Passion Wears Pearls

Passion Wears Pearls by Renee Bernard

Eleanor Beckett was trained to be a lady but when her father's patents are stolen and her parents die with nothing, she is thrown out on the streets to make her way. After her employer tries to find her a protector, Eleanor has nothing until artist Josiah Hastings storms in and saves her. Josiah is estranged from his family because of his not-so-respectable profession and is part of The Jaded, a group of men who spent time in an Indian prison together before escaping with a fortune in jewels. Josiah knows that it is only a matter of time before he goes completely blind and he has been desperately fighting the onset of blindness and trying to hide his deficiency from his friends. When he sees Eleanor his vision becomes crystal clear and he knows he has to paint her no matter the cost. Eleanor does not want any scandal attached to her name and definitely does not want to be thought of as a kept woman, but with no other option, agrees to become Josiah's model. The two work out a very generous contract that gives Eleanor quite a bit of money, even if she decides to opt out of being painted.

Eleanor and Josiah spend a great deal of time together as he paints her picture with both of them determined to ignore the passion they feel for each other. But as Eleanor comes to see how noble Josiah is and begins to suspect the secret he is trying to hide from everyone, she cannot help but fall in love with him. Eleanor is everything that Josiah has always known he can't have and when she admits her own feelings and her desire for him there is nothing that can stop him from having her. However, he knows that with his eyesight going he is no match for the beautiful and accomplished young woman and he has no intention of tying her to him. But Josiah and his fellow Jaded members are trying to capture the villain who is after them and is causing problems for all of them and when Eleanor finds out she fears for his safety. She feels she has no choice but to fight for the man she loves, even if his stubborn pride stands in their way, and when her life is endangered Josiah knows that he too will do anything for her.

I have read all of the other books in The Jaded series, but I will admit that I promptly forgot them upon finishing as none of them really had anything that stuck to me. This book followed in that pattern and I imagine that in a week I will remember almost nothing about it because there was simply no oomph or spark to really hold me. Eleanor and Josiah were both interesting enough and while I recognize that it's difficult to write a character that's different and unique when there are so many other books, I felt like Bernard was trying to make them unique and in doing so made them poorly ordinary. Josiah's blindness would have been intriguing except his stunning visual clarity when viewing Eleanor made it just ridiculous, completely unrealistic, and plain annoying. I am not an art connoisseur by any means and was completely uninterested in any of the talks of painting and mixing colors and rhapsodizing descriptions of Josiah's talents.

Eleanor was annoying in her righteous indignation at everything that didn't adhere to her very strict moral standards and it gets very tiresome. She goes on and on about holding onto her virtue and that makes it even worse when she does give in to her desire for him because it seems so out of character and smacked of hypocrisy. They certainly spent a good deal of time together, but it was entirely in his studio which presented a very insular space for them to be together and did not show me how they would work together in the real world. The sex between the was pretty hot and frequent enough but was crammed into a very small portion of the book. I felt like once they had given into their mutual passion the "problems" between them took on a superfluous air and the book seriously dragged. I found The Jaded plot to be haphazardly thrown into the mix and it did not fit in at all with the rest of the story and since it was really such a short little bit I didn't really get into it.

Rating: A problematic book with annoying problems and a subplot that I found myself completely uninterested in and rather boring characters.

Ecstasy Wears Emeralds

Ecstasy Wears Emeralds by Renee Bernard 1027

Dr. Rowan West is a well-respected, if not entirely conventional, physician in London who is working hard to do the best he can for his patients and to forget his past. Gayle Renshaw desperately wants to become a physician but all the usual means are blocked because of her gender so she resorts to blackmail. She knows that Rowan was involved with her cousin, Charlotte, back in Standish Crossing, and despite not knowing the specifics, she does know that everyone holds Rowan responsible. Rowan is in need of an apprentice anyway and he sees that she has potential so he succumbs to her blackmail and agrees to train her but only if she will keep their arrangement semi-secret because he does not want other physicians to get wind of what is happening. He immediately puts Gayle to work and while she finds the work exhausting she is excited and motivated and he quickly realizes that she is dedicated and will make a find physician. Gayle has been lead to think of Rowan as heartless, but he proves to be kind and caring and his patients love him.

