A Sweet and Spicy Novella
The cunningly audacious Lady Lucinda Davenport is by no means a conventional woman. Smart and fiercely determined, she’s more comfortable adding numbers than she’ll ever be socializing with highfalutin members of the ton. When desperate straits force her into action to save her home and lands, she finds herself faced with only one option. Summoning every ounce of her courage, she sets in motion a wild and raunchy scheme that would set the ton on fire if they ever caught wind of her actions.
Lucien Brandford, fourth Duke of Carlsborough, is a dangerous man. Wealthy beyond imagination and handsome to a fault, the Duke is sought after by nearly every woman of the ton. Single, widowed, or married, ladies vie for his attention with cutthroat precision. But the Duke has no tolerance for the machinations of his title and fortune-hungry peers. He seeks his pleasure from women who require no commitment.
That attitude ensnares the Duke in Lady Lucinda’s plan. Caught unawares, Lucien finds himself at the mercy of a bold and luscious woman whom he cannot decide if he wants to strangle or bed.
The sensual dance that follows between captor and captive as they engage in a volatile battle for control, culminates in a seismic eruption—both psychological and sensual. As tempers flare and sparks fly, an intense and erotic interlude of passion ensues.
The temperamental lovers soon discover what all the world knows: that in order to possess the love of a lifetime, they must submit to one another to conquer their own Desperate Desires.
Sensually spiced with a heavy dose of passion, this romantic bestseller comes complete with a memorable cast of characters. You won’t want to put this one down!
My Thoughts:
In my opinion "Sweet and Spicy" is a little misleading. Desperate Desires was definitely a whole lot more than "Spicy" and should have been labeled erotica. A lot of the "sweet" is lost amongst the sexual interactions and "talk dirty to me" going on. Ms. Wolffe, however did a wonderful job portraying the characters and writing an exciting erotic historical romance.
You know from the blurb that Lucinda is in dire straits and is desperate to save her home and lands, but you are left wondering what the true predicament really is through out the first half of the book. It is made obvious from the beginning that she is not in danger of losing them because of financial losses. There are hints dropped here and there, and it becomes a little frustrating wondering why she would go to the extreme of abducting Lucien, IV Duke of Carlsborough.
There is an instant pull between Lucinda and Lucien, a desire that Lucien is none too happy about. He would much rather strangle "Madame Dictator" than show any desire for her wayward actions. Once they are sequestered in Lucinda's room, they have a total romp fest, Lucien is obviously experiencing Stockholm syndrome, and fall in love. There are tender moments between the two that you get glimpses of in between their highly explosive love scenes. So as to not give too much of the plot away lets just say that Lucien has overstayed his welcome and is quickly removed back to London.
I understand that this is a novella and therefore everything is going to happen on a faster scale than a novel, however I was not thrilled with how quickly the story ended. We go from the reuniting to the end in a matter of a turn of the page. I would have liked to have seen just how these two were able to come to an agreement with all parties involved... surely this could have been achieved within a few pages. On a more positive note I am pleased to see that the author gave our hero and heroine a HEA, even if it was done in a single paragraph.
I do recommend Desperate Desires to anyone that enjoys extremely hot books, and I do mean the caliber of books where you will need a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and lots of ice to cool down those burning cheeks!! After careful consideration and lots of thought I am going to go with my original rating of 4 stars. It is not the book's fault that I was not expecting what I got in terms of heat level, and the story while a little far fetched was extremely enjoyable!
Gorgeous Cover!!
