Reviewer: Holly & Rowena Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath
Series: Sins for All Seasons #1
Also in this series: Beyond Scandal and Desire, When a Duke Loves a Woman, When a Duke Loves a Woman (Sins for All Seasons, #2), The Scoundrel in Her Bed (Sins for All Seasons, #3), The Duchess in His Bed, The Earl Takes a Fancy, Beauty Tempts the Beast, Beauty Tempts the Beast , The Duchess in His Bed , The Scoundrel in Her Bed , The Earl Takes a Fancy
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: January 30th 2018
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:
At birth, Mick Trewlove, the illegitimate son of a duke, was handed over to a commoner. Despite his lowly upbringing, Mick has become a successful businessman, but all his wealth hasn’t satisfied his need for revenge against the man who still won’t acknowledge him. What else can Mick do but destroy the duke’s legitimate son—and woo the heir’s betrothed into his own unloving arms . . .
Orphaned and sheltered, Lady Aslyn Hastings longs for a bit of adventure. With her intended often preoccupied, Aslyn finds herself drawn to a darkly handsome entrepreneur who seems to understand her so well. Surely a lady of her station should avoid Mick Trewlove. If only he weren’t so irresistible . . .
As secrets are about to be exposed, Mick must decide if his plan for vengeance is worth risking what his heart truly desires.
Holly: I haven’t had a lot of reading time lately, but Rowena raved about this book and forced me to read it for this review. I’m glad I picked it up. I really enjoyed it.
What did you think?
Rowena: I really enjoyed this book. From Mick to Aslyn and everyone else, there was much to love. The revenge thing isn’t my favorite but in this book, I thought it was written well. Mick’s reasons, his feelings on the whole thing were understandable and I loved that he fell in love with Lady Aslyn in the process. The baby farming deal added more to the story to reel me in because I haven’t ever really read much about that kind of stuff in historical romances so Lorraine Heath hooked me with just about everything.
Holly: I tend to avoid revenge stories, because all too often the secrets and lies just make me angry. I really liked the way this one played out, though. Maybe because I really liked how Mick came to care for Lady Aslyn in spite of his plans.
Rowena: I really liked the way that the revenge plot was carried out. That whole thing brought a modern family twist to a historical romance that I quite enjoyed. I don’t know that I would have enjoyed it as much in a different kind of historical romance but for this one, I dug it.
Holly: The revenge plot really worked for me. I liked the turn it took and I appreciated the new twist on an old trope.
Rowena: What were your favorite things about this book?
Holly: I really liked Aslyn. She started out kind of timid, but she really came into her own. I like how she stood up for herself and, once she understood exactly what she wanted, refused to settle.
I also really liked how noble Mick was. He took care of his family and wanted to make the world a better place. He had his revenge plans, but he wasn’t just out for himself. He truly wanted to lift people up.
Rowena: I really liked that about Mick too. He cared about those that were left behind. The ones that couldn’t protect themselves, he stepped up and protected them. Took care of them and the loyalty he had from everyone around him was nice to witness.
Are you interested in reading Gillie’s (one of Mick’s sisters) book?
Holly: I’m not sure about Gillie. I didn’t really connect with her in this book, but we didn’t spend a lot of time with her, either. I am curious to see how her tomboy self does with a Duke as a suitor.
What did you think of Kip (Aslyn’s intended)? I wish we’d seen more about his struggle to recover. Maybe we’ll get a book for him later and that’s why we did, ‘t, but honestly that part of the book felt unfinished.
Rowena: I think the series will follow each of Mick’s siblings and Kip is going to be Fancy’s hero.
Holly: I think Kip will be Fancy’s (another of Mick’s sisters) hero, as well.
Rowena: Same. All around, this book just worked for me. From the romance to the characters to Mick’s family life and the background stories. There wasn’t anything that I wasn’t interested in. All in all, this was a solid romance and I can’t wait for Gillie’s book. I’m interested in seeing how a Duke falls in love with a female bar owner. I’m mighty curious about that.
I give this book a 4.25 out of 5, what about you?
Holly: I enjoyed the story. There were some questions left unanswered, but I’m sure they’ll be cleared up in time. I really liked the overall plot, the characters and the romance. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
I, too, give it 4.25 out of 5.
Final Grades
Rowena: 4.25 out of 5
Great review guys. You took the words right out of my mouth
This was such a great first LH book. I’m glad you liked it, too.
Hey Sue!! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the joint review. I’m looking forward to reading this.
Thanks for the joint review.
Lorraine Heath just wrote this on another blog: “I had originally intended to pair Mick’s sister, Fancy, with Lord Kipwick, Aslyn’s fiancé, but he turned out to be a rather unpleasant character and I don’t know that he’s redeemable—and now I have someone else in mind for Fancy.”
That’s so interesting. I think he can be redeemed, though it would take some work. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Oh no, that sucks. I was looking forward to how she would redeem Kipwick. Thanks for the heads up, Kim.