Review by Booklist Review
Before her arrival at 72 Shelton Street (a discreet establishment catering to the romantic needs of ladies), Lady Henrietta Hattie Sedley had been quite specific in what she required in a man. Saviour Whit Whittington, whom Hattie had just a few hours before tossed out of her carriage, is not that man at all. Whit, however, is positive that Hattie knows exactly who not only left him tied up in her carriage but who is also responsible for stealing something very valuable from him. While he may not be the man Hattie ordered, he is more than willing to offer his services if she will meet his price. When it comes to crafting unforgettable romances that are both emotionally and thematically complex, nobody does it quite like RITA Award-winning MacLean (Wicked and the Wallflower, 2018), and the latest brilliantly written and boldly sensual addition to her Bareknuckle Bastards series is another exquisitely constructed and exceptionally entertaining celebration of the power of love to transform lives.--John Charles Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
MacLean's second Bareknuckle Bastards Regency veers away from the typical Regency romance focus on the nobility to explore the lives of London's ordinary folk, populating Covent Garden with delightful recurring characters. Lady Henrietta "Hattie" Sedley is 29 and heartily tired of being seen as "just" a woman. She longs to take over her father's shipping company, but she's hampered by her gender and her ne'er-do-well brother, Augie. While embarking on a plan to enjoy some sensual pleasures in the seedier parts of town, she's dismayed to find that Augie has left Beast, a smuggler and one of the infamous Bareknuckle Bastards, tied up and unconscious in her carriage. She wakes up Beast, kisses him, and tosses him out the door while the carriage is moving, ensuring he'll come looking for her--en route to taking revenge on Augie. Hattie finds Beast's good looks and confidence impossibly appealing, and her independence and determination pique his interest. Soon their business fortunes are as entwined as their bodies. The imaginative plot carries readers along in this deliciously sexy story filled with heart. Agent: Steven Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Lady Henrietta Sedley is determined to inherit the family business, regardless of society's expectations of women in Victorian England. She's certain the way to do this is to ruin herself for marriage. Declaring her 29th year the Year of Hattie, she embarks on her plans. But things go off the rails almost before they start when she encounters a strange but impossibly beautiful man bound at the wrists and ankles in the carriage she'd planned to use for her escape. Saviour Whittington may rule Covent Garden and the rest of London as Beast, one of the Bareknuckle Bastards, but he's taken aback by Hattie's frank and intelligent demeanor. Convinced she knows who orchestrated the attacks on his family's smuggling business, he proposes a trade: he'll bring about Hattie's ruin if she reveals what she knows. VERDICT Combining dark humor and plenty of heat between our brazen leads, and offering intriguing glimpses of the next installment, MacLean (Wicked and the Wallflower) once again gives us an independent-minded heroine discovering the possibilities of a future with a dangerous leader of Covent Garden's underbelly.--Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Cincinnati Blue Ash
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An ambitious, smart, and outspoken earl's daughter faces off in business and pleasure against a gruff, protective, and sexy king of the London underworld who will stop at nothing to protect what is his.Lady Henrietta "Hattie" Sedley wants to inherit the shipping business her father, an earl who won his title with bravery on the high seas, built into an empire. Instead, she is told to marry and have children while her foolish brother takes over. On the night of her 29th birthday, Hattie decides to render herself unmarriageablewhile satisfying her keen sexual curiosityby visiting a brothel, but the handsome brute of a man she finds tied up and unconscious in her carriage has other plans. Saviour Whittington is known as Beast in the slums where he and his siblings are feared and adored in equal measure. Benevolent protectors who rule with an iron fist, they run a smuggling operation to support their business enterprises in Covent Garden, "where darkness came like a promise, and brought with it all manner of malice." Hattie attempts to make a deal with Beast when she discovers that her brother has done him wrong, but he has less chaste ideas. Hattie is a tall, curvy woman whose shape does not fit Regency-era beauty standards. Beast is all too happy to show her just how desirable she is in several very explicit sex scenes: "She was brilliant and bold and strong and beautiful, and when she came, she moved against a man like sin." Beast's own self-worth was diminished by an abusive father and a violent past he fears he will never overcome. Hattie and Beast come to see their own value through each other's eyes, regardless of what society says about it. Strong female protagonists are the rule in genre romance, but Hattie stands out for the clarity of her goals and the intelligence with which she goes about achieving them.Classic MacLean: smoking hot, emotionally rich, thrilling, and unforgettable. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
