Review
Left out of her husband's will and desperate for funds, Charlotte Chartwell is in desperate need of funds. Her scoundrel husband, who died at the hands of one of his mistresses, left everything to his own family and mistresses but nothing to Charlotte. Without any help from her husband's family or the Court of Chancery, Charlotte only has two things left to sell. The first being her home, which has been in her family for over a hundred years, and the second being her virtue. Losing her home seems a lot worse than losing her virtue, which is how Charlotte ends up propositioning Alexander Baxendale, the Earl of Hawksford, better known throughout the ton as the Lord of Pleasure.
Alexander can't get Charlotte out of his mind. After doing the gentlemanly thing and sending her home, virtue in tact, though a bit ruffled, he's kept away from temptation and hasn't even ridden by her house. With five sisters to marry off, Alexander needs to avoid any sort of gossip, which means denying himself all of life's true pleasures until all his sisters are married. The kind of pleasures he is sure he could find with Charlotte. When a lost wager brings Alexander back to Charlotte's home, he can't resist any longer. But is Charlotte temptation enough for Alex to court gossip, thus possibly causing problems in getting respectable matches for his sisters?
After reading Delilah Marvelle's sensational debut novel, MISTRESS OF PLEASURE, I was looking forward to her next book with anticipation and some trepidation. Would her second foray live up to my now high expectations? Would I love it equally as much as I loved her first book? After reading LORD OF PLEASURE, I can happily say Ms. Marvelle does not disappoint from start to finish. If you thought MISTRESS OF PLEASURE was perfect--which, incidentally, I did--then LORD OF PLEASURE is whatever exceeds that...perfection personified? (Is that even possible?) Unlike the typical historical, I felt that Ms. Marvelle gave us a book depicting life as it would have actually been during that time. Women weren't all innocents who were locked up in their homes until it was time to cart them out to the marriage mart. They knew about sex, seduction and what not. They explored their sexual nature as much as any woman does today, though perhaps theirs was done a bit more discreetly.
From the witty lessons you get at the beginning of every chapter, to the thoroughly entertaining School of Gallantry, this page-turner of a book is entertainment at its best. Infused with humor on every page, LORD OF PLEASURE will take you on an emotional roller coaster that you will be begging to ride again and again. If the smokin' hot romance between the lead pair isn't more than enough for you, the mystery of why Caldwell, Alexander's friend, wanted him to join the School of Gallantry will keep you reading, and leave you surprised. Since the books in this series are being written so that each book's timeline is concurrent with the others, you get little tantalizing glimpses of what's going on with the other men. It makes the anticipation for the next three books that much harder to bear. If the first two books are any indication of what we can look forward to, it'll be well worth the wait. Ms. Marvelle is quickly going to become a must have author!
--Romance Junkies - 5 out of 5 Ribbons for Lord of Pleasure!
Review
Lord of Pleasure is another delectable romp in the School of Gallantry series. You will find yourself captivated all over again by Marvelle's sparkling prose and creative storytelling. I for one, particularly enjoyed reaching the start of each new chapter to find the hilarious quote at the start.
Set in 1830 London, this story follows the same timeline as last year's MISTRESS OF PLEASURE, though it emphasizes different parts of the timeline. Many of the important characters this time around were rather mysterious in the first book, so there is almost no retreading of material, which is quite impressive. It takes a bit of concentration at times to follow certain characters, as there are many similar names, but the characters are well defined. Feel free to read the series out of order but by all means read both books!
Featured this time is Lady Chartwell, a nearly penniless widow who decides to become a courtesan out of desperation. The man she picks, Lord Hawksford, refuses her because he's recently decided to leave his "Lord of Pleasure" past behind on the death of his father. He has five sisters to marry off and knows the ton won't accept them if he continues his licentious behavior. After all, he can't trust his wild mother to behave!
Circumstances surrounding Hawksford's best friend, Lord Caldwell, prevent him from avoiding the beautiful Lady Chartwell though, and he finds himself drawn into the world of the School of Gallantry. He most certainly needs a lesson in love, if not a lesson in pleasure.
I greatly enjoyed the development of the romance between Lady Charlotte and Alexander. They are splendid characters. Marvelle subverts the standard tales of this era, penning unconventional women who choose to go after what they want in a lusty manner, and are strong enough to obtain their goals despite the mores of their time. She creates heroes who are equal to the extraordinary women who love them, brewing delicious romance no fan of spicy historical romance should miss!
