skipped over and mentioned briefly and by then they were in love. I really would have preferred to actually watch their feelings develop. Also, I never saw any real redeeming traits in either of the protagonists to actually make them interesting to me. They both seemed like weak, shallow people. Also, why was Sin so ok with what his sister did? When he finds out all the facts it doesn't really seem to impact him. Later in the book when one of the characters points out what role Sin plays for his sister I couldn't agree more with their assessment.

3 1/2 Stars!

Alexius "Sin" Sinclair is a man of vice and debauchery. His trademark: A pearl necklace that decorates the necks of many prestigious ladies of the ton. He's also bored, jaded beyond repair with the only solace being his club and its members, The Lords of Vice. Together, these titled "gentlemen" brood and drink whilst bawdy prostitutes parade and hawk their wares. But the mundane nuances of Sin's life is soon shakend by the beautiful Juliana Ivers when in the midst of a naughty tryst with the married Lady Lettlecott, Sin glimpses the beguiling girl high in a hazel tree watching with fearful curiosity.

Juliana, the beauty in her family, is not looking for a husband while in London. Instead, she's secretly looking for a way to publish her music. But unbeknownst to the innocent Juliana is that her pursuit has garnered the attention of Lord Kyd and thus spikes the resentment of a very dangerous foe. Despite the fact that Juliana's acquaintance with Lord Kyd is a harmless business adventure, Juliana has roused the petty jealousy of a very powerful woman that has the means to destroy her reputation with a very seductive weapon.

Reminiscent of CRUEL INTENTIONS, Sin's deranged half-sister convinces him that the beautifully innocent Juliana is attempting to steal Lord Kyd's affections with marriage in mind. Saddened and petulant over what she feels is a complete offense on Juliana's part, she manipulates Sin into agreeing to seduce Juliana and then publicly discard her. Feeling protective of his half-sister, Sin is compelled to do as she bids and embarks on his seduction of Juliana.

Forgetting Sin's half-sister's request for a moment, it was odd to read of a rakish hero specifically pursuing a woman like Juliana. In my general reading experience, most historical heroes shudder at the thought of dallying with a virgin miss on the marriage mart. For one, if they get caught stealing the goods, whether it be consensual or not, the consequence is marriage especially if said innocent has a very powerful protector. Even if the innocent is lacking a protector, most jaded men such as Sin find a virgin boring so it was unconventional to say the least that Sin pursues Juliana not only at his half-sister's bidding, but for his own amusement as well. Even more shocking, Juliana is not adverse to the idea.

Juliana was a befuddling character. Her ultimate desire is to publish music but the emphasis on this pursuit wasn't to a degree that the reader would believe her capable of completely shunning the idea of marriage. In fact, there really isn't a time that she proclaims that she'll never get married but the reader is supposed to believe that this is why she allows Sin's seduction. In essence, Julianna risked ruination not only by associating with Sin but by allowing him to take her virginity with very little to gain nor even for a really good reason other than attraction. In a day and age where even a whisper of nefarious actions would taint a girl and her family beyond repair, I was surprised to read of a heroine like Juliana risking her sisters' chances at marriage for a tumble in the sheets.

Sin, in the first hundred pages, ranked a bit on the sleazy side for me. The things he said and did had me giggling or thinking "yuck". In addition, Juliana seemed an easy conquest for it took very little effort on Sin's part to convince her to allow his demanding touch. But despite these early mishaps, Sin's falling in love with Juliana was very sweet. The whole notion of not knowing what you have until its gone was very much in evidence with Sin's fall leading to one of the best scenes in the book. After a horrific family bet forces Juliana to the side of another man, Sin, having not been apprised of the situation, is outraged that she's left him and his emotion was absolutely palpable. I also thought that Sin righted the terrible wrongs he committed towards Juliana when he first treated her as just another one of his conquests. He does pay dearly for this initial callous treatment in more ways than one and his inevitable atonement was beautiful.

It was obvious from the writing that Alexandra Hawkins is an author that knows and understands romance. Given that, it was surprising to read a novel, debut or not, where the romance felt a bit hurried resulting in Sin's sleaziness and Juliana being a bit easy. This may have been because the external plot points needed extra page dedication, but the novel, in my opinion, would have benefited from more pages dedicated to Sin's and Juliana's romance. If the romance between the H/h had been more developed, then I believe that ALL NIGHT WITH A ROGUE could have been a great read rather than merely okay. That being said, I'm definitely going to pick up whatever Ms. Hawkins delivers next.

