Author: Terri Wolffe
Publish Date: February 6, 2011 by Dial
Pages: E-book Novella
Reviewed by: ISALYS
Reason for reading: Printed copy provided by author for review purposes.
Lucinda Davenport is desperate for an heir. Her husband, who is much older and sickly has been unable to sire one and with his failing health, they are at risk of losing their estate to his greedy family. Her husband, who is not unkind, understands the dire situation that they're in and comes up with a plan for Lucinda to kidnap a peer of her choice to impregnate her and hopefully give her the son she so desperately needs. Lucinda chooses Lucien Brandford, fourth Duke of Carlsborough.
With the help of her motley crew, Lucinda manages to abduct Lucien and whisk him to her estate in the English countryside. There, she shackles him to the bed where she explains that she's chosen him for "stud services". Unfortunately, one night of pleasure was not enough for either of them. Until now, Lucinda had only known the touch of her elder husband. She had never known what real passion could be like.
As a novella, the relationship between Lucien and Lucinda develops rather quickly. However, Terri did a great job with the pacing so that it felt as natural as possible considering the reason for their connection in the first place. The dialogue was interesting in that Lucien and Lucinda were always going back and forth with control of the relationship changing hands. Overall, they really balanced each other nicely. The writing was well-done except the narrative voice would sometimes change abruptly and I would lose track of who was speaking. Those instances broke up flow of the story, but did not stop me from being able to enjoy it.
This is a "sweet & spicy" novella. For those of you who are interested in reading it, be warned that the love scenes are HOT!! The sexual language is quite intense without being vulgar. I personally could do with a little less dirty talk but that's just a matter of personal taste. I'm glad that Terri was able to keep it tasteful.
I liked that the author included a bit of the backstory for both Lucien and Lucinda's characters. Unfortunately, that extra information came at the expense of us knowing what happened to Lucinda's husband. Although the plan to kidnap Lucien was his in the first place, he became jealous and tried to separate Lucien & Lucinda. It wasn't until after his death that they finally got their 'happily ever after'. However, it's unknown what happened in that time in between or how they really came together again. Understanding that novellas may be under length constraint, I still would have liked some of those questions answered.
Overall, this was a fun story that I would recommend to those who like an extra helping of hottness with their romances.
HEAT LEVEL: 6-Erotic
