I love historical erotic romance and was excited to find another author in this genre but did not realize that this was the second book in a series. The story didn't hold my attention at the beginning as I didn't like the interactions between the main characters, Prentice and Desiree. I found both characters rather unsympathetic and unlikeable. Prentice came across as very self-centered and unappealing, despite his history of significant loss. I find that part of the appeal of a romance is the characters and my wish for them to live happily ever after. However, in the first part of this story, I couldn't connect or gather enough interest in the characters to care about whether or not they would obtain their happily ever after. I was more intrigued by the other characters in the book and the entire premise of the Sapphire Club.

Despite all those aspects of the book, I found the book enjoyable as the story progressed. The second half of the book was much better and I became much more engaged. I enjoyed how the characters changed based upon their relationship. I found the sexual interactions in the first half were exceptionally one sided due to Prentice's actions and that was very jarring in a romance novel. However, as the story progressed and Prentice developed into a more interesting character, the couple's sexual relationship became very interesting and hot. Overall, I surprisingly found the story a good read and it whet my appetite for other books in the series.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Shalanda
March 30, 2011