Suddenly Rowan and his friends come into the picture as members of "The Jaded" a not-quite club of men who apparently met in India while they were all held captive by a mad Indian maharaja. Their experience bonded them and when they left they stole a huge pile of treasure and divided it by color and now someone is after them and trying to get this treasure. The men are trying to decide what to do, but do not know who is trying to hurt them and do not know how to go about smoking him out and making themselves safe again. Rowan needs to keep Gayle safe, even if it means never letting her out of his sight, and this proves far less annoying than he had expected and the two of them spend quite a bit of time together. Gayle still has doubts about Rowan because of what she had learned about his role in her cousin's death, but she has learned that she should accept nothing as fact and should form her own opinions and the man she has come to know could never have harmed someone. Gayle and Rowan have to faith the threats against them, both internal and external, before they are able to accept their love.

I admired Gayle's drive to become a doctor, even if her reason for doing so is kept far too well hidden until the very end of the book, but I felt like her method of going about it was a little off. She foisted herself onto a man she had never met, a man who she believes may have killed her cousin, and while her drive and ambition were intriguing, it was too weird a situation for me. She was intelligent and good with her patients but I did not feel like there was much about her outside of her becoming a doctor. Rowan was very intelligent, even if he could easily have told Gayle the truth about her cousin and saved a whole bunch of bother, and his willingness to take on a female apprentice was years ahead of his time and he obviously cared for his patients. There relationship was actually pretty well developed because they spent a lot of time together even if much of it was in a master-apprentice relationship and/ or as them being doctors and learning. They learned a lot about each other and they were able to work well as physicians together, which seemed like a nice basis for people to get comfortable and fall in love.

They were drawn to each other physically but they both resisted for a long time because of their unorthodox working relationship. While when they eventually had sex it was steamy and inventive I did not feel like it was hot, and that might be because by that time I was just hoping the book would end soon and it was coming so late. Maybe unsatisfied desire can only last for so long before I feel like there's no point in satisfying it. The Jaded plot in this book came across as just ridiculous because it popped up completely out of the blue about halfway through and was not explained at all. Elements that were necessary to make sense of it were left out and new details that had been left out of the previous two books were thrown in- like dividing up the treasure by color- and they seemed haphazardly added for no reason. Nothing was resolved in the novel, because it is very clear that there are more books coming in the series and past happy couples appear repeatedly throughout the book and everyone is so happy with each other and such good friends and it annoyed me.

Rating: I felt like the Jaded plot dragged down the romance which already had some issues and I could not get in to what was happening with these 2 characters.

Seduction Wears Sapphires

Seduction Wears Sapphires by Renee Bernard 1113

The second book in the Jaded Gentleman series features Ashe Blackwell, who was one of the men held captive in India and made a narrow escape with other countrymen with a stockpile of costly jewels. In India he fell in love with a native Indian woman who was killed for their relationship and he has spent his time back in England trying to lose himself in passion with every woman of the evening. This has not gone unnoticed by his grandfather who decides to take matters into his own hands by hiring a chaperone to look after Ashe and ensure he behaves for the entire season or he will leave the entire family fortune to Ashe's cousin, Yardley. Caroline Townsend is the granddaughter of a wealthy businessman but when she was cut out of the will she was left to fend on the charity of family members. She leaps on the chance to come to England to earn some money to start her college for young women.

She and Ashe do not get out on the best foot as he is mad about having to have a chaperone and she sees him as spoiled rake with no substance. He is not worried as he thinks that the ton will chew her up and spit her out but is stunned, and admiring, when she manages to hold her own and then some against all the dragons. She wants to keep her eye on him but there are times when she can't and she wants to know more about what he is hiding from her. He tries to get his friends to distract her, but instead ends up jealous of them and she realizes that it might be worth giving up her dream of a woman's college in order to be close with Ashe. He is convinced that he can keep things between them only on the physical level, but it is so much more for her as she is in love with Ashe. By the time Ashe discovers how much Caroline means to him it may be too late and he has to rush to prove to her that he does love her.

