Get Your Hands On Shameless (The House Of Rohan, #4) Drafted By Anne Stuart Published As EPub
review was originally published on sitelinkSecret HEA Society
Shameless is theth book in the House of Rohan series, I am a big fan of this series and I just couldn't wait to read this last installment, It was on my Autoread list, it was such a sure thing in my mind that I would read it that I didn't read the book synopsis, So when I started the book, I didn't really connect the dots, You see, the firstbooks followed the House of Rohan ongenerations, So I was expecting Shameless to be about the kids of the previous heroes, Ah! Of course I should have read the synopsis! Shameless is set aboutoryears I can't remember the exact number! after the end of Breathless and is about Miranda's Heroine of Breathless, you still following oldest brother.
What a good surprise! When I finally realized who it was about and how it was situated , it all clicked together and I'm pretty sure I squealed, wink. Benedick, the hero was married during the set of Breathless and for some reason I didn't think he would get his story, I thought him safe in a somewhat good marriage, I also saw him as a stuffy lord, Oh what a delight it was to realize he was actually quite wicked and such a cynic person, So what Yes I love my heroes wicked, evil and dangerous, and Anne Stuart delivers! Each time! All the heroes of this series are wicked in their own way, they are all very different but each very delicious.
Benedick is a cynic but he has his reasons, He's been married twice and both wives died in childbirth leaving him without an heir, So he decided to find a wife to get that heir and a spare, He just wants a brooding mare, someone he can just forget all about outside the bedroom, As you can imagine, it won't work that way,
Melisande is not your typical lady, For once she lives with more thanformer prostitutes! She's the widow of a wealthy elderly lord, Now with her money she tries to reform prostitutes and help them find a real respectable job, As you can imagine she's not really someone who would be invited to balls and party by Society, I found Melisande very likable, she's a good woman and she really wants to help save these girls, I found her devotion to her 'gaggle' very endearing, She might have been married but Melisande is still a nearvirgin when it comes to the pleasures of sex, It was cute to see such an innocent woman leaving with women who enjoyed having sex so much and it made me laugh a few times,
When Melisande hears that the secrete society called the Heavenly Hosts has been revived and that now they started becoming very violent with prostitutes/young women she decides to act.
Melisande knows Benedick's brother, Brandon, is a member of this secret society so she decides to warn Benedick about it and asks for his help, I really enjoyed seeing them together, they have such a chemistry! swoon They don't plan to get involved with each other but it's like it's out of their hands, The more they fight it, the harder it is, God, I loved Benedick, he's such a jerk! He has a vicious tongue, very cutting, The smex scenes are hot and very well written, Benedick is confident in his skills and I just love that in my heroes g,
If you read Breathless, you'll remember Brandon, the youngest Rohan, He was so young and cute and innocent, Really brave too. The man we meet in Shameless is just a shadow of his old self, Brandon has been to war and he's come back wounded both physically and in spirits, He gave up on life and he's become reckless, We get glimpses of him and what happened when he came back from war, Now, I have to tell you I'm REALLY hoping he's getting his book because if not I'll be pissed, Why Because we get glimpses of his story and a possible romance and I couldn't believe it ended this way, Anyway, I can't say more but I am crossing all my fingers and toes we'll get his book, I've spenthours on the web searching for any indication there would be one but sob I couldn't find any info about it sob
I LOVED that we got to see quite a lot of the HEA of Miranda and Lucien Heroes from Breathless, yes I also do Cliffnotes as you can see wink.
I remember raging at the ending of Breathless because it didn't have an epilogue, squeeeeeeeeee We get it in Shameless, Seriously I was grinning the whole time we got to
see Lucien and Miranda, And we see them from Benedick's POV, which is pretty hilarious since he HATES his brotherinlaw so much, I loved seeing their life through his eyes, I can't thank Anne Stuart enough for indulging us like that, g
I was ecstatic when I finished Shameless! It has an epilogue!!! squeee And a very good one, It's not cheesy I promise, because I'm not sure Anne Stuart can do cheesy, But it left me smiling and feeling very good, lt
Shameless is a wonderful book, it really does justice to this series, You want to root for the characters and it's hard to stop reading once you started, It keeps you enthralled and always wanting more while giving you some closure about the story and about the previous book, I still feel pretty emotional about this book, It sure left his mark in my mind and in my heart see I can be cheesy!
ps: I'm sorry about it being such a long review, And THIS is the short version
I give Shameless/Stars,
With a Shiny HEA, full of hopes and happiness Fourth in the House of Rohan's historical romance series set in the London of, The couple focus is on Lord Benedick Rohan and Lady Melisande "Charity" Carstairs,
My Take
Too funny! It's like a sex manual for the innocent with Charity taking in soiled doves and finding them new careers, Naturally, these ladies of the evening repay her with lots of useful advice that Benedick just doesn't see coming, Too bad she didn't follow their advice about the nightgown!
