Two Sinful Secrets

Two Sinful Secrets by Laurel McKee

Lady Sophia Huntington has always been the black sheep of her family and she gets a rush living down to their expectations. She thrives on thrill seeking and one night finds herself gambling with the very attractive Dominic St. Claire, a rake of the first order and definitely someone her family would not approve her. A stolen kiss frightens and intrigues her and when she runs away she takes the memory with her while Dominic is determined to find the beautiful woman in black. Years later Sophia is widowed in Europe after eloping with a completely ineligible army man who gambled and drank and left her with a bitter taste of marriage. Dominic is in Paris at the same time and immediately recognizes her as someone he wants to get to know, but when his brother discovers that she is a member of the hated Huntington family his plans for her change. Centuries earlier the Huntington's had married and abandoned a St. Claire, dooming the St. Claire's family to the outskirts of society ever since. They both find the other just as attractive as they had been when they first met and spend quite a bit of time together.

It is not long before an old enemy of Sophia's, Lord Hammond, a former gambling partner who wanted far more than money from Sophia and became quite upset when she refused his advances. Because Dominic has become Sophia's newest suitor, Hammond makes it clear that him and his family are in his sights. Dominic realizes that his feelings for Sophia have changed, but are still tinged with the desire for revenge, so he offers to marry her to protect her from Hammond. Knowing that this will ruin any chances she has for getting back into her family's good graces Sophia gives into the rash desire to marry him. His family is initially skeptical of their union because of her back ground but they begin to come around a she proves that she is just as dedicated to their theater as all of them and as she and Dominic forge a life together. When Hammond threatens her newfound happiness and family she knows she would do anything to save them and Dominic must be there to show her that all that matters is the two of them making a future together.

Sophia was initially a frustrating and difficult to admire character, but she became well rounded and likable as the novel progressed as we delved deeper into her psyche and her past. She was impetuous and drawn to daring escapades and challenges and danger and this could easily have completely turned me off but there was enough backstory that I understood where she was coming from. Sophia was eager for friends and family and a place to belong which is why I loved that Dominic came with a ready family who was there to support them. Instead of being obnoxious relatives who get in the way, the St. Claire's were part of what made them such a great couple. Dominic was less developed then Sophia and did not have all her hidden nuances but I was still able to see what made him so appealing to her. He was also a risk taker and encouraged Sophia to give into her urges and take chances and was supportive of her and her endeavors. His instinct to protect her was, of course, admirable and his desire for revenge quickly fell by the wayside as he grew to love her.

I was completely taken in by their relationship and loved how they complemented each other so nicely. They had so much in common and even though they were both big risk takers and adventurers, somehow when they got together it worked so well and they both ended up being happy and protected. There was some sex, but there could have been quite a bit more, and it hinted at a lit bit of kink, but really just kind of ended up with barely a fizzle which was disappointing since these two were so attracted to each other. The side plot with the Huntington- St. Claire feud was well done in this novel because it was low intensity and only caused minor drama, but the journal was a bit of an annoyance and I could have done without it. I did enjoy the Lord Hammond plot because it had a well written bad guy and, while it served to bring the two of them together and created a lot of drama and mystery, it did not detract from the romance at all. This book also nicely set up the next book or two in the series which make it clear the family feud is on the way out.

Rating: An enjoyable book with a heroine I grew to like and a romance between two very compatible characters in a believable relationship with a nice little mystery.

One Naughty Night

One Naughty Night by Laurel McKee

Lily St. Claire grew up the daughter of the most infamous "french" courtesan in London, becoming a pickpocket after her mother's death for "Handsome" Tom Beaumont until finally being rescued by the theatrical St. Claire family. Trying to join the family business, Lily gives a disastrous performance as Juliet and is comforted by a handsome stranger, before putting aside her dreams of the stage and marrying a boring grocer. Years later Lily is widowed and helping her family open a new gambling house, the Devil's Fancy, when her eye is once again court by her handsome stranger. She is horrified to learn that he is Lord Aidan Huntington since there has been a feud between their family's since an ancestor of the Huntington's married and abandoned a St. Claire woman. Aidan cannot believe his good fortune in finding his beautiful mystery lady from the theatre and has no clue that their two family's are supposed to be enemies. He decides to rekindle their romance and uses every opportunity to find time to be alone with Lily, trying to convince her to give in to her passion once more. But Lily is terrified of her feelings, scared that she will end up just like her mother and that Aidan will use her and then leave her.

But Aidan proves himself to be kind and attentive, allowing Lily to move their relationship at her own pace, and Lily finds that she does not want to deny her natural passion for long. She finds she can open up and do everything in her wildest imagination with such an adventurous and willing partner and she can finally come to grips with the legacy her mother left her. There is still the matter of his standing in society and their family's feud, but everything is thrown into disarray when Tom Beaumont shows up back in town and makes it clear that he wants Lily for his own and he is willing to use whatever means necessary to achieve his ends. Aidan is not about to let Lily get away from him again and just when he thinks things have been settled, Lily pulls away from him, concerned that he has betrayed her by searching through her drawers for a friends' letters. Aidan knows that Lily is the woman for him and he must prove to her that nothing can ever get in the way of his love for her and she will learn that when it comes to love, social standing means nothing.

Lily's past played a huge role in who she was in a person and I really enjoyed a female character with so much depth to her, in a sense having the traditional roles in a romance novel reversed as she was the one with a little darkness in her soul. I really admired her strength and how she was also insecure and scared at times, but was willing to ask for help and admit her own faults to herself. She was dedicated to her family and was truly a big help to them and her life had a real purpose; she did something, she worked- and that is something I really like from a heroine. Aidan lacked all the depth of Lily and existed totally on the surface as a gambler, a wastrel, a womanizer and every other dissolute name in the book who feels the pressure from his family to marry and does his best to live down to everyone's expectations. He really was no different than almost every other romance novel hero, but it stood in stark contrast with Lily who really was such a complex, likeable, and memorable character. The best part about Aidan was his dedication to Lily and how, when things got difficult, he never turned away from her and was always there to help her.

I really did not feel like there was that much of a relationship between Aidan and Lily and really wished there had been more genuine interactions between the two of them. There was a lot of sex, a lot, and it was quite kinky and hot, even if it did seem like the author was just throwing some mild kink in there haphazardly. I wish they had more non-sexy times together for me to really see how they were together. There were a lot of side plots going on in this story and while they all contributed to the story in some way it quickly go ta little overwhelming and I was  not a fan of them. There was the problem of the love letters from Aidan's friend that he was sent to collect and while there was a little argument, it was quickly forgotten and made me wonder why it was even there. There was the family feud, which was discussed at times and forgotten at others and seemed like a poor excuse to create some drama. The problem with Tom Beaumont was the most important and meaningful of the side plots and it did contribute greatly to the overall flow of the novel and I liked that it did not take away from the romance, indeed may have contributed to it, but I got a little bit tired of it when it wouldn't end.

Rating: A very sexy book with a remarkable heroine, but a rather bland hero, side plots that meandered, and a lack of true romantic development.