Rules of Passion Book

THIS ONE WAS ENTIRELY TOO CUTE, BUT IN A SENSUOUS ENIGMATIC WAY. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW RANDOM THE CHARACTERS MET AND FROM THEN ONE JUST LET FATE STEER THE REIGNS OF HOW THEIR LIVES BECAME INTERTWINED.

OUR HERO was once part of the aristocracy. A Duke's heir, he was disinherited the moment his father got a letter from his dead wife that proclaimed that Max Valland is a bastard. When we first meet him, I literally held my breath because he appeared so cold and aloof, yet later we understand that he's actually wallowing his self pity and misery from his current status. How the mighty has fallen from Grace and he doesn't know quite what to do with himself. When Marietta Greentree steps into his life, it is about to change - drastically. Their next encounter lands him at the infamous bordello 'Aphrodite' that is actually Marietta's birth mother's club. He accidentally mistook Marietta for one of the girls there and offered to have a whole night with her. When he realises his mistake and leaves, he was attacked and thus leaving him in the caring hands of Marietta when he was discovered crippled and bleeding on the ground. When Marietta makes him an offer he is hard pressed to refuse, it begins their unlikely romance that sizzled with underlying sexual tension and just sigh worthy moments. I truly enjoyed their chemistry as it was real and oh so sweet. I liked how Max turned from stranger to protector THEN a lover and he knew right then that he was never letting her go, and he will never let her be a courtesan for she was too good for that.

OUR HEROINE has experienced the bitterness of first love, and having been fooled once and ruined by a man who played her, she decided that she will take the reigns of her own life and be its master. So she comes right out and says she wants to be a courtesan like her mother. Although, mothers know their daughters and Aphrodite knew that Marietta was too innocent, sweet and had a big heart despite her claim that she was 'ruined'. It did annoy me when Marietta kept insisting that she will never change her mind to not be a courtesan, and that just because she's ruined, she is experienced. What a load of bullshit. Every woman knows that just having sex ONCE in your life doesn't make you experienced in the least. When her mother proposes they use Max as a test drive, she thought why not? But Marietta doesn't realize that she's truly attracted to the man and just the thought of parting ways and having another man replace him just makes her downright sad. Although, will she be willing to put her heart out there again?

OVERALL I enjoyed every moment of it. From strangers to lovers, their interaction was bold and sweet with of course passion that was quite different because Marietta was learning a lot about Sex from Max, the seduction and outright curiosity of a man's anatomy was highlighted here and it seriously did wonders for this story, showing quite a different perspective. At least it wasn't just the usual kisses, groping and then fucking and then finito.