The Romanceaholic

Expected Release Date: Available Now!
Publisher: Harper-Collins
Imprint: Avon
Author’s Website: http://www.annemallory.com/
My Source for This Book: Amazon.com
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 2 – Secrets Universe
Series Best Read In Order: Works well as a standalone.
Steam Level: Hot

Official Blurb:

From the first glimpse he knew he must have her — even if only for a single night . . .

Powerful, ruthless, seductive—the lord of London’s underworld—Roman Merrick gets anything he wants . . . and he burns for Charlotte Chatsworth, a polished jewel in the glittering ton. So he engages her debt-ridden gambler father in a game of chance, wagering ten thousand pounds against one night with the man’s exquisite daughter. And Roman Merrick never loses.

But one night is never enough . . .

Charlotte is devastated to learn that her reprobate father has lost her in a card game to the most dangerous man she’s ever met. With the threat of ruin behind every corner, Charlotte embarks upon a perilous path with the man she cannot forget. But in truth, it’s Roman who has everything to lose—for a game undertaken for pleasure alone soon has him gambling his heart. And love and passion unleashed could bring his great, dark empire tumbling down . . .

Oh my!  Let me start my review with a slight tangent: One of my all-time favorite regency romance heroes, is Lisa Klyepas’ Derek Craven from Dreaming of You.  Born in the gutters, he’s pulled himself up by whatever means necessary — thievery, deceit, violence, you name it, and at the time the heroine meets him, is a successful, albeit somewhat shady, owner of a gaming hell.

Well, I’m sorry Derek, but you need to step aside for my new favorite hero, Roman.

*swoon* Oh Roman is absolutely everything I adore in a regency romance – a self made man, ruthless, cunning, at times gleefully violent, but also incredibly loyal and protective. Lowborn and from the streets of London, he is never afraid to get his hands dirty, cheerfully admits to bribing the police force, and in fact, the first time we meet him, he’s beating the holy hell out of someone (who in the end, deserved it, but still).  He rubs elbows with men from all walks of life, from whoremongerers to royal dukes, and has no qualms about using whatever means are at his disposal (regardless of legality) to manipulate those around him as needed.

Then we have Charlotte. I’m not typically a fan of the stuffy-young-miss-turned-wanton heroine in romances, but I have to make an exception for Charlotte.  The way Ms. Mallory writes this character, with her slowly cracking facade, makes it so you can’t help but to sympathize with her. She has known her entire life that she is to have a loveless, strategic marriage, just like her parents, and that it is up to her to be absolutely perfect in everything.  Outside of saving her family from her father’s uncontrolled gambling, such a marriage will ensure that her vibrant younger sister will be accepted into society, and as such will have the freedom to, well, choose.

What worked for me:

• I admit I was wary when I read the blurb on the back cover. I enjoy the “family gambled away the daughter’s honor” ploy in romances, but I was afraid that there would be forced seduction involved, and I just wasn’t in the mood for that type of thing.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover, however, that Ms. Mallory decided not to take the easy way out by throwing Charlotte and Roman into a physical relationship from the beginning, but rather she skillfully wove threads of a much larger game, which slowly developed throughout the entire novel.
• I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the many sides of Roman — the ruthless con,  the fiercely protective brother, the loyal (if slightly shady) business owner, and of course, the tender lover.
• I absolutely adored the ending.

  SPOILER ALERT

  SelectShow Spoiler

  The fact that Charlotte was willing to be a spinster and remain his mistress as long as he wanted her just melted my heart. Throughout the entire novel, Charlotte has struggled between choosing some small bit of happiness for herself, or sacrificing herself on the altar of society for the greater good of her family, and when she finally made the decision that her happiness was more important, I almost cheered out loud.
• Deliciously hot without being gratuitous, the love scenes were well written and managed to be both erotic and romantic, which is a difficult balance for authors to strike.

What didn’t work for me:

• There were at times a few too many characters for me to keep up with.  Many of the characters had obviously been introduced in previous novels, along with some backstory that was of course missing, and so it made it hard to keep the names straight.

Not really a good point or bad point, but there were quite a few loose ends that bothered me a bit. Of course, I have not read the first book in the series so I could have easily missed some details there, and obviously the third book in the series is not out yet. However, we’re never really clear on who the actual villain is in this story, and a lot of the resolution about who is out to hurt Charlotte is done behind the scenes.

I have to say, that while I’m not necessarily going to go back and read the first book in the series, Seven Secrets of Seduction, I am dying to read Andreas’ book, In Total Surrender, due out September 27, 2011.

Overall, I loved it.  This is probably one of the best regency romances that I have read all year, and Roman is firmly (heh) tucked away as one of my all-time favorite regency heroes.  A VERY solid 5/5 Stars.

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