Rowena’s review of Lord of Wicked Intentions (Lost Lords of Pembrook #3) by Lorraine Heath.
Hero: Lord Rafe Easton
Heroine: Miss Evelyn Chambers
Lord Rafe Eason may be of noble blood, but survival taught him to rely only on himself and to love no one. Yet when he sets his eyes on Miss Evelyn Chambers, and earl’s illegitimate daughter, he is determined to have her, if only as his mistress.
After her father’s death, Evelyn Chambers never imagined she would be sold to the highest bidder, yet circumstances give her little choice except to accept the lord’s indecent proposal. Rafe is wealthy, as well as ruthless. Yet his coldness belies deep passion and deeper secrets. If she must be his, Evelyn intends to lay bare everything the Lord of Pembrook is hiding. But dark discoveries threaten to destroy them both until unexpected love guides the last lost lord home.
This was the final book in the Lost Lords of Pembrook trilogy. Rafe is the last Easton brother to get his happy ending and I’ve got to say that Rafe is my favorite Easton brother. Throughout the series, we see how distant he’s made himself from his brothers. We see that he holds a whole lot of what happened to him against both of his brothers but in those previous books, we don’t know why…until this book.
Rafe has really built an empire for himself. He’s one of the most dangerous men in London because he’s made his business to be. He’s not the weakling that his brothers left behind all those years ago and he’s built a wall around himself to protect him from lesser things, like feelings. Feelings gave you weakness and Rafe was anything but weak. And when Evelyn comes into his life, things are irrevocably changed.
Evelyn is an illegimate child of an Earl and when he dies, her half brother feeds her to the wolves. Literally. He puts her up on the block to be purchased as someone’s mistress and she’s up there smiling, thinking that she’s going to snare herself a husband. It’s not until she lands herself at Rafe’s house that things become crystal clear to her and then the humiliation sets in.
Watching both Rafe and Evelyn grow closer was such a great way to spend a few hours. I really enjoyed this story and I really enjoyed seeing Rafe come to terms with his brothers, what happened in the past and finally looking toward the future. The romance between him and Evelyn was slow to build but I loved it. I loved seeing Rafe thaw out over the course of the book and I really loved seeing Evelyn come into her own. She came so far from the beginning when she’s a sobbing mess being turned away from the home that had been hers ever since she could remember.
I loved seeing the Easton brothers in action together. I loved seeing them come together for Rafe after seeing them band together for the other two brothers. I loved seeing that even though so much time had passed, both Sebastian and Tristan were a force to be reckoned with and even though their relationship was strained, they came out in force for Rafe. This was such a great book, a fantastic romance that I definitely recommend this one. I’m kind of sad that this series is done, I’ll miss these characters!
Grade: 4.75 out of 5
This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
I didn’t read the review yet, since I’ll be reading this book shortly. While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I didn’t care for the second. The heroine just didn’t work in that one. I thought she was terribly unfair to the brother of her late fiancé. I’m glad to see that you think Rafe’s story is worth reading.
Hi Kim,
Of the three books in this series, Tristan’s book was my least favorite. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.