ALL NIGHT WITH A ROGUE is a novel that will more than appeal to readers who enjoy their historical fare on the steamier side. Plus, the six other Lords of Vice are just as broodingly-rakish as Sin, thus promising that more steamy books are to come.

This story endeavors to turn most romance tropes on its head, as far as mainstream romance goes. I'm sure it's admirable to attempt such a different tale, but the result is that the heroine and her family are definitely not wilting daisies, but careen across to the other end of the spectrum into frankly annoying characters. There isn't a single NICE character in the story to root for - the rogue never reforms, the heroine is unbelievably sensible about the hero, but unfailingly loyal to her mother, who is an unrepentant gambler who is willing to bet her child's life on the reformation of a rogue, the heroine's sisters are bitchy and competitive and the hero's sister and friends all pursue their ulterior motives, and the hero and heroine go along with all sorts of crazy schemes in the name of loyalty.

Thus the characterization is weak and unbelievable, the prose is unremarkable and several times I literally threw the book at the wall as I was so frustrated with the stupidity of the story.

I'm giving this 2 stars for the effort to produce an original tale, but frankly, when it comes to romance, it's pretty much the execution that counts, readers are mostly looking for relate-able, and nice heroes and heroines. No one wants to read about mean horrible people getting a HEA; that would be non-fiction, and there's enough of that in the world.

I have not read characters in quite awhile who were less compelling or romantic! I always love the unrepentant rogues who later repent and we get to see his or her good qualities. Not so with this book!Julliana starts out with the smarts to know how to avoid the games of lusty men and goes right into the games of a rake as if she were another character entirely.I found that I could not follow the "intellect'
that the author kept referring to when she was described. Then she went on to fall right into the "helpless victim' mode when she went along with being her mother's payment for a gaming debt. I kept waiting for some positive portion of her character to unfold - it was a wait in vain. Alexius was no better! He was the rake who gave all his women a string of pearls in an unforgettable manner and there was no distinguishing manner in which he departed with the pearls with Julliana. These two were not likable and their encounters were not even just good lustful, sexual ones either. This book was full of incompletely drawn characters.It was a source of bad writing or bad editing.I wanted my money back for the cost of this book!

This book reeked of Dangerous Liasons except the quality was sadly lacking. I gave it 2 stars because first the author got it in print and second I have to note the effort and loss of life of trees to make the paper..the second was a joke.
Lets start with Bella and Sin who are half siblings. Bella wants Sin to take Julianna's virginity as Julianna has taken the "attention" of Bella's suitor and hopeful betrothed. A few tears of Bella's part and Sin is happily on his fornicating way. Now lets move to Julianna our virtuous pure virgin. Both her first & second encounters with Sin are catching him in sexual acts with married women. After an eye witness encounter of Sin in action with another women,Julianna puts up little resistance to Sin's improprieties when the lipstick on his pecker isn't even dry. With only a couple brief encounters, Julianna just flops on her back for Sin and in the end at full disclosure of his true treachory forgives all to easy.
This book isn't a keeper in my opinion. I couldn't feel any sympathy for Julianna, Sin had no redemption and Bella didn't ever pay any price nor was her actions aired.

This book was a very good read; I couldn't put it down. It had plenty of drama, suspense, action and romance. The rogue and his fellow "Lords of Vice" are exactly the bad boys and let's face it, many women are always lured to the bad boys. The rogue is extremely bold and a "cut to the chase" kind of guy. The innocent and virginal heroine could've held out a little bit longer before giving herself so soon to the rogue, but at least she did not harbor any false expectations from entering such a lucid affair. She was indeed a bit mature for her age and innocence.

The romantic scenese were definitely bold and erotic. The character dialogs were extremely presumptuous. In this book, the author also outlines for us the various personalities of the hero's closest friends (The Lords of Vice)and one can apprecdiate their camaraderie and relationship with one another; these men really look out for one another in all matters including that of the heart. Thus, as a reader, one is definitely looking forward to reading their very own storyline.

