Elizabeth Hoyt

SHE'S TAKING CHARGE Prim, proper, and thrifty, Eve Dinwoody is all business when it comes to protecting her brother's investment. But when she agrees to control the purse strings of London's premier pleasure garden, Harte's Folly, she finds herself butting heads with an infuriating scoundrel who can't be controlled. HE'S RUNNING THE SHOW Bawdy and bold, Asa Makepeace doesn't have time for a penny-pinching prude like Eve. As the garden's larger-than-life owner, he's already dealing with self-centered sopranos and temperamental tenors. He's not about to let an aristocratic woman boss him around . . . no matter how enticing she is. BUT LOVE CONQUERS ALL In spite of her lack of theatrical experience-and her fiery clashes with Asa-Eve is determined to turn Harte's Folly into a smashing success. But the harder she tries to manage the stubborn rake, the harder it is to ignore his seductive charm and raw magnetism. There's no denying the smoldering fire between them-and trying to put it out would be the greatest folly of all . . .

Sweetest Scoundrel

b.andherbooks

As the description says, Asa Makepeace is "bawdy & bold" and Eve Dinwoody is prim, proper, and super uptight. Also she's suffering from a big trauma from her past, and cannot be touched by men and is terrified of dogs. But her brother, supposedly in hiding due to all his nefarious deeds and black mailings, but the same brother who rescued her from said trauma, has put her in charge of his estate. And now she must work with Asa Makepeace and help fund his pleasure garden dreams.

Tempestuous men building pleasure gardens as their ONE wish is my fav niche trope. I also love a big burly lothario who turns to absolute velvet for the one who finally challenges him and makes him tumble into love. This was great, and also the first book I've finished in two weeks.

ALSO there is a DOVE and a DOG and really really really great mutual masturbation scenes. WOW. And the consent is pretty fantastic, especially since Asa tries to make sure Eve is comfortable with his touch and absolutely wants it (there is a forced kiss scene I did not like and it felt out of place-their first kiss).

check out #bMLread2020 for my live tweet of this one!

CWs: violence, blood, a dog is hurt (but does not die), sexual assualt/attempted rape of a child, in the past, described, child rape discussed, blackmail.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

Sweetest Scoundrel is actually the first book I’ve read by Elizabeth Hoyt, but I jumped at the chance to read it because I LOVE historical romances even though I don’t read them very often, and I was looking forward to the fact that the hero isn’t an aristocrat. Thankfully, I wasn’t confused at all jumping into book 9 of the Maiden Lane series, so if you’re like me and haven’t read the series yet, this book can be read completely as a standalone.

Asa Makepeace’s whole life is his pleasure garden, which is a sort of theatre with performances, opera, and the like. He’s currently rebuilding it after it was burned down in a fire, but unfortunately it’s costing a lot of money to do so. One of his investors is the Duke of Montgomery, and the duke’s sister, Eve Dinwoody, is in charge of the money, so when she realizes that Asa’s pleasure garden is using up way more money than expected, she goes down to cut the funding for the garden. Sadly, Asa makes a less-than-grand entrance in Eve’s life – he’s naked, with a woman in his bed, and very rude to Eve. Basically, he’s a total jerk to her because he thinks she cold and stuck-up, but he tries to butter her up later when he realizes his funding is going to be cut. Eventually they agree on a deal, and as the two of them spend more time together, they realize that their first impressions of each other were wrong.

He realized suddenly, that he might have had it all wrong. Perhaps her core wasn’t bloodless after all. Perhaps under that cold exterior, that polite, aristocratic facade, there boiled a passionate woman, hiding her emotion from all the world.
And he wondered what would happen if he stripped away her exterior, tore through her frozen, refined walls and dug his finders into the molten heat at her center.

I actually really enjoyed Sweetest Scoundrel, after I warmed up to Asa, since he’s not very likable in the beginning. He’s a prick, but thankfully he quickly realizes that there’s a lot more to Eve than meets the eye. The both of them have their own traumatic pasts, which are slowly revealed as the two gain each other’s trust. As for Eve, I really adored her character – she’s scarred, innocent, lovable. She’s the kind of character that makes me want to wrap her up in a hug.

Elizabeth Hoyt knows how to write some hot chemistry! The tension between Eve and Asa is raw and palpable, and so much fun to read about. They’re drawn to one another, despite how different they are, but they can’t help that they want each other. It’s so sweet how Asa turns all protective and alpha-y when it comes to Eve – he grows to care for her so much! He’s determined to help her overcome her fears, and break out of the shell she hides in. And Eve just can’t resist Asa’s oozing sensuality.

“Lily of the valley,” he murmured. “I’ll remember that scent forever now, and whenever I smell it again I’ll think of you, Eve Dinwoody. You’ll be haunting my tomorrows evermore.”

Elizabeth Hoyt is now an author I definitely need to keep an eye out on. I loved her writing – I can’t believe I hadn’t read this series sooner! I need to start the series from the beginning now, since I enjoyed Sweetest Scoundrel so much. The main characters are endearing and lovable, and I loved how sweet their romance turned. I’d definitely recommend this book – it’s entertaining, satisfying, and seriously HOT.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1GrjDaI
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1Klzh9H
Audible: http://amzn.to/1QCADjD

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Sweetest Scoundrel

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