I was disappointed with Revenge Wears Rubies, the first book in this series, but was glad that Renee Bernard has gotten back on track with this one. Neither Caroline nor Ashe was precisely a mold breaker in the romance novel department but I felt like Caroline was definitely the more likable of the two. Her past and her secrets made for a really interesting character that I was rooting for the entire time. I wanted her to find a man who could love her and respect her for all that she had overcome and through founding the female college. Her forthrightness made her a darling of the ton and yet her inability to just try to get along with everyone rather annoyed me. She and Ashe spent far too much of the book bickering and basically not getting along. He was not as remarkable as she was; although he did have the dark past, I didn't feel like a rake who slept around and had a somewhat sad past, was exciting in a romance.

The book is very sensual and even when they are not having sex one, or both of them, are thinking about it, and there is lots of talk about how attracted they are to each other and lots of body parts are coarsely mentioned quite a bit. There was a lot of sex between them, mostly crammed into the last half of the book, and overall I really enjoyed it. I really liked that it meant that Caroline was taking a large risk with her future and yet her emotions for Ashe were so deep that she was eager to risk it. That was my main problem with the book; despite her being loads better than him it was her who fell in love with her faster and her who recognized her feelings for him. The ending was rather abrupt, which made sense considering the book was only 270 pages, and I wanted more from Ashe to prove his love. Previous characters made appearances and of course Caroline and Haley became the best of friends.

Rating: I really enjoyed Caroline but I wish that Ashe had been a more developed character and that the two had not spent so much time bantering/ arguing.

Revenge Wears Rubies

Revenge Wears Rubies by Renee Bernard 426

Galen Hawke survived months in a sahib's prison while in India and he survived on tale's of his friend John's sweetheart back home, Haley Moreland. He and several of his fellow English captives manage to escape but on the harrowing journey back to civilization John passes away and exacts a promise from Galen that he will take care of Haley. Galen is furious to return to England and find that Haley is engaged to another man less than a year after she discovered her lover had died. He knows that this supposedly innocent miss is nothing but a fortune hunter who has latched herself onto a rich industrialist despite his inferior breeding and uncouth manners. He has been aimless ever since he got back but Haley gives him something to work towards- he needs to get revenge for John and ruin the young lady who wasted no time getting over him. Haley is not at all happy to have the weight of her family's financial ruin placed on her shoulder, but she knows her duty and that is why she has agreed to married Mr. Herbert Tumble.

When Galen gains an introduction to Haley both are immediately smitten, but Galen is still determined to prove that she is heartless. Haley realizes that she does not want to live her entire life without having known true passion, so despite her misgivings and the realization that she will have to marry Tumble, she embarks on a wild and reckless affair with Galen. They are not long into it before Galen has misgivings about his plan to ruin Haley and begins to search for reasons why he should not ruin her. It does not take Haley long to realize that she is desperately in love with Galen and she knows she must call off her ill fated wedding. But the time that Galen and his friends spent in that dungeon in India is coming back to haunt them as they had discovered a treasure room before their escape that members of the East India Company would literally kill to discover the whereabouts of it. Added to that, Galen's brother becomes deathly ill just as Haley discovers that Galen's intentions had not been honorable from the start. Galen must try to fight off the madmen who want him dead and gain back the love of the woman he may have lost forever.

From the outset it is obvious that Galen and Haley are very attracted to each other, but beyond that there really was not all that much to show a true emotional relationship between the two of them. There were not even the token reflections on the others' spirit or goodness or whatnot. The time these two spent together was almost entirely devoted to sex or at least double entendres that alluded to sex. Also there was some rather annoyingly witty and short banter between the two of them. However the sex, while plentiful, is very rarely hot, and really goes on for far too long and even I found myself wanting to just kind of skip through it. Literally- I believe the scene where she finally lost her virginity went on for 30 pages. Galen was so single minded in his pursuit of revenge against Haley in the beginning and I am happy to say that at least that was understandable as it finally gave him something to live for since his life had been a little empty since his return. Haley was quite the martyr as she sacrificed herself at the altar of marriage to save her family, and I loved that she had a little spunk and went out there and got some for herself.