Although the romance is very steamy despite the heroine's lack of experience (thank goodness that her Rogue is true to his name- Sin), the relationship with her mother is not realistic. The heroine's mother did not hesitate to offer her daughter's virtue twice in hopes of eliminating her gambling debts, and yet through all of the ordeal, the heroine still remains loving with her mother at the end of the book. Furthermore, her sisters despite being older than the heorine, all seemed to lack backbones for themselves. The rogue defnitely proved to be a hero in all sense of the word.

This novel had potential to be so much more than the underdeveloped story it was. The plot of revenge and jealousy was good, even if the villainess is a bit over the top. The hero was a disreputable rake in need of reforming but the heroine was sadly lacking in this novel.

Opening with lady Juliana stuck in a hazel tree, I thought this novel was fresh and the first chapters were. Juliana in her attempt to escape an overly zealous suitor climbs up a tree in the garden and she spies Sin, Lord Sinclair, doing very naughty things to the hostess of the ball. When Sin sees the very pretty Juliana his focus shifts to her. He never catches Juliana's name but he is determined to pursue her.

Sin has a bratty, spoiled older sister who hates Juliana because she believes that her lover is interested in her. She convinces her brother to seduce Juliana then dump her, thereby ruining her reputation and Sin says yes to the plan not knowing that Juliana is the girl he is obsessing over.

The author actually does a good job of detailing Sin's life. He belongs to an exclusive club of rakes and he is unapologetic about his carefree lifestyle. He is a seducer following in his father's footsteps. He is loyal to his sister because she is his only remaining family.

Lady Juliana is a musician and that's about the best of her attributes. Her background is scant. The author describes her impoverished circumstances - when her father died he left her mother and two sisters penniless- but I did not feel that Juliana herself, her aspirations, her dreams her personality were adequately described. The girls are in town to find husbands and also her mother likes to gamble. She has an unscrupulous cousin who is a tightwad with the money, a fact that her mother bemoans constantly when he does not pay her gambling debts. Since I never really felt like I knew Juliana, it was difficult for me to understand why Sin fell in love with her. They have incredibly passionate encounters and Sin is quite inventive but they don't have meaningful conversations.

Initially Sin does not want to know Juliana other than in the biblical sense and Juliana does not show much of her character other than her musical ability and her willingness to sacrifice her entire well being for her scheming mother.

The revenge plot played itself out in an unusual way which I liked and there were some lovely moments with Sin showing his love for Juliana. Sin was dynamic whereas Juliana faded into the background.

Set in London, 1820. Alexius Lothar Braverton, Marquess of Sinclair, is known as Sin to his friends. He is one of the seven founding members of the Lords of Vice. His half sister, Belle, tells Sin that Lady Juliana is a heartless chit who is determined to steal her suitor, Lord Kyd, away. Belle instructs Sin to seduce the girl and then cast her aside. Sin is happy to oblige. He neither wonders, nor cares, if Lady Juliana is the jade Belle claims. As with the numerous ladies he has bedded in the past, Sin only sees Juliana's beauty and targets her as his next conquest.

Lady Juliana Ivers knows only too well that her family's position in polite society had plummeted considerably since her father, the Marquess of Duncombe, died five years ago. The title now belongs to a distant cousin. Her mother has brought Juliana and her two older sisters to London in hopes of them marrying well. Sin is one of the rogues that all mothers know to keep their daughters far away from. Yet as Sin begins paying close attention to Juliana, her mother does not seem to object. As for Lady Juliana, she has been interested in Sin since she had been trapped in a tree while he and another lady had a small tryst. Even knowing him to be a rogue, Juliana cannot resist Sin's seduction. It is not long before scandal threatens and Juliana realizes she has become the pawn of several selfish creatures.

