Series: The Cabot Sisters #1
Published by Harlequin on 2014-03-01
Genres: Historical
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
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Passion and scandal collide in New York Times bestselling author Julia London's brand-new series about four sisters determined to rescue themselves from ruin…
Desperate times call for daring measures as Honor Cabot, the eldest stepdaughter of the wealthy Earl of Beckington, awaits her family's ruin. Upon the earl's death she and her sisters stand to lose the luxury of their grand home—and their place on the pedestal of society—to their stepbrother and his social-climbing fiancée. Forced to act quickly, Honor makes a devil's bargain with the only rogue in London who can seduce her stepbrother's fiancée out of the Cabots' lives for good.
An illegitimate son of a duke, George Easton was born of scandal and grows his fortune through dangerous risks. But now he and Honor are dabbling in a perilous dance of seduction that puts her reputation and his jaded heart on the line. And as unexpected desire threatens to change the rules of their secret game, the stakes may become too high even for a notorious gambler and a determined, free-spirited debutante to handle.
FTC : I requested this book from Net-Galley after hearing rave reviews about this authors writing. I have no relationship with her and have not been paid for this review.
Historical romances are not my go to-reads but I do enjoy them. This one was interesting and definitely atypical. The one thing that held this book up for me was the writing; I will be trying books from Julia London again based on just how much her writing kept me going. That being said, I had a few complaints.
I honestly thought that the heroine in this book was the most selfish character I had come across in years. In her actions throughout, she thought only of herself and did exactly what she pleases. Although her actions would have had incredibly detrimental actions on the future of her sisters, a fact that was pointed out to her, she did them anyway. It got to such a point her younger sister decided that she had to do something about their situation instead. The things that she does (e.g. turning up to the gambling rooms with the men) cannot be excused by her age because she was pretty well seasoned by the point of this book. I also struggled with the fact that she still had a good reputation by this point; surely that would have gone? Due to Honor, I struggled with this book and, as hinted to above, the only reason I really finished it was the strength of the writing and the side characters. I actually really enjoyed the hero and the apparent villain …. turns out I thought they were better people than the leading lady herself.
I laughed aloud at the interactions between certain people in the book. My favorite was the interactions between the (slightly dramatic) lovable rogue Easton and his slightly sarcastic butler. The moments between them were the highlights in the book for me along with the seduction of Honor. Although I couldn’t abide her when she was scheming (which was the majority of the book), I loved them together. The desperate attraction between them was fantastic to read and left me with that warm, satisfied feeling that only a well written yearning scene can. I will point out, at this point in the review whilst I am raving about the the writing, other readers from GR seem to have no issue with the character of Honor.
Overall, this is not a book I will read again nor did I find it an easy one to read/rate. The writing style was fantastic and, on what I have read so far, I don’t think the other sisters will annoy me as much so I will be picking up the next one!
I haven’t read anything by this author yet, but have heard such great things about her. It’s great that you can continue to read a book for the writing and not the characters, though, even if you didn’t really enjoy it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I really do recommend this author… just maybe not this book! Thank you for commenting 🙂