Customer Reviews

A Most Sinful Proposal

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read this author before and she is inconsistent.

This story comes across as 'staged'. Valentine is a disappointment with his low self-esteem and screwed up perception of himself. His appearance leaves much to be desired and he might as well not have been a 'lord' for all the lack of elegance he displayed.

He is also beyond DENSE! Not much of an expert when he didn't bother to catalogue the roses in his own village!!! Hello?! That was the most likely starting point!

The girl and her grandmother are totally unrealistic and both grate on one's nerves.

It is a very slow moving story. There is some sex and it's OK, but nothing to write home about.

You can easily put this book down and take your time reading it.

To my mind, Sara Bennett has let herself down with this historical romance that feels like it has been written by a 14 year old. Extremely ordinary story, boring characters and I am sorry...a whole book about a quest to find a rose??? Read her earlier medieval books such as Kissing the Bride for Bennett at her best.

Sara Bennett's second book in the Husband Hunter's club is a real treat. Its heroine is smart and the hero is a bit unexpected, especially for the heroine.

Marissa Rotherhils has made up her mind about who her future husband is going to be, George is perfect for her. Smart Marissa knows she does not want to marry a botanist like her parents or any other scientific, stuffy aristocrat. George is fun loving and humorous and never takes anything seriously. They have much in common, like Marissa George has a serious botanist in the family, his older brother Lord Valentine Kent.

When Marissa arrives at Valentine's home she believes she is to attend a house party, instead she and her very forward bohemian grandmother find George not in residence and there is no scheduled house party but Valentine is there and he is transfixed upon meeting Marissa. She also shares the same feelings.

Valentine is a widower without thought of marrying again; he devotes his spare time to searching for a fabled rose brought back by an ancestor after the crusades. Valentine is a renowned rose expert. He and his friend Jasper (a funny and sweet character) have stumbled onto some leads of the location of the rose when Marissa and her grandmother settle into the house. Unfortunately another man wants to find the rose and Ms Bennett has written a well though out multi-dimensional villain.

This novel was well plotted. I liked Valentines' growing desire and admiration for Marissa. I liked that Marissa was willing to change and not so stubborn that she could not see a good thing right in front of her. Marissa is willing to help Valentine search for his rose but she also wants to explore her feelings and desires with him; she thought she would never be attracted to a botanist. These two have a very passionate romance, they are not afraid to be vulnerable. Her struggle between being with her parent's choice of a mate and her desire to be different even defiant are realistic. Fortunately she realizes that she and Valentine are a great team.

Marissa Rotherhild knew want she wanted from life - a husband but not just any husband one that had no interest in anything scientific. She had spent her life with parents who paid more attention to the ferns and moss than they did to their own daughter. Marissa even knew who her husband should be - George Kent as he was handsome, interesting to talk to and paid attention to her. However Marissa's fellow members of the Husband Hunters Club questioned her reasoning on why she would settle for this particular man and she explained that that he would make her laugh and give her a sense of belonging that her parents never did.

Marissa thought George was her perfect match and she was delighted when he invited her for a weekend house party at his family estate. But what a surprise when she arrives to discover that it is not George she desires but in fact his brother Lord Valentine Kent. Valentine is everything she did not want in a husband in that he is overly intelligent, driven and focused on his main goal in life which is finding The Crusader's Rose one of those mysteries that had become legend in the botanical circles. Valentine was committed to finding this perfect rose and he thought nothing could stop him but the minute he laid his eyes on Marissa everything else seemed unimportant and his focus became winning her hand and proving his affections were built on love and respect not a quick conquest.

But there is someone else trying to find the rose and this person is as obsessed as Valentine but his motive is revenge not science, but revenge for what Valentine does not know. While the man stays one step ahead of Valentine and Marissa as they follow one lead after another Valentine becomes more convinced that he has a traitor in his home and that in proper English society is not going to be tolerated. But trying to find the rose becomes less important with every passing day he spends in Marissa's company as she it turns out was what he was looking for all along - long and companionship.

The 2nd Book in this series is as amazing as the first (Led Astray by a Rake) and I expected nothing less from Ms. Bennett. The characters are refreshing, colorful and such a delight that you have such sorry when the book is over because you want it to go on and on the romance is that sweet.

Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer at [...].

This is a great book. I enjoyed this story so much. The story line was refreshing! The hero and heroine explode from

the first. The adventure was fun, the villain was well done and the love story was fantastic!!!! The grandmother was a phenomenal secondary character! Loved her advice:)

I love Sara Bennett's style of writting and have most of her books. I will say that I was not surprised when this book was another wonder.

You will fall in in love with Valentine, Lord Kent. He is vulrenable, and adorable at the same time. He is strong but hurt. His first wife did a number on him so his confidence is a bit shot but that only adds to his appeal. The over the top arrogant alpha sometimes is a bit much. But Valentine is a doll and you will follow this story just wishing you were Marissa.

Now Marissa Rotherhild is a very proper lady who does not want to have a husband who will treat her like her parents has. She is looking for a husband who will be the exact opposite. Then she encounters Valentine and slowly she sees that her feelings for him are stronger that her want to distance herself from his lifestyle.

Their journey to passion and love is exciting to read and you will not want to put the book down until it is finished. I didn't.

Don't forget Lady Bethany, she will grab your heart and your funny bone.

Happy reading!

Lord Valentine Kent, has a failed marriage in his past and is not looking for love; Marissa Rotherhild, belongs to a husband-hunting club and has set her sights on Valentine's brother--until she meets Lord Valentine. He's an expert on roses--a botanist just like her parents--the very type of man she refuses to marry. But he sets her heart racing, and she can't resist joining him on his quest to find an ancient rose before a rival, whose behaviour is turning bizarre and dangerous, beats him to it.

A unique meeting gets the romance off to a strong start.

I kept looking for Ms Bennett to delve deeper into the psyche of the hero and heroine. I wanted to know how Marissa could be so naive and unworldly after having spent most of her life travelling with her botanist parents. I wanted to be shown Marissa growing and changing when all she seemed to be interested in was gaining sexual experience. Valentine was the more compelling character, although I'd met his kind before in many historical romance novels. I liked that he was emulating his ancestor, a dedicated, chivalrous Crusader knight. Mostly what I learned about Marissa--because she told me over and over--was that she wouldn't chose a mate who exhibited any interest in botany. Unfortunately, this refusal often came across as modern teenage rebellion. Marissa alternately wallowed in angst or was bluntly aggressive. I didn't care for her much.

This book will appeal to those who enjoy a fun, romantic romp with some action, tension, and solid secondary characters. And hot sex!

In 1837 at Miss Debenhan's Finishing School, Marissa Rotherhild, daughter of two avid botanists, tells her Husband Hunters Club friends that she has chosen her husband, the Honorable George Kent of Surrey. Known as a rake, she believes she can change the womanizer.

Marissa goes to meet George at the family country estate, but instead encounters his reclusive older sibling, Lord Valentine Kent, who she finds attractive and his obsession with roses makes her feels close to home. However, his quest for the most likely extinct Crusader's Rose excites her almost as much as does Valentine.

The latest Husband Hunters Club early Victorian romance (see Led Astray by a Rake) is an enjoyable tale starring two fascinating lead characters linked by desire for one another and knowledge of botany that Sara Bennett deftly interweaves into the plot. The story line starts a bit slower than usual, but once Valentine and Marissa begin the search with a rival of his stalking them to steal the find if they make it, the plot moves rather quickly and entertainingly. Sub-genre fans will join the trek for the rare rose as A Most Sinful Proposal is worth reading.

Harriet Klausner