Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed

Seven Night's in a Rogue Bed by Anna Campbell 1014

Jonas Merrick was born to the wealthy Viscount Redville and his beautiful foreign wife, but after her death the marriage certificate was lost and the Viscount's younger brother wasted no time in declaring Jonas a bastard. Depressed and lonely Redville retreated into himself and abandoned his son to the mercies of the very cruel world and Jonas grew up bitter and jealous that his cousin Williama would inherit all that should be his. As an adult he inherits his father's fortune, if not the title and estates, and wastes no time in shoving his cousin's nose in his wealth and William's own poor luck at investments. When the opportunity arises William tempts William's wife Roberta to the tables and she ends up losing badly; she promises him a week in his bed. Sidonie Forsythe has seen what marriage to the abusive William has done to her beautiful and vivacious older sister and has no intention of marrying anyone ever. She knows what will happen if William finds out what she has done so she agrees to take Roberta's place in Jonas's bed. She expects a monster, and though Jonas's face is scared, he is far more than she was expecting.

Jonas is not happy at this turn of events as he had hoped to get revenge on his cousin but he does begin to warm toward the idea of having the beautiful and kind Sidonie in his bed. But she is a challenge he was not expecting and warmed his heart in a way he had thought previously impossible. He agrees that he will not force her but will wait until she comes to his bed, however, he soon realizes that he does not want her under duress but of her own volition. With this he has proved to Sidonie that he is a worthy and caring gentleman with a soft spot no one else can see and the two tumble head first into a passionate affair. The term of their relationship was set for 7 days and all too soon their time comes to an end and Jonas knows that Sidonie is too good for him and believes himself unworthy, while Sidonie still believes she will never marry anyone and she knows that Jonas will not love her when she finally reveals the secret she has been keeping from him. The two have their pasts to muddle through before they can finally contemplate a happy future with each other.

Sidonie was, I suppose, noble for sacrificing herself to save herself, and while I recognized that her waffling was a part of her innocent allure, it was frustrating to read about her and Jonas circling each other so long and avoiding the whole reason they were there. I honestly felt like neither of them were very well developed with her being entirely concerned with her sister and finding out how good Jonas truly was behind his mask and him being obsessed with his being a bastard and not good enough for Sidonie. What did they enjoy doing? What made them real people? I just feel like I don't know. They spent a lot of time together obviously but it seemed like purposeless time with not much getting accomplished and there were only so many times I could be interested in her revelations that he was wounded and had been hiding his good self from everyone. The sex, when it finally came surprisingly late in the book considering that was what brought them together, was lukewarm and incredibly dragged out and just too much for me to find exciting. I believe the story of his scars was supposed to be an interesting little side mystery and while Sidonie apparently found it fascinating I found it to be much ado about very little.

Anna Campbell's novels are always very emotionally draining and very exhuastively detailed about the characters often angsty and mournful feelings despite the happier cover this book was no different. Both of them had so much to worry about and while I found some of it legitimate obstacles to their happiness together, such as her keeping a certain secret from him, others I found just too drawn out, such as his fear that he is too ugly and her fear of marriage. Both were understandable but if they were so all-encompassing as to stand in the way for so long it did not make sense that they would just crumble so quickly. That type of emotion also makes me question how the relationship can survive with so much... darkness (for lack of a better word) behind them. They have no experience being happy and loving with each other without all the other stuff hanging over their heads. I did find Campbell's portrayal of Roberta as the abused wife very well written as she fully developed her as a complex character with her own faults and strengths and not just a victim and I was truly impressed with her.

Rating: Far too emotional with two undeveloped characters who couldn't possibly end up having a happy relationship together.

Claiming the Courtesan

Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell 1015

After years of courtship and one year as his courtesan, Justin, the Duke of Kylemore, appreciates having his beautiful mistress, Soraya, available and compliant whenever he wishes. But Soraya is really Verity Ashton, a Yorkshire girl, who has used the only asset she saw available. to earn a better life for herself and her siblings, Ben and Maria. Their contract specified a year for their relationship and at the end Verity takes the vast sums of money she has earned from her time with Kylemore and leaves to set up a quiet existence. Kylemore is immediately determined to bring Soraya back because his obsession with her has not ended and the longer it takes the more he becomes intent on revenge. He must make her suffer as she has made him suffer and when he finally finds her and invades the escape she has created for herself he sets out to break her and make her regret ever leaving him. He and his Scottish strongmen escort Soraya/ Verity to his hunting lodge deep in the Scottish Highlands where escape or rescue are impossible, even though memories of his boyhood there haunt Kylemore.

