Sinful Surrender by Beverley Kendall

Book 1 in the Elusive Lords Series

www.beverleykendall.com 

     Wow. Lord James Rutherford was a sexy, hot mess. He knows, at least, that he’s sexy. It was hard to determine if he knew he was a mess until the very end and then, trust me, he knew. Lady Missy (Milicent) Armstrong is our gracious heroine, who loves James with all her heart despite his nastiness when he tries to drive her away. It was sad to see that love cool a little bit towards the end – Kendall did a great job showing James’s growing love but did a bad job showing Missy had retained her love for James despite his antics.  

     Throughout the second half of the book I was worried Missy didn’t truly love him anymore, what with her frequent denials to his proposals. Normally such scenes are accompanied by deep introspection or crying scenes – which only happened once (the other times she didn't seem affected at all). Thus, when they do finally get together, I was much less satisfied than I should have been. Missy’s behavior was mostly consistent but on occasion I wondered where she was coming from because she no longer sounded like herself.

     As usual with Kendall’s books, the characters are very well developed. The main characters are fleshed out nearly to perfection, the secondary characters don’t overwhelm or intrude in any of the scenes and act quite human. Thomas Armstrong and Alex Cartwright (James's best friends who each get their own story) are wonderful, humorous, and I can't wait to read their stories. The secondary characters don’t show up only for scenes where the main characters need prodding in their relationship and then disappear. They consistently amuse us and entertain us as we watch the protagonists struggle with their feelings and relationship. The plot was also well-developed, again nothing too overwhelming to distract us from the romance. It could have used a little more excitement, but overall it was a pretty decent story.

Favorite quotes:

“This thing with my sister. You keeping your distance until she finds a husband.” (Thomas Armstrong)

“Ah yes, the brilliant plan. It’s been a smashing success wouldn’t you agree?” (Alex) 

Divine, the past week, was le mot du jour and one Sarah had been using ad nauseam. If she ate cake she liked, it was divine; a reticule she saw through a storefront window, divine. Everything she took a fancy to was divine and driving Missy divinely batty.

“How can I possibly leave you? We are not together.” (Missy) 

 “Sexy”ness rating: *faints* It can’t get much hotter than this, folks

Overall Rating: B

Bottom Line: Excellent read - this book has a sexy hero, a sweet, strong heroine and an explosion of passion when their worlds collide.

Pages: 344

Published: December 8, 2009
Genre: Historical