It's all rather slapstick comedy beginning with the scene where Violet runs off to service Lord Rohan with Charity running right behind her to "rescue" her.
Or is it Keystone Kops Lord knows there are all sorts of people running in and out of Benedick's house, Then there's the nasty selfrighteousness of Miss Pennington, Wait, just wait until you read her proposal to Benedick! Stuart is a wicked, wicked woman with a sense of humor,
Stuart skims through the society ofwith occasional dips into its reality, Although, Benedick is a delight with his comeons and innuendos carefully designed to ruffle Lady Carstairs' feathers, If only Benedick didn't so enjoy how well they ruffled,
Richmond makes a funny: "I assure you, my lord, I have absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever, " He's a good guy. Then there's the Pennington at the opposite end of the spectrum, Listening to her brag about how independent she is: "I have often been bold enough to walk on my own with only her maid and footman with her",
I like that Stuart's heroines are all "flawed" per society's and our own expectations, Charity is old and not all that eligible for someone of Benedick's status, Her daily activities are far beyond the pale for what is expected of society ladies, And Stuart describes her as frumpy,
At last! The wallflowers are getting the attention they deserve,
On the whole, it was fun to read, More comedic as opposed to the eroticism of the earlier installments,
The Story
Benedick is back in London after undergoing his year of mourning for Barbara, He's determined to tup his way throughout all of London and marry the Honorable Miss Dorothea Pennington, But first, he is very much looking forward to a visit with Violet Highstreet, a prostitute with a very talented mouth,
He just doesn't expect the "procuress" who comes running in right behind Violet, Too many of London's highflyers have retired and Lady Carstairs is cutting cut a swath through the gentlemen's enjoyments, And she seems quite determined to make his lordship's life a misery what with wanting to penetrate the Heavenly Host and prevent their nefarious goingson,
It's the last thing Benedick wants to do, . . spend any more time with Charity, She is simply getting more and more delicious to his eye and it's all he can do to not drag her off,
The Characters
Lady Melisande "Charity" Carstairs is theyearold widow of Sir Thomas Carstairs, He cut up rich and it's enabled Charity to fund her charity project: rescuing prostitutes and retraining them to work in more respectable jobs, Mrs. Emma Cadbury was once a very respected madame now, at, she's Charity's secondincommand with most of her stable living in Charity's home and learning trades, The ladies currently in training include Violet Highstreet of the talented mouth, Mollie Biscuits who has turned cook, the gimpy Raffaela, the tooyoung Betsey and her missing sister Aileen, and the bruised and battered Maudie.
Miss Mackenzie is Charity's old governess and now her society chaperon,
Lord Benedick Francis Alistair Rohan,th Viscount Rohan, has buried two wives who died in childbirth, He's determined that he will marry a third time, but without any love for the woman for he can't bear having to go through this again, His brother Charles is happily married as is his sister Miranda Rohan de Malheur, Countess of Rochdale, . . even though he hates her husband, the Scorpion, a, k. a. , Lucien de Malheur see sitelink Breathless, Brandon is the youngest brother, He suffered a terrible wound that left him limping and half his face destroyed in the war in Afghanistan, Now he's working his way through the alcohol and opium hoping for an early release, Except that Stuart is setting us up for his romance, His parents are Adrian and Charlotte, the Marquess and Marchiness of Haverstoke see sitelink Reckless,
Richmond is Benedick's extremely competent butler he's been around since Benedick was a wee boy, With all the familiarity that engenders!
The Honorable Miss Dorothea Pennington is the nastiest, most intolerant piece of work! Harry Merton is an old friend of Benedick's although Stuart drops some hints that he's not all that he seems.
Wilfred Hunnicut was a fortune hunter who didn't rise to Charity's expectations, Not that those were very high, Lord and Lady Elesmere are members of the Heavenly Host along with Miss Pennington's brother Arthur, The Grand Master of the Heavenly Host has his nefarious plans well in hand and it all involves drugs and blackmail,
The Cover
The cover has a nightly, dreamy quality with its shades of purple and a firmjawed woman swathed in yet more purple, her black hair falling down her back, and a profile of her naked breast.
The title refers to Lady Carstairs' shameless adoption and housing of, . . oh, my dear, can you believe it, . . soiled doves. Yes, right here in our very own neighborhood, It's positively Shameless!
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