Rowena’s review of My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell.

Hero: Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft
Heroine: Diana Carrick

Headlong into sin… A well-practiced rake, weary of easy conquests and empty pleasures, Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, knows women- and his every instinct warns him to beware of this one. Diana Carrick’s brazen overtures have thrown the haunted, sinfully handsome lord completely off his guard. Why, the exquisite temptress stated outright that she wishes to be his lover. But it is neither Diana’s boldness nor her beauty that intrigues him so- it is the innocence he senses behind her worldly mask. Intent upon the seduction that will finally free her, Diana has set her sights on the notorious Ashcroft- never dreaming that there is much more to the enigmatic rogue than sin and deviltry. His kiss is bewitching, his caress intoxicating- and even the dangerous secret Diana must protect cannot shield her from Ashcroft’s dark allure. Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there is no escape…except surrender.

This book started off with a bang…not literally but it started with the heroine asking the hero for some banging action and for a historical, that certainly had my eyebrows rising to the top of my head because when does that ever happen in historical romances? So with that bang of an introduction to the story, I thought I would enjoy it a lot more than I actually did.

I’m not saying that it was a bad read, it was enjoyable but I guess I was expecting more and while I got a good story, I didn’t get the great story I was hoping for. The heroine is being blackmailed by this giant dickhead who wants to marry her but can’t get her pregnant so he wants her to go get pregnant elsewhere and then come back to him and if she doesn’t then he’s going to put the hurt on her loved ones.

Hmm.

So Diana marches her unhappy ass over to Tarquin’s house and propositions him and he throws her out on her ass with a resounding no. She’s confused because what man wouldn’t want a quick affair with no strings attached? Tarquin, that’s who. But he’s mostly erring on the side of caution because it is a peculiar proposition. But Tarquin changes his tune when he sees Diana again and when they start their affair, Tarquin is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the fair Diana.

Watching the two fall in love was tainted for me because I could not frickin’ stand Diana’s little secret. Instead of being sympathetic, I found the whole thing to be rather silly and when I thought things would turn for the better, I was a little disappointed. I was disappointed because the villain, Edgar Fanshawer was laughable. It was hard for me to take him seriously when all I wanted was for him to take a bath and go to sleep or something. Whenever Edgar got page time, Gargamel from The Smurfs came to mind and I couldn’t help but laugh.

I didn’t hate Diana and Tarquin together because their relationship was pretty hot dang hot. The love scenes in this book held a lot of steam and when I closed the book, I knew that Tarquin was totally bangable. I was curious to see how Campbell would make it possible for Tarquin and Diana to be together and the way she brought them together, surprised me because I wasn’t expecting it but it worked. The book ended the way it was supposed to end and the happily ever after came about so though there were some disappointments, the entire book wasn’t a total loss.

Overall, there were things that I enjoyed about the book and things that didn’t work for me but on the whole, this was a pretty decent read.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here.