Things get off to a poor start as Verity is determined to maintain her pride and refuses to give in to Kylemore and this makes him even angrier and he sets about cruelly breaking her spirit. He chooses to do this by seducing her, even when she is reluctant or unwilling, and this only proves to him that he needs her in his life. He realizes that far from breaking her, he is breaking himself as he comes to discover that she brings peace to his troubled existence and it is only with her that he can forget the demons that haunt him. Verity tries to hold herself apart, convince herself that she does not want Kylemore, especially after all that he forces her to endure, but it becomes harder as she sees him interact with his tenants and learns of what he went through as a child with his crazed father. Even as the two begin to warm to each other and accept their feelings for the other, Verity worries that an ex-courtesan will never be good enough for a peer of the realm and it is up to Kylemore to convince her that their past does not matter; the only thing that counts is that they each need and love the other.

Campbell has a very distinctive style that is wordy, dark, and emotional and this one stuck to that script perfectly. I love having a courtesan be the heroine of a novel and how her past came up and was definitely an issue between them, but with work they were able to move past it. Her dedication to her siblings was admirable and I enjoyed that she took charge of her life and did not martyr herself while still recognizing that her chosen path was not one for the righteous. Her determination to hold herself apart from Kyelmore seemed ridiculous to me after everything they went through and especially once she "gave in" and everything was so happy between them. She was so worried about losing her heart and her "self" and that dragged the book down and on for a long while and was very darkly emotional in keeping with Campbell's style. Kylemore was a tortured soul of course, and his determination to break Verity lead to some very dark and disturbing places and he performed some nearly unforgivable actions that I still have not quite come to a decision about.

Their relationship was based on a past where neither really knew the other and while their time secluded in Kyelmore's hunting cabin certainly gave them the opportunity to learn more about the other it also felt like they fell in love because they had to. I am just not a big fan of isolated people turning to each other for comfort and believing that they are in love, especially not when one has such a power advantage over the other. The sex between them was interesting and I would hesitate to say hot because even when it was entirely consensual, it was tinged with melancholy because of past deeds or what they expected from the future. I did appreciate the part of their relationship where they were both happy and enjoying themselves, it seemed that the majority of this happy time occurred in the bedroom, but it was short and overshadowed by the immense cloud that hung over both of them and their entire relationship. Kylemore's demons were certainly tortured soul worthy, but not cruel and evil human making. Perhaps my favorite character was his super evil witch mother just because I liked a genuine person to hate.

Rating: A long and very emotional book with two characters who had a very complicated and dark relationship. I debated between 2 and 3 but can not say I precisely enjoyed it.

Midnight's Wild Passion

Midnight's Wild Passion by Anna Campbell 713

Antonia Hilliard let passion rule her life once and the consequences of her actions resonate for the rest of the life. She loses her position in society and finds herself the companion of her distant cousin's very young and beautiful daughter, Cassandra Demarest. Nicholas Challoner, the Marquess of Ranelaw, is society's most notorious rake and he has one purpose; to avenge his own sister's ruin by ruining the daughter of the man who ruined her- the lady that Antonia is determined to protect. Nicholas at first sees Antonia as a challenge to get around, but as he realizes that her dowdy clothes and spectacles are merely covering a lush and beautiful young body, he sees her as a delightful side dish to the main course of Cassie. Knowing the consequences of giving in to passion Antonia knows she must never give in to Rainlaw, but the more she gets to know him the more difficult it becomes to ignore him. Nicholas is always charming and seductive with the women he intends to seduce, but things are completely different with Antonia.

He wants to discover all the secrets he knows Antonia is hiding from him, he wants to punish the people who have put her in this situation, and he finds that more and more he is forgetting that Cassie is supposed to be his main target. She wants to resist him but his seductive powers are too much and deep down she acknowledges that she wants to be seduced; she wants one more night of passion and Rainlaw puts to shame all the other men in the ton. Rainlaw is shocked that the proper chaperone wasn't a virgin and even more shocked when he runs into her previous lover at an inn. Antonia had hoped never to come face to face with her ex-lover again and he threatens to ruin the new life that she has made for herself. She has learned to hold her own since she was a teenager and doesn't want to be dependent on any man and doesn't want to be anyone's burden. Rainlaw knows that his life will never be the same, but doesn't know how to give up his quest for vengeance. Both Rainlaw and Antonia will need to forgive and make allowances for a completely new way of life in order to find their happily ever after.