**** FOUR STARS! Alexandra Hawkins does not reuse the same characters with different names or the same old and worn out plots that several authors do. I found myself treated to an interesting assortment of characters, each with their own personality and set of habits. The hero in this story, Sin, came across to me as quite a bit more selfish than any hero I had previously read. (And I found myself growing more and more angry at Juliana's mother as the woman's actions were revealed.) But by the end, I was in awe of the author for a variety of reasons. Alexandra Hawkins's writing style flows smoothly and can paint a scene in such detail that I almost felt as if I could smell the surroundings. The backgrounds of the main and secondary characters are so well developed that I actually grew irritated at some - as if they were real people! Best of all is the fact that the story started out with (what I thought to be) one plot, before branching out to reveal that there were actually several sub-plots and more than one surprise twist. Alexandra Hawkins does the Regency era as no other! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

The first time Lady Juliana Ivers meets Alexius Braverton, the Marquess of Sinclair is when she flees from an unwanted admirer into a tree. From the top of the tree she observes his tęte-à-tęte with a married lady. She is shocked although intrigued by what she sees. When Alexius discovers her presence in the tree, he talks to her after the other lady disappears. He is fascinated by her, but she is gone before he learns her name. What he doesn't know is that fate in the person of his sister will soon bring Juliana back into his life. Because his sister feels herself threatened by Juliana Alexius is expected to first seduce and then leave her. What began as a favor for his sister becomes very soon more and the feelings of the well known rake become involved.

A truly fantastic debut novel! ALL NIGHT WITH A ROGUE is one of the best Regency romances that I have read for quite awhile.

Ms. Hawkins tells Juliana and Alexius', better known as Sin, with a refreshingly new voice. One cannot help but fall in love with Sin and his equally wicked friends aka the Lords of Vice.

ALL NIGHT WITH A ROGUE is a deliciously wicked fun book, which kept me up all night. I wanted to see how the story developed because it was absolutely unpredictable, which I absolutely loved. Juliana was a very unusual Regency heroine, because she is not the typical meek and shy miss, what with her wish to live independently from her music composition. Sin is a rake through and through, and it takes a very special woman to lead him away from his wicked ways, or at least a little bit and Juliana is this woman.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next in this great series, because each of the Lords of Vice is a very intriguing character. Keep your eyes open for TILL DAWN WITH THE DEVIL, which will be released in August 2010.

So if you're looking for a fresh new voice in the world of Regency romance, you will definitely want to read this book, it's a real keeper!

Courtesy of Loveromances and More!

Hawkins' tale of a true rake who falls in love with a real heroine needs some work. I am not a fan of giving away spoilers so I will only give a short summary and a review of the characters, plot and overall story. Lady Juliana finds herself instantly attracted to Alexius, Marquess of Sinclair. To Alexius' friends, he is known as Sin. Sin is a true rake that does not care about using women or restricting his pleasure. Yet, when he meets Juliana, he starts to realize that there are better things in life than being a ruthless hunter. This summary leads us to the main characters. The characters seems exciting and unique, but underneath the surface, they are under developed. Sin is first introduced as cold blooded and bored. He has no respect for his peers until he meets Juliana. After meeting Juliana, Sin becomes obsess with having her. He also becomes confused and unsure of his feelings. The character change would not have been a big deal if Hawkins did not create such a brutal libertine in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the novel, you hear of Sin's terrible deeds and you can't help but think, "why Juliana." Hawkins could not explain how Sin fell in love with Juliana. Just saying I love you was not enough for me.
On the other hand, Juliana was not a typical 19th century woman. She was not interested in marriage and had no qualms about being sexual involvement with Sin before marriage. She had some good points. Her interest in music made her less of a superficial heroine that we are used to in a historical romance. However, her love for arts was not fully explored in the novel. Sin even stated that he was too busy trying to seduce her to notice her love for music. (Once again, "why Juliana,"). In addition, Juliana was beyond naive. If a guy reaches for your private parts during the first encounters, then he is not really serious about you. Juliana is portrayed as a smart and independent, yet she was quick to throw her reputation away for a guy who was portrayed as shady from the beginning.
Plot: This is where I had the most problems. The storyline died in the middle. It became boring. Hawkins only show one love scene between Juliana and Sin. The rest of intimate movements were described after the fact. The novel would have flowed better if Hawkins wrote about more special moments between Juliana and Sin. Instead it was filled with background and unnecessary conflict. I absolutely disliked the scene in the theater. The embarrassment of Juliana was not right and unforgivable. If I was Juliana, I would never forgive Sin (never).
Overall, historically, Hawkins stretched the characters. Juliana and her family seem to recover from public scandal without a sweat. The language was little harsh and I was not convince about the love match. I give them one year!!