Giveaway and Review: "Ripe for Pleasure"

"Ripe for Pleasure"
 by Isobel Carr

Publisher: Forever
Release Date: May 1, 2011

Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
 

Summary from goodreads.com:

Second in line, first in love
A secret society of younger sons, sworn to aid and abet each other, no matter the scandal or cost.... Their fathers and brothers may rule the world, but they run it . . . and when it comes to passion, they refuse to accept second best.

Searching for hidden treasure,
finding forbidden fantasy.
London's most sensual former courtesan, Viola Whedon, is incapable of being seduced-she does the seducing. Until she meets Leonidas Vaughn. Her salacious memoirs have made her the target of half the lords in England, and Vaughn is the only man she can turn to. When he promises to protect her-and to make her beg for his touch-the alluring beauty finds both offers impossible to refuse.

Leonidas Vaughn secretly believes Viola possesses a fortune given to his family by the King of France. So the strong and sexy Vaughn charms his way into Viola's life . . . and her bed. But when their arrangement is consummated, he'll experience pleasure far beyond his wildest fantasies-and realize his heart may need the most protection of all. 

My Review:

This book was like a breath of fresh air for me. The characters really and truly seemed to care about each other and respect each other. I felt like we really got to see the character's inner thoughts and feelings more than normal in historical romance.

I loved reading about characters that were different from the norm in historical romances. Viola was a strong-hearted, worldly courtesan, not the innocent heiress we generally see. Leo wasn't going to inherit a title and effortlessly sweep the heroine away. He was a second son and had to make his own way in the world. I love seeing historical romance through the different viewpoints of these two characters. Their love wasn't bound by society's rules. They made their won rules for their love story and the result feels so natural.

Leo was positively dashing with his one blue eye and his wicked green eye. He was so intense in all of this feelings, whether it was anger at his cousin, love for Viola, or jealousy over her former flames. I admit, Leo started the book with a pretty big mistake towards Viola. But the action was such a whirlwind at the beginning, it was hard to tell what was really his doing in his cousin's plot. As soon as he met Viola, you could really see his remorse for his part in the plan. By then he was into the intrigue so deep that he had to keep up the lies to protect her from his increasingly dangerous cousin. Besides, he feels his regret just as strongly as his other emotions. Whenever a hero is no holds barred begging for a heroine's attentions and announcing his feelings to anyone he knows, it's easy to forgive.

Pen, the scraggly adopted dog, is a great addition to the story. She brings out both Viola and Leo's real selves. Leo's sister, Beau, is a great secondary character as well. She's spunky but sometimes doesn't think before she leaps. As for Leo's fellow second sons, it was a little tough to keep them all distiguished from each other, but I'm sure we're going to see more of his friends in the rest of the series.

Main Characters: 5/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5 (Pen gets a 5!)
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 5/5
Uniqueness: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: I'm really looking forward to the rest of "The League of Second Sons" series for more out of the ordinary historical romance. Viola and Leo's love story was both all-consuming, and yet felt so real at the same time. I can't wait to read more from this author.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

Hachette books has generously provided three copies of this historical romance for readers of my blog!

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• Ends Wed May 25

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