Antonia was a great character because she was intelligent and took care of herself even while recognizing that she had many benefits that others did not have. She did take a little too much responsibility for her actions and tortured herself over an understandable lapse in judgment for far too long. I really wanted her to come to grips with what had happened and forgive herself but she never really did. This kind of dragged down the book and lead to too much angst over what would happen if she let Nicholas seduce her. Nicholas was apparently a heartless rake but we really weren't given much to go by as he pretty much started making changes in his behavior as soon as book began. It became clear very early on that he was not going to seduce Cassie and even when he did display rak-ish behavior, it was more desperate than anything. This made it hard to get a clear grasp on his character. He certainly did change for Antonia and became a man that was worthy of her because he was sympathetic and caring and proved himself willing to do whatever he could to make her happy.

A lot of books talk about the hero seducing the heroine, but here it was really true because throughout the scenes it feels like Antonia doesn't really want to do it but it is just her sexual needs that compell her to it which I didn't really like. It was hot enough, but a little too wordy for my taste. It took me three pages to remember how wordy Anna Campbell is and indeed conversations and scenes ended up taking about twice as long as they probably needed to. There was a lot of internal musings and lots of descriptions to an extent where they were almost unnecessary and superfluous. I am a fan of knowing what is happening in people's minds, but there is really a limit and Campbell pushes and exceeds that limit for me. The relationship between Antonia and Nicholas is definitely the main focus of the book and they have a lot of alone time and it is clear why they were falling in love. I really enjoyed a lot of the back story involving the seduction of Nicholas' sister and Antonia's relationship with her family. Perhaps because it was the most fast paced stuff in the novel.

Rating: I liked the romance and the characters but if I had been the editor I would have slashed quite a bit of the book to make it a little faster- it was just not my taste really.

My Reckless Surrender

My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell 718

The widowed Diana Carrick has worked at and loved Cranston Abbey for as long as she can remember. Her father is the bailiff of Lord Burnley and when he makes her an offer that can end with her in charge of the abbey she takes it even though it will mean compromising her principles. Burnley wants her to seduce Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, and become pregnant before marrying Burnley and raising the child as theirs. When Diana confronts Tarquin he is intrigued by this gorgeous woman who has an air of innocence about her, but he turns her down. However, he cannot get her out of his head and when he finds her again he takes her up on her offer and the next few weeks are filled with carnal delights for both of them. Diana is having a very hard time reconciling the heartless rake she was led to expect with this obviously caring, funny, and attentive lover she has discovered in Ashcroft.

Ashcroft has prided himself on never falling in love and maintaing a distance from the women he sleeps with but Diana makes him throw all of this out the window. He cannot get enough of her in bed, he can't stop thinking about her, and he feels happier when she is with him. Diana feels horribly about what she has done, but cannot go back now and she dreads him finding out the truth about her. She tries to end things between them, but he wont' let her out of his life, and his actions make her fall in love with him. The matter is taken out of her hand when Burnley confronts both of them and to swallow his pride, Ashcroft leaves after throwing insults at Diana. She is heartbroken and does not know if she can continue with the original plan, but now she has a child to consider. Despite his intentions, when word comes of Diana's marriage, Ashcroft knows that he will need to take one more chance on her, for both their sakes.

While I always like it when a heroine is imperfect and not perfectly noble, I debate whether Diana went a little too far in the opposite direction. Her love for the abbey was understandable and her desire to provide a home for her father was noble, but it was a little crazy for her to go to all this trouble for it. It was not like she would have starved or been completely thrown out into the street, it really was entirely selfish. And I really did not understand what her appeal was to Ashcroft besides her obvious beauty. The book goes on about her innocence and how appealing that is to him, especially as it's hidden behind a veneer of promiscuity, but I don't see that as a reason for him to fall in love with her. Ashcroft was definitely more lovable and made a great rake turned lovelorn hero as he really funny and caring and quite attentive to her. His attempts to win her back after she left him were spot on and perfect.