However, I was able to see Michael as he grew from being bitter and suffering from some severe post-traumatic stress disorder to a man who finds a woman who can finally help him sleep through the night. The plot involving the treasure room and the East India Company really only hovers in the back ground for the majority of the book which suited me fine. Although more interesting than conspiracies involving books, I just tend not to go for big mystery-murder plots in general in my romance novels. However, as this is a part of what proves to be a much longer series (The Jaded Gentleman) based on the romances of all the survivors out of India, it is not entirely resolved and probably will not be until the end of the last in the series. I was a little surprised that the horrors the endured in India were really only alluded to in a very brief way, although it was probably for the best as i didn't really need to read them to understand what had happened.

Rating: The sex took over the book and it was not even all that good. I loved her last offering, but I have to give this two hearts.

A Lady's Pleasure

A Lady's Pleasure by Renee Bernard

When Julian Clay, the Earl of Westleigh, calls Merriam Everett a whey-faced widow she decides the best way to get a small measure of revenge is to secretly seduce the man. She enlists the help of a famous Madame, learns many different tricks of seduction, and attends a masquerade ball intent on seduction. She knows that Julian is dressed as Merlin and lures Merlin into a shadowy alcove where the two engage in a very heated tryst that spins Merriam's world on its head. Never with her husband had she even imagined that sex, the world, could be so pleasurable. She has lived her entire life as "Merriam the Mouse" and this one naughty foray is supposed to last her the rest of her life. She is horrified when she discovers that it was not Julian she had seduced, but Drake Sotherton, Duke of Sussex, certainly is not. He can not get his tempting seductress out of his head and goes to great lengths to find out her identity and who she had intended to seduce. Although Julian had once been his best friend, Drake believes that Julian slept with and then killed Drake's wife before Julian turned around and convinced the ton that Drake had done the deed.

Thinking that there is something going on between Merriam and Julian, Drake decides to take care of two things as once: he will take Merriam as his mistress both to slake his lust and to keep Julian's pawn in his sights. Merriam is at first reluctant to give up her respectable life as a widow, but she can not deny the very powerful attraction she feels for Drake so she agrees to his proposal. They agree to spend a "decadent Season" together, going to opera's, buying fancy clothes and jewelry, hosting a ball, and spending a lot of time with their hands all over each other. Merriam regrets that she has not been entirely honest with Drake over her original intentions at the masquerade ball while Drake feels guilty that he has embroiled Merriam in his plans for revenge. The more time they spend together the more they realize that one decadent season might not be enough for either of them, but it gets ardour and harder to reveal the truth. On the night of their ball Merriam plans to to reveal her feelings to Drake and Drake plans to bring his plans to fruition. Both of them will have to come to grips with their pasts, their enemies, and love each other.

I absolutely loved Merriam because she was so well written as a woman torn between her past and being this staid, predictable, and repressed widow and giving in to her desires. She goes through passion, embarrassment, pride, power, anger, and happiness during the book as she takes these immense risks and really becomes such a different person than she had been her entire life. Drake as well underwent some really amazing changes throughout at the book, and it was made even better, because he changed so much because of Merriam. So obviously character development deserves an A+. The romantic development in the story was a little less well developed as, while the two certainly had hot sex going for them, I would have liked more of them getting to know each other outside the bedroom. Reading the parts from their points of view made it obvious that they will both very lovable, but I felt there should have been more about what each of them liked about the other. As usual I would have preferred a bit more of the story told from Drake's point of view, but what was there was certainly very good.

I really enjoyed that the plot with Julian was integrated so well in to the romance and the relationship between Drake and Merriam. I know it took up a lot of room in my synopsis, but it was not at all overwhelming and served as a great plot point for some brooding on Drake's part. I was admittedly expecting more of a blow up at the end, especially when Merriam discovered what Drake had believed her role in the whole thing was. The sex was smoking hot and very inventive, and it was also interesting because it was an integral part of the romantic development and Merriam's amazing transformation. There's sex in a carriage, sex in a shadowy alcove, some mild spanking, self-pleasuring, and a very fun little menage fantasy. My only complaint about the sex would be the frequent use of the word creme to describe Drake's sperm: I don't know what it is but that word just really jolts me and is not at all sexy. An interesting note of this book was that there really was no outright "villain" and nothing was black and white- even those who were "bad" had reasons and were portrayed with a very deft hand.

Rating: I really enjoyed this book, especially Merriam, and it really could have been perfect with more romantic development. I think this book deserves 3 1/2 heart, but I will give it 4 because it really was more than a middling book.