Unfortunately her guilt over actions really drag the book down and there were almost no times when this overwhelming emotion allowed both of them to just be happy in each other's company. It was especially irritating because it was obvious fairly on that he would have forgiven her if she had just told him what had happened and changed her mind and chosen Ashcroft. This book had a lot of sex- the first 200 or so pages were pretty much one after another of them going at it. It was pretty damn good really, but at times it did drag on and get all flowery. I really like Campbell's writing; it's beautiful and descriptive without going overboard although sometimes scenes tend to run on pretty long. She did a remarkable job writing from Ashcroft's perspective and I was quite impressed with him in general. Burnley was a great character in his evilness and I wish there had been a seen from his point of view.

Rating: Ashcroft made this book and I loved everything with him in it, but Diana's guilt and her actions in general did not really appeal. 3because I liked it more than most 2's.

Tempt the Devil

Tempt the Devil by Anna Campbell

Olivia Raines is the most famous courtesan in London and has a well earned reputation as being both maintaining serious distance between her and her lovers and for dropping her lovers quickly and brutally. Julian Southwood, the Earl of Erith, is determined to make Olivia his mistress as he wants only the best. Olivia is not so keen on the idea and her friend Perry, Lord Montjoy, warns her that Erith possess a serious threat to her heartless exterior, but she sees him as a challenge and accepts his carte blanche. Julian quickly realizes that their relationship is not going to proceed exactly as he planned when Olivia insists on her independence. He is even further infuriated when he discovers that Olivia has only been pretending sexual enjoyment with her lovers and he informs her that he will not be falling for her tricks. He wants to awaken sexual passion in her but it is not long after this that Julian learns that Olivia's past includes rape at the hands of a debauched lord and a bastard son she gave up for her cousins to raise as their own.

It is at this point that the two both begin to feel something more than the affection between a man and his mistress. Erith is drawn to the woman underneath Olivia's cold facade; the woman who still blushes at his innuendos and who hides such a tragic past and has lived her unconventional life with courage. Olivia's heart begins to melt as Erith treats her like she is equal to the high society ladies, shows that he is willing to do anything to make her comfortable and happy, and makes her forget her sordid past. Despite her promises to never allow any man to have power over her again Olivia falls in love with Erith and he with her and the two begin to ponder if any sort of future between them is possible. Despite her determination Olivia begins to have hope that the past really is behind her and, while recognizing that marriage is impossible, she wants something more. Unfortunately the hope that both of them have is shattered when Erith discovers Olivia in the company of his well-bred daughter and in his anger he says hurtful things that neither can forget. It is up to Erith to prove to Olivia that the past really is in the past and that hope is possible for both of them.

So courtesans are apparently quite the in thing in romance novels these days but I still really enjoy the novelty of not having an innocent 18 year-old virgin as the heroine. The book does kind of cut the corner by having Olivia remain sexually unawakened and thus paving the way for our hero to "awaken" her. I guess I'll need to wait a little longer for a satisfied and unapologetic lady of the evening heroine. I enoyed how strong willed both of these characters were. Although there were times when Olivia did show some signs of weakness both of these characters were able to hold their own and I can honestly say that there weren't any times when one had the upper hand over the other. This book is very emotion driven and Campbell certainly writes about emotions very well, although after a while it got to be just too much. I very much enjoyed the scenes involving Julian and his daughter and Julian's reflections on how he has not lead the most exemplary life and has so much to make up for. I also enjoyed that the book ended up with a HEA, but in an at least somewhat realistic manner.

The book is very wordy and scenes in the novel often last over several chapters and this basically means that there are not very many scenes altogether. Since many of those scenes were sex scenes it almost was like their relationship centered around their bedroom. I really would have appreciated shorter sex scenes (for the most part) and maybe more short scenes where they did "coupley" things together. The book also kind of runs with the theme of homosexuality being created through past abuse as there is a gay character who was abused by his father and he wonders if she is a lesbian because woman who suffer at male hands often turn to their own sex. I guess I discussed my feelings on this in my review of "The Seduction of Sara." At the same time I recognized that Campbell is a very talented writer and I can understand how some people apparently adore her books, I just did not like her writing style. It seemed drawn out, wordy (again), and really just seemed to have an air of depression over it. Maybe that was the subject matter and the characters always dealing with such wild emotions, but it just did not lead to a book that I "enjoyed" reading very much.

Rating: Despite reflecting on the almost overwhelming depression that weighs this book down I knew that I really just can not give this book less than three hearts because of it's interesting plot and well developed characters.